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The
Trinity Lutheran Mission Statement
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"In
grateful response to God’s grace and
empowered by the Holy Spirit through Word
and Sacraments, the mission of Trinity
Lutheran Church, Centralia, Illinois is
vigorously to make known the love of
Christ by word and deed within our
congregation, communities, and the world
according to Acts 1:8."
But
you will receive power when the Holy
Spirit comes on you; and you will be
my witnesses in Jerusalem,
and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the
ends of the earth. Acts 1:8
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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.
The
congregations of the Synod are
"confessional." They hold to the
Lutheran Confessions as the 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. For a detailed contemporary explanation,
see "What
Do Lutherans Believe?".)
Adapted
from A Week in the Life of The Lutheran
Church--Missouri Synod, copyright 1996,
Concordia Publishing House.
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Trinity
Lutheran Church, 201 S Pleasant Avenue, Centralia,
IL 62801 (618)532-2614, is a member congregation
of the Lutheran
Church Missouri Synod with offices in St.
Louis, Missouri and seminaries in St. Louis and
Ft. Wayne, Indiana.The
Synod also operates 10 colleges and
universities in the United States.
Compliments
of Illinois
Websites
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