Purgatory is not real. It is a fictional place conjured up by largest Christian denomination in the world in order to pick pennies out of people’s pockets. This was done hundreds of years ago, but it still persists today. 
 
According the book The Catholic Church: The True Church of the Bible (published in 1913, and reprinted last in 2019): “It is of faith that there is a place we call purgatory, where petty faults, of the temporal punishment due to sin, are expiated.”
 
Nope. Christ’s blood shed on the cross “expiated” (atoned for, paid for) for the sins of all. No further sacrifices are necessary. Who says? God does.

• Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. (Hebrews7:27b)
• The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:7b)
• God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

 
There are no down payments or partial payments. There is nothing required of people in order to be saved because there is nothing we can or need to do to be saved. Jesus does it all!
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Not according to the Council of Trent, an 18-year-long series of meetings held by the largest Christian denomination on earth in order to mitigate and fight back against the efforts of Martin Luther and other Lutherans to proclaim Christ alone:
 
“If anyone says that after the grace of justification has been received the guilt is so remitted and the debt of eternal punishment so blotted out for any repentant sinner, that no debt of temporal punishment remains to be paid, either in this world or in the other, in purgatory, before access can be opened to the kingdom of heaven, let him be condemned.”
 
Actually, Jesus did pay the entire price for our sins. He declared this on the cross in Good Friday: “It is finished.” (John 19:30)
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Since purgatory (which is, again, fictional) is always unpleasant, a sort of mini-hell for the semi-saved (an impossible state), authors who believe in it have determined a number of ways to avoid it. Some of them are as follows (my comments are in the parentheses):
1.  Holy Baptism followed by immediate death; (good luck with the timing)
2.  Martyrdom; (not the way most of us want to leave this world)
3.  Indulgences; (pay your way out; yes, these are still around, even in 2021)
4. Becoming a nun or a priest (not a career choice that appeals to many; it doesn’t even guarantee a ticket out of purgatory)
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How grateful we can be for God’s grace! This weekend, come celebrate the Lutheran Reformation with us or at your nearest confessional Lutheran church. Not only will you be reminded of how to avoid purgatory, you’ll be reminded that it doesn’t even exist!
 
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8,9)
 
Saved by grace alone,
 
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

​Sola Scriptura. Scripture alone. “Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the Word of Christ.”  (Romans 10:17)
 
But don’t we need more than just the Bible? It’s a complicated world, seems like it’s falling apart at the seams. Frightening, uncertain, just plain scary. Is Scripture alone enough for us to be sure we’re saved/right with God. Let’s make a list of reliable, accurate, true sources of God’s Word and promises:
1)God’s Word/Bible/Scripture.
2)________________ (there is nothing else!)
 
Scripture is enough because the work of Christ is enough. Nothing more is to be done, nothing more needs to be known for our salvation and our Christian walk. No more sources/words/books needed. Scripture alone saves.
    
Now if we truly believe this, that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God, sufficient for salvation, that it’s the living, breathing Word of God that changes and shapes my life, then we’ll be in it. Right? Not just once a week, but every day!
    
What’s the problem? A sinful nature fights, of course. But to place this in the context of some statistics: 47% of Christians say they’re too busy to read the Bible/don’t have time, and 19% admit to being too lazy. 66%, two thirds of us! According to Barna Research, only 4% of Christians have a Biblical worldview, that is, only 4% of Christians actually think like Jesus thinks.
 
If it is true that we’re saved by Scripture alone, we’ll want to feed faith with the divine fuel of the Word of God.  How? Four ways.
1)Hear it. In worship, hear the Word read out loud, hear it preached in sermons. Get an audio bible. Listen to it. Hear the Word of God.
2)Read it. People say, “I don’t understand the Bible. It doesn’t make sense to me.” I’ve never met someone who reads the Bible on a consistent basis who made that statement. It’s not that people who read the Bible understand it all. It’s that most of us read a couple of passages and give up or open up to Leviticus  and say, “Uh, no.” When’s the last time you took the time to read through the entire Bible? Or just the New Testament? Or just one book? Or just one chapter?
3)Study it. This goes beyond reading. Take the Word apart, phrase by phrase, word by word, analyze it, meditate on it, ask questions, apply it. This is done well in a Bible study group setting.
4)Memorize it. Does that make you cringe? It makes Confirmation students cringe (our 12-14 year olds). I’ll give them weekly memory assignments and they’ll say, “But I can’t memorize anything.” And yet they’ll know every word of the top 20 songs on the music charts. They can recite entire episodes of Spongebob Squarepants word for annoying word. Those who play fantasy football know all kinds of useless information. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth – useful for fantasy football, sure, but useless in the real world. Those who love to shop know what to buy when and where. You remember what’s important to you.
 
