In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

Years ago, it was common to see the words, "Soli Deo Gloria" at the end of a religious book. It means, "To God alone be the glory." You don't see it much anymore. While many people don't understand Latin, it is good to give God the credit and glory he deserves. Today, we celebrate the 143rd anniversary of this congregation. As we celebrate, may this Bible passage guide our thoughts: (1) Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. Let us give God the credit and say:

To God alone be the glory for Creation. If it were not for God, we would not be here. This building would not be here. This world would not be here. God didn't just make us, he has preserved us and blessed us with food and drink, clothing and shelter to this very day. If it were not for God, none of us would be alive.

To God alone be the glory for Redemption. If it were not for God's grace, we would be condemned in the final judgment. We don't deserve to go to heaven. God's Law demands that we be perfect. But we aren't. We are sinners. We inherited sin. We have taken the credit for what God has done. We have not always given God the glory he deserves. Let us repent! Then, let us praise God, because he redeemed us. Jesus lived a perfect life for us and died on the cross to pay for all of our sins. The altar declares what the Bible says, "He loved me and gave himself for me!" Our risen Savior declares us forgiven of all of our sins. Believe in Jesus, and you will go to heaven. We don't deserve any credit for our salvation, because God has done it all. And so, we do well to repeat the words of this Bible verse, as we sang them in the hymn: (1) Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.

To God alone be the glory for Sanctification. You know, we can't even take credit for believing in Jesus. Even faith is a gift from God. God works faith through his chosen means. So, we say...

To God alone be the glory for preserving his Word for so many years. After Christ ascended into heaven, his chosen apostles went throughout the world, proclaiming repentance and forgiveness of sins. Some of them were inspired by God to write the New Testament. God has preserved his Word right up to this present time, so that each of us can reach for a Bible, hold it in our own hands, and read it. What a blessing that is! God did it all before we were even born! But as time passed, many false teachers lead many people astray. They veered away from God's truth. They were selling indulgences and appealing to Mary and the saints. A Reformation was needed.

To God alone be the glory for enlightening Martin Luther and bringing about the Reformation. There is much that we could say about this, and we plan to... when we celebrate the Reformation in two weeks. I hope that you will join us as we praise God for leading Luther and others to rediscover his saving gospel. From Scripture, Luther learned that we have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone! That gospel was proclaimed widely. It didn't stay in Germany. In fact, many people brought it to America a long time ago.

To God alone be the glory for bringing our ancestors to this great country. We are so blessed to live here, in this great country. We have religious freedom. Our government has never persecuted us for preaching God's Word. May that continue! But, today, we are looking back. So we say:

To God alone be the glory for establishing this congregation. Did you know that our congregation began before the Civil War? This congregation was formed in mid-October of 1860, the year before Abraham Lincoln became President of the United States. 143 years ago, eleven members here in Adrian signed this very church constitution that I hold in my hands. Many things have changed since then. We have different property, a different church building, and different people. In fact, we have many more people than back then. We have grown in many ways as a congregation. Yet, much has remained the same. We still hold to the same Bible and the same Lutheran Confessions. We still believe, teach and confess the same as those people did in 1860.

To God alone be the glory for his love and faithfulness to this congregation through 143 years. St. Stephen didn't always have it easy. In 1886, the Michigan Synod clearly decided by vote that Michigan Lutheran Seminary would be located right here in Adrian. But the President of the Michigan Synod lived in Saginaw and worked things out so that the school ended up there. St. Stephen was hurt by this. They pulled out of the Michigan Synod. In 1893, St. Stephen tried to find fellowship with the Ohio Synod, but within a year it was clear that there would be problems. Pastor Detzer tried to change the constitution to disregard the Lutheran Confessions and to allow lodge members. But the congregation stood firm and voted that the constitution would stand as it has since 1860. In 1896, the congregation bid farewell to that pastor, and called Pastor Heyn, and soon St. Stephen rejoined the Michigan Synod. We followed our sister congregations in joining the synod that eventually became known as the WELS. Historically, St. Stephen has been frustrated by synod politics, but by God's grace remained true to our Scriptural confession of faith. This has always been a confessional Lutheran church. To God alone be the glory!

To God alone be the glory for blessing us with a Lutheran Elementary School. Way back in 1860, the pastor also served as the teacher of the school. In 1869, St. Stephen called its first full-time teacher. That was a great blessing. It is sad to remember that we had no school from 1919-1944, but those were very difficult years. It surely must have been a great joy when the Christian Day School opened again in 1944. Recently, the Daily Telegram reported that Lutheran schools are in trouble, our commitment to true Christian Education remains strong. Our school remains strong. God has blessed us with a full faculty of five teachers. We can't take the credit though. All credit and glory belongs to God.

To God alone be the glory for blessing us with this property and these buildings. Many people who visit our congregation are impressed with our property and buildings. I always say, "We've been blessed." Some of you know very well who planned and labored to see these buildings erected, but let's give God all the glory and praise. Without him, we'd have nothing.

To God alone be the glory for the many faithful pastors and teachers who have served this congregation over 143 years. As we've heard, St. Stephen also had to search the Scriptures to see if what the pastor said was right. May St. Stephen always be known as "Bereans" who search the Scriptures and hold to God's Word. And may we appreciate the faithful called workers God has provided. 143 years is a long time. Your current pastors are #'s 12 and 13 on the list. We've had about 50 teachers over the years. Those pastors and teachers were once young people. God gave them their gifts and their faith. He made them able and willing to serve. He blessed their work. But they did not serve alone, so we say:

To God alone be the glory for the many dedicated servants of God who taught Sunday School, served on the Council, Boards, and Committees, who encouraged others, reached out to others, and who willingly served to plan, build and maintain our property and buildings. Let us praise God for all who serve today.

To God alone be the glory for our recent growth. Whether we're talking to long time members or brand new ones, the topic keeps coming up. Things are going well. There is an optimism in our midst, and I hope that you sense it too. There are more young people. Several years ago, we seemed to be aging as a congregation, but suddenly, our average age is getting younger. And well, those of us who were here all along are not getting any younger, so what's happening is that young members and families are joining. Don't give us the credit, and if we were to lose people, I hope we don't deserve the blame. But when we gain new members, let us say: NOT to us, but to the Lord's name be all glory and praise... Yes,..

To God alone be the glory that we are going to heaven! How great it is to know for certain that Christ paid for all of our sins at the cross, and that God has forgiven us in Christ. How great it is to know that we believers are going to heaven! We want others to go to heaven too, so we strive to do mission work here and abroad. If those members from 1860 could be here today, what would they think? They would realize that many things have changed, but much remains the same. We still have the same Bible, the same message of sin and grace, the same God and Savior, and the same faith. Who deserves the credit for this? Today, 143 years later, we say: (1) Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. Amen.