What We Believe

Prayer...is also a communion with God, and contains expressions of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. It can be experienced privately (in one's bedroom), and corporately (in church services).

Conversion...is also a gift, worked in our hearts by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel. The evidence of conversion is sorrow for our sin, and a turning in trust to Jesus, our Savior

God's Gospel...The Bible also reveals God's Gospel (Good News). Out of love for his fallen world God has provided a Savior. Jesus is his name. "Christ" is his title as God's appointed Savior.

The Church...is all people, in every place and in every age, who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Concrete expressions of the church are experienced wherever Christians gather around the Gospel proclamation and the Sacraments.

The Savior...God's own Son, became our brother. He died on a cross to save the world from sin. He rose again to give new life to all believers.

The Lord's Supper... is a Sacrament, which is a participation of Christians with their Lord as they partake together of his Body (in the bread) and Blood (in the wine). This "holy communion" brings assurance of forgiveness and strengthens faith.

Baptism...is a Sacrament, which establishes the new life in a person, and brings forgiveness and the renewing power of the Holy Spirit.

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, Scripture alone, Faith 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.
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.
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.

The word "Synod" in The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod comes from the Greek words that mean "walking together." It has rich meaning in our church body, because the congregations voluntarily choose to belong to the Synod. Diverse in their service, these congregations hold to a shared confession of Jesus Christ as taught in Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.

In grateful response to God's grace and empowered by the Holy Spirit through Word and Sacraments, the mission of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is vigorously to make known the love of Christ by word and deed within our churches, communities, and the world.