The following excerpt is from a sermon I have preached on 2 Timothy 2:8-9/Romans 10:14-17.  The theme of this message is: “Unleashing the Gospel.”

For years, Martin Luther lived in terror and fear of God.  He was haunted by the stories of evil witches, gargoyles, and trolls.  Lacking Bible knowledge he tried everything to break free of these chains but found that the more he struggled by his own might or by following the teachings of the Roman Church, the tighter the chains became and more he despaired. 

Finally, in desperation, at the point of a mental and spiritual breakdown, a friend encouraged Luther to study the Bible. After all, Luther was a master of the Greek and Hebrew languages – the languages in which the Bible was written.  Martin began to study. He dug through Psalms, Galatians, and Romans and as he did so, an amazing thing began to happen.  The Holy Spirit began to open his eyes to truths he had not seen before! 

Yes, God is a God of justice who demands perfection, but God is also merciful, loving and compassionate.  Yes, people who reject Christ as their Saviour go to hell, but Luther discovered that our loving God sent His Son to suffer and die on the cross to forgive our sin.  Luther discovered that Jesus was not revengeful but that, in his love for us, he journeyed the way of the cross to suffer and die so that we might be declared holy in God’s sight.  The Holy Spirit released Luther from the chains which had bound him for all his life.  And, as Luther became unchained, he let the world know of God’s liberating Gospel through his writings. …

Following the Diet of Worms, Luther was “imprisoned” in the Wartburg castle.  His friends kidnapped him and gave him the disguise of Junker George.  He stayed at Wartburg for about a year. During that year, Luther began to work on one of his most important works – the translation of the New Testament into the German language. He wanted the German people to be able to read the amazing story of God’s love in their own language.  He wanted the German people to hear God’s declaration of forgiveness in their mother tongue.  He knew that “faith comes from hearing the Word of Christ.”  Martin Luther knew their lives would be transformed as the Spirit of God worked through their reading and studying of the Bible!!! …

I ask you: outside of Sunday worship when do you read the Bible? Have you read the Bible from cover to cover?  Are you a Bible study participant?

Might it be that we are experiencing some problems in our life because we are not seeking God’s wisdom on those matters?  Might it be that we embrace worldly values because we don’t know the Bible well enough to know what is right and wrong from God’s perspective?  Might it be that our own personal faith is weak or unsteady because we are not immersed in God’s Word?  …

The Bible is God’s everlasting Word to us!  His Word is “a lamp to our feet.” (Psalm 119) The Bible says, “these things have been written so that you might know Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing in his name we might have life.” (John 20:31) St. Paul says, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man (woman and child) of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  (2 Tim. 3:14-17) …

Is it any wonder that the psalmist exclaims, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.”  (Psalm 119:103b-104)

Sola Scriptura! Scripture alone!  I encourage you to read the Bible! 

Thank God for the saints of old who translated the Bible!  Thank God for the saints today who continue to translate the Bible!  Thank God for those Sunday School and Bible class teachers and pastors and parents/grandparents who “translated” … who taught us God’s Word!

God’s grace and peace is yours in Christ Jesus!

Rev. Dr. Glenn E. Schaeffer

District President, ABC District

1 Timothy 6:12

• Pray for LCC President-Elect Rev. Timothy Teuscher  and his wife, Paula, as they begin to transition to Winnipeg and his service as Synod President
• Thank God for all the people elected to positions in LCC
• Pray the Lord will make much of the decisions that were made by the delegates at the LCC Convention
• Ask the Lord to nurture in you a craving to read and study God’s Word “like a newborn baby craves her mother’s milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation” (1 Peter 2:2)

Congregational mission remittances are used to support the mission and ministry of ABC District congregations, schools and church workers.  In the next several weeks, we will be sharing stories from those who received funding from the ABC District in 2017.   This week we feature Pineview Christian Nursery School,  Fort Saskatchewan, AB….

TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Proper 24
(22 October 2017)

Isaiah 45:1–7
1 Thessalonians 1:1–10
Matthew 22:15–22

We Are Recreated in the Image of God by the Cross of Christ

Plotting against Jesus, the Pharisees attempted “to entangle him in his words” by asking about the payment of taxes to Caesar (Matt. 22:15). The Lord pointed to coins required for the tax, and He answered that we should “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matt. 22:21). But if coins bearing the image of Caesar should be rendered to him, then man — who is made in the image of God — must be rendered to the Lord. That tax is paid for us by the Lord Jesus, the image of God in the flesh, by His self-offering on the cross. And from His cross, as the Lord’s anointed, He reigns as the true Caesar over all nations “from the rising of the sun and from the west”(Is. 45:6). The Lord once called and anointed Cyrus “to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings” (Is. 45:1). Now by the preaching of the Gospel, “in power and in the Holy Spirit” (1 Thess. 1:5), foreigners from all over the world are “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess. 1:9–10). 

Our mailing address is:
7040 Ada Blvd
Edmonton, AB T5B 4E3 Canada
Phone: 780-474-0063 / 1-888-474-0063 (toll free)

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