# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S704
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

6 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS

We must take that into account, But it can be done if we improve
in Christian stewardship. As God grants us grace and vision ‘eff
willingness to carry on the work, let us “abound in the work:
the Lord.”
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The third lesson which God would impress on us is one
blessed assurance. The: Lord says: “Forasmuch as ye know ry
your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” What a wonderful promisé
Greater encouragement could not be given. :
For our temporal work there is no promise like this. We kno’
that sometimes our labor proves to be in vain. The farmer tills
the soil, plants the seed, and cultivates the crop, but ultimately there
is no real harvest. Why? It isn’t a lack of labor, for he work
as hard as ever. But rain or sunshine failed at the proper time;
The laborer works hard and practices thrift and economy, but somié
prolonged sickness or death of some member of his family or somé
other misfortune befalls him, and as a result his labor seems ¢
be in vain.— The businessman attends to all the affairs of s,
business with great efficiency, with wisdom, with diligence aiid
with every proper precaution, but reverses set in, losses instead:
of profits result, and all his labors were in vain. S
However, our work in the Lord is not in vain. It always brings
results. In our church work we are not sowing ordinary seed}
but that which is divine, not the temporal but the eternal. We’
have God’s solemn promise: “As the rain and the snow cometh:
down from heaven and returneth not thither, but watereth the.
earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give seed *
to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My Word be tha
goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void;
but it shall accomplish that which I please and shall prosper in
the thing whereto I sent it.” The witness-bearing you do for Christ,
the efforts you put forth to win souls for Christ, the prayers you
send to the throne of God in behalf of missions in our own and
foreign countries, the sums of money you contribute for the training :
of workers or the support of missions at home and abroad, the -
personal work you do in your local congregation, in your Distri¢
or in the church at large is not in vain in the Lord. ‘
Let no one think that this is altogether too rosy a picture. It ig
God’s solemn promise, and He fulfills His promises. The Lord never:
forgets that the work of the Church is His work. Jesus wants ug
to know that He has a vital and active interest in the work in His
kingdom. When He commissioned His disciples to do His kingdom ;
work, He added: “And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end
of the world.” The Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father.

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