Dear Members and Friends of our ELS:

The big yellow M is a symbol of a company that claims to have distributed billions of hamburgers. Could that letter symbol be the most universally recognized symbol by children around the world?

The Christian church also uses many symbols to teach God's Word. The figure of three circles intersecting on an equilateral triangle stands for the Holy Trinity-our God who is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The shell with three drops of water symbolizes the Sacrament of Baptism, in which water is applied in the name of the Triune God. The chalice stands for Holy Communion. The list goes on. Especially at Christmas time, symbols are prominent. We hope our children can quickly identify and cherish these symbols more than the symbols of the corporate world.

It consists of a cross on a heart, resting on the center of a rose (representing the new life in Christ), which is surrounded by a circle to picture eternity.

This seal of Dr. Luther represents the Christ-centered approach of Lutheran theology. The teaching of justification, the declaration of the forgiveness of sins on account of Christ's holy life and innocent death-a forgiveness made our personal possession by faith-is the teaching for which Luther boldly contended. The new life (the white rose) resulting from the heart being filled with Christ's love leads to life everlasting in heaven (the golden ring). 

But this great doctrine of the Lutheran Church is not a product of a denomination, but the doctrine of Scripture itself. Interestingly, our year of 2004 happens to mark the 470^th anniversary of the completion and publication of Luther's translation of the Bible into the German language. This was the fruit of a long, secluded stay at the Wartburg Castle instigated by Luther's friends "kidnapping" him for his own safety after he had taken his stand at the Diet of Worms. 

On the cover of this magazine, at the top left corner, the symbol of the Bible appears with the words of Jesus: "It is written." The words serve as the motto of our Evangelical Lutheran Synod. May the symbol of the Book and the Luther Seal ever remind us as a synod and as individual Christians to uphold all the teachings of God's Word, for at the heart of all theology is Jesus Christ crucified for sinners. This is the only message that saves!