Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider led the celebration of the second Sunday divine service on 10th January, 2020. The service was broadcasted across the South-Germany District Church. He was hosted by District Apostle Michael Ehrich and assisted by Apostles Rheinberger and Schnaufer.

The service was based on Matthew 7:28-29. (This is the concluding part of the report on the Chief Apostle’s sermon.)

A true Man in Divine eternal connection. Jesus was true man, but the people at the time could perceive a special aura about Him, some indescribable charisma that impressed everyone and could not be ignored. This is “because He had a special intimate connection with and to God, His Father. He had unlimited trust in God” said the Chief Apostle.

A special Messenger with a special love. Jesus exhibited a special kind of love to the people that had never been seen. Even at the point of His crucifixion, Jesus still prayed for the forgiveness of His tormentors.   

His confidence in the purpose of His mission, to complete His task, also made a great impression on the people. “The fulfilment of this task was more important than His own person. People were astonished by that.”

Belief in this Man of Authority. What does this mean to us?

* “We must believe and trust in the authority of Jesus. We must trust in the sermon and doctrine of Jesus, He acted and preached on authority. His doctrine is the truth.”

* “We must believe in the love of God.” This is not tied to the physical circumstances in our life, but rather to the salvation that He gives us. “This is the expression of His love, this is the foundation of our faith.”

* “We must believe in the commandments of Jesus Christ. His commandment is the right one, even if it is against our thoughts, knowledge and experiences.” We must follow Him, and fulfil His commandment out of love for Him.

* “We must believe in His grace, and the authority of His salvation.” Truly, nobody can completely fulfil the commandments of Jesus on a daily basis; it is in our human nature. But we trust and believe “He forgives us our sins and gives us grace. He can lead us to perfection.”

* “We must believe He will complete our salvation work and lead us to perfection.” The resurrection of Jesus was the greatest miracle, and He will do same for us. Through His Apostles, we, the bride are being prepared for His return and our salvation would be completed.

Jesus, our model. We can also be like Jesus, in His manner and behaviour. “We cannot be as perfect as Jesus lived on earth” said Chief Apostle Schneider, “but we can live like Him based on our relationship with God. No matter the situation, we must always refer to Jesus as our model.”

Like Jesus, we are messengers. The Leader said: “As children of God, baptised with the Spirit, we must testify of Him.” We are sent by God; we are His messengers. We must be witnesses of Jesus. It is a task and commission which is more important than our own personalities. We must do this entirely focusing on and looking up to Jesus.

Concluding the service, Chief Apostle Schneider ended with a powerful message, reminding us of our focus and faith in Jesus: “We must not only say Jesus is our future… because we have no other alternative, but because that is our conviction.”