LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1998, Page 63

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REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
before our Synod in the months ahead. But if you want to
know what more than anything else—what more than anything else—I would like to lay before our Synod in convention in part III of this the President’s report, it is this challenge. Yes, and I am intentionally using the word challenge.
A Challenge for All of Us
It is the challenge to you, my brother pastors and other
full-time church workers, that we, in our own personal
lives, witness to Jesus Christ to those with whom we come
into contact, and that we do so as we have never done before. It is the challenge to you our lay leadership and to the
members of your congregations that we vigorously tell the
Good News of Jesus in our various activities and callings
in life. It is the challenge to our seminary and our college
professors that they weave into the fabric of all of that
which they are teaching the goal of reaching people for
Jesus Christ. It is the challenge to our Synod’s boards and
commissions, to our Districts and synodical leaders, that
we keep this emphasis in mind as we plan and unfold all
that we do, so that we help our Synod to tell the Good News
about Jesus.
It is a challenge to our congregations, Districts, yes, our
Synod, to grab hold of this 3/10 Emphasis and with one unified voice say, “As we move into the final years of this present century, and the opening years of the next, we are
going, with great zeal—with great zeal—to reach out to
those around us who do not know Jesus Christ and the
Good News of His salvation. And we are going to do it with
untiring vigor in the Lord.”
I certainly do not need to tell you that we as a Synod are
known throughout the world as a confessional Lutheran
church body. And I daily thank God that that is the case.

63

Let us never, never, never become ashamed of that fact.
But in addition to this, wouldn’t it be neat—just wouldn’t it
be neat—if at the end of the first decade of the 21st century
others would be saying about us personally, our congregations, our Districts and our Synod, that we are a church
body that not only really stresses and knows the importance of remaining faithful to the Word and the Lutheran
Confessions, but also that we are a church that is known
for reaching out boldly with the Gospel to those who do not
yet know Christ as Savior? So my goal for our Synod as we
move into the days ahead is to be guided by these two
equally important themes: faithfulness and outreach.
Faithfulness and outreach!

Conclusion: God Makes the Impossible
Possible—in Jesus Christ!
“Impossible,” you say? No, I’m not willing to accept that.
For I still believe that ours is a God who makes the impossible possible in Jesus Christ. And so it is that challenge,
more than anything else, that I would lay before you in this
the third part of the President’s report. Again, will we be
talking about some pretty heavy issues in connection with
this convention? Sure we will. But when this convention is
over, may the greatest issue that we have talked about, the
greatest issue we have resolved, the number 1 thing that
you as delegates will carry back to your people, be this—
that as we move into the years ahead, we as individuals,
congregations, and church leaders, will be telling others the
good news about Jesus Christ—and that as we have never
done before. For this, O Lord, we pray. And to that end, O
God, bless us! Bless us! Bless us! Thank you.