On the way to perfect joy
Nobody is perfect. Oh yes, there is! And of all things we are to become like Him. How are we going to manage that? Following are a few pointers from a recent divine service by the Chief Apostle.
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Arrival in Port Elizabeth
Photo: NAC Cape
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Photo: NAC Cape Outing to Addo Elephant National Park
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Photo: NAC Cape Outing to Addo Elephant National Park
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Meeting of the Apostles
Photo: NAC Cape
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Meeting of the Apostles
Photo: NAC Cape
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Meeting of the Apostles
Photo: NAC Cape
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Choral concert on Saturday evening
Photo: NAC Cape
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Choral concert on Saturday evening
Photo: NAC Cape
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Choral concert on Saturday evening
Photo: NAC Cape
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Choral concert on Saturday evening
Photo: NAC Cape
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Divine service and ordination on Sunday
Photo: NAC Cape
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Divine service and ordination on Sunday
Photo: NAC Cape
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Divine service and ordination on Sunday
Photo: NAC Cape
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Divine service and ordination on Sunday
Photo: NAC Cape
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Divine service and ordination on Sunday
Photo: NAC Cape
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Divine service and ordination on Sunday
Photo: NAC Cape
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Divine service and ordination on Sunday
Photo: NAC Cape
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Divine service and ordination on Sunday
Photo: NAC Cape
More than 900 brothers and sisters attended the divine service in the Motherwell church and well over 115,000 throughout the Cape watched a video transmission of the divine service the Chief Apostle held in the city of Port Elizabeth in South Africa on 25 January 2015. He based his sermon on Matthew 5: 48: “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
“This is how Jesus defined perfection,” Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider said. “God is the standard. God is perfect.” That makes it difficult, he added. “The perfection of God is beyond the understanding of man.” But this is where Jesus comes in and makes it easy for us: “And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.”
Using the example set by Jesus, the Chief Apostle elaborated on four aspects of perfection.
Perfect knowledge: Jesus was absolutely in a position to distinguish between good and evil and demonstrated this.
The perfect servant: He served God and fulfilled His mission right until the end in a perfect manner.
Perfect love: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15: 13).
Perfect unity: “I and My Father are one” (John 10: 30).
“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Chief Apostle Schneider does not only see these words of Jesus as a promise for the future, but also as a task for the present.
The Chief Apostle formulated the promise of Jesus as follows: “With my grace and my help you can become perfect as God is perfect.” Jesus will help those who in faith accept the word of God, the forgiveness of sins, and the sacraments to become like Him on the day of His return.
Our task today: “Jesus wants to see a development in us.” The Chief Apostle pointed out five areas in which developments are necessary.
“A perfect will does not change with the conditions and situations. We want to become like Jesus in good as well as in bad days. And nothing can change that.”
Perfect knowledge between right and wrong means we have understood the will of God and do good out of conviction on account of the spiritual maturity we have reached.
Perfect servants do not serve because they see their own advantage, but because they love Jesus.
Perfect Christian love means that we wish everyone—including our enemies—the same salvation we have.
Perfect unity does not mean that we all have to have the same lifestyle and have to agree on everything. What it does mean is, “We all agree: Jesus Christ is right. His teaching is the right way. His way is the only one that leads to the Father.”
“If we do that,” the Chief Apostle said in conclusion, “we will have perfect joy in Christ.”
Article info
Author:
Date:
Keywords:
Andreas Rother
18.02.2015
Africa,
ordinations/official acts,
Apostle,
divine services for ministers,
Divine service,
Congregational life
