Convention
Update
Saturday, July 10
TEAM
KIESCHNICK – One Mission, One Message, One People!
Leaders throughout history have
attested to the value of a strong supportive team.
Each day – whether at work on the shop floor, in the
office, in little league, at school or church – groups of
people, united by a leader’s vision, exceed the collective
sum of their individual accomplishments through effective
teamwork. In short, the whole is greater than the sum of the
parts!
Gathering people on a team who
can work effectively together is an awesome task.
As a delegate
to the 2004 Convention of the Lutheran Church – Missouri
Synod, you have been given the task of electing the people to
lead our beloved synod forward in mission. The men and women who have consented to their nomination by
the Nominations Floor Committee have all agreed in advance to
willingly undertake with care and skill the duties and
obligations entrusted to them should they be elected by the
convention. Praise
God for their willingness to serve!
Strong, effective leadership
takes everything we do as a synod to a higher level.
A skilled leadership TEAM, supporting the vision of ONE
MISSION ABLAZE! can
enable our church to change eternity for 100 million
people touched by the Gospel over the next decade.
Key among all members of TEAM
Kiescknick is the man in the role of first vice-president.
Bill Diekelman, a man of God with a shepherd’s
heart for reaching the lost, is the leader best equipped for
the task. While leading the Oklahoma District of our LC–MS
for more than twelve years, he continued to carry out his
pastoral ministry among God’s people at Faith Lutheran
Church in Owasso. His
biographical synopsis is located in your convention materials.
Attached is a list of suggested
candidates for other positions, all of whom have the
competence and skill to complete the roster of TEAM KIESCHNICK.
Your vote for these individuals in the important
elections over the next few days will serve our beloved synod
well for years to come.
We
pray that your experience as a convention delegate will be
uplifting and gratifying to you as you have been given the
honorable privilege to participate in a process that brings
the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to millions of people
through the organization of the church. May the peace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with you in these next several days and
for eternity!
_______________________________________
Synod in
(“Regular”) Convention
The 62nd Regular Convention of The Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod has begun, and one might only wish that
it were “regular.”
To be sure, the Convention faces the usual
“regular” business: hours and hours of reports from
educational institutions, boards and committees. There will be flashy video presentations, guest speakers,
missionaries in colorful garb and wonderful worship.
However, there is a darker side of the Convention, one
that has been brewing since 9/11, one that bodes possible
unpleasantness. And
into all this you, dear delegates, will walk
Jesus First sincerely hopes that the theme of the
Convention, MISSION ABLAZE, will ignite a holy fervor amongst
the delegates, quenching every rancorous fire.
When fire fighters want to stop an out-of-control
forest fire, they will often start another fire, aimed at
burning up the fuel for the toxic flames.
This “controlled burn” is risky, but it often will
halt the devastation. Let’s
pray that MISSION ABLAZE will be that controlled burn that
will restore a passion for mission to The Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod.
_______________________________________
One
Mission Ablaze!
“Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked
with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to
us?” (Luke 24:32 NKJB).
At last the LCMS Convention is here, and you have
important work to do as delegates: electing godly leaders and
setting LCMS future directions through resolutions considered
and adopted. An
overwhelming task! So
much to read and absorb.
So much to learn about convention procedures and
processes. You
come with beliefs, convictions, questions, fears and doubts
– about the LCMS, the issues before us, the sharply divided
views expressed and your own ability to serve faithfully at
this moment of crisis and opportunity in our beloved church
body. What does
the future hold for this convention and the mission of the
church?
Two disciples on a very important Sunday walked the
road to the village of Emmaus with similar questions, fears
and doubts about the events in Jerusalem over the past few
days and their future as believers in Jesus of Nazareth.
Alone, they would never have come to godly conclusions
in their quest to be faithful disciples. But a stranger joined their walk who first listened to their
heartfelt struggles to understand, and then both admonished
them for their unbelief and opened to them the Scriptures
concerning Himself. After
He graced their table with the breaking of the bread, their
eyes were opened and their hearts burned within them about
their risen Lord and His mission “that repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in His name to all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
A stranger no more, this Jesus – crucified and risen
– comes to you as delegates at this convention, causes your
hearts to burn within you, and will lead you to choose leaders
and adopt resolutions supportive of ONE MISSION ABLAZE to His
glory and the salvation of many worldwide.
Prayer:
Lord, give us hearts burning for Your ONE MISSION
ABLAZE. Amen.
_______________________________________
Let’s Get
On With It
It
Seemed Good to the Holy Spirit…
How
to deal with serious church conflict? Acts 15 says the Apostles fully discussed Gospel issues,
reaching practical conclusions.
