It’s become clear that ongoing vigilance is required if traditional marriage is to be protected and preserved for future generations.

During this Christmas season, may your hearts and homes be filled with the sometimes quiet, sometimes exuberant joy of this blessed time of year.

As we approach the Thanksgiving season, I thank God for the blessing of being an American citizen and a member of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

What a blessing it is when those who labor among us and those among whom that labor is accomplished live and work peacefully among one another.

Serving God and others with our gifts of knowledge, wisdom, time, and financial resources is a very important part of our Christian calling.

Placing a full-time missionary does not just happen. It takes planning, and it takes money. Our missionaries are reaching people with the Gospel thanks to LCMS individuals and congregations who have been part of Fan into Flame, the first Synodwide capital campaign in more than two decades.

We are living in a time of anxiety, conflict, and concern. People are anxious today about employment and job stability; about the price of gas, other fuels, and food; and about the future leadership of our country.

St. Paul asks in Romans 10, “How are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” Synod’s congregations will need around 2,700 pastors in the next 10 years, an average of 270 each year, just to fill retirement vacancies.

April marks the beginning of spring. The combination of springtime sights, sounds, and smells in God’s creation reminds us of new life and new hope.

It is critical to remember that our work in Jesus’ name has value because of His resurrection victory over sin, death, and the devil!

Because of Christ Jesus and what He did for us, God forgives our sins, which makes it not only our duty, but our privilege, to forgive and reconcile with those who sin against us.

You are reading a very special issue of The Lutheran Witness. Its focus is on people and institutions of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a world that needs so very much to hear God’s Good News.