Notes: Download
Series: LFL National Conference
Keywords: worship, 2015 national conference Speakers: James Lamb
Detail:
Nearly 400 Lutherans gathered October 30-31 at both the Cincinnati Airport Marriott and the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, from across the United States and Canada for the 2015 Lutherans For Life National Conference. The theme: Created • Redeemed • Called.
Focusing on the conference theme in his final opening worship service sermon, Rev. Dr. James I. Lamb, executive director of Lutherans For Life, who will be retiring at the end of the year, said life issues “can be complicated, confusing, controversial, and uncomfortable … They can be complicated—stem cell research, cloning, in vitro fertilization, genetic engineering. It seems like we need to be scientists to figure it all out. They can be confusing—should we or should we not remove that feeding tube, stop that treatment, sign that Living Will, or initiate a Do Not Resuscitate order? It seems like we need to be ethicists to figure it all out. They can be controversial—we hear people say, ‘Why do we talk about this in church and bring it up in Bible study? These are political and social issues. Let’s stick to the Gospel.’ It seems like we need to be theologians to figure it all out. They can be uncomfortable—people in our pews have had abortions or pressured a girlfriend or daughter to have an abortion or were unable to stop someone from having an abortion. It seems like we need to be psychologists to figure it all out … But the focus of this conference is not so much to talk about any of these things. Instead, we are going to talk about something that is not complicated, not confusing, not controversial, and not uncomfortable at all. We are going to talk about something that is, in fact, very simple. Yet in its simplicity it speaks profoundly to all of the life issues … We will answer the question: ‘What has God done that gives value to human life?’ Our text [Isaiah 43:1] contains the answer in three simple words—created, redeemed, and called … Every life has value because every life is someone created by God, redeemed by the blood of Jesus, and someone He either has called or wants to call into an eternal relationship with Him. It doesn’t have to be complicated!”
During the opening worship service, Rev. Michael W. Salemink was installed as the new executive director of Lutherans For Life. Rev. Salemink began serving as executive director-elect of Lutherans For Life in August 2015. Prior to accepting this call, he served as associate pastor of St. James Lutheran Church and School in Lafayette, Indiana (2005-2015). Pastor Salemink and his wife, Heather, have been married since 2000 and reside in St. Louis, Missouri, where they attend Immanuel Lutheran Church, Olivette, with their three sons: Christian, Nathan, and Luke.