They could announce, “It seems good to the Holy
Spirit and to us.”
Do
our elections seem good to the Holy Spirit? Taking our
Confessions seriously, we say Yes! The Holy Spirit calls,
gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the church in general and
this church body in particular.
...and to the Synod
Now
let’s acknowledge that the results seem good to the Synod,
too. The
direction for mission is set.
Impeding further Convention decision-making with
parliamentary maneuvers risks losing hold of the Spirit’s
work.
Don’t Be a Slave to Fear
Some
are still warning of dire consequences. Let the Apostle show
the way: “You did not receive a spirit that makes you a
slave again to fear.” Rather,
“Let the Spirit help us in our weakness”
(Romans 8:15, 26).
_______________________________________
ONE
MISSION ABLAZE!
A Synod United for God’s Work
The Holy Spirit, working
through Word and Sacrament, moves the church forward in
mission. Just as on the day of Pentecost, so the Holy Spirit
empowers the church today! One Mission Ablaze! is a God-given
opportunity for our Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod to join
in a united effort to bring the saving gospel message of Jesus
to those who do not know Him as Lord and Savior. The goal of
reaching 100 million souls for Jesus is an awesome challenge;
and we have an awesome God who will empower us to reach the
goal. How thankful we are that our Synod president, Jerry
Kieschnick, had the vision to bring the One Mission of
reaching the world with the gospel through the One Message
of a crucified and risen Jesus Christ in the united efforts of
One People in the body of Christ in our LCMS via this
outreach ministry called, One Mission Ablaze! Our
thanks to the Board for Mission Services for so wonderfully
organizing the effort.
Let’s
unite at this convention, hand in hand and heart to heart, to
move forward in mission. Let us heed the call of our Savior to
be “fishers of men.” Let us be known in the world as
people of God who are set ablaze for the Great Commission of
our Lord. As a convention delegate you can be a catalyst for
igniting the fire by the power of the Holy Spirit to the Glory
of God.
_______________________________________
“ONE
PEOPLE, ONE MESSAGE, ONE MISSION – ABLAZE!!”
Because there is
ONE
LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM,
ONE
GOD AND FATHER OF ALL
We are ONE PEOPLE!
Gathered in Saint Louis for the 62nd Regular
Convention of the
LCMS, we come from congregations all over North America
and beyond. We
come from small congregations and large, rural and urban, old
and young. In
Christ we are ONE PEOPLE.
In Christ we are committed to
“make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were
called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one
faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all
and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:3-6)
We have ONE MESSAGE!
The message is about Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior
of the world! In
Christ we have the one sure hope of forgiveness for our sins,
deliverance from death and from the power of the devil.
In Christ we have the full and complete redemption
through his “holy precious blood and his innocent suffering
and death (I Peter 1:18).”
Christ offered himself for us so we might “be his
own, living under him and his kingdom!”
We have ONE MISSION!
We intend to tell 100 million people about this
glorious message before the church Lutheran celebrates the 500th
anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation!
This will demand a committed, dedicated, determined,
focused, passionate, renewable commitment.
We cannot imagine a loftier goal, or one that would
please the heart of our Lord more!
We, The Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod, are “Ablaze as One People, with one
Message, on One Mission!”
_______________________________________
Preparing For
Worship
The
church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord;
she
is his new creation by water and the Word.
From
heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride;
with
his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.
On
Sunday morning, July 11th delegates to the 62nd
Convention of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod will join
in worship. As we gather, consider the fact that we represent
50 states and numerous countries, over one thousand
congregations, and over 6 million members of the LCMS. It is a
privilege to worship, with all of our outward differences, as
the unified body of Christ at the convention.
We
will have the opportunity to join in Confession and
Absolution. Whatever public and private sins we have
committed, we will hear the precious words of forgiveness, the
assurance of our salvation. When you hear those words, please
consider that all of us are one in the forgiveness of sins
that God provides through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
We
will be blessed by God’s Word as it is proclaimed in the
Scripture readings and expressed in the sermon for this
worship service. The LCMS confesses “sola scriptura” –
Scripture alone. The Bible is God’s revelation of the plan
for our salvation. Let us rejoice in the message of salvation
we will hear during our worship service.
We
will be refreshed by the true Body and precious Blood of Jesus
-strengthened in our faith through the gift of Holy Communion.
In this Sacrament, we find that all of our sins and
differences are not only forgiven, but wiped away. We are
connected to one another in the mystical union of Jesus Christ
with the people of God in Christ.
In
every aspect of our worship life, we find that “The
church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her
Lord.” The leaders of Jesus First pray that this worship
service will “lift up your hearts” and prepare you for the
joyous work of the convention.
