HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-11-02, Page 16PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2017.
From the Minister's Study
The reverberations of the Reformation
By Pastor Ernest Dow
Living Water Christian
Fellowship (EMC), Blyth
It was 500 years ago this week -
Oct. 31, 1517 - an obscure monk in
a backwater university town in
Germany posted a list of points for
academic debate that kicked off a
theological and political revolution.
The implications of Martin Luther's
95 Theses echo on down the
corridors of time to our own day.
Medieval society was locked into
tyrannies of various forms:
corruption in the Roman Catholic
Church resulted in people of all
classes being bilked of their limited
resources by paying "indulgences"
in hopes that deceased loved ones
would thus be spared years of
punishment in purgatory.
Churchgoers were encouraged to
venerate relics purported to be
associated with saints, and to
undertake harrowing pilgrimages, in
hopes of accumulating merit that
would aid their souls. Political
leaders ruled by force in a system of
feudalism that kept the majority
oppressed and landless at the bottom
of the social order.
The Protestant Reformation (as it
became known) changed all that.
Martin Luther's ideas became wildly
popular and spread broadly thanks to
Gutenberg's newly -invented printing
press. Luther translated the original
Biblical languages into a new
German Bible that common people
could read for themselves, thus
encouraging basic literacy and a
common point of reference for
morality - by which even rulers
could be held to account. The
democracy that we enjoy today
became a possibility.
There were notable gains for
women, too. A female colleague
comments, "The Reformation freed
us from the misogyny that plagued
the medieval Catholic church. It was
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November 5: 1Jn.4:7ff
4°D - 40 Days of
Ol Love,
Conclusion
11:00 a.m. at H&B Shannon's
316 Hamilton Street, Blyth
Our last regular service before merger -
Communion and Potbless
"It's All
About Love"
Evangelical Missionary Church
Wednesdays 10:00 am • Women's COFFEE BREAK
Bible Study at Blyth CRC
Wednesdays 6:30 pm • Heirborn (JK•Gr.6)
& Youth Group at Huron Chapel, Auburn
Pastor: Ernest Dow - 519-523-4848
getlivingwater.org�
a significant step on a journey that
has made it possible for us as women
to be where we are today: active,
respected contributors in our homes,
the church, and wherever we dream
of walking."
As the Reformation progressed
and matured, five Latin phrases
emerged which came to summarize
the proponents' main contentions.
How do each of these compare with
the ideologies of our own day? How
might 21st -century Canadian culture
use these to critique its own
sometimes unspoken ultimate goals
and implicit assumptions? In what
ways do these call us to review our
own chief purposes and aims in life?
"Soli Deo Gloria" - we live for the
glory of God alone. Mantras in
culture might be, "Live for the
moment"; "Do whatever turns your
crank"; YOLO - "You Only Live
Once"; "Get all you can, while you
can"; and, "He who dies with the
most toys wins"
Advertising morphs us into a
fundamentally selfish society,
seeking our maximum pleasure
through buying the latest gadget or
personally -enhancing product. But
(as Justin Holcomb explains) the
Reformers maintained: "God's glory
is the central motivation for
salvation... God is not a means to an
end—he is the means and the end.
The goal of all of life is to give glory
to God alone: `Whether you eat or
drink, or whatever you do, do all to
the glory of God' (1 Corinthians
10:31)." We find our ultimate
purpose, and life's true meaning, in
reference to God, not ourselves.
"Solus Christus" - Jesus Christ
alone is our Lord, Saviour, and King.
Modern society touts the "self-made
man"; naturalism tells us "big fish
eat little fish" so in our closed
system, the way to get ahead is to
promote yourself, work hard, put in
long hours and maybe someday
you'll see the light at the end of the
You're Jnvited a join lis c9n Worship * 4"
SUNDAYS a
Morning Service 10:00 am ,'k ;
Evening Service 7:30 pm
BLYTH CHRISTIAN ,
REFORMED CHURCH 01
Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen
Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743
ANGLICAN PARISH OF NEW BEGINNINGS
AL
BLYTH BRUSSELS
Trinity St. John's
6,. 9:15 am 11:15 am
4
Office Church Office
Fr 1 519-357-4883 519-887-6862
IIChurch
Everyone Welcome!
COME WORSHIP WITH Us!
Efteedd b4 eoffaitItactv &a
Sunday, November 5
You're Invited at 10:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
t0 come worshi 650 Alexander St. (former Blyth Public School)
,, p I with us >`' Sunday School for children
,,
,, 4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m. ae:sem: �
tet! "-- Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers
tv _
-.7-f--.---lo- J during the sermon.
Coffee & cookies after the morning service.
For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621
Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
SAME HURON CHAPEL SERVICE
TWO TI
ES
9cmi o'c Ilam
Every Sunday in Auburn - huronchapel.com
tunnel. Unfortunately, many climb
the ladder of success only to find it
leaning against the wrong wall. That
amounts to a life misspent. By
contrast, the Reformers understood:
"God has given the ultimate
revelation of himself to us by
sending Jesus Christ (Colossians
1:15). Only through God's gracious
self -revelation in Jesus do we come
to a saving and transforming
knowledge of God." (Holcomb) We
BRUSSELS
can't save ourselves or go it alone:
bottom line - we need Jesus.
"Sola fide" / "Sola gratia": we are
saved through faith alone in Jesus
Christ; and, we are saved by the
grace of God alone. Our capitalist
society puts much stock in the work
world - accumulating assets, putting
in long hours, clambering your way
up the corporate ladder... often at
tremendous cost to family
Continued on page 17
United Church
Welcome to Sunday morning worship
& Sunday School
at 11:00 am
Hillary MacDonald (905) 246-7386
Macdonald.hillary@gmail.com
Everyone welcome
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5
We invite you to join our church family in:
Worship & Sunday School - 11 am
Coffee & Snacks following the service
Come out and meet our new minister, Rev. Charmila Ireland
Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm - Soup & More 2
- a free community meal held in Melville's basement, and
made possible by the Brussels churches working together.
Nursery care available
519-887-6687
Blyth United Church
Est. 1875
Worship Service at 9:30 a.m.
Sunday, November 5
d1141 1111/
t
i
'r In Memory of Many,
In Honour of All.
Thank You.,
Hillary MacDonald
tz
OFFICE: 519-523-4224
THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS.
OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Tr
Brussels:
St. Ambrose
Saturday
6:00 p.m.
17 Flora Street
Wingham:
Sacred Heart
Sunday
9:00 a.m.
220 Carling Terrace
Listowel:
St. Joseph's
Sunday
11:00 a.m.
1025 Wallace Avenue N.