It is time to hear from you. It’s not that we want to hear whatever is on your mind. Left to our own we can get rather long and ramble. Rather, we want to hear how God has spoken to you through scripture so we put together a Lenten Devotional.
Martin Luther held to the phrase, Scripture Alone (or Sola Scriptura). This means that scripture is our primary source of instruction and inspiration. While it is important to listen to the preacher, our parents and the mentors that God has placed before us, scripture alone has the final authority for the Christian life. Indeed, the Bible is the people’s book. It doesn’t belong to the trained clergy but to the church.
This was such an important belief of the Protestant Reformation that Luther translated the Bible into the commonly-spoken dialect of the German people. Until then it was only accessible to those trained in Latin or classic Greek. He then gave William Tyndale his sources so that he could publish a trusted translation into English. Their work coincided with the invention of the printing press and for the first time Bibles were put into the hands of the faithful. By it, folks learned to read and discovered God’s intentions for them and the world.
Are you reading the Bible? It is the primary means by which God speaks. Sola Scripture- Scripture Alone.
Memorial’s Lenten Devotional is a compilation of daily entries given by members of your congregation, reflecting on a Bible passage for the day. The contributors range in age from teenagers in the youth program to men and woman well into their 80’s. Some of us have a lifetime of experience behind us and some of us haven’t left home yet. Regardless, the potential is present for the Holy Spirit to jump from the pages and speak.
The Devotional will begin on Ash Wednesday and continue for six weeks until Easter on Sunday, April 16. This forty-day period is a time of introspection, confession and renewal. I hope this devotional will help you in your efforts. So, dust off the Bible that has been sitting on your shelf and read the designated passage of each page, and then listen to what your fellow travelers have to say. What has the Bible said to them? Hear their struggles, hopes and convictions. While our life experiences are different, our need is the same. We long for a resurrection.
A line from a prayer in the Methodist Book of Worship comes to mind,
“O Lord, your wondrous birth means nothing unless we are born again; your death and sacrifice mean nothing unless we die to sin, your resurrection means nothing if you be raised alone.”

Let not Christ be raised alone.

The Devotional will come to you each day by email from the church. The daily entries will also be available on our website (mumctville.org). If you or someone you know does not have online access and would like a hard copy, call Christine Lamacchia at the church office. (336-472-7719)
You have heard it said that the Bible is a “living word”. We take this to mean that more so than any other book, the Holy Spirit speaks to us through the Bible. It is as sometime the meaning jumps off the pages into our hearts. Our lives can be profoundly shaped by what we read.