In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, igniting the Reformation and reshaping the Christian world. His bold stand for Scriptural authority and salvation by grace alone through faith alone remains a cornerstone for our congregation. As we reflect on this pivotal moment, Luther’s legacy compels us to reach out with renewed vigor, sharing the Gospel in a world hungry for truth and hope.

 Luther’s Reformation was not merely a theological debate but a call to action. As he looked at the waning faith of the Christian Church in Germany, he didn’t just do the same thing he had always done. He challenged the Church to return to the Word of God, emphasizing that salvation is a gift of grace through faith, not works. He engaged the culture of his day with essays and pamphlets explaining the power of the Gospel. He didn’t sit back and wait for the world to come to him; he went into the world. He didn’t sit back and wait for the world to change, he made change.

  For us today, this message is as urgent as ever. In a society marked by division, secularism, and spiritual uncertainty, our commitment to confessional Lutheranism—rooted in the Book of Concord and Luther’s teachings—positions us to proclaim Christ’s unchanging truth with clarity and compassion. But too often we’re content to sit in our church and wait for the world to come to us. It’s time to reform our church!

 I’m certainly not proposing a move away from Scripture or Confessions! But, in the same way that Luther engaged his community in new ways, we should find new ways to engage our communities. I’m proposing a second look at the people around us and the way that we engage them. What does Indianola--and the other towns from where we come--look like today? New people are moving in all the time, who are they? What do they need? How do we engage with them? How do we love them as Christ as loved us? How do we share the Gospel with them without them coming to our church? How do we share the Gospel with them so that they might eventually come to our church?

These are the big questions that are before us in this season. They may be new questions for Mt. Calvary, but they’re not new to the Church. The Church has had to change how it does ministry multiple times over the past two millennia. While means of ministry and styles of ministry may certainly change, one thing remains the same: The Word of God remains forever. How do we share that Word with others so that they, too, will live and remain forever?

Pastor Tom