Today we celebrated the birth of the Reformation.

In the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 

That's how Martin Luther starts his 95 Theses. After a short introduction, stating his willingness to debate his 95 thoughts about God, Jesus, and the church, he began his words with a prayer. What followed wasn't just random thoughts nor were they only abstract statements about an abstract God. His writings were centered on God and how our practices, thoughts, and actions reveal who this God is. He pinned these walls on the community bulletin board (the church door) in a university town (Wittenberg) hoping that someone would respond to his words. The funny thing is that no on did initially. No professor, pastor, or teacher who saw Luther's thoughts reached out to him to debate what Luther said. But his thoughts struck a nerve. They soon were printed and distributed all over Germany. The church and the government both responded harshly to what Luther composed. His words mark the beginning of the Lutheran Reformation, a reform movement in the church that continues to this day. We never stop reforming because we can never fully know who our God is and what Jesus is doing in our world today. The Reformation continues today and all of us, from two to ninety two, have a part to play in living into the faith that God graciously gives us everyday. 

So I invite you today to write your own statement about God. Take the slip of paper in your bulletin and write your own thought about God, faith, and the church. Who is God to you? How does Jesus impact your life? What story to you struggle to share? Why are you a Christian? 

Here are some possible examples:
God is love. 
When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said “Repent” [Matt 4:17], he willed that the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.
I don't know what Grace is. But I know that's the only way I get through life. 
When I was 23, I felt God in my life for the first time and I just can't let go. 
The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.
But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last [Matt 20:16].
I sometimes don't believe. But I know Jesus loves me anyways. 

Write your sentence and then, after you receive communion, tape the paper on the door by the rail. 

God is here and God is speaking through you. Let's share that word today.