Grace is the word

Worshippers at the opening service of the LCA’s 21^st Convention of General Synod in suburban Adelaide earlier today were in no doubt about the word of the day – and the word of the four-day event – grace.

Pastor Richard Schwedes, who serves as LCA District Bishop for New South Wales–Australian Capital Territory with oversight for the Lutheran Church of New Zealand, preached at the service, reminding the congregation that God’s grace is our foundation and focus as a church. The sermon also expanded on the church’s triennial gathering theme for 2024: ‘The gift of God – it’s grace that unites us’.

Focusing on a text from Ephesians 2, Bishop Richard encouraged the congregation through the well-known and often-cited words of St Paul: For it is by grace you have been saved through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.’

‘God’s grace creates and gives life’, Bishop Richard said. ‘God’s grace unites us with Christ and each other. God’s grace shapes who we are and what we do.’

He then told a story of God’s grace in action through a young Moroccan man. Ahmed had arrived at Bishop Richard’s Sydney church some years ago, wanting to speak to the ‘Lutheran priest’ and asking to be baptised as a follower of Jesus. Ahmed’s journey in the Christian faith had begun because of the witness of his favourite soccer player, Ricardo Kaka, who sometimes would tear off his jersey to reveal a shirt emblazoned with the words, ‘I belong to Jesus’, after winning a game.

Despite a succession of hardships, including family rejection, the threat of persecution back home, having to be separated from loved ones and an unsuccessful application for asylum in Australia, Ahmed remained positive and committed. ‘I know God hasn’t deserted me’, he had told Bishop Richard.

‘May your message and ours, as God’s church, be the message of Jesus’, Bishop Richard said, reminding those gathered of God’s immeasurable, unfathomable love in the words of John 3:16,17. ‘Jesus is God’s grace in action for you and the entire world.’