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This Sunday
"Reformation 500: Just Live It!"
Ephesians: Spiritual Riches Series
Scripture:
Ephesians
4:17-24
and
5:15-21
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 October 26, 2017
Dear MLEPC Members and Friends,
Reformation 500! It's here! What an exciting day in the life of the church . . . or is it? Perhaps you're looking at the beginning of the sermon title and thinking, "what is Reformation 500?" Or looking at the end of the sermon title, "Just live it!" with an explanation point signifying excitement, thinking, what is there to be excited about?
This Sunday we celebrate Reformation Sunday. Five hundred (yes, 500!) years ago on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. A church door was considered in that day and time to be a communication tool like a billboard or Facebook post might be used today. The 95 Theses were intended by Luther to encourage reflection among his fellow brothers in the church, but they revealed that the church was far beyond reflection - it needed a reformation. Martin Luther believed that the church had drifted from the essential, original teachings of Christianity, especially in regard to what it was teaching about salvation, that people can only be forgiven of sin only through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Luther wrote in one of his Theses, "the true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God". Reformation Day was a day that led Martin Luther and other reformers like John Calvin and John Knox to help the church find its way back to God's Word as the only authority for faith and life, leading the church back to the justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Now isn't that something to be excited about?
If you still need convincing, let me tell you how excited I am when I see these themes of the Reformation lived out at MLEPC. The Reformation sparked an emphasis on mission. At MLEPC, we live mission - as I write this letter many are preparing for Trunk or Treat, our outreach to hundreds of families who will come to our parking lot after the Mt. Lebanon Halloween Parade and hear the Bible story from Genesis to Revelation told by volunteers who have decorated their car trunks to represent Bible stories (pray for a miraculous change in the rainy weather forecast!). Trunk or Treat is only one of many mission opportunities we have at MLEPC to tell the gospel story through monetary support or hands-on ministry, regionally and globally.
The Reformation led to hymn writing and congregational singing and to the importance of worship centered around preaching the word of God for the people of God. The fact that we sing in worship is something we take for granted, but that came about after the Reformation. In the Middle Ages, the clergy sang the Latin mass. There was no devotional use of scripture in the lives of the congregants; however inspiring the scripture text was, people simply couldn't understand it because it wasn't in a language they knew. Can you imagine not being able to read scripture and hear it proclaimed or to sing your faith? Are you feeling any more excited about Reformation 500?
As we continue this week to look at Paul's letter to the Ephesians, I find that our passage for study, Ephesians 4:17-5:21, picks up the themes of "living" the Reformation. We are encouraged to live a new life after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (4:24). We are to be kind and forgiving to one another, even as God in Christ forgave us (4:32). As we are imitators of God and his beloved children, we walk in love as Christ loved us (5:1-2). As we live this new life in Christ, it's contagious. Others see our lives and want to be filled with the Spirit. Paul tells us to "address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart."
Worship this week includes The Lord's Supper as we celebrate the Reformation. Through the sacrament we remember the great sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross for our salvation. At our Contact service, our youth band will be part of worship, and the faith of our young people at MLEPC is something to be excited about. At our Heritage Service, our chancel choir will sing a version of the "battle hymn of the Reformation," Martin Luther's "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," accompanied by two pianists, Pat Crosby and Kim Jamison. One of the Reformation mottos is "soli Deo Gloria, to the glory of God!" Come to worship on Sunday and catch the excitement of the Reformation as we celebrate our freedom in Christ, as we hear His Word and sing His praises together, all to His glory!
Love, in Christ,
Linda Pokrajac, Director of Congregational Care
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