Our Worship
Traditional Services
Our traditional worship services are held at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and 8:00 a.m. on Sunday Morning. Orders of worship from the Lutheran Service Book are generally followed. Music is provided by the pipe organ and all verses of hymns are sung from the hymnal. Anthems and Offertory Music are provided by one of the choirs – Men's, Women's, Mixed, School, Sunday School or Handbell. On special days the organ is joined by brass, woodwind or string instrumentalists. Acolytes and Pastors wear vestments and preach from the pulpit. Responses are generally sung and the congregation stands for the reading of the Gospel. The three-year readings schedule is used. The Lord's Supper is served to groups at the rail in the front of the church. The common cups, as well as individual cups, are offered. Our service would be a familiar experience to members of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod from across the country.
Contemporary Service
Our contemporary worship service is held at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. Although the service does not follow a traditional order you will find the elements of the invocation, confession and forgiveness, prayer, offering, creeds, words of institution and benediction. Music is provided by the Celebration Band and Choir. The Band consists of two keyboardists, three guitarists, one bass guitarist and two percussionists. Four members of the choir lead the singing from the front of the church. The music includes newer compositions with a few older hymns added occasionally. Vestments are not worn by the acolytes and pastor and the message is delivered from the front of the church on a level with the congregation. The readings and sermon are the same as the traditional service. The Lord's Supper is served in line at the front of the church. The common cup and individual cups are offered. The music is modern and the mood is less formal, but the message of law and gospel is clearly proclaimed.
Holy Communion
Holy Communion – What We Believe
The LCMS believes that Scripture teaches that the Lord's Supper is a precious gift of God in which Christ gives us His true body and blood (in a miraculous way), together with the bread and wine, for the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith. Because the Bible teaches that this sacrament may also be spiritually harmful if misused, and that participation in the Lord's Supper is an act of confession of faith, the LCMS ordinarily communes only those who have been instructed in the teachings of our church and who have confessed their faith in these teachings.
Trinity Lutheran Church Communion Policy
Christ has given us this Sacrament as a reminder of our forgiveness, so that our faith may be strengthened, and our lives renewed through Him. As Lutheran Christians we believe that Jesus' Body and Blood are truly present (Real Presence) in the consecrated bread and wine. Those who share in our confession are encouraged to take part in this Holy Communion. Believing these truths from God's Word enables us to receive His grace in a rich and wonderful way. Please receive Christ's cup (chalice) by taking the cup at its bas or by individual cups. Nonalcoholic wine is available and is the individual cups placed at the center of the trays. If you are unsure about participating in this Holy Sacrament, please refrain from participating at this time and speak with Pastor Marty. Trinity's Adult Instruction/Adult Refresher Classes (offered on a regular basis) include a thorough explanation of the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
Preparation for Holy Communion
- I am sorry for my sins.
- I believe that Christ died to forgive my sins.
- I believe that I receive the true Body and Blood of Christ in, with, and under the bread and wine for the assurance of full pardon.
- I am resolved, by the work of the Holy Spirit, to use the power of Christ which is offered in this Sacrament, for a more thankful, obedient, and committed life towards God.
From Luther's Small Catechism:
What is the Sacrament of the Altar?
It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink.
Where is this written?
The holy Evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and St. Paul write: Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: "Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me." In the same way also he took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."
What is the benefit of this eating and drinking?
These words, "Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins," shows us that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.
How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things?
Certainly not just eating and drinking do these things, but the words written here: "Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins." These words, along with the bodily eating and drinking, are the main thing in the Sacrament. Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: "forgiveness of sins."
Who receives this sacrament worthily?
Fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training. But that person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: "Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins." But anyone who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for the words "for you" require all hearts to believe.
Holy Baptism
Holy Baptism – What We Believe
Lutherans believe that the Bible teaches that a person is saved by God's grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone. The Bible tells us that such "faith comes by hearing" (Rom 10:17). Jesus Himself commands Baptism and tells us that Baptism is water used together with the Word of God (Matt 28:19-20). Because of this, we believe that Baptism is one of the miraculous means of grace (another is God's Word as it is written or spoken), through which God creates and/or strengthens the gift of faith in a person's heart (see Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21; Gal 3:26-27; Rom 6:1-4; Col 2:11-12; 1 Cor 12:13). Terms the Bible uses to talk about the beginning of faith include "conversion" and "regeneration." Although we do not claim to understand fully how this happens, we believe that when an infant is baptized God creates faith in the heart of that infant. We believe this because the Bible says that infants can believe (Matt 18:6) and that new birth (regeneration) happens in Baptism (John 3:5-7; Titus 3:5-6). The infant's faith cannot yet, of course, be verbally expressed or articulated by the child, yet it is real and present all the same (see e.g., Acts 2:38-39; Luke 1:15; 2 Tim 3:15). The faith of the infant, like the faith of adults, also needs to be fed and nurtured by God's Word (Matt 28:18-20), or it will die.
Although we do not claim to understand how this happens or how it is possible, we believe (because of what the Bible says about Baptism) that when an infant is baptized God creates faith in the heart of that infant. This faith cannot yet, of course, be expressed or articulated, yet it is real and present all the same (see e.g., Acts 2:38-39; Titus 3:5-6; Matt. 18:6; Luke 1:15; 2 Tim. 3:15).
Lutherans do not believe that only those baptized as infants receive faith. Faith can also be created in a person's heart by the power of the Holy Spirit working through God's (written or spoken) Word. Baptism should then soon follow conversion (cf. Acts 8:37) for the purpose of confirming and strengthening faith in accordance with God's command and promise. Depending on the situation, therefore, Lutherans baptize people of all ages from infancy to adulthood.
The LCMS does not believe that Baptism is ABSOLUTELY necessary for salvation. The thief on the cross was saved (apparently without Baptism), as were all true believers in the Old Testament era. Mark 16:16 implies that it is not the absence of Baptism that condemns a person but the absence of faith, and there are clearly other ways of coming to faith by the power of the Holy Spirit (reading or hearing the Word of God). Still, Baptism dare not be despised or willfully neglected, since it is explicitly commanded by God and has His precious promises attached to it. It is not a mere "ritual" or "symbol," but a powerful means of grace by which God grants faith and the forgiveness of sins.
Special Holiday Services
Trinity holds special services for Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas.
Please contact the church office (618) 656-2918 for service details.
Service Times
Sunday Traditional Services – 8:00 a.m.
Children's Sunday School – 9:15 a.m.
Sunday Adult Education – 9:15 a.m.
Sunday Contemporary Service – 10:30 a.m.
Wednesday Early Bird Bible Study – 7:30 a.m.
Saturday Evening Traditional Services – 5:30 p.m.
