St. John Lutheran Church
5th and Wilhelm
Ellinwood, Ks. 67526
620-564-2044
When you reach the only stoplight in town (on Highway 56) turn north 5 blocks. Turn west and drive 4 blocks to Wilhelm. You will see our church.
We, as redeemed children of God, acknowledge our part in Christ's mission of proclaiming the freedom and forgiveness of God in Christ to all human beings and of providing aid for them in their physical and spiritual needs. We have bound ourselves together as members of this congregation because we recognize the need for helping each other to carry out this mission. We need the ministry of fellow Christians so that with the help of the Holy Spirit we may grow in faith and be better prepared to participate in Christ's mission both individually and corporately.
In order that we may carry out this mission effectively, we, gathered in this common bond of love, have established these procedures which will serve to strengthen and guide us. Within the framework of these procedures we pledge ourselves to study the Scriptures diligently, to use the sacraments faithfully, and to solicit the help of the Holy Spirit boldly.
Our Lord said, "As my Father has sent Me, so I send you." (John 20:21). As the company of those who believe in Christ as Lord and Savior, the Church, we are people on a mission for Christ.
We affirm in faith, humility, and joy that the mission is the Lord's and that we are sent to be Christ's mission to the Church, the Whole Man, the Whole Society, and the Whole World.
The Lutheran Church derives it's name from Martin Luther (1483 - 1546), a German monk of the Augustinian order, whose posting of the Ninety-Five Thesis on October 31, 1517, sparked the Reformation. The documents that set forth what Lutherans believe, teach and confess were assembled and published in 1580 in the Book of Concord. The foundational article of the constitution of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod states that "the Synod and every member of the Synod, accepts without reservation the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as the written Word of God and the only rule and norm of faith and practice" and all the writings in the Book of Concord as a "true and unadulterated statement and exposition of the Word of God." (Article II, Confession).
At the heart of what Lutheran's believe is the conviction that salvation alone is the free gift of God's grace (undeserved love and mercy) alone for the sake of Christ alone. "Since the fall of Adam (Romans 5:12), all who are naturally born, are born with sin (Psalm 51:5)" (Augsburg Confession II 1). This "disease and original vice" (Augsburg Confession II 2) makes it completely impossible for anyone to "earn" God's love and forgiveness. If salvation were dependent upon human initiative and effort, there would be no hope for anyone.
God's grace alone gives hope to all sinful human beings. And the sole basis for this grace is the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. We believe, as Luther says in the explanation of the Apostle's Creed that, "Jesus Christ, true God begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord. He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature...He did this, not with gold or silver, but with His Holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death, (Small Catechism, 2nd Article. pg. 329)