LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1998, Page 52

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52

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

Therefore, my encouragement to our Synod is this: Look
forward to the dawning of a third millenium of God’s grace
with a strong, bold, courageous commitment to the truth of
God’s Word and to the Lutheran Confessions! Go forward
with a renewed commitment to reach out boldly with the
precious Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to
those who do not yet know Him. Yes, go forward—with
great joy, hope, and confidence in the One who has called
us to go forth with His blessing—to the ends of the earth.

Sadly, we must realize that so many churches in this great
nation of ours have moved away from the biblical Gospel
and substituted false and misleading gospels for it. We
must resist movements that would tempt us away from our
firm confidence and trust in the truth of the Lord’s Word.
Our great mission and calling from the Lord is boldly, with
great joy, to proclaim the Gospel—to the ends of the earth.
Joyful Commitment to Teaching the Faith

Bold Proclamation of the Biblical Gospel

This hallmark really goes along with the previous one.
Our Lord told us to go and make disciples by teaching them
everything that He has commanded. Here I want to make
the point that teaching the faith is a critical hallmark of a
church that wishes to be and remain a genuinely Lutheran
church. Today, more than ever before, we must make every
effort to provide high-quality ongoing instruction in the
Christian faith. We call this process of Christian education
“catechesis.” When we talk about mission work, this is
what it is all about. We are called by our Lord to lead people to an ever increasing knowledge of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We teach those who do not have a saving
faith in Christ and we teach those who are lifelong Christians. From cradle to grave, our Lord’s mission remains the
same. We are to teach everything He has commanded.
I was listening to one of our Synod’s radio programs recently, and the question was asked, “Why is a Jehovah’s
Witness able to shake a Lutheran’s faith in fifteen minutes,
when that Lutheran has spent twenty years attending
church?” That is a very good question! We must resolve to
redouble, yes, even triple our commitment to teaching good,
solid doctrinal truths to our people, helping them to see
that this is not abstract theory, but practical and life-giving truth for their daily life. Our adults need to be educated
in an ongoing intensive and purposeful manner.
When people are brought into our congregations they
need thorough, careful instruction in the Lutheran faith.
This careful process of instruction needs to continue beyond
the new-member classes in our parishes. There needs to be
ongoing, high-quality adult education programs of all kinds
in the parish, addressing all concerns from the standpoint
of the question, “What does God’s Word have to say?” and
“How do we as Lutherans respond to this or that issue?”
Our Synod’s commitment to high-quality education will
continue to be a great hallmark of our church. Thank God
for the work being done in this important area. Let us
strengthen it and increase it.

Bold proclamation of the biblical Gospel must be another
chief hallmark of our beloved Synod. Even as in the past,
so in the future, this church will stand or fall on the most
important truth given to us by our Lord. This is the truth
that we become children of God, declared to be completely
forgiven and righteous in His sight, by the suffering and
death of our Lord Jesus Christ alone. We are made free in
Him, alone, entirely as a gift of His undeserved love and
mercy to us. His perfect righteousness covers our sin and
makes us free to be His people.
Boldly, we proclaim this fantastically good news to one
and all alike. We continue to bear witness to it in our daily
lives, no matter who we are and no matter what we do.
This will continue to be our great privilege in the Lord.

We recognize more than ever before how important it is
for our Synod to remain completely committed to our
Lutheran Confessions. As we courageously, confidently,
and boldly embrace the doctrine of the Lutheran church,
we are bearing witness to our conviction that the Lutheran
Confessions are a true exposition of the Word of God. We
therefore resolve as a Synod to move forward, joyfully proclaiming to the world, “This is what we believe, teach, confess, and practice.”
We have watched with great sadness and dismay as our
friends in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
have moved away from a strong commitment to our

II. Hallmarks of a Strong, Vibrant
Lutheran Church
As we move forward there are several important questions we need to ask ourselves. What has made this church
body of ours great down through the years? What have
been the hallmarks of our Synod that have continued to
provide great energy and life to our Synod? What will continue to be the important characteristics that will mark us
as a Synod as we move into the years ahead? If we are
going to continue to be the kind of Lutheran church that
our Lord wants us to be as we move into the future, there
are a number of important characteristics and qualities
that must continue to be genuine hallmarks of The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.
Passion for Our Lord’s Word and Sacraments
The Word of God, in both Law and Gospel, is the
Lutheran church’s great foundation and strength. It alone
is our source for knowing God and knowing His will for us.
The Scriptures are the only way we know the Gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ and are the sole rule and norm for teaching everything about that precious Gospel. Our Synod will
remain strong as long as we remain faithful to the inerrant
and infallible Word of God, the Holy Scriptures.
The Lord’s sacraments, Holy Baptism and Holy Communion, are the treasures and gifts He has given us by which He
comes into our lives, through the Word, to make us His own
dear children and continually to strengthen us in our faith.
The sacraments are God’s sure and certain means of coming
to us and applying the blessings of the Gospel to each of us
individually. In a day when so many people are looking for a
real experience with God, there is nothing more real than the
gifts we receive through our Lord’s Word and Sacraments.
Praise and thanks be to God for His great gifts to us!

Strong Embrace of the Lutheran Confessions