Sermon: Semper Reformanda

“Semper Reformanda: Always Needing Reformation” Romans 12:2 December 10, 2017 On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted 95 theses for theological debate in an effort to transform the Roman Catholic Church. He hardly anticipated when he posted and printed those 95 topics that he was lighting the fuse that would create the dynamic explosion that […]

Sermon: Sola Gratia

“Sola Gratia: a Pillar of the Reformation” Ephesians 2:8-10 November 19, 2017 In late November of 1988, a 19-year-old woman fell asleep while driving shortly after midnight on a Los Angeles freeway. The car went through a guard rail on an overpass. But the left rear wheel got trapped by that guard rail and left […]

Sermon: Solus Christus

“Solus Christus: the Center of the Reformation” Colossians 1:15-20 November 12, 2017 Rowland Taylor was a Reformer living in England who died on February 9, 1555. He was identified as a Protestant, questioned, imprisoned, and then taken from London to his hometown of Hadleigh “where to his great delight [he was] to be burned before […]

Sermon: Sola Scriptura

“Sola Scriptura: the Foundation of the Reformation” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 November 5, 2017 The passage before us this morning is well known to us: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good […]

The hymn for the day: A Mighty Fortress

HT: Kevin DeYoung

Sermon: Luther, the Reformation, and You

“Luther, the Reformation, and You” Selected Scriptures October 29, 2017 You might say that the Reformation began because a church building program went awry. Pope Leo X wanted to paint the church ceiling, but he wanted a man named Michelangelo to paint it, and because of Leo’s other art expenditures, he couldn’t afford the project. […]

“I hated the righteousness of God”

I greatly longed to understand Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, and nothing stood in the way but that one expression, “the righteousness of God,” because I took it to mean that righteousness whereby God is righteous and deals righteously in punishing the unrighteous.…Night and day I pondered until…I grasped the truth that the righteousness of […]

Reformation from the inside out

On this date, 498 years ago, a little-known monk in Wittenberg, Germany started a “little” controversy. He posted 95 declarations of debate on the door of the church in that town, intending to start a discussion with the Roman Catholic Church to transform her. Instead, he started the Protestant Reformation. Some of the theses he […]

Free eBook about Martin Luther by Steve Lawson — today only!

Today only, the e-version of Steve Lawson’s new book on Martin Luther, The Heroic Boldness of Martin Luther is being made available by Ligonier for free. I just finished reading this book. It’s excellent. Take advantage of this deal today! The Heroic Boldness of Martin Luther.

eBook deals

Here are a couple of current eBook deals that look good. First, Shepherd Press has redesigned and relaunched their website with 99¢ deals on all their eBooks (but this deal is only good through Nov. 5). A couple of the books that I’ve really appreciated are When Sinners Say, “I Do” (by Dave Harvey), and […]

A better friend

Philip Melanchthon had evidently been complaining to his friend Martin Luther about some problems he was facing. Martin Luther wrote him back some direct counsel (June 27, 1530). I need friends like this and I need to be unafraid to be this kind of friend: Those great cares by which you say you are consumed […]

Luther’s 95 theses

On this day, 494 years ago, Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. This event is commonly understood as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. The theses by Luther were concise statements that were written to invite debate with the leadership of the Roman Catholic church. While […]

Preparing for Reformation Day

Justin Taylor has provided a number of very helpful resources explaining the significance of Reformation Day (Monday, October 31) — the anniversary of Martin Luther nailing the 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg in 1517. Among the resources he lists are: 1. Last year I interviewed Carl Trueman about the […]

Pleasing God

Martin Luther: Now, we are sure that Christ pleases God, that he is holy and so on. Inasmuch, then, as Christ pleases God and we are in him, we also please God and are holy. Although sin still remains in us, and although we daily fall and offend, grace is more abundant and stronger than […]

Two more thoughts about Reformation Day

At the beginning of the Reformation and at the end of his life (“We are beggars, this is true,” the statement Gary alluded to this morning), Luther affirms the same truths. David Mathis explains. And Justin Taylor provides a couple of videos related to Luther, including the famous “Here I stand” scene from the recent […]