"Our Lord speaks and we listen.  His Word bestows what it says.  Faith that is born from what is heard acknowledges the gifts received with eager thankfulness and praise.  Music is drawn into this thankfulness and praise, enlarging and elevating the adoration of our gracious giver, God.  Saying back to him what he has said to us, we repeat what is most true and sure.  Most true and sure is his name, which he put upon us with the water of our Baptism.  We are his.  This we acknowledge at the beginning of the Divine Service.  Where his name is, there is he.  Before him we acknowledge that we are sinners, and we plead for forgiveness.  His forgiveness is given us, and we, freed and forgiven, acclaim him as our great and gracious God as we apply to ourselves the words he has used to make himself known to us.   The rhythm of our worship is from him to us, and then from us back to him.  He gives His gifts, and together we receive and extol them.  We build one another up as we speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.  Our Lord gives us his body to eat and his blood to drink.  Finally his blessing moves us out into our calling, where his gifts have their fruition.  How best to do this we may learn from his Word and from the way his Word has prompted his worship through the centuries.  We are heirs of an astonishingly rich tradition.  Each generation receives from those who went before and, in making that tradition of the Divine Service its own, adds what best may serve in its own day -- the living heritage and something new." - Introduction from Lutheran Worship. 

As we receive this gift, Jesus also forgives our sins, strengthens our faith, and promises us eternal life.  In addition, as we commune together, we also confess our common faith with those who commune with us.  Therefore, we warmly welcome all who confess our common faith, that is, all who are members of congregations of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.  Out of respect for God’s Word, we kindly ask all others to speak with Pastor Fouts before coming to Holy Communion.