LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 96

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for us brings maximum comfort to broken sinners. This
is what by the grace of God I’ve sought to proclaim and
be about for 40 years as a Lutheran pastor. Christ for
you! Indeed, we are “Joy:fully Lutheran” because the
core of who we are, the center of our theology, is Christ
for you, Christ for all sinners.

The next three days Professor Tom Egger and Pastors
Josemon Hoem and Gottfried Martens will expand on
why therefore we rejoice always, why we pray without
ceasing, and how we might give thanks in all
circumstances.

Being “Joy:fully Lutheran” we accept without reservation the
Scriptures as the written Word of God and the Book of
Concord “as a true and unadulterated statement and
exposition of the Word of God.” (LCMS Constitution, Article II,
LCMS 2016 Handbook, 12).
2
Convention Bible study, 3.
3
Rom. 4:25.
4
The quote continues: “Should the Christian be reminded all
day long that the flowers of his youth fall more and more, he
stands planted by God in the water of his baptism as a palm
tree which becomes greener and greener and whose leaves
never wither; yes, his baptism makes death for him like a short
winter’s nap [Winterschlafe], out of which an eternal spring—
an eternal youth—follows” [Walther, Licht des Lebens, 91, trans.
Jon Vieker].
5
See also Eggold, Selected Sermons, 107.
6
Ps. 51:5.
7
Gen. 8:21.
8
Rom. 6:23.
9
Nicene Creed, LSB, 158.
10
Nicene Creed.
11
The night before He died, Jesus told His disciples, “the ruler
of this world is coming, he has no claim on me!” (John 14:30).
12
SC, Creed, Meaning of the Second Article.
13
AE 26:162.
14
AE 26:162.
15
See also Luke 24:44–49; Acts 5:31–32, 13:38–40; Eph. 1:7.
16
Ap IV:154.
17
Rom. 3:28.
18
AE 26:168.
19
Luke 7:48.
20
Heb. 4:12.
21
Matt. 26:26–28.
22
Is. 55:10–11.
23
LC I:101, see Is. 55:11; Mark 4:20; Phil. 4:8; Heb. 4:12. See also
LC II:55, “Everything, therefore, in the Christian Church is

ordered toward this goal: we shall daily receive in the Church
nothing but the forgiveness of sin through the Word and signs,
to comfort and encourage our consciences as long as we live
here. … For we are in the Christian Church, where there is
nothing but ‹continuous, uninterrupted› forgiveness of sin.
This is because God forgives us and because we forgive, bear
with, and help one another.”
24
Luke 15:10.
25
The LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations
(CTCR) recently published a great document on the gift of
Confession and Absolution.
26
We are assuming here the biblical understanding of
marriage, that it is the union of one man and one woman for
life (Matt. 19:4–9). Certainly, in this fallen world there are
various forms of the family in which God can still bless us.
Many children, through no fault of their own, because of death
or divorce, grow up in single-parent homes. In addition, by
way of contrast, the world offers various counterfeit forms
with cohabitation, same-sex marriage, etc., all of which are
examples of the brokenness of sin.
27
See LC III:53–54.
28
Luke 22:42.
29
LC III:57.
30
AC VII:1. This is the Lutheran (biblical) definition of the
church.
31
Lutheran Burial Service, in LSB Pastoral Care Companion, 134,
echoing Phil. 3:20–21.
32
Apostles Creed.
33
2 Peter 3:13.
34
If you noted that this presentation echoes in some way the
line of thinking in the Augsburg Confession’s first few articles
(e.g., the Triune Name, original sin, the person of Christ,
justification, the means of grace, vocation, the church, the
sacraments), this was not accidental!

1

96 | PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2019 (67TH) LCMS CONVENTION

Peace be with you all! – In the name of Jesus!

Convention Essays