LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1995, Page 101

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Thank. you, Mr. Chairman. My sisters and brothers i in
Christ: I deeply appreciate | the opportunity to share a few

words, with this assembly: at:the time when my service as _

an officer of the Synod is.coming to a close. First of all, I ex-
tend: to you, Dr. Barry,.and also to Drs. Kuhn, King,
Bunkowske, Meyer, and Schulz, sincere congratulations
and best wishes.on your elections to your ministries .of lead-
ership in the church. I pray that God gives you the wisdom
which comes from above and especially the mind and heart
of Christ, so that the church and the world might be blessed
through your servant leadership. I pray the same-blessing
for Dr. Rosin‘and Dr. Sell and for all others entrusted with
special privileges and responsibilities of servanthood. May
God bless. you from on high and make you a-blessing unto
many, that you might bring forth much fruit and that your
fruit might remain unto eternal life. -.°"

I personally want to thank my God and this part of His
church which we know as The Lutheran Church—Missouri
Synod for the opportunity to serve in His kingdom for these
40 years in the various places and ministries to which He
has called. I thank my God for the joy of being able to ob-
serve and even be a part of the miracles of God in so many
ways. I thank Him for the many people with whom I have
been privileged to work and who have become such an im-
portant part of my life. ’'m thinking particularly of the
Council of Presidents, with whom I have been privileged to
serve for 25 years. What a great group of Christian men
and dedicated servant leaders in the church! I’m thinking of
the executives, officers, and staff who serve our Synod so
capably in the various ministries of the Synod. I’m think-
ing of my own secretary and assistant who has worked with
me so faithfully through these many years and also for that
great group of staff and workers at the International Cen-
ter and throughout the Synod whose names usually are not
listed in reports or resolutions, but who are so important in
the ministry of our Lord. I’m thinking of the many pastors
and teachers, lay men and women throughout the Synod
and for their kindness and friendship through many years
and in so many ways. Joyce and I have been so richly
blessed by all of them and, more importantly, the church
has been blessed through them.

In spite of some heavy moments, I would much rather
think of the many exciting times—some of them also at this
convention—which show the real heart of Missouri. How
good it was to witness this convention’s warm and enthusi-
astic response to the reports of the recent Youth Gathering
in San Antonio. How good to observe the large majority ap-
proval of the Congregational Services and board designed
to help the Synod be of even greater service to the congre-
gations. And how wonderful to see our enthusiastic joy over
the many reports of mission work going on in so many
places throughout The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

This, my sisters and brothers in Christ, is the Synod at
its best. And my word of encouragement to you at this time
is simply this: Let’s move ahead with joy in doing what we
do best. To borrow the title from an article by Rich Bimler

102

| 3. . First Vice-President’s Address to the Convention

some time ago, “The Main Thing Is to Keep the Main Thing
the Main Thing.” And by the grace of God, you and I know
what that is. God’s main thing is to forgive and love and re-
deem all of His creation. The church’s main thing is to grow
in the grace of God and the love of Jesus Christ and to have
a heart’s desire to share in word and in deed that love and
that message which has been entrusted to us. We need to
do that at all levels of the church, from the conventions of
the Synod and the national and District Synod boards and
officers, all the way up to the congregations of this church.
With that in mind, let me tell you just a few things that
will continue to be in my heart and my prayers for The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. I pray that we will al-
ways see ourselves, unworthy as we are individually, as the
specially favored and blessed saints of God. I pray that we
will always see ourselves with joy as a part of the commu-
nion of saints, the holy Christian church, and that we will
seek every way that we possibly can to express the oneness
that we have in Christ with the whole church on earth. I
pray that we will always see the Synod as the creation of
our congregations, not to control congregations, but to sup-
port and encourage and strengthen the ministries of God’s
people wherever they are being carried out. I pray that we
will always guard against putting up barriers between our-
selves and the world, but rather seek ways to open doors
just as wide as we possibly can. And I pray that we will al-
ways keep our priorities straight and clear, and that our
real excitement will always be in those things that truly
make a difference in the long and eternal plans of God.