I'm a lifelong Lutheran. I was born into a family with a long line of Lutherans and Lutheran pastors on my Dad's side. I was baptized, confirmed and married in the Lutheran church. I went to Good Shepherd Lutheran day school and Nebraska Evangelical Lutheran High School. I am married to a Lutheran pastor. I love being part of this heritage.
I grew up receiving a sound, solid Lutheran education. From Kindergarten all the way through 8th grade I went to school and each day we began and ended with Luther's Morning Prayer and Luther's Evening prayer, respectively. We had Bible History lessons, memorized passages from the Bible daily, memorized hymns weekly, had Catechism class twice a week in our 7th and 8th grade years and attended chapel every Friday. I went to church every Sunday and any other special services that were held during the church year ie. Advent, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter etc.
When I hit high school age I attended a dormitory school away from home. Much like living at college but at the age of 14! Our little high school was located in the small rural town of Waco, Nebraska with a population roughly of 225. Not even a grocery store in sight. As a teenager I was excited and nervous about meeting new people and maybe even slightly scared being away from my parents also. Yet here we were, students coming from all over the United States and Puerto Rico to attend this high school to continue receiving a good Lutheran education and be in fellowship with other teens of our faith. I received further instruction in the Bible and chapel twice a day. I was even part of the high school choir and found a new avenue to express my love of music through singing hymns and spiritual songs together with my classmates.
I didn't always understand what being a Lutheran meant. That's just what I was, how I was raised, how I was going to raise my family. I remember even at Confirmation, where I confirmed my faith in Christ, having been instructed and still not really understanding. It just seemed like something that everyone of that age did in the church.
It wasn't until I was much older and having children that I truly began to understand this faith of mine, this doctrine of fellowship I grew up in. I still didn't understand what The Book of Concord was or The Augsburg Confession or even why we had Luther's Large Catechism. Those things I would come to find out more about later.
So what does being a Lutheran even mean? Isn't it all about that man Luther? Aren't you following some cult? These are questions that I get asked frequently. Even as a child I was asked these questions.
So let me delve into a little about what being a Lutheran means. First off I need to stress the importance of understanding that there are other Lutheran denominations and not all of us follow the strict guidelines of Lutheranism. I belong to the LCMS denomination, that stands for the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. I will provide a link so you can better understand the background, and they can better explain it than I can. https://www.lcms.org/ There they can tell you some of the differences of the denominations. In the LCMS we do not ordain women or homosexuals into the Office of Ministry, meaning that they cannot serve as pastors of our congregations. That being said let's move back to the subject of being Lutheran. Our doctrine of faith rests on justification. We become righteous in the sight of God through Jesus Christ. I guess you could call our motto By Grace Alone, Through Faith Alone, by Scripture Alone.
We believe in the Trinity, the Triune God. Three persons, One God. In the words of the Athenasian Creed, " We worship One God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is One Person of the Father, another of The Son and another of The Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of The Father and of The Son and of The Holy Ghost is all One: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal."
We believe in baptizing all people and this includes the baptism of infants. Baptism is a means of grace, it works the forgiveness of sins, delivers us from death and the devil and gives eternal salvation to those who believe this to be true.
We celebrate The Lord's Supper, The Sacrament of the Altar as the true body and blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
As I have grown older and raised children in the faith these particular parts of our service have brought a whole new meaning into my life. The hymns we sing, the Divine Service we hold every Sunday have become a very special part of my life and something I look forward to every week.
I can stand back and say that I'm truly grateful for my upbringing. I'm thankful that my parents sacrificed having a newer car or a bigger house or trying to keep up with the Jone's to see to it that my faith was firmly rooted in Scripture. Sure there was a time after I graduated that I wasn't so sure this is what I believed or that I wanted to go to church every Sunday, there were things I wanted to do. As I've grown I now see how important it is. I seriously doubt that I had I not been raised in the church I wouldn't be where I am now.
We are not a cult, just a religious body of believers saved by grace through Jesus Christ. He alone saves us.
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