LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 1

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SYNODICAL REPORTS

R1-08
The President’s Report to the 2001 Synodical
Convention
Part I

Moving Together into a New Millennium
Telling the Good News about Jesus

Grace, mercy, and peace to each of you from Him who is, who
was, and who is to come, even Jesus Christ our Righteousness.
Amen.

This is now the third time that I have had the honor and privi-
lege of offering a report to the Synod as we once again find our-
selves gathering in convention. This is the first part of my report. I
will offer the second part of my report at the meeting of our floor
committees over the Memorial Day weekend. This second part will
then be printed in the first issue of Today's Business, which all del-
egates will receive shortly before the convention. The third part of
my report I will offer on Sunday morning to the convention.

In this, the first part of my report, I want to organize my
thoughts around the theme Moving Together into a New Millen-
nium Telling the Good News about Jesus. First, | want to talk about
what it means for us to walk into a new millennium together as a
Synod of congregations, moving forward in the work our Lord has
for us to do. Second, I will talk about the all-important commis-
sion our Lord has given to His church—telling the Good News of
His great salvation. Third, I will offer a summary of the activities of
the President’s Office during this past triennium.

I. Moving Together into a New Millennium

Praise the Lorb! Praise, O servants of the Loro, praise the
name of the Lorp! Blessed be the name of the Lorp from this time
forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its going down
the Lorp’s name is to be praised. The Lorv is high above all na-
tions, His glory above the heavens. Who is like the LorD our God,
who dwells on high, who humbles Himself to behold the things that
are in the heavens and in the earth? Psalm 113:1-6

As we move together into a new millennium, we must begin
first by offering our thanks and praise to our good and gracious
God. We do so in humble repentance, recognizing that indeed, ac-
cording to our sin, we deserve nothing but His wrath and punish-
ment. We look over our faults and failings, both as individuals and
as a church, and we bow in repentant humility before the throne of
grace, knowing that there sits the loving, merciful Father who sent
us His Son and by the power of the Holy Spirit continues to pardon,
renew, and strengthen us for service.

When we stop to consider the privilege that has been given to us
by our good and gracious God to be moving together into a new
millennium, we join the psalmist in words of praise and adoration
for all the blessings we have been given. What a time of opportu-
nity this is for us as a Synod. There are so many challenges in our
lives and, yes, challenges in our Synod as well, but we dare never
lose sight of the tremendous blessings that have been poured out
on us.

First, the great blessing of the complete and total forgiveness of
all of our sins. The blessing of being baptized children of God is
beyond any treasure we could hope to obtain in this life. We have
the blessing of hope and peace and joy now in this present life, all
made ours in Christ to whom all authority in heaven and on earth
has been given. It is this Lord, it is this Christ whom we serve and
obey, love and cherish. We move together into the new millennium
confident in His blessing and His presence. We move together fol-
lowing Him with confidence and trust.

We follow Him together. We move together into the new mil-
lennium. This is what being a “Synod” is all about. We support one
another. We encourage one another. We help one another be the

best church we possibly can be. Together, as a Synod, we are
bound together in common as we move together into a new mil-
lennium. We follow the example of the apostolic church (Acts
15:1-31), which was keenly aware of the great strength and bless-
ing that come through unity and moving forward together as a
church. We move together into the new millennium realizing that
we join together and stand together and move together, because it is
our Lord’s will that the great diversity of gifts He has entrusted to
us will be used for the common good of us all (1 Cor. 4-31). What
are some of these common commitments?

Moving Together into a New Milennium ... United in the One True
Faith

Our Lord speaks to us about this blessed unity through the apos-
tle Paul in Ephesians 3:1-6:

[, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a
manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with
all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to
one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also
you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith,
one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through
all and in all. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you
were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all
and in all.

And again, in | Corinthians 1:10:

Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that you all agree, and there be no divisions among you,
but you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judg-
ment.

As we move together into a new millennium, we must continue
lo remain strongly united together with one another in the true faith.
United in personal tastes? No. United in personal opinions? No.
United in personal preferences? No. This is not the unity about
which the Scriptures speak. We are drawn by God’s Holy Spirit to
be and remain united in the one true and alone-saving faith, to re-
main united in the teachings of God’s Word, to remain united with
one another in this sure and certain doctrine. For it, and it alone, is
the truth that God has given to us, the truth that reveals the Savior
and all that He has done and all that He means for us. Our Lord
told us that by continuing in His Word we are truly His disciples
(John 8:3 1-32).

This is precisely why our Synod accepts without reservation the
Old and New Testament Scriptures as the written Word of God and
the only rule and norm of our faith and practice. Because we do,
we also accept without reservation the confessional books of the
Lutheran church, namely, those documents gathered together into
the Book of Concord of 1580. Concord means “harmony.” It is this
God-given doctrinal harmony, or unity, that marks our Synod as a
genuine and authentic Lutheran church.

United in the truths of God’s Holy Word, we join hands in the
great mission task our Lord has given to us. ,

Moving Together into a New Millennium ... Strengthening and
Supporting One Another to Give Bold Witness

As we move together into a new millennium, we work to sup-
port and encourage one another to give witness to our faith—bold
witness. Witness that comes not from fear, but that is born of faith.
Witness that is not given grudgingly or out of a sense of obligation
to some rules or law, but joyful witness to the alone-saving Lord
and Savior Jesus. Our witness is bold because of the great and glo-
rious work of our saving Lord, Jesus. I will be elaborating further
on this in the next section, but it is this bold witness that the
Synod’s “Tell the Good News about Jesus” effort is all about.

2001 Convention Workbook