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Overview
With the universal Christian Church,
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
teaches and responds to the love of the
Triune God: the Father, creator of all
that exists; Jesus Christ, the Son, who
became human to suffer and die for the
sins of all human beings and to rise to
life again in the ultimate victory over
death and Satan; and the Holy Spirit,
who creates faith through God's Word and
Sacraments. The three persons of the
Trinity are coequal and coeternal, one
God.
Being "Lutheran,"
our congregations accept and teach
Bible-based teachings of
Martin Luther that inspired the
reformation of the Christian Church in the
16th century. The teaching of Luther and the
reformers can be summarized in three short
phrases: Grace alone, Faith alone,
Scripture alone.
Grace alone
God loves the people of the world, even
though they are sinful, rebel against Him
and do not deserve His love. He sent Jesus,
His Son, to love the unlovable and save the
ungodly.
Faith alone
By His suffering and death as the substitute
for all people of all time, Jesus purchased
and won forgiveness and eternal life for
them. Those who hear this Good News and
believe it have the eternal life that it
offers. God creates faith in Christ and
gives people forgiveness through Him.
Scripture alone
The
Bible is God's inerrant and infallible
Word, in which He reveals His Law and His
Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. It
is the sole rule and norm for Christian
doctrine.
Who is Jesus?
For more than 2,000 years people have asked
the question, "Who
is Jesus?". We were not present when
Jesus lived on this earth, but in the Bible
we have the record of his birth, life, death
on the cross, and resurrection. Study of
the Bible, God's Word, will enable you to
seek out the answer to this age-old
question.
What does "Synod" mean?
The word "Synod" in The Lutheran
Church--Missouri Synod comes from Greek
words that mean "walking together." The term
has rich meaning in our church body, because
congregations voluntarily choose to belong
to the Synod. Though diverse in their
service, these congregations hold to a
shared confession of Jesus Christ as taught
in Holy Scripture and the
Lutheran Confessions which they believe
are a correct interpretation and
presentation of Biblical
doctrine. Contained in
The Book of Concord: The Confessions of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church, these
statements of belief were put into writing
by church leaders during the 16th century.
The simplest of these is
Luther's Small Catechism. The
Augsburg Confession gives more detail on
what Lutherans believe
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