Reformation Suday

Well our first official Reformation Sunday went well. Gideon's message that morning was spot on. It was titled "How Can a Man be Made Right with God?" and the text he used was Rom. 1:17; the text by which Martin Luther became convinced that salvation was by faith alone.
"For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.'" 

Here's some quotes from his message:
"God is righteous and our righteousness come from Him because we have no righteousness of our own."
"There is no law above God's law. What He says and does is always right. He gives us the standard of what's right."
"God is righteous and just. These things are so because they flow from the fact that He's holy."
"Either you keep the Law or someone can keep it for you. Either you pay for your sins or someone else can pay them for you (Jesus)."
"Getting right with God comes by putting faith in the gospel of Christ."
"Faith alone in Christ alone makes a man right with God."

It was a good, well laid out, sermon. It was also a successful sermon. Why? Because the gospel was preached clearly, biblically, and in a way that could be understood. Pray with us that God water the seed that was sown.

The evening service went well too. I presented a power point presentation about Martin Luther's life explaining what the Reformation was and Luther's part in it. I ended by pointing out four things we learn from all this:
1. When we don't have the Scriptures, man's traditions and errors take over.
2. Salvation is not earned by works, bought by money, or given by any man.
3. Only the Scriptures reveal God's truth of salvation to us.
4. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone (Rom. 1:17).

After my talk we had some door prize giveaways. Four nice leather Bibles were given away and they were a hit. Then we watched a documentary about Luther and served popcorn. It was a good night. The truth that salvation is by "Faith Alone" was held high.