Silent Time

What kind of hierarchical structures dominate in your society? In some cultures there are nowadays hardly any vertical hierarchies anymore, in others the situation is still similar to what it used to be in the past with different levels. Take for example a hotel in the past, there used to be clear levels from the top manager down to the boy who had to clean the shoes and carry the bags. Jesus, des...

In many parts of human history there have been different kinds of pillars of scourging, where people got tortured. We may easily condemn the cruelties and those responsible.  Jesus had to suffer terribly up to the cross. We may easily condemn the cruelty and those responsible, but let’s be careful, because the son of God took upon himself the suffering on our behalf, in order to offer us the oppor...

We all would like to receive great promises from God. In fact they are available for everyone, the bible is full of such promises from God. The heavenly Father offers his love, help, forgiveness, hope, courage, strength and life in its fullness. All that and much more is available to everyone of any background, whoever humbly puts one’s trust in the Lord’s word. What can we learn from those, to wh...

Help and encouragement amongst confusion and fear: Whether we have navigated ourselves into troubling situations or whether it is imposed by others, among all kinds of confusion and fear, no matter how desparate, the Lord offers encouragement and help to everyone. Do you receive his help?

What are your life’s circumstances? Many people of our times have available more than enough food and other physical goods for the body in abundance. How about the status of the nourishment for the soul and mind?

God loves to help all people and he offers his support to everyone of any background. But many may argue “to me, he has never provided any help”. So who receives his help?

It is a fantastic news: God opens the door to everyone of any background, no matter what someone has done or is going through. The door is open and the Lord invites you. Do you enter that gate? Do you accept the invitation?

We often may not notice it, yet boasting and wanting to be relatively better than others is deeply rooted in our human being, we all tend to be “puffed up”.

Did you ever have to treat mildew at the walls of your house or building? Mildew may not only occur at walls and stones, it can also come up in all kinds of relationships between people, for example within the family. As the mildew starts slowly but might gradually eat into the material and gradually damage it, so conflict and strife might start slowly but gradually might eat into relationships an...

Many people would like to have a more healthy lifestyle. Some need to overcome their laziness. Far more important than all those things is the fact that we cannot ultimately overcome sin and temptation by our own will-power rather we need to receive the grace of God that will help us also in that regard. And then we can learn to overcome our own desires and rather follow the perfect guidance of th...

For which occasions do you prefer to meet other people?

Are you good at distinguishing between situations in which it is better to keep quiet and in which situations it is better to speak up? Among many other things, we can also learn in that regard from Jesus, who mastered that discipline as well.

Apart from all the acoustic noise such as from traffic or from machines, there is also another noise in the world: complaint.

What do you think of the prodigal son? Most may simply condemn his behaviour. And many may look down on the people who nowadays behave similarly. Yet there is so much to learn: For example the decisive point: at last, he came to his senses! At last he came to his senses. And how about his brother, who looked down on him?

What factors help a person to find living faith and a relationship with the Lord? Apart from the obvious, there are also other things going on in the background: the Holy Spirit is at work. And that is the reason why we are called to intercede and not cease to pray for others.

How do you spend your free days, when you do not need to work? Especially on public holidays, we are invited remember what God has worked throughout history and the relevance of the Lord’s intervention for our lives in these present times.

Someone knocks on your door. Not aggressively, neither a beggar nor a salesperson nor a burglar. The almighty Lord himself friendly knocks on your door offering the most valuable presents of life for free. Do you open to door of your heart to him?

If we put our trust in the Lord, then the word of God and the Holy Spirit can work together to our long term benefit.

Many people might think of Christmas as just a nice story for children. But if we think about the historic contexts of how God has arranged it in combination also with events of the old testament, it becomes clear that it is much more than that. In fact it is part of the few very most relevant events of all times.

Who is the highest authority? Far above all bishops, governments or councils is the almighty, eternal, sovereign God, the creator of the universe. And when he gives a sermon, then we should listen carefully.

Do you have children or young people to take care of? Then you have a great and demanding task to teach them to put their trust in God and to show them the love, hope and faith that can be found in the relationship with the heavenly Father, and to give a good example of walking closely with the Lord, because in the end the young people will copy the behaviour.

Have you got baptised? Whether young children are brought to baptism by their parents, or whether a grown-up persons decides to get baptised or to receive a confirmation, whether the full body is submerged or only small amounts of water be sprinkled, in any case important is the faith involved. Congratulations to all, who got baptised, recently or long time ago.

What takes away your peace? Which subjects do not let you rest? When we remember that Jesus has conquered all misery and won the victory over all evil things, then we do not need to fall into despair, no matter how much we suffer from certain topics, because we can always look to Jesus.

What gives you comfort? If we know that we are lost based on our sinful nature, that we can not live up by our own effort to the standards of God no matter how good works and deeds we try to do, then it is the great comfort that Jesus has won the victory on our behalf that saves everyone who puts one’s trust in him. The great comfort that gives peace here and saves eternally.

To which preachers do you listen? There are many different styles and denominations. How can we find out who is trustworthy? One distinguishing is of utmost importance: Is the message solely based on the Word of God? Is the preaching fully in line with the good news, the gospel as found in the bible? Or is anything added on which the emphasis is put? An honest preacher does not seek the own honour...