LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 86

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

86

REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

gates of hell are fighting tooth and nail against the Gospel
in our world and in our culture.
God has blessed our Synod for more than 160 years with a
pure and proper understanding of the Gospel and the Sacraments, informed by a pure and correct interpretation of God’s
revealed, inspired, inerrant, infallible Word in Holy Scripture.
He has called us to share that message with a world largely
full of people who live in depression, despair, doubt, and disbelief, headed without faith in Christ toward eternal death.
And He has called us to do so, both faithfully and fruitfully, in
a country and culture that is vastly different from that which
existed 160 years ago, and in many cases, largely indifferent,
if not downright hostile, toward the Church and the one message of Christ we proclaim.
We must move into the future with courage and wisdom,
with boldness and resolve. We need courage to look at ourselves frankly and honestly with a willingness to change what
needs to be changed and to retain what needs to be retained.
That is the charge given to the Blue Ribbon Task Force on
Synod Structure and Governance as it takes a critical look at
the way the Synod is structured to determine if there is a better way, a more efficient way, or even a more godly way that
we can equip and govern ourselves for the mission God has
given us. It will take courage for us to engage a future filled
with change and uncertainty.
We need wisdom to survey the present with an eye on the
future to determine the doors of opportunity God is opening
for us in mission and ministry. The Blue Ribbon Task Force
on Hispanic Ministry has received that charge in relation to
the fastest-growing population group in our country, now
comprising 15 percent of the population of the United States.
Wisdom is necessary if as a church we are to minister effectively among and with people of Hispanic origin and, of equal
importance, those of other ethnic descents, including Asian,
Indian, African, and European.
We need boldness to engage a culture in sharing the hope
of Christ that is within us with other people so they can encounter Christ. We must engage mothers and fathers, sisters
and brothers, young and old, friends and neighbors, co-workers and students with the one message of Christ. With boldness we engage the people of our world under the shadow of
the cross with the forgiveness of sins given freely by grace in
Water and Word, in Bread and Wine in our congregations
and new mission plants.
We need resolve to hold firm to the foundation of our
faith, to allow no compromise of the truth of God’s Word, to
hold fast the doctrines that define us as a confessional,
evangelical Lutheran church. We need resolve to “preach
Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness
to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews
and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of
God.” We must resolve to “know nothing else but Christ

2007 Convention Proceedings

and Him crucified” as the strength and the power and the
might of our message to the world.
With courage and wisdom, with boldness and resolve, we
are here for the 63rd Regular Convention of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod to do our part to strengthen Christ’s
Church on earth, to bring the light of Christ to those who live
in darkness, to proclaim the truth of God’s love in Christ sensitively, humbly, boldly, and courageously. We have “One
Message—Christ! His Love Is Here for You! ” This is our confession of faith so vital for achieving our God-given mission
to share that faith. For without the message of Christ we
have no power or strength with which to accomplish the one
mission of reaching lost people—in our own communities, in
our country or around the world—with the Gospel of Christ.
It is my prayer that as courageous leaders in the church
today, we will seize the unprecedented opportunity before us
in the land where God has placed us. We must recognize that
God has called us to “such a time as this” so we can pull together to guide this church body we know and love as The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod through this course of
history in the mission God has set before us.
For the sake of the Gospel, I invite you to focus on the one
mission of Christ with a common vision and a common strategy for vigorously making known the love of Christ in our
churches, communities and the world. I also urge you to keep
our mission centered in the power of the one message that
Jesus Christ alone is the Savior of the world—because He is,
and He must be made manifest.
This will be no easy undertaking. We recognize what the
Scriptures make known—that we are at war with the principalities and evil forces of this age. Spiritual warfare will rage
as long as Satan is allowed to roam on this earth. But, “scowl
fierce as he will”; “he can harm us none”; “the victory has been
won”; “one little word can fell him!” That word is Christ!
The final words of President Behnken’s address to the
1941 convention seem quite appropriate for us today. He
wrote:
World conditions today present seemingly insurmountable
obstacles, but they are not insurmountable for our God. Staggering difficulties confront us, but our blessed Redeemer, who
is the Head of His Church, can surely remove them. The forces
of hell may wage an unabating and relentless warfare against
us, but with Christ at our side, we are assured of victory. Here
on earth we must continue as the Church Militant; but as certain as eternity will dawn, so certain are we that we shall be
the Church Triumphant.

May God help us in this task, so that he, who has “made
known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, . . . may bring all things in heaven and on earth together
under one head, even Christ” (Ephesians 1:9–10). Thank you
and God bless us in the days, weeks, months, and years
ahead as we proclaim “One Message—Christ! His Love Is
Here for You! ”
Gerald B. Kieschnick, President