May 2012 1 May 2012, Volume Sixteen, Number Two Teach the Faithful By Stephen K. Preus Reach the Lost By Lannon R. Martin Care for All By Faith E. Fretham May 2012 3 CONTENTSVolume Sixteen, Number Two F E A T U R E S 4 Teach the Faithful By Stephen K. Preus By learning skills for sound exegesis, preaching and catechizing, diligently studying the Lutheran Confessions and examining the history of the Christians who have gone before us, the student of theology is prepared not only to learn God’s teaching, but to teach it to others. In addition, he is equipped to continue learning it himself, that he might continue teaching it to others. 6 Reach the Lost By Lannon R. Martin When the Lord Jesus charged His disciples to make disciples who make disciples and so on, He was doing so with a great love for the generations of people for whom He had just willingly given His life. The lost were the passion of Jesus, and the lost need to be our passion as the people of God and particularly as pastors of His church. 8 Care for All By Faith E. Fretham It seems the criteria for a deaconess student or a deaconess serving in the field are that they are caring. This caring is seen through the relationships that develop because of the strong passion that these women have for serving the Lord. This passion is prevalent in the classes we take, the relationships among our brothers and sisters in Christ and the compassionate relationships with the people that we get to serve on a daily basis. Also in this issue: What Does This Mean? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 10 Seminary Announces Spring Placements. . .p. 14 Called to Serve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 16 In the Field. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 18 Military Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 25 Seminary Guild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 26 Alumni News: Encouragement . . . . . . . . . . .p. 27 Profiles in Giving: Life Together . . . . . . . . . .p. 28 Bible Study: Teach, Reach, Care . . . . . . . . . .p. 30 For the Life of the World PUBLISHER Dr. Lawrence R. Rast Jr. President MANAGING EDITOR PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Jayne E. Sheafer Colleen M. Bartzsch COPY EDITOR ART DIRECTOR Trudy E. Behning Steve J. Blakey For the Life of the World is published by Concordia Theological Seminary Press, 6600 North Clinton Street, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46825. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of the Managing Editor of For the Life of the World by e-mail at PublicRelations@ctsfw. edu or 260-452-2250. Copyright 2012. Printed in the United States. Postage paid at Huntington, Indiana. For the Life of the World is mailed to all pastors and congregations of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in the United States and Canada and to anyone interested in the work of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana. For the Life of the World6 As you read this article, God willing I will be viewing this eternal mission of the church in a different way than I am now as I write it… as a pastor in God’s church. The famous mission from Christ to make disciples of all nations is not merely an echo or a whisper, but a roar through the halls at Concordia Theological Seminary. Seminary is a long and challenging road. Many of the people I meet are astonished when I share with them that I am in my eighth year of studies since high school, and at times I, too, have resented the length of the task. However, when it comes to your pastor; the person you call when your spouse gets sick, the person who baptizes your niece, the person who performs the marriage of your daughter, the person who prays with your father when the good Lord calls him home; when it comes to that person, you should expect nothing less than the best pastor that can be trained. As the redeemed people of God you deserve nothing less. This is the comfort and the strength that we in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod can rely upon and expect from our well educated roster of clergy. While on my vicarage I awoke one day to learn my supervisor was ill and I was left, for the time being, primarily to myself for the ministries of the church. This was something that was never specifically covered in the classroom, but when the time came I was ready to take on the task. I learned many things from my vicarage and specifically from the amazing people of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Albion, The needs are great. From the sandbox to the canasta table at the senior center and beyond, everyone struggles through this life and the temptations therein. Everyone struggles in their own lives in different ways and desperately needs the Savior for hope and for life. This is the task that pastors are faced with more than ever before, and reaching the lost in our ever-changing world is of paramount focus to me, to my fellow seminarians and throughout the hallways of Concordia Theological Seminary. Reach the Lost By Lannon R. Martin Lannon with one of the children from Vacation Bible School at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Albion, Michigan. May 2012 7 Michigan. The main thing I learned there was that there exists a big world out there filled with broken and hurting