There’s a wonderful verse in Psalm 119 that highlights the importance of memorizing the Word, and tucking it away in hearts and minds: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (v. 11)
 
When I’ve got the Word of God in my heart and mind and I’m in the midst of temptation, God calls up that Scripture I’ve heard, read, studied, and memorized – and it comes back to me. When I’m afraid or lonely or frustrated (or all of these at the same time), God calls up appropriate Scriptures and gives me comfort, assurance, and help. But God can’t call his Word into your mind and heart if it’s not there, if you haven’t tucked it away. God simply cannot use his Word in your life to shape your life if it’s not there.
    
To have the Word but not use it is like watching an exercise video while sitting on the couch with a quart of Haagen Das. It’s like going to the doctor when you’re sick but not bothering to fill the prescription given you. Unthinkable!
 
The Bible says, “Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the Word of Christ.”  (Romans 10:17) The Bible says, “These words are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31) The Bible says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16)
 
Sola Scriptura. Scripture alone saves. Because Scripture alone proclaims Christ alone.
 
To God alone be the glory!
 
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

​This haunts me still.
 
The twentieth anniversary of 9/11 is a month behind us, but there are two circumstances from that time that haunt me to this day – twenty years and one month after 9/11.
 
On two different occasions in late 2000, two different Muslim men came to my office, separately. Each said he wanted to learn more about the Christian faith; turns out, they were more interested in proselytizing. They weren’t hostile; just zealous to place Allah on a higher pedestal than Jesus Christ.
 
A year later, on 9/11/2001, the world learned that some of those young Muslim terrorists who hijacked the planes had trained at flight schools at the Deer Valley Airport. This airport was located just two miles north of the church I served in Phoenix. Did I speak to one or two of those men? Believe me, I scanned the pictures of the terrorists to try to recall if that had been the case. It was and still is unclear. That haunts me to this day.
 
At the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003, I remember a dear Iraqi lady – maybe 50 years old – walking a couple miles to our church several times a week to just sit in our church in Phoenix to pray. She was concerned about siblings and relatives in the chaos that was Baghdad. She worried that she might never see loved ones again. What do we worry about? Traffic, Netflix not streaming properly, making it to the weekend, etc., etc., etc., blah, blah, blah.
 
After six months or so, she stopped coming. I never heard from her again. I still wonder about her and her far-off loved ones.
 
In both cases, God’s Word was shared. The Word works, God tells us. He has plans. His ways are not our ways. The Word, God promises, achieves his purposes. We are merely mouthpieces to share the eternal truths of Law and Gospel, sin and grace. We may never know the end result of such Gospel-sharing this side of heaven. Lord, help us to be faithful in all of our interactions.
 
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.  (Isaiah 55:8-11  NIV)
 
In Christ,
 
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

Go ahead. Fill in the blank. With just about anything. Our society does. The marriage vow traditionally declares faithfulness “until death do us part,” a Biblical concept based in part on Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:6, “What God has joined together, let man not separate.”

But our culture offers plenty of “outs.” Take your pick and fill in the blank:

• Anger
• Drifting
• Incompatibility
• Too much time with the guys/Too much time with the girls
• Financial trouble
• A lack of communication
• A lack of sex/too much sex
• Disagreements over the kids/jobs/vacation time
• Boredom

You won’t find backing for any of these in Scripture. But does it matter if Christian leaders also take aim at God’s sacred institution of marriage?

About a decade ago, Pat Robertson of “The 700 Club” declared it was acceptable for a man whose wife has Alzheimer’s disease to divorce her so that he could begin dating and find more responsive companionship. Robertson said that Alzheimer’s is a “kind of death” which makes ending such a marriage acceptable.

In the eyes of Pat.

But not in the eyes of God.

Alzheimer’s is a terrible, frustrating, debilitating disease for both the victims and those who care for them. Never underestimate the importance of constant and faithful love and support to such precious lambs of God. Never underestimate the importance and the blessings of carrying out the Lord’s command to “love your wife as Christ loved the church.”

Imagine if Christ Jesus has sought more suitable companionship than us sin-infected creatures. But he is a God of grace and mercy and unconditional love. Such love is expressed in marriage. God help us to love and support as he loves us.

In Christ’s love,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand