Christ Alone Series

If you donate to our church today, then your past, or future sins can be forgiven!! If you are unsure of the eternal destiny of one of your family members, then an even greater donation will take care of this. 500 years ago, a man named Joseph Tetzel wandered around Europe selling salvation. His words echo throughout the generations: “A coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs.” Called indulgences, a gift to the church’s building program when free your loved one from misery in the afterlife. Then on October, 31, 1517 a young Augustinian monk named Martin Luther, nailed a piece of parchment against the Wittenberg church door.1

History has called this act – the nailing of the 95 theses. It should have been nothing more than an ecclesiastical debate among Catholic clergy, after all, the words were written in Latin … hardly the language of the people. Luther went downtown, to the front doors of the church, which acted like a community bulletin board, and nailed his 95 theses to the door. Martin Luther nailing the 95 Theses to the Wittenburg Church doors, was essentially a group of men from Boston, throwing a bunch of Tea off an English Ship. It was the first step to not to Revolution, but Reformation.

I want to tell you the story that explains why thousands of churches all over America, celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in just a few weeks. In fact this is where we will be the next several weeks, leading up to the 500 year anniversary of Martin Luther’s act that began the Protestant Reformation. You may be asking yourself, why does this matter?

How does something that happened 500 years ago affect me? Think with me about the Copernican Revolution - Nicolaus Copernicus formulated a model of the universe that place the Sun at the center, rather than the Earth. And who would doubt the relevance of the American Revolution - July 4, 1776 and the signing of the Declaration of Independence? And every time we fly, we recognize that history matter because of the First Manned Flight - Wright brothers made the first controlled powered airplane, the Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903. And more comically for baseball fan, remember that the Designated Hitter - April 6, 1973, Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees became the first designated hitter in Major League Baseball history, facing Boston Red Sox right-handed pitcher Luis Tiant in his first plate appearance. And lastly, basketball fans may remember the Three Point Line - Chris Ford of the Boston Celtics is widely credited with making the first three-point shot in NBA history on October 12, 1979.

Why do we care about these? Because they’re game changers! Why does the Reformation matter? Because it was a church, spiritual, political, game changer! WHY DOES THE REFORMATION MATTER?

Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation gave us... Bible - translation in common language; authority of Scripture over Pope; back to the basics and example in Scripture. Worship - Well, pretty much everything changed, seeing as congregational singing had been banned by the Roman Catholic Church. Martin Luther re-established congregational singing to the center of church life, which gradually took root over the next century. It was one of the ways he made the church service an active experience, as opposed to a passive experience where the congregation had no voice. Denominations - options of churches with different theological beliefs and then Martin Luther also focused eternity - kick started evangelistic fervor, indulgences and purgatory are really confusing for most people in this time. I want to be very clear, there is a heaven and a hell, and evangelism is important for all of us to do it… rediscovery of the Gospel - most important!!!

FIVE SOLAS

Christ Alone - Atonement

Scripture Alone - Authority

Faith Alone - Justification

Grace Alone - Merit

God’s Glory Alone - Worship

Turn with me to Acts 4. And I want to tell you the story of Peter who spread the gospel in ancient Jerusalem when few wanted him to share his message. We’ve skipped ahead a couple of chapters in Acts. We’ll circle back in the days to come and fill in more of the details of the birth of the church in the coming weeks. For now, know these were the early days & there were very few disciples, about 5,000. The gospel has not expanded very far as it was still localized to one city, Jerusalem. The story of a lame beggar’s healing is told in Acts 3. The fledgling church is about to face its first opposition.

Today’s Scripture

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.” (Acts 4:1–22)