The ACELC exists "to give a united voice against errors that are officially adopted in convention, tolerated, and/or promoted in the LCMS.”

"O come let us fix our eyes on Jesus . . . who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. " These familiar words from Hebrews 12 are heard throughout Lent. As Holy Week draws near, the ACELC invites you to be encouraged by the following devotion from Rev. Jon Ellingworth of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Waverly, Iowa. He reminds us that the Jesus whom the Christian looks to, not only during Lent but every day of their life, is the Savior who died and rose. In preaching, teaching, and the administration of the Sacraments the Christian's eyes are drawn by the word of God to behold Him "who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification."

 

 

The Crucified Christ Is the Glory of God

 

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” - 1 Corinthians 1:25 ESV

 

In his first epistle to the Church in Corinth, St. Paul laid out what Luther would later refer to as the theologia crucis, the Theology of the Cross. The Theology of the Cross posits that the cross is the only source of knowledge concerning who God is and how God saves. It is contrasted with the theologia gloriae, the Theology of Glory, which places greater emphasis on human abilities and human reason. Paul exhorted the Corinthians saying that, though “Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,” they were unique in that they “preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 22-24)

 

The word translated as stumbling block in 1 Corinthians 1:23 is the Greek word “skandalon”, or, literally, scandal. The image of Jesus Christ, crucified on the cross, is almost always a scandal to men. Some, like the Jews to whom Paul referred, find it offensive, even blasphemous. Others, like the Greeks to whom Paul referred, find it madness and foolishness. Nevertheless, it is in the crucified and dead body of Jesus on the cross that we find our salvation. Christ crucified was God’s solution to our sin problem, and the perfect and holy image of His love for us – love that laid down His own life into death, that we who deserve only death for our sin might be forgiven and live.

 

To be a Christian is not merely, or primarily, to obey God’s commandments or, even, to follow the teachings of Jesus, but to be a Christian is to submit to God’s wisdom and His plan of salvation by trusting in Him and by believing that what He has put forward, His Son in sacrificial death, and has proclaimed in His Word, “whoever believes in Him shall be saved,” (John 3, Romans 10) is true, and wise, and good, even though it may scandalize and confound human reason and wisdom.

 

The image of the crucifix, literally [Christ] fixed to a cross, is a powerful reminder of God’s love for us poured out in Jesus’ self-sacrifice, and that, as Jesus spoke from the cross, “it is finished”(John 19:30) that is, all that was necessary to make us right with God again was finished, fulfilled, and accomplished. In baptism we are signed with that cross. In remembrance of our baptisms, we make the sign of the cross along with the words and Name of our Lord, “In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.” We remember the cross and invoke God’s Name as we begin the Divine Service, and we stand and face the processional cross and follow it with our eyes to where it is held high before us. The cross is displayed prominently before us upon the chancel wall behind the altar, and the processional cross stands by the side of the pulpit from which God’s living Word is proclaimed to us. At the end of the Divine Service, again our eyes are drawn to the processional cross, and we follow it out from the church building, into the world where we live and serve as little Christs in selfless, sacrificial service of our neighbor in the holy vocations in which God has called and placed us.

 

The crucifix belongs in Christ’s Church, for it is a symbol and a reminder of God’s perfect love poured out for us in Jesus Christ, and it is a symbol of the object of our faith, our hope, our confidence, and our trust. Because Jesus has died, we will live – period. It is finished. The crucifix is a powerful reminder of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ that serves to focus our worship, strengthen our faith, and send us out joyful and full of Christ’s love for all people. Christ died on the cross that we might be one in Him – “one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one baptism, one faith, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6)

 

Rev. Jon M. Ellingworth

Pastor, St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church

Waverly, IA

             

 

Conferences

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ACELC Conference – June 18th & 19th – Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Kansas City, MO

The Conference Theme: A Fraternal Conversation: The State of Our Synod in 2024

2024 ACELC Conference Presenters:

Rev. Dr. John Hill – State of the Synod Regarding Holy Communion

Rev. Dr.  Brian Saunders – State of the Synod Regarding the Office of Holy Ministry

Rev. Jeff Hemmer – State of the Synod Regarding the Role of Women in the Church

Rev. Jason Braaten – Banquet Speaker

Rev. Dr. Martin Noland – Historical View of Correction in the Lutheran Church

More information

Past Conference Presentations:

  The Aim of Our Charge, 2023

Catechesis and Synodical Unity, 2022

Ecclesiastical Supervision, 2021

The Church's Mission & Evangelistic Task, 2019

Unionism & Syncretism, 2018

The Order of Creation, 2017

Dispute Resolution, 2016

Unbiblical Removal of Pastors, 2015

Office of the Holy Ministry, 2014

The Divine Service, 2013

The Lord’s Supper!, 2012

Addressing Error in The LCMS, 2011

ACELC Video

This video serves as a great discussion prompter for congregations, gatherings of circuit pastors, districts—all who care about the spiritual well-being of our brothers and sisters in Christ within the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. It spells out clearly the issues of doctrine and practice that continue to cause division within our synod and threaten our ability to walk together. It also shows our desire assist in the return to faithfulness within our synod.

We encourage you to watch this video, and use the study guides, as we together seek to deal with such issues, guided by the Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions. We pray that these resources, and others available through the ACELC website, will be a blessing to you and our synod. We welcome your feedback.

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