You are invited to wear red and join us as we celebrate Reformation Sunday at St. Paul’s. We will do so on Sunday, October 27 at 8:30 and 10 AM.
The reason we celebrate Reformation Sunday is shared below, in this excerpt from this Sunday’s bulletin.
On October 31, 1517, on the Eve of All Saints’ Day, Dr. Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk and a professor at the University of Wittenberg, posted 95 Theses, or Statements for Discussion and Debate, on the Door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. These 95 Theses, concerning the practice of indulgences, the pastoral care of God’s people, and the saving grace of God, sparked the controversy and the movement that became known as the Reformation.
God’s Holy Spirit used the work of Dr. Luther, and those who gathered around God’s Word in Wittenberg and other places, to restore the Good News of the Gospel to the Church. On Reformation Sunday, we thank God for the work that He accomplished through the preaching, teaching, writings, and life of Dr. Martin Luther. Dr. Luther emphasized that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, and by Scripture alone. We also give thanks for all scholars, hymn writers, teachers, pastors, princes, and people who helped spur the Reformation onward.
One Reformation gift that has come to us through the work of many people is the Bible in our own language, and in our own hands. Another Reformation gift is Dr. Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms. Through them, and Luther’s other writings, we see Jesus revealed in Scripture not only as the one who will judge the world, but also as our atoning sacrifice, Savior, Brother and Friend. God’s love for us was so great that He was willing to send His Son, Jesus, to become a man. Jesus lived a perfect life in our place. Jesus suffered and died in our place for our sins. By His death Jesus won forgiveness for us. By His resurrection Jesus gives us the sure hope of eternal life. Jesus gives us both His righteousness and the sure hope of heaven through faith in His blood. Jesus assures us that He is with us always, through all the ups and downs of life. God helps us, by His Holy Spirit, to believe in and to share the Good News of the free gift of God’s grace in Jesus.
Our practice of receiving Holy Communion in both kinds, both the bread and wine, the Body and Blood of Jesus, was restored to us in the Reformation. Church hymns sung in our own language are another gift of the Reformation. Indeed, it is said that the Reformation was sung into the hearts of the people. Through our hymns, the Gospel is sung into our hearts as well.