LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 74

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74

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

destruction. Well, my dear friends in Christ, we have too
much work to do together as we move into the new millennium telling the Good News about Jesus to allow ourselves
to be pulled off the well-worn path of God’s Word and our
Lutheran Confessions.
We need to stay on the good path that leads us on the
way God would have us go: the way of complete and total
faithfulness to His Word. This well-worn path leads us
away from compromise to conviction. It leads us away from
fear to faith. It leads us from doubt to hope, from darkness
to light, from error to truth. It is God’s way, a way He has
marked out in His Word, a way that we Lutherans have
courageously confessed in the Book of Concord, the way
that we Missouri Synod Lutherans have been walking for
more than 150 years. Courageously, therefore, we move
into the new millennium filled with the hope and joy and
confidence that is ours in our Savior, Jesus Christ. He
walks before us. He leads us until the end of our journey in
heaven. We move into the new millennium with confidence
and courage and decisive conviction.

recognize that there are noisy minorities, both to the right
and left, that would have us believe that there is a great
disunity among us. But this is not true. Noisy voices advocating their agendas among us tend to drown out the faithful, quiet voices of those in our Synod, people like you from
our Synod’s grassroots who love our Lord and His Word.
The majority of our Synod thanks God for the magnificent
heritage which is ours as a Synod, praises Him for that
good and that well-worn path that we have been following,
and is committed to moving forward on that same path
with confidence, courage, and conviction.
Dr. Barry, whom God in His wisdom decided to take
home, provided such excellent leadership to our Synod. As
you delegates consider whom to elect to important positions, I encourage you to consider Dr. Barry’s model for all
of us. Dr. Barry brought to our Synod a clarity of teaching
with the charity of a pastor’s heart. This is the kind of leadership we need in this Synod. I urge you to choose this type
of person for the good of the church, for the good of our
Synod, as we move together into a new millennium.

III. Moving together
into the new millennium with conviction

Conclusion

Last night we worshipped our Lord and received His
tremendous gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation through
the Word and Sacraments. We prayed together. We meditated on God’s Word together. We confessed our sins to God
and to one another. We received the Lord’s forgiveness. We
communed together, receiving Christ’s precious body and
blood. Now we are ready to get down to the business that is
before us at this convention. It is time to get to work. It is
time for decisions to be made with clear conviction.
There are many excellent, positive, forward-looking resolutions for you to consider in the area of missions, congregational services, theology and church relations, program
and finance, higher education, human care, and synodical
structure. Your floor committees have done excellent work.
They have done a good job. I strongly encourage you to consider very carefully the resolutions they will be presenting
to you.
At this convention we have the opportunity to clarify for
ourselves, once more, as we have done repeatedly in past
conventions, that when it comes to matters of God’s Word,
we are not merely resolving to follow nice suggestions or
theories. When we as a Synod in convention adopt a resolution declaring what it is that we as a church believe,
teach, and confess, this is not merely a matter of “advice” to
the members of the Synod, to our pastors, congregations,
and rostered church workers. The Synod really does have
every right to expect and to require all the members of the
Synod, and even more so, elected officials, to abide faithfully by the Synod’s Constitution and Bylaws, and to our
doctrinal statements and resolutions. This is not the introduction of something new. This is not a “tightening of the
screws,” as some have chosen to call it. This has been the
position of the Synod ever since our first president, Dr.
C. F. W. Walther. This is what it means to walk together.
It is time for us to move together into the new millennium decisively, united in our confession of God’s Word.
This Synod is far more united than it is divided. We need to
200l Convention Proceedings

This is my first and only opportunity and privilege to address you this way as President of the Synod. Let me therefore conclude with the best words I can offer you, not mine,
but the Lord’s. Hebrews chapter 13 has these words of encouragement for all of us. Verse 1: “Keep on loving one another as brothers.” Verse 2: “Remember your leaders who
spoke the Word of God to you—imitate their faith.” Verse 8:
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Verse 9: “Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange
teachings.” What good words for us to hear as now we go to
work! Keep them close to your heart and mind in the days
of this convention. I pray with you who now would join me
in constant and fervent prayer to our Lord that He will
bless us with wisdom and courage.
Finally, from Hebrews chapter 13, verses 20 and 21:
“May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal
covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that
great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything
good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is
pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory
for ever and ever. Amen!”
Appendix

Revised “Concluding Affirmations and Rejections”
Sept. 28, 2000
1.
Affirm: God promises to initiate and sustain a saving relationship with Himself only through the means of grace.
Signs and wonders and spiritual gifts given by God may accompany the means of grace.
Reject: That signs and wonders and spiritual gifts have
been given as marks of the true church; that the church has
been given an ongoing command (e.g., “Go ye therefore . . .
baptizing,” “this do ye oft”) to perform signs and wonders;
and that signs and wonders and spiritual gifts are brought
about according to the schedules of human beings.