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LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1926, Page 6

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

6 Proceedings of Thirty-Third Regular Convention,

June 15, the devotional exercises took the form of a memorial service “™
for the brethren who had departed this life during the past three “4
years. At the opening of each session the minutes of the previous”
meeting were read in German and in English by the secretaries, cor- J
rected when necessary, and then adopted.

Doctrinal Essays.

Two doctrinal essays were presented to Synod. Prof. F. Pieper,
D. D., delivered three lectures on the theme, “Christianity in Its
Relation to All Other Religions.” Prof. W. H. T. Dau, D. D., lectured
on “the Pursuit of Sciences which God Approves.”

Divine Services.

‘Besides the opening service, the following divine services were
conducted: School Service at Holy Cross Church, Friday evening,
June 11, with a sermon by the Rev. F. H. Brunn, of Bay City, Mich. ;
Dedication Exercises of Concordia Seminary on Sunday afternoon,
June 13, at the Seminary grounds, with sermons by the Rev. F. Pfo-
tenhauer, D. D., and the Rev. J. W. Behnken, of Houston, Tex., Presi-

dent of the Texas District; Pastoral Service with Holy Communion .

at Holy Cross Church, Wednesday evening, June 16, the confessional
address being delivered by the Rev. L. A. Heerboth, of ‘Wheaton, il,
and the pastoral sermon by the Rev. E. Berthold, of Danville, Til.

The Address of the President.

~ Under the words of Ps. 143, 5:. “I semember the days of old;
I meditate on all Thy works; I muse on the work. of Thy hands,”
Luther once wrote-in the Bible of a friend: “The holy Christian
Church is the foremost work of God, for the sake of which all things
were created and in which great miracles occur daily, such as for-
giving sins, taking away death, and giving righteousness and eternal
life.” These words of the great Reformer are well suited to awaken
in us a great earnestness and a holy enthusiasm for the synodical
business which will have our attention during these days.

Luther makes this statement: “The Christian Church is the
-foremost work’ of God.” It is true that the work of creation and
preservation is unspeakably great, praiseworthy, and glorious and
that it continually incites us to proclaim the omnipotence, wisdom,
and goodness. of our God. But the Church is a still more glorious
work. It is, in fact, God’s masterpiece. Luther mentions two reasons
why this is so; the first is that all things were made for the sake of
_the Church. It is to the Church that the world owes its existence.
. If God had not decided to build a Church for Himself’ on earth, the
world would have gone to pieces after the Fall. Seed-time and har-
vest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, go on because