Weekly Newsletter 05/25/2023

Shalom!

Here’s a little lesson from history:

Everyone knows that the printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in 1450. But few know that he wasn’t recognized for this during the course of his life.

Johannes grew up in Mainz, Germany in a wealthy household where he was able to read books that his father would acquire for him at great cost. Sometimes the cost of a good book would reach the cost of a small farm. Books were expensive because the process of creating a book was very scrupulous and labor-intensive. Scribes would copy the text by hand, then artists would decorate the margins, and bookbinders would create the cover. Finally, the title of the book was pressed into a leather cover using brass punches (embossed bars with the image of a word or letter). These brass punches were what inspired Johannes to create separate forms for letters and arrange them in order for each page.

After 30 years of attempts to begin this process, he was ready to begin printing. He chose the Bible for his first project, and to fund this, he was able to borrow some money from Johann Fust. Unfortunately Gutenberg did not finish in time, so according to his contract, his invention was transferred to Fust. By this time most of the Bible had been printed, so on March 13, 1456, Fust published this Bible. For many years both he and Peter Schöffer were considered the inventors of the printing press so they were the ones who received the recognition and glory. Only after the death of Gutenberg did Schöffer admit that Gutenberg was the rightful inventor.

Oh how this story exposes the sinfulness of this world! How often are recognition and glory achieved unjustly. And perhaps reading this story you might feel a sharp twinge of injustice. One person dedicated his whole being and life to invent something for mankind, but another had used this for his own glory. We definitely live in a world of injustices, but may this ability to distinguish between justice and injustice help us to better understand the Gospel. In the Gospel we see the just wrath of God toward us for our sin, but the fact that we receive grace and forgiveness is the strongest and most scandalous injustice! We shouldn’t be forgiven! But we receive forgiveness because the just wrath of God was poured out, not on us, but on Jesus Christ in our place!

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21)

• Church picnic – June 3 at 10:00 АМ at Ancil Hoffman Park, Carmichael
• VBS (summer day camp for children) – June 12-16

⁵ Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

• Thursday (6:30 PM) – Kid’s Bible School.
  • This Thursday is the last meeting of the school year. The whole church is invited to join and be part of this graduation.
• Saturday (8:00 – 9:30 AM) – Men’s prayer breakfast
• Sunday services:
  • Worship Service in Russian at 9:00 AM
  • Worship Service in English at 11:15 AM