St. Timothy Lutheran church is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod. We are in fellowship with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. With 19 other church bodies around the world we make up the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference.
So what?
The most important thing about our relationship with these hundreds of thousands other Christians is that we all believe and teach God’s word faithfully according to the Holy Scriptures. The question “What is it that we teach according to the Bible?” is answered by the Lutheran Confessions. These are documents faithfully expressing the doctrines of the Bible, those things that the Bible teaches clearly.
The most important practical effect of being part of a larger church body is the preservation of true doctrine and the avoidance of false prophets. When a church body is faithful, those who teach and preach are disciplined according to God’s word.
Our difference with other churches, including Lutheran churches is that false doctrine is tolerated, or even predominates. As a result the faith of the people is imperiled and undermined. Jesus was not gentle with false teachers as we can see from Matthew 23:13-15(nkjv), “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. …”
Because the Bible is true and its doctrines are clear, we can know the truth – the truth through which God saves us. John 8:31-32(nkjv), “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’”
May God preserve our churches faithful to Him!