HOUSTON—On the last full day of convention business, Ted Kober, founder and president of Ambassadors of Reconciliation, spoke out against unreconciled relationships, saying that “those who worship together yet remain unreconciled disrupt the community of faith.”
The 64th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod is meeting July 10–17 at the George R. Brown Convention Center under the theme “ONE People–Forgiven.” Among the approximately 3,000 participants are some 1,200 clergy and lay voting delegates.
Recognizing the importance of confession and forgiveness in the face of division and strife, Kober noted that while reconciliation “is never easy . . . what Jesus endured for our reconciliation was anything but safe or comfortable.” He also cited the kiss, or sharing, of peace, a practice traditionally found in historic Christian liturgies that encourages those with unresolved conflicts to be reconciled.
Kober reminded the convention that “because God risked His own Son for us, we are forgiven.” The delegates were then invited to “consider how you can share the peace of the Lord with someone here or someone at home.”
Convention Bible studies and Bible-study outlines are available at www.lcms.org/convention.
Posted July 16, 2010
