The world is in turmoil, and all church activities are affected. For the past two weeks, the Southern Germany District Church, led by District Apostle Michael Ehrich, have been celebrating online divine services for all Apostle areas under his care.

On 29th March, 2020, District Apostle Michael Erich conducted an online divine service watched by 710 congregants (on the English channel) within district church. The service was supported by Apostle Manfred Schönenborn (Apostle Area Heilbronn-Nürnberg).

The text word for the service was taken from Matthew 10:38, ‘And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.'

In his introduction, the District Apostle shared the thoughts of a young man who lived about 1,000 years ago, who mentioned that we have a lot of things to meditate but there is not enough time on earth. Likewise, he added, as Christians we need to meditate on our faith because there is not enough time. If we are able to get closer to our Lord, we can have peace in our life. Let us intensively connect ourselves to our Lord. Let us always think of the word Jesus told us, ‘I am always with you’. Today, the world is in challenging times. Let us remember and pray for those who are in difficult situations and help comfort them.

Elaborating on the text word, District Apostle Ehrich stated that, following after Jesus Christ is absolutely necessary. It is not always easy to following Jesus but the His Holy Spirit guides us to follow Him. Following Jesus does not mean we should do it without any meaning, just as some people followed Him because of daily bread. It is not just about earthly motivations or things. Following the footpath of Christ makes us worthy. Though we cannot compare ourselves to Him, but we want to learn from Him and know Him more and more.

Jesus Christ was tempted in the process of geting closer to His father but He was able to fulfil the will of God. As followers of Christ, we too can be tempted by earthly things but our focus should be on heavenly treasures.  In every difficult situation, let us make sure the will of God is done. This means we are ready to take up our cross. To be worthy to Christ, we need to take up our cross upon us. He will grant us the knowledge, power, strength to fulfil His will.

He continued that we must not always take up our cross in sorrow, but also in our happy moments. We need to profess Jesus to people especially at this time the world has become hopeless. Showing care and love to our neighbour shows how ready we are in following Christ.

“The blessing of the Lord is with us and I wish you His blessings and His help” he concluded.