people in desperate need of the Savior to lean on. Every person I met had an amazing story to share, and every person had a hole of brokenness that only the Savior could fill. There were layoffs, deaths, temptations, illnesses, divorces, failures and relatives who have fallen from the faith. Every one of them needed the comfort of the Savior who meets us all right where we are in our unique circumstances with our unique set of struggles and temptations and lifts us up, forgives us and loves us unconditionally. When the Lord Jesus charged His disciples to make disciples who make disciples and so on, He was doing so with a great love for the generations of people for whom He had just willingly given His life. The lost were the passion of Jesus, and the lost need to be our passion as the people of God and particularly as pastors of His church. “The lost” can refer to those outside the church and even Christians who continually struggle daily with the Old Adam within us. Pastors are charged with the care of all people who equally need the Savior and struggle with sin. With this astronomical task given to our pastors, it is reassuring to know the seriousness that Concordia Theological Seminary takes to ensure qualified caring pastors lead our congregations. From day one and in all aspects of seminary life, it is apparent to everyone that our task is to become those pastors. In each and every classroom the idea of how the subject matter will relate to actual church work affecting real lives is always on the radar. The classroom time generates confidence and increases the skill set of all students. For example, each time I write a sermon I think of the mechanics from Dr. Carl Fickenscher’s unparalleled homiletics one class. Each time I work on worship planning I think of the time I’ve spent on Dr. Paul Grime’s chapel staff and in his liturgics classes. Each time I spoke with a hurting family as a lone vicar, I thought of Dr. Daniel Gard’s lectures stemming from his decades as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy and the seriousness to which he upholds the vital nature of the pastoral office. The real life experiences of our faculty while in the parish and in various functions of ministry and the amazing talent they have for reaching each person in the classroom are things that shape the students into pastors and deaconesses in a very real way. Bright-eyed seminarians are always ready to ponder the issues faced by the modern church and ways to address these issues. We see a Synod slowly shrinking, a country gradually removing all traces of God from our society and even international church bodies considering America as a future mission field. This is where the idea of reaching the lost becomes more real and more important than it ever has been before. We hang on each word during lectures from our professors who have spent time in the mission field such as Dr. K. Detlev Schulz and Dr. Timothy Quill, and we glean as much as we can from their experiences in taking on the challenge of reaching the lost. Even in day-to-day life reaching the lost is something we can face when we least expect it. For example, I was getting a haircut and the woman who was cutting my hair, after hearing that I was a student at the seminary, began to tell me of some of the pain in her own life: a divorce, being laid off from work, being estranged from her children and the list of pain went on. She told me she was a “woman of faith” and that she knew if she just waited long enough, the universe would set things right. This took me off guard and I began to tell her a synopsis of an upcoming sermon I was to preach and its basic tenets of Law and Gospel and the saving nature of, and refuge found in, Christ alone. The seed was planted and I left hoping it would be watered. When I left, I pondered this situation and realized that without my education from the seminary I would not have had the courage or the skill set to take on this situation as I had. My skills and my passion to reach every lost person I meet are things I give thanks to God for and that I had the opportunity to learn and cultivate at Concordia Theological Seminary. The needs are great. From the sandbox to the canasta table at the senior center and beyond, everyone struggles through this life and the temptations therein. Everyone struggles in their own lives in different ways and desperately needs the Savior for hope and for life. This is the task that pastors are faced with more than ever before, and reaching the lost in our ever-changing world is of paramount focus to me, to my fellow seminarians and throughout the hallways of Concordia Theological Seminary. I am forever grateful for the lessons and the skills taught to me there as I look toward the next challenge for which I have been well trained—being a faithful pastor. Lannon R. Martin is a fourth-year seminarian at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana. On May 2, 2012, he received a call to serve as pastor of Alive in Christ Lutheran Church, Big Spring, Texas. Pastors are charged with the care of all people who equally need the Savior and struggle with sin. With this astronomical task given to our pastors, it is reassuring to know the seriousness that Concordia Theological Seminary takes to ensure qualified caring pastors make it to our churches.