A Gift
Below is my manuscript for my sermons on Sunday, October 8. We are beginning a five week series focusing on themes for the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. The lessons were Ephesians 2.3-10 and John 3.16-21. Recordings from the three services are here , here and here , each had some audio issues. What happens to us when we die? Believe it or not, that was at the center of what started the movement we know as the Reformation. The Catholic understanding, which was the only understanding that mattered at the time, was that souls spent time in purgatory. Purgatory is like a waiting room, where your soul spends time to get rid of residual sins; you must be purified, if you can, before you enter heaven. This became important to a German monk and theologian named Martin Luther. Near the town where he served as pastor and professor, representatives of the Pope were selling indulgences. Indulgences were certificates that assured you, by the power...