Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider celebrated the 31st May 2020 Pentecost Day at a divine service via a live broadcast from our Darmstadt congregation, Germany. The occasion was transmitted worldwide via IPTV, YouTube, telephone, Facebook, radio, NACTV and other local TV channels in some countries. He was assisted by District Apostle Rainer Storck.

The Chief Apostle read a text from 2 Corinthians 3:17, “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”.

A special bible reading, was also read from Acts 2:1-4, 12-21.

He spoke on God’s unchanging plan of salvation and the true mission of the Holy Spirit.

God has changed our plan, but not His
“It is very special” the Chief Apostle began, “to celebrate Pentecost this way. Now God has changed our plan”. He continued: “We cannot congregate and celebrate Holy Communion among ourselves and also for the departed. We have no explanation for that. All we can do is to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.” The Chief Apostle explained that although we wish and hope for much more as the full measure of God’s blessings, if we trust our Heavenly Father in spirit, we will still be blessed with whatever we receive.

“Our plans have been changed by God, but God has not changed His plan! He wants to lead His people into His Kingdom; He wants to comfort and strengthen us, and He will do it. The Holy Spirit reminds us that ‘you are a child of God, your Father would not forget you.’”

The mission of the Son, Jesus Christ
God sent the Son to the world to accomplish a special mission. The Chief Apostle enumerated the mission of the Son as:
* to announce and proclaim the will of God
* to gather the people of God, and lead them into God’s kingdom
* to bring the sacrifice to make it possible for man to enter the Kingdom of God

The mission of the Holy Spirit
Having fulfilled His mission, the Son returned to the Father, who then sent the Holy Spirit to fulfill a special mission. He stated that the Holy Spirit was sent to:
* proclaim God’s will, leading the disciples into all truth
* bring together the flock of Christ, thereby incorporating believers into the body of Christ
* prepare the bride of Christ, by transforming our nature to become an image of Christ to be able to enter the Kingdom of God.
The Chief Apostle explained that the Holy Spirit acts as a power and is invisible. “The Spirit works in man and through man. To fulfill His 3 missions, He needs man”. The Holy Spirit performs this task by ‘grabbing’ man, sanctifying him and making him a tool in God’s hand to partake in the salvation plan of God. This was evident on Pentecost.

. . . our mission today
Wrapping up his sermon, the Chief Apostle spoke about today’s church. We are those sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and sent as tools in the Father’s hands. We also have a task and a mission to:
* proclaim without fear the truth and gospel of Jesus Christ to the world
* prophesy in word and in deed by living according to the word of God
* prophesy that spiritual wealth is better than earthly riches
* take care of God’s creation
* reflect the image of the Trinity, erasing all differences and working towards the unity of the church and salvation of all. “Each member is as important for the Lord. Every soul has the same value for God and should have the same value for us”
* allow the Holy Spirit to change us, developing in strength and maturity as a new creation, and be able to face all situations with a renewed mind
* be inspired by the Holy Spirit and remain focused on Jesus Christ