LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 63

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REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT
litical challenges we face as a national church body in our
rapidly changing world in the years ahead.
At the same time, I am highly encouraged and most optimistic about the future of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in the decades to come! Here are the reasons
for this positive perspective:
• We have a system of Christian education at all levels—
primary, elementary, secondary, collegiate, university,
and seminary—that is the envy of Christian bodies
throughout the world. While the educational enterprise
faces significant financial challenges, I am truly thankful for the faithfulness, dedication, and commitment of
the faculty and staff of all our schools, including the Concordia University System and its institutions!
• We have a mission focus and worldwide mission emphasis that has been actively involved for more than a century in bringing the precious Gospel of Christ to nations,
people groups, tribes, and cultures literally around the
world, resulting in untold numbers of people being
brought to faith in Jesus Christ. What a blessing our
faithful, dedicated, self-sacrificing missionaries and
mission staff have been and continue to be to our Lord’s
church and to our Synod!
• We have consistently and generously demonstrated care
and concern for the human needs of people around the
world through LCMS World Relief, Lutheran Disaster
Response, and Lutheran World Relief. Acts of kindness
and mercy are performed within our country and beyond,
in the name of the healing Christ, through the generous
offerings and gifts of our people. This is a clear demonstration of faith active in love!
• Our pastors and other professional church workers are
engaged and challenged in mission and ministry, often
facing gargantuan tasks and opportunities with limited
fiscal and human resources. They, like all of us, are imperfect human beings, constantly faced with prioritizing
needs and responsibilities in mission and ministry to congregation, community, and world. I thank God for our
faithful pastors, teachers, deaconesses, directors of Christian education, directors of Christian outreach, directors
of Christian music, etc., etc., etc., who serve our congregations and their people with a spirit of commitment,
dedication, and joyful service!
• Our lay leaders and congregational members are blessed
beyond all telling, perhaps even more than they themselves realize. In my travels across the Synod I am even
more aware of, and deeply grateful for, the quality, dedication, faithfulness, and commitment of the people of the
congregations of our Synod than I have been throughout
my entire life and ministry. Our people love this church!
They have a deep desire and heartfelt longing to serve in
any and every way possible! The men and women of our
Synod have many talents, invaluable experience, and virtually unlimited resources to bring to the table of mission
and ministry in the LCMS! I thank God for the men,
women, and children of our Synod!
In view of all these realities, I often ask the question,
With so many blessings and resources, why is our Synod
continuing to decline in numbers and why are we so seem-

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ingly impotent when it comes to influencing the world and
impacting its people with the power of the Gospel at work
through God’s Word and Sacraments? The only answer I
have been able to determine is that, quite simply, the devil
himself recognizes the potential impact of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod in the world that he so desperately wants to destroy. And he works hardest among those
he perceives to be the greatest threat to his dastardly desires to divide and devour (1 Peter 5:8).
The Holy Scriptures express this dilemma quite plainly,
in the words of St. Paul:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the authorities, against the
powers of this dark world and against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on
the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil
comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after
you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then,
with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with
the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your
feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel
of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of
faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and
the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And
pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of
prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me,
that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me
so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the
Gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray
that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. (Ephesians
6:12–20)

That’s my prayer, dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
for myself, for you, and for our entire Synod. Only through
the power of God’s Spirit working within us can we ever
hope to storm the gates of hell, against which the church
shall always prevail (Matthew 16:18)!
In practical terms, this spiritual battle must be fought
with all the God-given resources we can muster. Two-thirds
to three-fourths of the people of the world do not know or
accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord! Without saving
faith in Christ in their hearts, they will not experience eternal life in heaven, but will spend eternity in the flames of
hell! I believe the people of our Synod care about the eternal destiny of the people of the world! I believe the resources of our Synod must be aligned, catalyzed, and released into the world in a way that results in the
transformation and salvation of the lives of many, through
Christ’s love, in time, for eternity (John 3:16–17).
Christians who lived in the days shortly after our Lord’s
ascension into heaven scattered throughout the world, taking with them their firm conviction that Jesus Christ had
risen from the grave, fulfilling our Lord’s command and
prophecy spoken just prior to His ascension:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit
comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the
ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

Following the miracle of Pentecost, the believers “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…and the
Lord added to their number daily those who were being
saved” (Acts 2:42, 47).
These days I’m speaking widely, passionately, and unapologetically about the “Critical Event” as a part of the
2004 Convention Proceedings