Maranatha Bible-Presbyterian Church
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
MARANATHA MESSENGER Weekly Newsletter of Private Circulation Only MARANATHA BIBLE-PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 29 November 2015 “Present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:28) Address: 63 Cranwell Road, Singapore 509851 Tel: (65) 6545 8627 Fax: (65) 6546 7422 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.maranatha-bpc.com Sunday School: 9.45 am Sunday English / Chinese Worship Service: 10.45 am Sunday Chinese Worship Service: 7 pm Wednesday Prayer Meeting: 8.00 pm Pastor: Rev. Dr. Jack Sin (HP: 9116 0948) Geographical and Historical Travelogue to the Land of the Protestant Magisterial Reformers Introduction What is now of great renown, Once was hardly a town, Was once so poor, and lowly The psalmist recites the whole story, How Jerusalem rose to Glory, Wittenberg is almost the same Grew from nothing to great fame. But now its glory is so bright, That it draws soul to the light Like Jerusalem of old, It shines with purest gold, God give it grace to shine again, On earth and in the heavens, amen. (Heinz Stade, Thomas A Seidel, In the Footsteps of Martin Luther, 2010, 208. Luther wrote this in 1545 about Wittenberg a year before he died.) In the early winter of November in the western hemisphere, 37 of us by the providential hand of God from 13 churches went on a Reformation historical study tour from 8 to 20 November travelling to three countries over 1845 km on land in 12 days, namely France, Germany and Switzerland in the footsteps of the 16th century Reformers. Thank God for safety (despite the Paris bombing incident where 129 died) and protection and good health, strength and a memorable and educational journey for all. 1 Walking with the Reformers This is the town hall of Wittenberg. Note the Luther’s memorial and he is We visited the very historic places where the holding the Bible, the basis of his magisterial Reformers once lived and the reforming works. events that surrounded their lives and ministry that transformed their hearts. It was God’s sovereign good timing to bring the 16th century Reformation to past after the Renaissance where the moveable type printing machine was invented by Johanne Gutenberg from 1452-5 which the team saw with their own eyes at the Gutenberg museum. We started with Martin Luther, a regenerate monk who firmly opposed the sale of indulgences with the posting of the 95 theses on the door of the castle church of Wittenberg, which exposed the doctrinal errors that struck against the law of God. We were in Wittenberg where he was professor at the University. While Luther was preparing to teach the book of Romans he discovered from Romans 1:17 that a man is not justified by works but by faith and he led the Reformation. From there, we went to Torgau. This is the church in Constance where The palace chapel was consecrated by the great the council which condemned John Reformer himself in 1544. However, it is not just Hus to death in 1415 was held. Luther himself who was remembered in At Wartburg castle where Torgau. In 1552, to escape the plague, his widowed Martin Luther translated the New wife, Katharina von Bora, fled with her children to Testament into German in 1522. Torgau, where she died a short time later. We then proceeded to Erfurt, an important place in the life of the German reformer. From 1505 to 1511, Luther lived at the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt, an architecture dating back to the 13th century. He studied for the monkhood and was ordained as a priest. In the Augustinian monastery Luther was taught dialectics, rhetoric original languages, the church fathers and the Bible to some extent and earned his BA and MA. Although he did not get the truth, he acquired the skills and the tools to study the Bible on his own later which led to his eyes being enlightened by the very word of God unto everlasting life. At Erfurt with our local guides and Angie Sin our overall coordin ator. 2 Doctrines they stood for Here we witnessed the hand of God in guiding this monk to be God’s faithful herald in momentous times as he stood for justification by faith alone, the authority and sufficiency of the scriptures and the universal priesthood of believers. We were also at Eisenach where he grew up as a young boy and was a choir boy with gifted abilities, a precocious kid who was religious and followed his parents to the church. The house where Luther was born and the house where he died in are still there both in Eisleben. We travelled also to Worms 16th Century and it is here that monastic meal in Luther was a cellar near the summoned to the Erfu rt monastery. Diet by Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire in 1521 to answer charges Luther’s house. on his writings that were at variance with the church. He arrived with safe conduct promised by Frederick the wise and he gave the historic reply to the king without the fear and favour of men and stood firm on his biblical convictions and said “ I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen. ” In April 1521, Luther appeared before the Imperial Diet in Worms, where Emperor Charles V demanded that he This is Hartenfels Castle where recant his teachings. When Luther refused, Charles V Frederick the Wise, the Elector of issued an edict banning Luther and his teachings. Saxony lived in Torgau. Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, protected Martin Luther (disguised as 'Squire George') at the Wartburg castle. We need to be brave and uncompromising men today on the word. God preserved his life in the midst of grave danger. Given 21 days of safe conduct, he was kidnapped by some knights and kept in Wartburg castle where he stayed for 10 months and providentially he translated the New Testament into German. It is a UNESCO This is Hartenfels Castle where World Heritage site, today on a hilltop and Luther’s Frederick the Wise, the Elector of the castle has a late Romanesque inner handwriting on Saxony lived in Torgau. his exposition ward. Luther found refuge there in 1522 as of Psalms. 3 God had a higher plan for him. This was a significant turning point in the Reformation as the people could now read the Bible in their own languages for the first time. The team was challenged and we had time of reflection, prayer and devotion on the bus in the morning by different leaders. A German Luther standing before journalist, Ulrike Schaffer followed us and interviewed the Diet of Worms. the pastor and she is a reporter for a local newspaper. She was curious why a group of Singaporeans came all the way here for a Reformation tour and an article on our trip was to be published in the local German papers a few days later in Worms. We had wonderful guides and every local guide that we had, we not only gave them a tip but also a gospel tract and Singapore keychain or chopstick souvenir from here. From Germany, in the midst of the recent Paris bombing where 129 were killed and many others injured, there was the heightened security and with much prayers and dependence on the Lord , we travelled to France and entered via Strasbourg and attended the Sunday morning service at the international Trinity Church. We had the opportunity to send our greetings and shared the word from Philippians 1:27 and met up with Pastor Karl and our guide, Phil and his wife, Violeta. In July 1536, Calvin went John Calvin museum in Geneva. to Geneva which became the centre of his work. He had been trying to go to Strasbourg and was there for 3 years but the spread of the Habsburg-Valois Wars made him detour to Geneva where a fiery Protestant called Guillaume Farel persuaded him to stay. The Reformer, John Calvin who was called of God for such a time, was used of the Lord to transform Geneva. John Calvin met his dear wife Idelette and pastored a French speaking church in Strasbourg and he also met up with the local reformers, Martin Bucer and Zell and Ocolampadius as well. From there, Calvin returned to Geneva later in 1541 and be there for 25 years where he led the spiritual reforms of the city. The team members visited the John Calvin museum in Geneva and at each point we had a local guide who gave us a relevant commentary. Thank God for both the meals and the hotel arrangements that were carefully planned to give the members a pleasant experience as much as it is possible with a delectable gastronomic experience as well. 4 Meeting the Reformers in Switzerland We then travelled 3 hours to also visit the historic city of Lausanne where Pierre Viret, the brave and knowledgeable Reformer pastored a church here for a numbers of years and then to Zurich the city where Huldreich In Geneva with four Protestant Reformers. Zwingli, the foremost leader of the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland was inspired of the Lord to write the 67 theses. Zwingli was the key pastor who preached and from the Bible and exposed the church errors together later with Bullinger and others. Zwingli who was a military chaplain died early when he went out to the battlefield with the Protestant troops at the second war of Kappel in 1531.