LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1992, Page 62

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62 REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

Appendix C
(See “Entered into Rest” at the back of this Proceedings.)

Part Il .

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

“WITH GREAT BOLDNESS—Tell Everyone What HE
Has Done!” What a marvelous theme we have for the 58th
Regular Convention of The Lutheran Chureh—Missouri
Synod! How simply and clearly it.expresses the mission of
the church and challenges us to do it, and to do it now!

The words.themselves combine a phrase from Acts 4

with familiar words from our post-Communion canticle,
based on Psalm 105: “Thank the Lord and sing His praise;

tell everyone what He has done.” Not only did those words .

serve us well in our 1989 Wichita convention, but through-
out the past triennium. As the boards, commissions, task
forces, Districts, and other entities of the Synod developed
their plans and priorities, the 1989 convention theme
emerged as a short, but powerful mission statement for
the entire Synod. Simply, but directly, those words remind
us that our task is felling, that our subject matter is God’s
action in redeeming the world through Jesus Christ, and
that the audience of our telling is nothing less than the
entire world. What a glorious theme this remains for our
coming convention! It’s responsive! It’s celebrational! It
points to our mission, focuses on our message, and reminds
us that’ God has sent us into all the world. It provides a
clear focus for every action we take at our coming conven-
tion—and for every congregation, as well.

But to remind ourselves of the urgency of our telling in
a world where billions of people are without faith in Jesus
Christ, we have added the words, “With Great Boldness,”
from Acts 4. You remember that chapter, don’t you? Im-
mediately after the miracle of Pentecost, Peter healed a
crippled beggar, spoke to the onlookers about the resur-
rection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and promptly found
himself before the Sanhedrin. There he forthrightly ex-
plained that it was “by the name of Jesus Christ of Naz-
areth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the
dead, that this man stands before you healed... Salvation
is found in no one else, for there is no other name under
heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (10-12
NIV). Three times in the verses that follow, St. Luke uses
the same word, parresia, to describe the bold quality of
their witness to the Christ. That boldness so unnerved the
Sanhedrin that they conferred about what they would do

and its members called in Peter and John again, and again .

the disciples expressed themselves with great courage:
“Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to
obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking
about what we have seen and heard.”

After they were let go, Peter and John went back to
their circle of believers and told them everything that hap-
pened. And at that point, that tiny circle of believers, which
by some standards should have been scared to death,
prayed: “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable Your
servants to speak Your word with great boldness” (v. 29).
St. Luke records the result very simply: “After they prayed,

the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they
were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of
God boldly” (v, 31). And their boldness in telling about the
risen Christ did not stop! Again and again in the book of
Acts, and indeed throughout the writings of the New Tes-
tament, we read about the bold, courageous, venturesome,
risky, joyfully confident witness of the early church as they .
told everyone what He, the risen Christ, had done!

We, in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod need
that boldness, too. In the sinful and difficult world in which
we live, it’s five minutes to twelve in God’s time, as the
signs of His return to judge surround us. With 65 to 75
percent of the world not even knowing about the Christ,
and with all the resources God has given us and our people,

“ we can no longer continue to do business as usual in our

congregations and personal lives. It’s time for us to be bold -
in our telling, bod in our mission and outreach, dold in
our congregational ministries, bold in taking our theolog-
ical position on difficult issues into al] the world, bold in
expanding our church relationships on the basis of the
Word of God, dold in offering new opportunities for service
to the men and women who constitute the royal priesthood
of believers, bold in establishing peace within the church,
bold in works of love and mercy toward the poor and un-
fortunate, and bold in risking new patterns of organiza-
tional effectiveness in order to tell everyone what He has
done as quickly, as powerfully, and as effectively as we
can.
Role of the Convention

Admittedly, it’s difficult for the large number of people
involved in a convention such as ours, who must deal with
the large amount of business we expect a convention to
handle, to gain,a collective sense of the actions that must
be taken to tell everyone what He has done with great
boldness. That’s why the leadership provided by floor com-
mittees is so important to a successful convention. For,
although a convention is the principal legialative assembly
of the Synod, it exists for other purposes as well, and all _
of its objectives pertain to the work and responsibility of
floor committees, Our bylawa state the functions of con-
ventions very well:

The national convention of the Synod shall afford
an opportunity for worship, nurture, inspiration, fel- °
lowship, and the communication of vital information.
It is the principal legislative assembly, which,
amends the Constitution and Bylaws, considers and
takes action on reports and overtures, and handles
appropriate appeals. It establishes general synodical
positions and policies, provides overall program di-
rection and priorities, and evaluates all such posi-
tions, programs, policies, directions, and priorities in
order to provide responsible service for ‘and in behalf
of its members. Only a national convention of the
Synod shal] authorize affiliation or association of the