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Health & Fitness

Another Reason to Celebrate on October 31

While most of the nation will be celebrating Halloween this Thursday with costumes and candy, members of the Lutheran church have an additional reason to celebrate. October 31 is "Reformation Day," or the celebration of the start of the Lutheran church.

On October 31, 1517, a monk in Wittenberg, Germany posted 95 Thesis, or topics for debate, on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg (which was like the town bulletin board, not unlike our digital versions in the Patch and Facebook!). Luther sensed that there was a problem with what the church was teaching. People had come selling indulgences, pieces of paper that could be purchased which would, supposedly, forgive sins before God. Luther thought this practice was being abused.

Like any of us, Luther was a work in progress. As he studied the Bible more and more he realized that what was being taught by the church was completely incorrect. There was no way for mankind to pay off even a single sin, no matter how many good things he did or how much money he paid. Sin was a problem bigger than man; sin needed God.

Part of the Lutheran heritage is the value placed on God's Word as the sole rule for life. In that Word God certainly condemns sin, but he also very clearly provide the solution to that sin. And that solution involves no money and no penance. The solution comes freely as a gift from God.

When Jesus died on the cross, he wasn't just a man who caught a bad break or suffered a great injustice. He was the God-appointed Savior from sin. Jesus not only suffered the pain of death on that cross, but he suffered abandonment by God, the very definition of hell, to pay for my sins and yours. His resurrection on Easter Sunday assures that his payment was accepted, that his mission was accomplished, that our forgiveness is certain and likewise our own resurrection and eternal life in heaven with God is assured.

Lutherans do not worship Martin Luther, but we do thank God for the work God did through him. Through that work (and the work of countless other men and women), the message of the gospel, of God's free forgiveness given to the world freely in Jesus has been preserved.

Join us for worship this Sunday where we will not be celebrating Luther as person in church, but we will be thanking our Savior for the message he's preserved for us. That message that assures us that no matter what we've done, no matter how weighed down by guilt we feel, and no matter how much we try to avoid thinking about it, there is a solution to sin and it's completely free. It is, as the apostle Paul wrote, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). We hope to see you there!

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Gloria Dei is a Lutheran congregation at the top of the hill on Ralston Avenue in Belmont. We also operate a full time grade school for grades Kindergarten through 5th grade. Visit us at our website, www.gdluth.org, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GDLuth, or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GDLuth.

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