I write this article as I am about to leave for the final day of our Southern Illinois District Convention in Collinsville. These conventions are always interesting. They can take you through the range of emotions. They can leave you so bored that you count ceiling tiles. But then, just a few minutes later you can be so angry that you are ready to go to war.

Admittedly, these are the extremes. Most of the business is mundane: elections, reports, financial statements, and the like. But this edition of the convention, the 54th Regular Convention of the Southern Illinois District has its highlights. One of its highlights is the theme: Jesus Gives Life at 100+ Mission Outposts.

Our District has 97 congregations. Add to that the three Lutheran High Schools, our Unity Lutheran Christian Mission School in East St. Louis, our prison ministries in some 26 different locations, our campus ministries and other mission outposts and we are well over 100 places where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed on a regular basis.

What the District Convention reminded me is that we here in Staunton are one of those outposts. Our call is to CLEARLY and BOLDLY articulate what it means to the Lutheran Christians in this place. We Lutheran Christians have a unique message that the world needs to hear. Our confession is that our Lord Jesus Christ has come to reconcile sinners to the Father in Heaven. He does this freely by grace. There is nothing in us that can merit this grace. We don’t decide to accept it. We don’t start or finish the process. It is all about Jesus the Christ and how He relates to us in His Word and His Sacraments.

What this also has reminded me is that we are not alone. Our mission post is not some isolated frontier fort surrounded by hostile pagans. We have brothers and sisters in Christ who are committed to Christ, His Word and our Lutheran Confession, which are drawn from that Word. We have a stake in what happens at these other outposts. When they do well, we do well. If there are ways that we can support them in ministry and help them succeed, then we must stand with them.

It is important that we also know that we can’t just go it alone either. The decisions we make in ministry need to be considered in the light of our other mission outposts. If we start doing things that are not part of our confession of the faith and the traditions of our fellow outposts, we weaken the bond that we have, and allow our enemy Satan to have victory.

What this convention has shown is that it matters in our other outposts what we do when it comes to our worship style, our confession of crucial doctrines including the Lord’s Supper and Close Communion, and the many other decisions that we make for the next three-year period. We do not stand alone. We stand with 100+ other mission outposts. Our setting may be slightly different from others, but our message does not.

This message: Jesus Gives Life, is what we are called to proclaim. It is proclaimed from our pulpit, in our classrooms, our Bible Studies and everything that we do. Why? Because all we do is ministry. It points to our giving away the life that Jesus has placed in us.