All praise for Jesus, best gift divine through word and witness, in bread and wine; incarnate love song of boundless grace, priest, teacher, prophet in time and space, your steadfast kindness with human face; Soli Deo Gloria!
Soli Deo Gloria!—ELW 878
Starting October 20, we will begin a worship series called “The Rose is Still Blooming: The Reformation at 500.” We will be using Luther’s rose as a way to mark the weeks visually and we will be focusing on the five Solas of the Reformation. They are:
- Solus Christus “Christ alone”: Jesus Christ alone is our Lord and Savior.
- Sola fide “Faith alone”: We are saved through faith alone in Jesus Christ.
- Sola gratia “Grace alone”: We are saved by the grace of God alone.
- Sola scriptura “Word alone”: The Bible alone is our highest authority.
- Soli Deo gloria “to the Glory of God alone”: We live for the glory of God alone.
As we celebrate the Reformation we will share Holy Communion weekly, we will focus on how the reformation continues to take place in the church today and we will mark the Sundays with other ideas that have come from our Worship Arts Team Meetings.
October 31, 2017, marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther posting his Ninety-Five Theses on the church door in Wittenburg, Germany. This act sparked the Lutheran Reformation.
This past year, Bethesda has been marking these reforming events in our Bible studies and in our worship at several points. These weeks will not simply be the culmination of the celebration but we hope a springboard into looking at ways that we can be forward looking, outward-directed, and focused on the mercy of God in Christ Jesus for years to
come.