LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1998, Page 72

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72

CONVENTION ESSAYS AND BIBLE STUDIES

this task either. Some would say, “Ours is a well-established congregation. We have to take care of those entrusted to us. We are not a witnessing congregation. We are
a nurturing congregation.” I hope you are a nurturing congregation. All should be. But all congregations are called to
be witnessing congregations. It is in the very nature of the
Gospel. It simply cannot be separated from what the Gospel
is. The Gospel received by your congregation is the Gospel
to be witnessed to others. What is true of each of us, what is
true of each of our congregations, is also true of our Synod.
We are a Synod of the pure Word. We are a Synod of strong
doctrinal teaching. We emphasize that. Therefore, some
might conclude we can’t be an outreach Synod. We can’t be
a witnessing Synod. Sorry, that won’t do. Of course, we are
a Synod of the pure Word. Of course, we are a Synod of
strong doctrinal teaching. And it’s that very pure word, that
very strong doctrinal teaching, that impels us to be a witnessing Synod, reaching out with the Good News of salvation to the entire world.

VI. Our Teaching and Commitment
We witness to what we believe. We are a church that is
committed to the Scripture as the inspired Word of God
that is both Law and Gospel. We are committed to proclamation of the Law as it condemns both sin and sinner. We
are committed to the preaching of the Gospel that proclaims the death and the resurrection of the Lord for repentance and forgiveness of sins. We are incarnational in
our theology, that is, all of our preaching and teaching is
about what happened in time and in real places. Our Lord
became flesh for us. He was true God and also true man.
He really died on the cross for our sins. He rose with His

real body from the grave and with that real body ascended
to the Father. As we are incarnational we are also sacramental. That real Lord who did die and rise again is the
same Lord who commanded Baptism as a gracious water of
life through which the sinner is reborn and forgiven and
made a child and heir of eternal life. The real Lord stood
before His disciples in the upper room on Maundy Thursday and by His word said of the bread and the wine of the
supper that it was His body and blood for the forgiveness
of sins. That same body that died on the cross and rose
again, is the body and the blood that comes to us in the
sacrament for the forgiveness of our sins.
That is the treasure that we have. It is the treasure with
which we have been entrusted. How can we who have so
richly received do anything other than witness to that grace
and mercy given to us? We hear the mandate of the Lord.
Repentance and forgiveness should be preached to the entire world. It is through this Gospel message that we reach
out to a world in need. Only we Christians are entrusted
with these gifts from the Lord. We are called to evangelize
in the name of the Lord who died and rose for us.

Discussion Questions
1. What unique strengths does our Synod have that empower us for the task of outreach?
2. Discuss specific ways that I personally and my congregation corporately can be about the task of outreach and
evangelization.
Roger D. Pittelko, President Emeritus,
English District; Professor, Ministry and
Missions, Concordia Theological Seminary