# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1986_S93 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 92 BIBLE STUDY AND DEVOTIONAL ESSAYS Why is the local congregation so special? Because its people (members) were purchased and won by Christ and it receives its power exclusively from the Word. St. Paul says it so beautifully in his letter to the Eph. 2:19-22: Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the house- hold of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner- stone. We have been radically transformed and are no longer foreign-trained immigrants laden with sin and its devas- tating consequences, no longer rejected outcasts whose speech and stench are abhorrent. But through our Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrificial blood, we have become fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s house- hold. With joy and jubilation we celebrated the rebirth of the Statue of Liberty. But ours is a far greater liberty, as St. Paul reminds us in Colossians 1:13~—14: He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us safe into the kingdom of His dear Son, by whom we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. One of Dr. C. F. W. Walther’s favorite passages was from 1 Peter: 2:9--10: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His mar- velous light; who once were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. Through Christ we are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a very special people. You see, God is at work in each individual, and jointly in the local congregation. With Christ our cornerstone, and built upon the foun- dation of the apostles and prophets, we are individually and as congregations of the Synod, part of a massive con- struction project. This massive construction is the church, the mighty temple of our Lord, God’s own habitation. So you are somebody very special! And you are members of very special congregations! The power, fuel, resources, strength, yes, even the dynamite that we have for our work is the Word of God. Generation after generation we are filled with this power of the Word in our worship, we speak of our faith to others in our witness, we nurture the old and young through various Christian educational programs, we hold out hands of support and comfort to those in need and provide whatever services within our congregations and in Synod, which may be needed at various times and under various circumstances. Walther prepared a very helpful checklist of 66 rights and duties of the local congregation. The original list ap- pears in his book, The Proper Form of an Evangelical Lu- theran Congregation, which was published in 1862. It is available in Drickamer’s Walther on the Church, pp. 125— 54. This checklist is as valid today as it was at that time and ought to be used annually by congregations to take stock and to measure their spiritual life and work. What does all this tell us? First, that we in our congregations must be deeply in- volved in the study and searching of God’s Word; we must study the Lutheran confessional writings. We will then continue to see that the answers for the questions of our time are God’s own answers as our great confessors have discovered them over the years through their own strug- gles and study. This is what produces “scholarly theo- logians” right in our own parishes. Second, we must go to work in our local congregations with renewed vigor and joy, knowing that we are doing God’s will, in proclaiming the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light and giving aid wherever it is needed. Third, we must realize that we are a vital part of the marvelous continuation of the church, that massive con- struction program which goes on from generation to gen- eration wherever we are located. This is expressed so majestically in the Te Deum, (LW, p. 246) of which the following lines are especially of significance: To you all angels, all the pow’rs of heaven, cherubim and ser- aphim, sing in endless praise: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of pow’ and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. The glorious company of the apostles praise you. The noble fellow- ship of prophets praise you. The white robed army of martyrs praise you. Throughout the world the holy church acclaims you. In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Blessed Lord Jesus: Wherever Your Word is preached and Your holy sacraments are administered, there You are gathering Your church and congregation. There You are building Your temple, a house of God, built with lively stones fitly framed together, set upon the eternal foun- dation. You have chosen the church, the bride, and placed it where You have prepared a field white unto the harvest. In the midst of the wheat there are also tares, as there are wise virgins, so are there also foolish ones. Even open enemies of Your Word sometimes stealthily creep in among Your disciples. Oh, preserve each one of us assembled here, not only to belong to Your church outwardly but always to remain committed to Your Word and service. We pray that You would place us into the world as a continued blessing, so that we may proclaim Your holy Word in every circumstance where we may find ourselves and that our lives may conform to the message we are speaking. Bless our congregations and all our people that together in our Synod and especially at this convention we may accomplish great things for You. Pour out Your Holy Spirit generously upon all of us, over pastors and listeners in all our churches, teachers and students in all of our schools, parents and children in all of our homes, so that as we call ourselves Yours here on earth, we may also someday acknowledge You before the face of Your Father in Heaven. Hear us, Lord Jesus, for the sake of Your holy name. Amen. (Adapted from Walther’s Ansprachen u. Gebete, St. Louis: CPH, 1889, pp. 86, 89.) August R. Suelflow, D.D.