A special request, a special visit, a special service and a special message to an English speaking audience. Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider granted an invitation to conduct an English divine service on 6th December 2020, particularly for South-East Asia and Africa, from our church in Buhl, Germany.
 
The International Church Leader served with a text from Luke 1:68, 74-75, ‘“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people…To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.”’

Jesus, our Saviour. The special time of advent reminds Christians of the fulfilment of God’s promise to send a Saviour to save man. “Jesus is your Saviour, He wants to save you!” he began. “Whatever your past or present maybe, whoever you are, you have got a Saviour. Today, in whatever situation, you can be absolutely certain, ‘I have a Saviour’. And that is our joy, that each and everyone has a personal Saviour to save him from his situation.”

The purpose of our Salvation. He explained, the Saviour came to deliver us from the domination of sin and evil and also to lead us into the eternal fellowship with God in a new world. “In this new world, there would be no more suffering, death, injustice, disease nor poverty. Everything is just perfect.” The inhabitants of this new creation will be perfected by the grace of God and will live in accordance with God’s will. “That is where God wants us to be, that is the salvation He offers all men.”

What shall we do in this new world? Quoting the words of Zechariah in Luke 1:74-75, the Chief Apostle explained: “We will serve God all our lives, day and night.” What does this mean? We shall thank and praise God in eternity, because “God is so great we shall have a new reason to thank and praise Him every day.”   

The certainty of God’s promise. Our salvation and eternal fellowship in this new creation is a promise God will certainly fulfil, explained the Church Leader. “And actually the process is ongoing” remarked the Chief Apostle. “Because He has already delivered us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ centuries ago. We are not just at the beginning, we are in the middle of the process.” We have been delivered from the bondage of sin and He has reconciled us to Him through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Our call to serve God. Why must we serve God? “Because we are aware we have been delivered from the bondage of sin through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We have the need to come together to praise and worship God and to bring our offerings.” We must serve God all the days of our lives.

How can we serve God every day? We may not always be in church to pray and worship together, but we can serve God daily in our lives. “That means, whatever happens, whatever the situation is in our daily lives we must have at least one reason to be thankful and praise God’s name; He has delivered us from the bondage of sin.” We can also serve God daily by obeying His rules and orders; we can say no to the evil one’s temptation without fear. And in doing so, we also get His blessings and peace in our hearts.

We are strengthened through His deliverance. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we are delivered from our weakness, purified, strengthened and work for Him and on His behalf. “We can contribute to the plan of salvation, we can do good to our neighbours in His name. As sinners, how could we? But He has sanctified us. Whoever sees us sees the Lord, whoever listens to us, listens to Christ when we proclaim the gospel.”

Concluding the sermon, Chief Apostle Schneider emphasised: “Jesus has delivered us from the domination of sin and evil. He has delivered us from our weaknesses; we can serve Him and do His work and will without fear. If we do that, we can be sure He will come and take us with Him into His kingdom and serve Him as part of the royal priesthood. That is our destiny. That is the way Jesus Christ wants to save us. Let us serve Him.”