501st Anniversary of Reformation Day - October 31, 2018 -
This is the day Protestantism remembers the beginning of the 16th century Reformation of the Christian Church. on October 31, 1517. There were several Reformations at this time. We remember the Lutheran Reformation.
The sermon/teaching is a quotation from Dr. Martin Luther (1483-1546):
May you ever cherish and treasure this thought. Christ is made a servant of sin, yea, a bearer of sin, and the lowliest and most despised person. He destroys all sin by Himself and says: “I came not to be served but to serve” (Matt. 20:28). There is no greater bondage than that of sin; and there is no greater service than that displayed by the Son of God, who becomes the servant of all, no matter how poor, wretched, or despised they may be, and bears their sins. It would be spectacular and amazing, prompting all the world to open ears and eyes, mouth and nose in uncomprehending wonderment, if some king’s son were to appear in a beggar’s home to nurse him in his illness, wash off his filth, and do everything else the beggar would have to do. Would this not be profound humility? Any spectator or any beneficiary of this honor would feel impelled to admit that he had seen or experienced something unusual and extraordinary, something magnificent. But what is a king or an emperor compared with the Son of God? Furthermore, what is a beggar’s filth or stench compared with the filth of sin which is ours by nature, stinking a hundred thousand times worse and looking infinitely more repulsive to God than any foul matter found in a hospital? And yet the love of the Son of God for us is of such magnitude that the greater the filth and stench of our sins, the more He befriends us, the more He cleanses us, relieving us of all our misery and of the burden of all our sins and placing them upon His own back. All the holiness of the monks stinks in comparison with this service of Christ, the fact that the beloved Lamb, the great Man, yes, the Son of the Exalted Majesty, descends from heaven to serve me.
Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 22: Sermons on the Gospel of St. John: Chapters 1-4, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 22 (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999), 166.
MATINS SERVICE
P – O Lord, open Thou my lips.
C – And my mouth shall show forth Thy praise
P – Makes haste O God, to deliver me.
C – Make haste to help me, O God.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
And to the Holy Ghost
As it was in the beginning, is now,
And every shall be; world without end.
Amen. Hallelujah!
The Invitatory
P – O come, let us worship the Lord;
C – For he is our Maker
The Venite
O come let us sing unto the Lord
Let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
And make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God
And a great King above all gods.
In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The strength of the hills is His also
The sea is His, and He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.
Oh, come let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our maker
For He is our God
And we are the people of His pasture
And the sheep of His hand.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
And to the Holy Ghost
As it was in the beginning, is now,
And ever shall be; world without end. Amen.
The Lection
P – But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
C – Thanks be to Thee, O Lord.
The Sermon - See above
The Te Deum Laudamus
We praise Thee O God, we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship Thee, the Father Everlasting.
To Thee all the angels cry aloud, the heavens and all the powers therein;
To Thee cherubim and seraphim continually do cry;
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth;
Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of Thy glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles praise Thee
The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise Thee;
The noble army of martyrs praise Thee;
The holy Church though all the world doth acknowledge Thee;
The Father of an infinite majesty; Thine adorable true and only Son,
Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.
Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ.
Thou are the everlasting Son of the Father.
When Thou tookest upon Thee to deleiver man;
Thou didst humble Thyself to be born of a virgin.
When Thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death,
Thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God
In the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come
To be our judge.
We therefore pray Thee to help Thy servants,
Whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with Thy saints
In glory everlasting.
O Lord, save Thy people and bless Thine heritage.
Govern them and lift them up forever.
Day by day we magnify Thee,
And we worship Thy name ever, world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin,
O Lord have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us,
O Lord, let Thy mercy be upon us, as our trust is in Thee.
O Lord, in Thee have I trusted; let me never be confounded.
The Prayers
The Kyrie
Lord have mercy upon us,
Christ have mercy upon us,
Lord have mercy upon us.
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who are in heaven, hallowed be Thy name;
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;
Give us this day our daily bread and
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory;
Forever and ever. Amen.
The Salutation
P – The Lord be with you.
C – And with thy spirit
P – O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, Who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day, Defend us in the same with Thy mighty power And grant that all our doings, being ordered by Thy governance May be righteous in Thy sight; Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost Ever one God, world without end.
C – Amen
The Benedicamus
P – Bless we the Lord
C – Thanks be to God
The Benediction
P – The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
The love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost
Be with you all.
C – Amen
Silent Prayer
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