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
church, our community, and our world.
With the universal
Christian Church, Peace Lutheran Church 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
congregation accepts and teaches 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.
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.
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.
Peace Lutheran Church accepts the Scriptures as the inspired and
inerrant Word of God, and subscribes unconditionally to all the symbolical books
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as a true and unadulterated statement and
exposition of the Word of God. We accept the Confessions because they are drawn
from the Word of God and on that account regard their doctrinal content as
authoritative and a true and binding exposition of Holy Scripture.
Entire Book of Concord in PDF Format (2MB file)
The Official Seal of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod below is a visual
reminder of our congregation's commitment to God's Word in the Lutheran
Confessions. For a detailed explanation, click on the seal.
Our Mission
Empowered by the Spirit, compelled by God's love and forgiveness, Peace
Lutheran Church celebrates and shares Jesus Christ through worship and witness,
nurture and fellowship.
Our Vision
We pray that we will be...
1. Strongly in the
Word so that: We believe personally the good news of the
forgiveness of our sin through the life, death and resurrection of our Lord
Jesus Christ and joyfully apply this Gospel message to our daily life. The
study of the Holy Scriptures is a high priority for us personally, for our
families, for our congregation, for our districts and for our Synod.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we grow as partners who support this
vision statement for our church.
2. People sensitive and
Christ centered so that: We reflect the love of Christ in our
lives as we care and show concern for those around us.
In response to the
Gospel, our congregation extends care and compassion to hurting people, caring
for their spiritual needs and for their physical needs.
Our congregation is
sensitive to the diversity of cultures and the variety of needs among our own
membership and among the unchurched in our community.
Our congregation,
district and Synod work together to equip professional church workers and lay
members to meet the challenges and opportunities for service to God in the 21st
century.
3. Reaching out boldly with the
Gospel so that: More people in our community, our nation and
throughout the world are drawn by the Holy Spirit to believe that Jesus Christ,
God's Son, is their only savior from sin and their only hope for eternal life
with God.
Our congregation reaches out boldly with the Gospel of Jesus
Christ to our community, inviting others into their midst in order to receive
the grace of God through Word and Sacrament. Our congregation, by God's
grace and blessing, will experience numerical growth. Our congregation and
district work together to bring the Gospel message to more and more people
throughout the United States across a wide variety of cultures.
4.
Faithful to the Scriptures and the Lutheran
Confessions so that: We prize highly that which we as an
Evangelical Lutheran church believe, teach and confess. We provide a bold
witness to our Scriptural and Confessional faith, in both word and deed.
Our congregation is a genuinely Gospel-centered, Word and Sacrament based,
community of faith. The goals and priorities of our congregation,
district, and Synod flow from and are shaped by the Holy Scriptures and the
Lutheran Confessions.
5. Marked by peace and
unity so that: We build and strengthen the bond of peace and unity
among us and by the grace of God overcome divisions, acknowledge legitimate
differences and eliminate roadblocks to the work of the Holy Spirit. We as
families, congregation, district and as a Synod joyfully trust and support one
another in our common mission and ministry.