LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 107

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Thank you, Dr. Preus and fellow Christians of The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. I am greatly im-
pressed with what you have done for your Lord through
Forward in Remembrance. I also am very pleased with
the part that Dr. Preus played in this. It took a great deal
of courage for him to suggest this appeal. It also took a
great deal of persistence to overcome the resistance and
the apprehensions and the lack of faith that often
confronts something new and something adventurous.
I have no reservations about Forward in Remem-
prance. I thank God for everything that it has done for
our church body. Its accomplishments go far, far beyond
_the dollars that it raised. However, I am concerned
about my own attitude. When people say how great
Forward in Remembrance has been, there is an inclina-
tion on my part, as there is in you or anybody else, to be
proud and to begin to think that we have done it. It’s
kind of like that story of the elephant that crossed a
rickety bridge. As he went across, the bridge creaked
and it swayed. The girders groaned, but finally the
elephant got to the other side. There was a flea in the
elephant’s ear, and the flea shouted into the ear, “We
sure shook that one didn’t we!” The extent of the role I
played was about that of the little flea. It was the
blessing and power of God that brought about the
miracle of Forward in Remembrance. So that I might
not become proud, or believe that it is I who have done

G. W. Hyatt

STEWARDSHIP EMPHASIS

Forward in Remembrance

this thing, I would like to have you shout with me, “To
God alone the glory!”

A church can become proud too. And a church can
take God’s goodness and all His blessings for granted.
Moses warned Israel of this temptation: “Beware that
thou forget not the Lord thy God...lest when thou hast
eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and
dwelt therein; and when thy heards and thy flocks
multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and
all thou hast is multiplied; then thine heart be lifted up,
and thou forget the Lord thy God ... and thou say in
thine heart, ‘My power and the might of mine hand hath
gotten me this wealth.’ But thou shalt remember the
Lord thy God; for it is He that giveth thee power to get
wealth” (Dueteronomy 8:11-18).1 would like to have you
repeat with me again, “To God alone the glory!”

Now that we have established the source of success, I
think it is appropriate to tell you about some of the
people God used for these great purposes. One of them is
my great friend; an individual who has been with me
through these 23 months; the one who wrote the Bible
studies, the publications, those country studies you
received in your bulletin on Sunday; the one who wrote
the news releases telling you what was going on in

Forward in Remembrance. He really did “educate and
motivate” us toward Forward in Remembrance. At this
time I’m going to ask him to offer a prayer of thanks to

Marcus Zill

107