The end of the year is just a few weeks away, and a new liturgical year has just started. The season of Advent is upon us. New Apostolic services in the month of December are dedicated to the theme “Time of fulfilment”. Following is a closer look at what to expect.

Los Angeles, a fascinating city. It brings to mind images of beaches and the sun. The city is a big tourist destination. But the purpose of Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider’s trip there is not pleasure. He has a tight schedule.

The last month in the church year has dawned. Soon the Advent season will begin, and with it the new church year. But before that, New Apostolic divine services will focus on the last things. First and foremost, these include our hope for the future and the judgement. A true Christian never needs to be without hope.

Over the next few days, Muslims all over the world will be celebrating the festival of breaking the fast, which marks the end of Ramadan. Self-denial and abstinence are also familiar in Christianity. Following is a brief outline.

Easter is just around the corner. On 27 March 2016 Christianity will observe its most important feast. Since apostolic times a period of fasting and preparation is observed before Easter. Lent provides for a 40-day fast starting on Ash Wednesday. This is one of two annual and extended periods of fasting.

Stop-and-go at Christmas in Brazil … This is not only caused by people travelling home over Christmas, but especially because people are stopping to admire the Christmas lights. This can even interfere with carefully timed bus schedules, Karin Zwar reports.

Christmas in Australia! How does that go? It is summer in the southern hemisphere. Daytime temperatures range between 25 to 32° Celsius, people are soaking up the sun. Do people get in the Christmas spirit? nac.today asked an “expert” in these matters, and his answer was a definite yes.

Our love for God, for Jesus Christ cannot be greater than our love for our neighbour. This is an old insight. And yet, how big is our love for the Lord really? And for our neighbour? Questions that need to be answered.

“One sees clearly only with the heart; what is essential is invisible to the eye,” says Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in his novel The Little Prince. Unfortunately, people do not only look with the heart. Far too often a person’s own interests get in the way of a fair judgement. This is an appeal to take a close and careful look.

The Christmas spirit and the joyful anticipation that comes with it is something we all know. In the final article in our spotlight series this year—highlighting our 2015 motto—District Apostle Michael Deppner from the Democratic Republic of the Congo shows us the joys that Jesus Christ has in store for us.

How dreadful! Many people in this world are vulnerable to the whims of others. Justice? A foreign word for many. And yet, there is hope—hope for a life in peace and righteousness. Not through politics, but rather through the gospel. An interjection:

In the past people used to ask, "When will the Messiah come?" The ancient writings had made reference to Him. He came "when the fullness of the time had come". Today Christians ask, "When will the Lord return?" Advent is intended to remind us of this.

The month of November in the northern hemisphere is cold and dark. There is an autumn mood, the leaves are falling, and the nights are long. It is the month of the more quiet church festivals. nac.today takes a closer look.

Europe and Africa — two different continents, two different cultures. In Europe, the membership numbers of many churches are decreasing, and even New Apostolic congregations are being closed. But the Church is growing in other places.

The making of the divine services for 2017 has begun—at least for nearly 30 Apostles from around the world. They are the writers of the Divine Service Guide, which is distributed to nearly 200,000 New Apostolic ministers around the world. The go-ahead was given at a recent authors’ workshop.

Merry Christmas! Pardon? Christmas is long gone. But not in Russia. According to the Russian calendar Christmas is today, 7 January. For New Apostolic Christians this time of the year is a bit of a balancing act between the cultures.

Zurich. The liturgy is what orders and governs the sequence of music, prayers, Bible readings, the sermon, and the dispensation of the sacraments within the divine service. With the start of the new church year, a reform will come into effect (we reported) in the New Apostolic Church. The celebration of Holy Communion in particular is to be structured in even more dignified fashion through the enriched liturgical elements. Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber, the international Church leader, explained that the new liturgy is intended to bring greater solemnity to the sequence of the divine service.

Zurich. An extended liturgy will be introduced in the international New Apostolic Church with the start of the new Church year. In a letter to all the Church’s ministers the international Church leader, Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber, designated the first Sunday of Advent as the starting point of this new development. In the letter he states that it is his wish to notify the ministers of this change already at this early point in time.