“I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” – 2 Timothy 1:5 NIV
This season I’ll be wearing my father-in-law’s blaze orange deer hunting clothes. They came to me because he can no longer hunt, and I am the only one in that family who still does. He wanted to pass them on to me because he knows I will use them gladly. I look forward to wearing them, not just because they are in much better shape than my blaze orange clothes, but because they link me to a long hunting tradition. When I wear them, I will be reminded of all the deer hunting stories told to me by my father-in-law and his brothers over the years.
The same thing happens with bibles. I have a whole collection of family bibles that have been given to me over the years. Sometimes people have given them to me while they were still living. Others have come to me after a distant family member has died and the remaining family members have entrusted it to me. They wanted to pass it on to someone who would receive it gladly and continue the
Christian tradition.
In our sermon series this month we have been remembering the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed and using this statement of faith that has been passed down to us from the early church. I don’t know if the ancient church leaders at Nicaea had any clue that their work might still be gladly used by Christians 1700 years later. My guess is that they were hoping Jesus would return well before then. But if they did know, I’m sure they are glad that we find the creed helpful as we continue to
pass on the Christian faith.
What will you pass on to future generations? I hope it will be more than blaze orange clothes. I hope it will be a legacy of faith in Jesus.
Blessings to you,
Pastor Mark