PDF file format. - Texas District LCMS Centennial Celebration

God’s Purpose _ Our Commitment
During the week of February 14-20, A.D. 1906, and the Season of Epiphany, the Texas District came into being
at Trinity Lutheran Church in Houston, a sign of ministry and mission yet to be revealed. The Rev. W. A.
Kramer, a wise and gentle man, was elected as our first President by the delegates.
On Sunday, February 19, 2006, the Seventh Sunday After the Epiphany, the Texas District begins to mark her
100 th anniversary year of celebration. As parishes throughout our state gather in their regular services to hear
the Gospel and to commune, we are encouraged to pray, praise and give thanks for all the blessings our gracious
Lord has poured out upon us during these past 100 years. His love for us is an epiphany of grace, made known
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
The theme of our Centennial Celebration is “GOD’S PURPOSE _ OUR COMMITMENT.” The Centennial
Scripture is Psalm 79:13: “Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever. From
generation to generation, we will recount your praise.” The celebration will continue at our 2006 District
Convention, to be held in Houston where we first began. May we in all our celebrations look to the past with
thanksgiving and also focus on the purpose our Lord has given us, namely, to be his witnesses in the present and
the future, ablaze in our own neighborhoods, our towns and cities, our state of Texas, our nation, and
throughout the world.
The service presented here for February 19, 2006, is humbly offered to the 345 parishes of the Texas District to
facilitate the worship of God, the Holy Trinity, and to celebrate his goodness within our particular community
of Lutheran fellowship and faith. Upon this land, beneath these skies, we are reminded by a century of grace of
another “sweet and blessed country” in heaven above. We also are called to do our urgent duty here with
determined delight, proclaiming the saving Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so we pray, “O Father,
strengthen our commitment to accomplish your purpose. Give us a full measure of your Holy Spirit.”
This service is formatted to accommodate congregations who use the hymnic repertoire of the Church and those
who sing in faith from a substantial corpus of praise song literature. To the left in the music suggestions are
hymn possibilities from Lutheran Worship; to the right, familiar songs from the body of praise and worship
material. The ancient Ordo or Order of Service is offered with Confession, Word, and Sacrament, drawn in
large part from Hymnal Supplement 98. For 100 years that pattern has served in parishes throughout the state.
Through the rhythm of that worship rite, “Our Lord speaks and we listen. His Word bestows what it says….Our
Lord gives us his body to eat and his blood to drink. Finally his blessing moves us out into our calling, where
his gifts have their fruition.” (Lutheran Worship, p. 6)
If ordained clergy are not present to lead the service, the parts indicated “Pastor” may be taken by those
specially appointed to serve in that capacity in their local circumstance.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright©1973,
1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
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