LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 121

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entrusted to her by declaring Christ in public loudly
and making use of facilities—revolutionary squares,
stadiums, and big meeting halls—the Communist
government built for running its evil purposes. What
followed was a period of flourishing growth and
expansion, when the former persecutors and cadres
joined the church, repenting of their former sinful
actions and practices. It was a time when the EECMY
demonstrated explosive growth in all aspects, especially
in membership growth.
The growth of the EECMY since the launching of her
“Five-Year Strategic Plan” has been spectacular. This
strategic plan, launched in January 2013, was the first
of its kind for the EECMY and has had a very significant effect on the growth of the church, especially in increasing the involvement of the laity in mission. Among
the many strategic goals incorporated into the plan was
sharing the Gospel with 30 million unreached people
by 2017. This effort involved outreach both within and
outside the nation and produced fabulous and fruitful
results. It increased the yearly numeric growth of the
church from 3 percent to 8 percent. The major factor
behind this drastic change was the mobilization of the
laity in evangelism. In this regard, it is worth mentioning the participation of the laity in summer evangelism, conducted during the last three years as part of
the strategic plan. In this current summer, from Aug. 15
to 30, 2016, we plan to share the Gospel with 5 million
unchurched people by mobilizing the laity in 5,000
congregations. Our summertime evangelism work, under God’s blessing, has brought 1 million new members
into the church. This spectacular accomplishment is
another source of our joy, and we rejoice in the Lord for
this great blessing. We rejoice in Him in both our pains
and blessings.
CONC LUSI O N

The facts in this essay, based on reflection on the
experiences of the faith journey of the EECMY, depict
the secret of rejoicing in the Lord in every circumstance, good or evil. The essay calls upon the contemporary Church to keep on rejoicing in the Lord
and Him alone, standing firm on the unwavering,
solid foundation on which she has been established,
the rock that no earthy power can move and overcome and which hell itself cannot prevail against. It
calls upon the contemporary Church, surrounded by
multiples of strange doctrines and confusing phil-

“Rejoice—The Church Is Built on the Rock”

osophical thoughts, to stand firm, adhering to her
sound biblical doctrine (Eph. 2:19), and to shine out
to the decaying world, full of darkness and despair,
upholding the message of the cross without shying
away or retreating. It calls upon the contemporary
Church to keep the devil and the principalities of evil
forces operating in our global context from snatching
away the Keys of the Kingdom from out of her hand
and to stand firm on her confessional ground. It calls
upon us to be watchful of the signs of the times and
to be careful in how we walk, as Paul says, “so that we
may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the
waves and carried out by every wind of doctrine, by
human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful scheme”
(Eph. 4:14).
It calls upon the contemporary Church, drowned in
the sea of the globalized world, to reclaim the Keys of
the Kingdom entrusted to her with earnest prayer
and repentance.
Finally, this essay calls upon contemporary, confessional Lutheran churches to be watchful and critical
of the evils of the day with spiritual discernment and
to join hands in fighting them. It is high time that
we, churches of the same theological position, need
to join hands and wrestle against these forces of evil,
holding high the banner of the cross, declaring boldly
in public the Lordship of Christ, and proclaiming the
unchanging Gospel in this changing world without
any retreating from the fact that Jesus is still the
living God, the Christ, the Son of God, and the only
way of salvation. Rejoice in the cross of Jesus, and the
gates of hell will never prevail against the Church!
Therefore:
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope
without wavering, for he who promised is
faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one
another to love and good works, not neglecting
to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you
see the Day drawing near. (Heb. 10:23–25)
May the gracious Almighty God bless this convention!

U P O N T H I S R O C K • Essay

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