Traditions

We (Cathy and George) come to worship in the Lutheran church from two very different Christian backgrounds: Mennonite and Roman Catholic. When we first became engaged 45 years ago, it seemed that both our worlds were aggressively against our marriage. So, we broke up! But, obviously, God had other plans. To find a spiritual home has been a meandering process where we both broke away from our spiritual ancestry. Dogma, tradition, cultural differences, criticism and the inability to participate in the rites of the church together drove us to pray and seek God’s will for us. We both believed and accepted the core of the Christian faith, that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Instead of our spiritual differences driving us apart, God found a way to weld us closer together and closer to God. This eventually landed us at Zion Lutheran Church. Here we found acceptance, a spiritual family, a home!

We strongly empathise with the disciples in today’s reading. The lesson we learned is not to allow culture, tradition and doctrine to be the basis of our faith. Acceptance of Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins, searching the Bible and following God’s path are the foundations of our Christian faith. God is our tie that binds.

Thank you, Lord, for your perfect plan for imperfect people. Amen. — C/GW

Contributed by Traditions

We (Cathy and George) come to worship in the Lutheran church from two very different Christian backgrounds: Mennonite and Roman Catholic. When we first became engaged 45 years ago, it seemed that both our worlds were aggressively against our marriage. So, we broke up! But, obviously, God had other plans. To find a spiritual home has been a meandering process where we both broke away from our spiritual ancestry. Dogma, tradition, cultural differences, criticism and the inability to participate in the rites of the church together drove us to pray and seek God's will for us. We both believed and accepted the core of the Christian faith, that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Instead of our spiritual differences driving us apart, God found a way to weld us closer together and closer to God. This eventually landed us at Zion Lutheran Church. Here we found acceptance, a spiritual family, a home! We strongly empathise with the disciples in today's reading. The lesson we learned is not to allow culture, tradition and doctrine to be the basis of our faith. Acceptance of Jesus' death on the cross for our sins, searching the Bible and following God's path are the foundations of our Christian faith. God is our tie that binds.
Eternity for Today