Remember Our History (and celebrate truth)
By Josh Hughes
Five hundred years ago, a German monk took up a hammer and pounded a nail. When he was finished, a document hung suspended on the door of Wittenberg Castle, one that would turn the world upside down. The monk’s name was Martin Luther, and his goal in posting his “95 Theses” was to present a collection of propositions for disputation. Troubled by some of the doctrines being taught by the church, Luther wanted to initiate a debate over the nature of repentance and how exactly it is that God deals with our sin.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Luther’s act of protest was the starter pistol-shot that began the Protestant Reformation, a journey of discovery and recovery of essential doctrines and practices long obscured by the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching. Within a few short years, for the first time in centuries, worship services were being administered in the common language of the people, congregations were singing and taking both elements of the Lord’s supper, and millions of people were discovering a righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
These years were significant, and the doctrines that would emerge in their wake has given significant shape to the belief and practice of the Protestant churches (in case you didn’t know, Four Oaks is happily numbered among them) for the last five centuries.
So significant are these doctrines that we are going to set aside five weeks beginning next Wednesday, October 18th to remember our history and celebrate God’s truth in an Equip class we’re calling “Reformation Theology: After Darkness, Light.” We will meet from 10/18-11/15 at 6:30pm in Gallery 14 at Four Oaks Killearn to think together about the truths that emerged through the reformation and consider what God did through Luther and those who would come after him. Dessert and coffee will be provided. I hope you’ll join us!