Faith believes the unbelievable

A total of 15,600 people participated in the divine service held by Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider on 27 March 2016 in Bremen in Germany. The congregations in Scandinavia, the Baltic states, and in the British Isles were connected by video transmission. The Chief Apostle’s sermon, which he held in German, was interpreted into Danish, English, Estonian, Norwegian, and Swedish.

John 2: 19 and 22 served as basis for this service: “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.”

Anything but empty words

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the assets of our faith. But even for the disciples it was not easy to believe. “It was so incredible, unheard of, so completely different to anything they knew.” Some even thought that they were seeing a ghost. Even those who believed in it initially viewed Jesus’ resurrection with an inner distance, just in case.

“But then after a while, and after having occupied themselves with it, the certainty slowly grew in them: ‘Truly, He is risen!’” the Chief Apostle said. “The more this awareness and certainty grew in them the stronger it became,” he explained and showed what powers this unleashed in them.

• Trust in the word and power of Jesus: “What He said has been fulfilled and will be fulfilled. He is the Victor. He is stronger than death.”
• Certainty: “We are not alone. He will be with us every day. His work did not end on the cross. It will continue.”“
• Willingness: “Salvation, that is, fellowship with God is so great. Let us serve the Lord. Our efforts and sacrifices are worth it.”
• Enthusiasm: “This made them strong. They were full of energy, full of confidence. They were so excited about it that they could not keep it to themselves.”

Anything but cheap comfort

Also today people have their doubts about the Resurrection, Chief Apostle Schneider said. For some this story is just impossible and nothing but cheap comfort. And others maintain this is merely symbolic. “Comment superfluous. That is not the way we see things.”

“Seeing we believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ means we also believe in our own resurrection,” he said referring to Apostle Paul’s treatment of the subject in 1 Corinthians 15. “And this has consequences for us just as it did for the disciples.”

• Trust in the word and power of Jesus: “There is no need to adjust the gospel. It is still valid. No one can stop Jesus from doing what He plans to do.”
• Certainty in His continued activity: “The Lord Jesus is not only in heaven. No, He is at work. He is working on my soul.”
• Willingness to serve and to make sacrifices: “We notice an inner development.” Nothing is too much for the Lord.
• Enthusiasm: “If we truly believe that He will return and take us along so that we can have fellowship with God, then we have to talk about it. We have to profess this and share it because we want our neighbour to have this too.”