Sunday: Reformation Sunday
Date: October 25, 2015
1st Reading: Revelation 14:6-7
Epistle: ​
Romans 3:19-28
​
Gospel: John 8:31-36
Designed as a “Service” of about 30 min. for nursing homes & other off-site church worship
Intended to be followed by a time of visiting/conversation/fellowship for 20+ minutes
Feel free to print, modify, or duplicate anything within this resource to fit your needs.
Greetings: Introduce yourselves and ask everyone’s name.
Opening Prayer (Doubles as Confession): Read by___________________________
Dear heavenly Father, we are so thankful that you have brought us together again, for this time of
worship and meditation in your Word. The Bible tells us ​
“how good and pleasant it is, when brothers and
sisters live together in unity.”​
As we gather together Lord, we are reminded that we are here because You
have called us out of darkness into Your wonderful light. Assure us Lord, of Your mercy and ever
present forgiveness. Help us to look to the cross and remind us that Your Son Jesus Christ died and
rose again, to give us the victory over our sins, over the devil and over this evil world. Help us to walk
in Your path, the path You have set before us in Jesus Christ. Keep us close to You and close to one
another. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Absolution: Read by __________________________________
Dear friends, God’s Word tells us that “if we are in Christ, we are a new creation, the old has gone
and the new has come.” Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, His death and resurrection, God
assures you that your sins are forgiven. In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Hymn:​
“A Mighty Fortress” – TLH 262, LW 297
​
First reading: ​
Revelation 14:6-7​
, read by ______________________________
Hymn: ​
“Lord, Keep Us Steadfast In Your Word” – TLH 261, LW 334
New Testament reading:​
Romans 3:19-28​
, read by _____________________________
Hymn: ​
“The Gospel Shows the Father’s Grace” – TLH 297, LW 330
Gospel reading: ​
John 8:31-36,​
read by ___________________________________
Devotional, read by ________________________________
Hymn: ​
O God, Our Lord, Thy Holy Word” – TLH 266, LW 341
Lord’s Prayer or other closing prayer, led by __________________________________
Visit!​
Get to know one another and remind people that they are blessed in the Lord!
Devotion For Reformation Sunday
Written by Tori Kidd
Psalm 46 is a passage that was used this summer when I was working at camp. We decided that we
should specifically use verse 10 as the focus which says, “Be still, and know that I am God”. What we found
as counselors was that children don’t have time to be still in their lives. Once they left camp they went back
to their hectic lives that muddled up the sound of God’s voice that each of them were searching to hear.
I don’t think that this is very different for adults. As I sit in my office, I become distracted by the
lessons I have to plan or people texting me. There is so much white noise in our lives that blocks us from
hearing God’s voice in our lives. God is calling us to be still and to listen for him, but I can barely find 10
seconds of silence to hear His voice.
Stopping our lives physically is hard. I hear from parents that there isn’t a stop button in their lives.
Once their kids get old enough to be involved in things, parents then become their taxi service to take them
from one activity to the next. As a family it becomes unhealthy, because they can’t have important
conversations easily. More importantly, it makes coming to church or spending time with God the last thing
on your mind, since Sunday’s might be the only day that you have the opportunity to sleep in.
Sometimes people fill their lives with all of this noise so they don’t hear the storms that are going on
in their lives; maybe the distraction from hearing God’s voice is really what they want. We find that
sometimes when we slow down and listen to what God has to say it isn’t always what we want to hear or
what we think should be happening. Culturally speaking this goes against everything that we are told to do.
We are told to go full speed ahead through everything, but this is what leads us to be so distracted from what
God is saying to us because we are rushing through life.
Physical noise is sometimes easier to still than the mental noise that runs through our head; the noise
that keeps us up at night, thinking about all the things that we have to do the next day. Or even the worries
that we have from the things that are going on in our lives. These are the things that God is calling us to be
still from, to hand over and lay at the foot of the cross. Our God is so much bigger than those worries that
we have running around in our heads. Those worries that keep us up at night or cause us to have anxiety. If
you look at Psalm 46:1 it says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” The things
that we are worrying about in our lives contradict what God is telling us. That He is so much stronger than
those worries or anxieties running through our heads day to day. Psalm 46 is saying that our God calls us to
Be Still, and find comfort that in the fact that he is going to protect us always. This points us to the story
where Jesus calms the storm for the disciples. Jesus says to them in Mark 4:39 “Peace! Be Still!” This mirrors
exactly what the Psalm is saying. Jesus sees that the disciples are doubting that He can handle the storm
around them. This metaphorically represents the storms that we face in our day to day lives.
When you look back at Psalm 46, it reminds us that God is more powerful than all the things of this
world, and all we have to do is take those moments to look to Him and listen to Him in our worries and
troubles. Sometimes in our doubt is when we can say, “I don’t hear God’s voice”, and fall into the lie that He
isn’t trying to speak to us and show us His comfort.
This Sunday is Reformation Sunday, and we can look back to how Luther was seeking to know God
more and to hear His voice. In Luther’s time he was told that if he joined a religious order and locked
himself away from the world, then he would be able to connect with God more. But even then, the noises in
his life were still loud and running through his head. Luther then realized that through God’s word is where
he heard His Savior’s voice. He heard about the grace freely given to us through Jesus, when he suffered,
died, and rose again.
To be still with God is something that you have to train yourself to do, because it is against what our
culture says for us to do. Start with maybe 5 minutes a day where you just devote to being still and listening
for God. Pray or meditate and be okay with the physical silence as God prepares you for how He is going to
reveal Himself to you that day. This was described to me as, working your “Jesus muscle”, meaning we have
to train ourselves to be listeners instead of always doing the talking in our lives. You will find that the more
you hear God’s voice, the better you recognize God’s activity in your life. Then the issues in your life will
seem smaller because God is appearing bigger to you. Soon you will realize you start following God’s
purpose for you instead of your own agenda. You will be surprised how much more you crave that time and
stillness with God.
It’s a beautiful blessing that we have a loving Father who wants to speak life into us, protect us,
encourage us, and love us. He doesn’t want us to hold all of these things on our shoulders. That’s why He
sent His Son: so we have the comfort to lay our burdens and worries at the foot of the cross, and we can
fully embrace the idea of being still to find comfort in being held in our Heavenly Father’s arms.