On “Hallowed Eve” in the year 1517, the evening before All Saints Day, a Roman Catholic monk named Martin Luther nailed 95 theses (sentences or propositions for debate) onto the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.
According to God’s eternal plan, that event set in motion what we today know as the Reformation. God accomplished mighty things through His servant Martin Luther.Read More »OUR GOD—A SURE STRONGHOLD
“Treasuring Our Heritage of Truth” – Third of Three…
The divinely inspired letter to the Ephesians is all about the Church of Jesus Christ – of which we are members by the grace of God, redeemed and forgiven by the blood of Christ, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ as the Head and chief Cornerstone. In Ephesians chapter 4 we are given the marvelous Master-plan for the edification (building up) of His Church.Read More »The Testimony Of Confidence
“Treasuring Our Heritage of Truth” – Second of Three…
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up….” Deuteronomy 6:4-7
Our theme for this worship service is Treasuring Our Heritage of Truth. In order to keep a heritage, there really needs to be someone to whom it is passed down. That is where the role of Christian education comes into play. Through His Word may God teach us how we might pass down this heritage of truth, even as it has been passed down to us!Read More »Christian Education
“Treasuring Our Heritage of Truth” -First of Three…
“Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.” Hebrews 13:7
In our service today we are trying to do what God is telling us to do in this text. We are trying to remember those individuals who have spoken the Word of God to us. Since we are celebrating both the Lutheran Reformation and the anniversary of the Church of the Lutheran Confession, we are trying to remember particularly those from the sixteenth century who spoke the Word of God to us, and those in the middle of the 20th century who spoke the Word of God to us in connection with the founding of our church body.Read More »Testimony of Our Forefathers
How many of us recognize the words of the title?.
I have often wondered what it must have been like for those who heard Jesus preach directly to them. Their hearts must have burned within them as the Holy Spirit used the Savior’s own words to create and sustain faith.
As the risen Savior joined them on a walk to Emmaus, Cleopas and a friend had this amazing opportunity. Jesus asked them what made them sad. They told Him that “He who was to redeem Israel” had been crucified.Read More »Did Not Our Hearts Burn Within Us?
re-form vt. 1. to make better by removing faults and defects; correct 2. to make better by putting a stop to abuses or malpractices or by introducing better procedures, etc.
re-for-ma-tion n. 2. [R] the 16th century religious movement that aimed at reforming the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in establishing the Protestant churches*
There is little doubt that the visible church of Luther’s time (the Roman Catholic Church) needed reforming. As most man-made institutions go, the church had become more liberal the further it got from teaching the pure Word of God. Man’s declarations became law–traditions became commandments, and as a result the pure gospel message was muddied and choked in the stagnant waters of man’s theological inventions.
The people of Luther’s day had gotten too comfortable with the way things had been running in the church. The clergy were in charge; the congregational members weren’t expected to worry themselves about such things as doctrine.
Luther’s goal was to return the clergy as well as the general population of the church to the pure Word of God–to encourage each individual to a personal relationship with God and His Word.Read More »Marking the Lutheran Reformation – Reformers (Always) Needed
