Sadly, looking at modern Christian worship in this county -- Catholic and Protestant alike -- it appears that most congregants are more interested in being entertained at worship and in feeling good about themselves than they are in respecting the connection with the roots of our faith.

I have discovered a tremendous joy in orthodoxy (that is, the right belief entrusted once for all to the saints) when I visited Mars Hill in Athens and stood on the very spot where the Apostle Paul confronted the wise men of the day and challenged them with the Gospel. I am thrilled that, almost 2000 years later, I am able to preach that very same Gospel.

A function of tradition in the Christian faith is to preserve this eternal, unchanging Truth. So worship always must be rooted in and express fidelity to the Scripture, the Creeds, and the Apostolic teaching that all Christians hold in common. This is accomplished in virtually every Christian worship service through Bible readings, sermons, explication of Scripture, the reading of prayers, and the observance of the sacraments or ordinances -- most notably the baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

I am always struck when I come to the Lord’s table in communion by the fact that I am joined together not only with all believers today, but with the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us, hundreds of millions, indeed billions who have shared the same belief in the same Christ who died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.

As an observer once wrote, it is far more exciting and energizing to know that our beliefs rest on the truths first given to us by the Apostles than it is to huff and puff to keep up with the latest fads. Orthodoxy, worshiping Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever, is for me and for most Christians thrilling and joyous. So yes, every Christian tradition must strive in its work and worship to make brilliantly clear that crimson thread of eternal Truth that binds us together with all believers throughout the ages.