HERE I STAND - THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

The Protestant Reformation is not officially part of the Christian Year calendar. However, the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century changed Christianity forever. Spurred to action by the corruption and abuses they saw in the Roman Catholic church of the time, visionary leaders like Martin Luther and John Calvin spearheaded a movement that transformed Christianity and eventually led to the emergence of the Protestant denominations that exist today.

The Reformers were guided by the conviction that the church of their day had drifted away from the essential, original teachings of Christianity, especially in regard to what it was teaching about salvation—how people can be forgiven of sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and receive eternal life with God. The Reformation sought to reorient Christianity on the original message of Jesus and the early church.

The Five Solas are five Latin phrases (or slogans) that emerged during the Reformation to summarize the Reformers’ theological convictions about the essentials of Christianity. Today we will be looking at each of the Five Solas throughout our time together.

Call to Worship
“Let God speak directly to his people through the Scriptures, and let his people respond with grateful songs of praise.”
Martin Luther

Sola Scriptura (“Scripture Alone”)

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
Words and Music by Martin Luther; chorus by Tommy Walker
This Arr. © 1997 Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Songs

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing
Our helper he amid the food of mortal ills prevailing
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe
His craft and power are great and armed with cruel hate
On earth is not his equal

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing
Were not the right man on our side the man of God’s own choosing
Dost ask who that may be, Christ Jesus it is he
Lord Sabaoth his name from age to age the same
And he must win the battle

And though this world with devils filled
Should threaten to undo us we will not fear
For God hath willed, his truth to triumph through us
The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him
His rage we can endure, for lo his doom is sure
One little word shall fell him

A mighty fortress, a mighty fortress is our God
A mighty fortress, a mighty fortress is our God

How Firm A Foundation
Words and Music by John Rippon and Joseph Funk
This Arr. © 2016 ThankYou Music

How firm a foundation you saints of the Lord
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word
What more can he say than to you he has said
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fed

Fear not I am with you, oh be not dismayed
For I am your God and will still give you aid
I'll strengthen you, help you and cause you to stand
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand

When through the deep waters I call you to go
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow
For I will be with you, your troubles to bless
And sanctify to you your deepest distress.

When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie
My grace all sufficient shall be your supply
The fame shall not hurt you, I only design
Your draws to consume and pull to refne

Sola Gratia (“Grace Alone”)

Prayer
O Lord, we are not worthy to have a glimpse of heaven, and unable with works to redeem ourselves from sin, death, the devil, and hell. For this we rejoice, praise and thank you, O God, that without price and out of pure grace You have granted us this boundless blessing in your dear Son through whom You take sin, death, and hell from us, and give to us all that belongs to Him.
Martin Luther

Sola Christus (“Christ Alone”)

In Christ Alone
Words and Music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
© 2002 Thankyou Music

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gif of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones he came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev’ry sin on him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground his body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as he stands in victory,
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am his and he is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from his hand;
Till he returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.

Offering Prayer

Offertory:
Speak O Lord
Words and Music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
© 2005 Thankyou Music

Speak, O Lord, as we come to you
To receive the food of your holy Word.
Take your truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in your likeness,
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and filled in us
All your purposes for your glory.

Teach us, Lord, full obedience,
Holy reverence, true humility;
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of your purity.
Cause our faith to rise; cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority.
Words of pow’r that can never fail—
Let their truth prevail over unbelief.

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of your plans for us—
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time
That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we’ll stand on your promises,
And by faith we’ll walk as you walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, till your church is built And the earth is filled with your glory.

Prayer of Illumination
Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that, as the Scriptures are read and your Word proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.

Sermon

Soli Deo Gloria (“To The Glory Of God Alone”)

May The Mind Of Christ, My Savior
Words by Kate B. Wilkinson, Music by A. Cyril Barham-Gould, ST. LEONARDS (1925)

May the mind of Christ, my Savior,
Live in me from day to day,
By his love and pow’r controlling
All I do and say.

May the Word of God dwell richly
In my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph
Only through his pow’r.

May the peace of God my Father
Rule my life in ev’rything,
That I may be calm to comfort
Sick and sorrowing.

May the love of Jesus fill me
As the waters fill the sea;
Him exalting, self abasing:
This is victory.

May I run the race before me,
Strong and brave to face the foe,
Looking only unto Jesus
As I onward go.

May his beauty rest upon me
As I seek the lost to win,
And may they forget the channel,
Seeing only him.

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (reprise)
Words and Music by Martin Luther; chorus by Tommy Walker
This Arr. © 1997 Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Songs

A mighty fortress, a mighty fortress is our God
A mighty fortress, a mighty fortress is our God

That word above all earthly pow’rs, no thanks to them abideth
The Spirit and the gifs are ours, through him who with us sideth
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also
The body they may kill, God's truth abideth still
His kingdom is forever

Benediction
(based on Colossians 2:11–12)
As you go from here, remember this:
The same Spirit of God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, also lives in you, breathing new life and freedom into your hearts and minds.

So go from here with joy and confidence, knowing that God is at work within you.