Defining Religion

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Impanation

is the false idea that the body and blood of our Savior are locally enclosed in the bread and the wine in the Lord?s Supper. Lutherans believe that the body and blood of our Savior are truly present but in an illocal, supernatural manner.

Inerrancy

The teaching that the Bible is without error and true in all that it says; since the Bible is the word of God, given through holy writers inspired by the Holy Spirit, everything it records is true because God cannot lie (2 Timothy 3:16, John 17:17, Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18).

Inspiration

The teaching that God breathed into the writers of Scripture the truths he wanted them to record in the very words he chose. The Holy Spirit used each writer's vocabulary, writing style, life situation, etc., to convey the very message which he has intended us to have.

Intercessory Prayer

to ask God for something for someone else. The Bible urges that "requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone-for kings and all those in authority" (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

Invocation

a prayer asking God to be present with us as we worship. We generally begin our worship services with the brief Trinitarian invocation, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."