Collection › LCMS Convention Proceedings (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1935 · 36th Convention, Cleveland › Page 9
LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1935, Page 9

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

Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States. 1935. . 9

of God. The Lord would use us to build His kingdom and destroy
the kingdom of the devil. To this end the Church, with fearless
heart, is to preach repentance to the world, to condemn its fancied
pieties, and then to turn the eyes of men to their only source of
hope, the Savior Christ, That is the business of the Church. And
now, wherever it is about this business, the Church finds itself at
once the target of the world’s enmity. Men try to silence the testi-
mony of the Church either by brute force or by scorn and contempt.
Amid such persecution and tribulation the children of God, by reason
of the weakness of their flesh, are inclined to retreat before the forces
of evil. As our hymn puts it, trouble would drive us away so. that
we do not remain in the Lord’s service. We, too, my brethren, are
not strangers to such trouble. In our country, it is true, we are
pledged security against brute force. But even so, the enmity against
the Gospel is wide-spread. Men of all ranks reject the Gospel of
Christ. Even within the limits of external Christendom it igs
a stumbling-block and foolishness to many. Contemplating such
conditions, our heart often grows faint and our courage weak. But
in such moments we have recourse to a fountain of comfort and
strength, the blessed Holy Spirit, whom the Savior sends us to give
us Courage, counsel, and strength that we may overcome our troubles
and contend manfully until we enter into everlasting life. ,

Let us therefore in these days be diligent in prayer to God the
Holy Ghost, the Comforter and Guide of Christendom, asking Him
to grant us courage, joy, counsel, strength, and wisdom faithfully to
do our God-given work and to Prosper our deliberations and reso-
lutions unto the upbuilding of His kingdom and to the honor of
His holy name. Amen. ee,

President’s Report.

During the past three years God’s hand has rested heavily upon
our céuntry. Continued unemployment, drought, poverty, and be-
wilderment among our national leaders have left their mark. Natu-
rally our Synod also has had to share in the general distress, The
state of national economics greatly increased the burden of the
officials and boards into whose hands Synod has entrusted the manage-
ment of its affairs. I need not expatiate on the subject. The book of
Reports and Memorials, which you have all studied, gives a faithful
and vivid picture of what has happened in the last three years and
of the situation as it is to-day. This book also places before us
a large, detailed program of business which we must transact. The
most important memorials deal with our institutions and missions,
that is to say, with matters intimately connected with the real work
of the Church, the preaching of the Gospel. May the Lord grant us
during these days a rich measure of zeal for this work and of joy