Did You Know?
Information, history and facts about Bethany Lutheran Church and Early Childhood Education Center
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+Because it is in the church when I can each week hear God’s Word preached and taught and receive His body and blood at the Lord’s table.
+Because it is in the church where I was baptized, confirmed, married and will someday have my funeral. +Because it is in the church where I’m blessed to have fellowship with fellow believers. +Because it is in the church where I have the opportunity to use my time and abilities to serve the Lord. +On the heels of this change in his understanding – that God gives us righteousness – came others too!
+Salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ and His merits, not our own! +Faith for Luther, no longer consisted of asserting to the Church’s teachings, but of trusting the promises of God in and through Christ’s sacrifice. +What followed was not just an explosion, but more like a long but powerful chain reaction. +It started on All Saint’s Eve, October 31, 1517, when Luther formally protested church action and teaching by posting 95 Theses for debate on the Wittenberg Church front door. +The young Luther could not live by faith because he was not righteous-and he knew it
+The critical turn in Luther’s life came when Staupitz (his Supervisor) ordered him to obtain his doctorate and become a professor of the Bible at Wittenberg University +There, a revolution in his theological thinking occurred in his lecture hall and study from 1513-1519 +Who could be righteous? Luther came to teach increasingly that God gives us righteousness! . +Though the initial fears and anxieties left Luther during his first year in the Cloister, they later began to intensify and he felt increasing terror of the wrath of God
+His supervisor ordered him to undertake the study of theology in order to become one of the Order’s teachers. This enabled him to investigate his struggles intellectually. +It was slow going at first since his teachers had taught that God demanded an absolute righteousness (perfect living) to be saved +During his early years, whenever Luther came to the famous “Reformation text” – Romans 1:17 – his eyes were drawn not to the word faith, but to the word religious +Who, after all, could “live by faith”? Only those who were already righteous +that we have been collecting loose change for the local Salvation Army….our goal is to stuff our pumpkin full!
+that we celebrate Thanksgiving annually with a school-wide Thanksgiving Feast. This year we will be sharing a Thanksgiving Blessing Mix with everyone. +that was have annual programs on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. We invite all to attend – see the online calendar for dates and times. + each year at Christmas, we give a child in each age-level class a crèche scene to be displayed in their home. +Upon his return from a home visit, as Luther fought his way through a severe thunderstorm, a bolt of lightning struck the ground near him
+”Help me, St. Anne” the frightened Luther screamed, hoping to escape the lightning. “I will become a monk!” +In July, 1505, as required on entering monastic life, Luther gave away all his possessions, even his prized book +By all evidence, Luther was extraordinarily successful as an observant Augustinian, just as he had been a student +He did not simply engage in prayer, fasts and ascetic practices (including going without sleep, enduring bone-chilling cold, and flagellating (whipping) himself, he pursued them earnestly +Despite common origins, two things set young Luther apart: -First, Hans sent Martin to Latin school at age 14 and then on to the University of Erfurt. - Second, Luther proved to be extraordinary, intelligent, earning his bachelor’s at age 19 and his master’s at 22-the shortest time allowed by the University. This earned him the nick-name “The Philosopher.”A pleased Hans gave his son the costly gift of the central text for legal studies at the time, the Corpus Juris Civilis. +Unfortunately, the promising law student soon had doubts about the status of his soul and about his career his father had securely set before him. +Luther was born on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, Germany (about 120 miles southeast of modern Berlin), where both parents may have worked as domestic servants?
+Hans, Luther’s father (spelling his last name Luder), quickly climbed to member of the city council? +Luther remembered his childhood in part for (in today’s terms) its physical abuse? Both his mother and his father beat him in frightening ways +He became so estranged from his father on one occasion that Hans sought his forgiveness? +But Luther also remembered, “He meant well by me.” Strict physical discipline was normal in the era +We are celebrating 500 years of the Reformation?
+Most scholars agree that the medieval church was in dire need of reform? +Could complete schism have been avoided? +Martin Luther and his fellow reformers stripped away the veil obscuring the good news of grace through Christ alone? +The Reformation that followed came at a high price: decades of warfare, political turmoil, and social upheaval? How should we think about our divisions today in light of Jesus’ passionate prayer that his followers be “one”? +Did you know that next year we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation?
+Did you know that five hundred years ago an obscure German monk published 95 theses (theological points for debate) and posted them on the community church door in Wittenberg? +Did you know that the Lutheran Church traces its beginning roots back to this event? +Did you know that the obscure German monk was named Martin Luther? +And did you know that act by Luther unwittingly set off a revolution that continues to shape the church and the world to this very day?!? |
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Contact
18 Sophia Grace Drive
Fishersville, VA 22939 (540) 942-4361 bethtrin@bethanylcw.org Mailing Address:
PO Box 389 Fishersville, VA 22939 |
Office Hours
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
8am - 12pm |
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