Luther rose Zion Lutheran Church
Zion Lutheran Church (LCMS)
907 Hicks St.
Tomball, TX 77375
281-351-5757		 Luther rose






We Believe, Teach, and Confess
 
... what The Church has believed, taught, and confessed from the beginning. We are not espousing "something new," but we are holding fast to "the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints."

Details and specifics of what we believe are at:
The documents above are useful BECAUSE they are clear expositions of the teachings within Scripture -- the only source and norm of faith.
Because We Believe What We Believe, We Observe the Following Practice

Since Scripture is the only source and norm for sound doctrine, we are not tied to mere fads and fashions within the worship service. God Himself comes to us and serves us, we have the privilege of responding in the faith that He has given us and strengthens within us.

Our services echo the best traditions from the past -- the ones that truly teach and prepare us for life here and in eternity. We use the liturgy that reminds us of the things we most need to know: The Law offends us with how deeply we have sinned, then The Gospel sweetly tells us what God has done and continues to do in the lives of His people in forgiveness and grace.

We treasure Hearing of The Word and the Sacraments: Baptism and Communion. These three gifts are called "The Means of Grace," and are the methods God has chosen to communicate with His people.

(To all who wish to Commune with us at Zion: Our practice of Closed Communion is the historic practice of the Church. It is prompted by love, both for God's Word and for God's people. It does not deny that members of other denominations may be Christians. Rather, it bows the knee to God's deep concern for doctrinal truth (Romans 16:17), and the Bible's witness that doctrinal unity is central to the common reception of this sacrament. We therefore commune only those we know share the true doctrine in all its parts with us. If you are not a member of this congregation, we ask you to speak with the Pastor before coming to commune. We ask you to respect our confession of faith in this matter)

LET’S PRETEND

        Let’s pretend that there is a man named Joe Typical.  Let’s also pretend that every part of Joe’s body has its own personality, self-awareness, and separate identity.  What will happen if one or more of Joe’s bodily organs decides to go its own way and function separately from everything else.  Joe’s body will not receive the benefit of that organ’s function nor will that organ receive what it needs from the rest of the body.  If the lowly liver refuses to take part, Joe’s body will not receive the cleansing that the liver provides, but the liver will also not receive the nutrients, the oxygen, and the blood it needs nor the protection afforded by Joe’s skeleton, muscles, and skin.  Joe’s liver will die and Joe’s body will be greatly threatened, if not killed.
 
        In Galatians 3:23-4:7, the Apostle Paul presents to the churches of Galatia what it means to be One.  Believers baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ and made One in Christ Jesus.  Together, believers constitute the seed (note the singular), because Jesus Christ is the Seed, while being the heirs (plural) according to God’s Promise.  We are baptized individually but into membership in the one Body of Christ, His Church.
 
        What happens if the members of the Body are so focused upon their individuality, their individual rights, their individual feelings, etc. that the Oneness is damaged?  Are the individual members risking their own health when they absent themselves from Divine Services, Bible studies, and participation in and with the other members?  Is a local congregation really healthy if a substantial percentage of its members regularly choose to willfully avoid being fed with God’s Word with the rest of the Body?
 
        Maybe the “let’s pretend” we started with isn’t really pretending at all.

    Board of Parish Education

 

Issues in (and with) Synod
Statement of Dissent
Against Certain Erroneous Doctrinal Positions and Practices of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Presented by
Zion Lutheran Church
Tomball, Texas

The members of Zion Lutheran Church of Tomball, Texas, have adopted the following statement as the initial step in the dissent process.

All Christians are commanded to avoid those who  teach or tolerate falsehood in their midst (Rom. 16:17, I Tim. 6:3ff). With great sadness, we recognize that our own beloved Missouri Synod has allowed her "official" teachings to become corrupted by Synodical resolutions and by failing to discipline those who have negated her Official doctrine by false teachings and practices.

We present the following areas of concern:
  1. Synod's failure to renounce Unionism and Syncretism, particularly in the Yankee Stadium event.
  2. Synod's unionistic activities by continuing joint spiritual work with the ELCA.
  3. Synod's failure to uphold the authority of Scripture in its bureaucratic rules and procedures concerning ecclesiastical supervision.
  4. Synod's failure to defend the Scriptural understanding of "Ministry" against both extremes of "everyone is the minister" and "a special bestowal of power by ordination."
  5. Synod's failure to uphold the authority of Scripture as to the relationship between the Priesthood of Believers and the Office of Public Ministry, including particularly denying laity the right to bring charges of false teachings and practices against members of Synod.
  6. Synod's refusal to be measured by the marks of the Church over all other human institutional agreements, procedures, and practices.
  7. Synod's failure to uphold the authority of Scripture over any agreements of man whether such be bylaws or convention resolutions.
  8. Synod's failure to uphold the authority of Scripture as to the rule of men and women within the congregation under God's order of creation
  9. Synod's misuse of the Eighth Commandment in matters of public rebuke of public false teaching and practices.
  10. Synod's tolerance of open communion by tolerating admission to the Lord's Supper without a Confession of One Faith in All Parts of the Doctrine by children not "fully catechized/confirmed" and by adults.
  11. Synod's endorsement of a dispute resolution procedure in matters of doctrine that avoid submission to Divine Truth in the pure teachings of the Holy Scriptures.
  12. Synod's endorsement, particularly through its Districts, of worship and educational material that denies both the formal principal and the material principal of Lutheran Theology.
  13. Synod's tolerance of putting men who themselves are not under a Call in positions of ecclesiastical supervision over men regularly called to the Office of Public Ministry.
  14. Synod's tolerance of congregations within Synod using elements in the Holy Supper other than the bread and wine prescribed by Scripture.
Many of these concerns grow out of resolutions which were passed at the 2004 synodical Convention, particularly resolutions 8-01A, 3-08A, and 3-06A. Others have grown from various Congregational newsletters and bulletins, District newsletters and publications, and even synodical publications.

These concerns deal with the heart of our Christian faith and life. These issues if not addressed and solved in a Scriptural, Confessional, and timely manner are divisive of fellowship, because the abuses observed in these areas contradict the very Gospel of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, as revealed in Holy Scripture, and has confessed in the Lutheran Confessions. LCMS has ceased to stand on the Scriptures and the Confessions and has chosen to stand instead on man-made exceptions to Scriptural truth.

We call upon the leaders of our Synod and our District  to openly confess the truth of Holy Scripture, to discipline those who violate the Doctrines of the Scriptures and to encourage all districts, congregations, pastors and lay people to turn away from cultural expediency, and turn again to embrace Scripture Truth and practice.

We pray for peace in our Synod. But we will not sacrifice that truth of God's Holy Word just for the sake of peace. Real peace will only be found in the Holy Scriptures and in Christ, the Prince of Peace.

To God always be the Glory, now and forever!

Zion Lutheran Church
Tomball, Texas
"The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, is never present where lies are told. There is actually more unity of the church present where Christians of differing confession honorably determine that they do not have the same understanding of the Gospel than where the painful fact of confessional splintering is hidden behind a pious lie."
H. Sasse, Union and Confession







We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. Hebrews 2:1
In matters of faith, which affect the nature and will of God and our salvation, we must close our eyes, ears, and other senses and listen solely and intently to what and how scripture speaks about these things. We must wrap ourselves simply in God's Word and be directed by it. We may not attempt to follow our own insights or measure scripture by them.
 (Martin Luther, WA 54, 158; quoted in
Willem Jan Kooiman, Luther and the Bible [Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1961],, p. 229)


 




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