The spirit of the Reformation - which gave power to the people, not the church - lived on this week in Aughton.

On Tuesday evening, Aughton Park Baptist Church was full to capacity as the story which gripped Martin Luther was told enthusiastically by Pastor Oliver Allmand-Smith who recounted his amazing story 500 years to the day since he nailed his 95 theses to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany.

As a conscientious monk, Luther dared to take on the might of the church of Rome, not ever imagining how his ‘back to the Bible’ message would spread like wildfire throughout Europe!

And in contrast to apologetic hand wringing by ecumenical groups, some of whom still view the reformation with regret, Oliver was forthright in his assertion that in the providence of God, Luther’s bold actions unwittingly unleashed a movement of His Spirit still being felt to this day...

He spoke of the five Solas of the reformation which have affected all areas of the life in Europe and beyond as ordinary laypeople discovered they had no need of priests, the confessional and all the baggage of the medieval church as they came to know and love the Bible for themselves in their own languages.

He also spoke of how God’s providential hand moved in such a way to spread the new 'protest' movement far and wide thanks to the invention of the printing press whose proponents had a massive part to play in the propagation of Luther’s message of the grace of God.

To listen to the talk, click here: http://aughtonparkbaptistchurch.org/...levance-today/