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We think of our world as physical, material, three-dimensional. We experience them through the five senses touching, tasting, seeing, smelling, hearing. With these senses and the technical equipment we have devised to reinforce, we can explore the physical world and harness its potential. It has taken humanity a long way, today more than ever. Our modern scientific achievements, our technological ...

When asked about the oldest living thing, some might point to Tasmania's 10.000-year-old pine trees or a 40.000-year-old native shrub. Others might think more of the 200.000-year-old sea grass off the coast of Spain's Balearic Islands. As old as these plants may be, there is something far older - and that is the Eternal God revealed in Scripture as living love. In love it manifests itself...

On a decaying hill outside Jerusalem, a troublesome teacher was murdered on a cross. He was not alone. He was not the only troublemaker in Jerusalem on that spring day. “I have been crucified with Christ,” wrote the Apostle Paul. (Gal 2,20)But Paul wasn't the only one. "You have died with Christ," he told other Christians. (Kol 2,20)“We are buried with him,” he wrote to the Romans. (Röm 6,4)What's going on here? Everyone…

“It is truly by grace that you are saved. You yourselves can do nothing but accept in faith what God gives you. You have not earned it by any work; for God does not want anyone to be able to appeal to him on their own merits” (Epheser 2,8-9 GN). Paul wrote: “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love fulfills the law” (Röm 13,10 Zurich Bible). It is interesting that we are naturally…

For us as Christians, the most fundamental belief is that God exists. By “God” – without an article, without further details – we mean the God of the Bible. A good and powerful spirit who created all things, who cares about us, who cares about our doings, who acts on and in our lives and offers us an eternity of goodness. In his totality, God cannot be understood by man. But we can make a start: we...

Do you remember when God drew Jeremiah's attention to the potter's wheel? (Jer. 18,2-6)God used the image of the potter and the clay to teach us a powerful lesson. Similar messages using the image of the potter and the clay can be found in Jesaja 45,9. and 64,7 as well as in Römer 9,20-21One of my favorite mugs, which I often use for tea at the office, has a picture of my family on it. As I look at it now, it reminds me…

One of our elders recently told me that the main reason he was baptized 20 years ago is that he wanted to receive the power of the Holy Spirit so that he could overcome all his sins. His intentions were good, but his understanding was somewhat flawed (of course nobody has perfect understanding, we are saved by God's grace despite our misunderstandings). The Holy Spirit is not something we can just "turn on"...

Jesus' ministry was amazingly fruitful. He taught and healed thousands. It attracted large audiences and could have had a far greater impact. He could have healed thousands more had He gone to the Jews and Gentiles who lived in other parts of the country. But Jesus allowed his ministry to come to an abrupt end. He could have avoided arrest, but he chose to die rather than continue his preaching...

In Apostelgeschichte 1,9 We are told, "And when he had said this, he was taken up in sight, and a cloud took him away from before their eyes." I would like to ask a simple question at this point: Why? Why was Jesus taken away in this way? But before we get to that, let's read the next three verses: "And as they watched him go up into heaven, behold, there were standing with them two men in white robes. They said, Men of Galilee, what...

Whenever there is a discussion about faith, I wonder why believers seem to feel disadvantaged. The believers seem to assume that the atheists have somehow already won the argument unless the believers can refute it. The fact is that atheists, on the other hand, find it impossible to prove that God does not exist. Just because believers cannot convince atheists of the existence of God, so...

If you could ask God a question; which one would it be? Perhaps a "big one": according to your definition of being? Why do people have to suffer? Or a small but urgent one: What happened to my dog ​​that ran away from me when I was ten? What if I had married my childhood sweetheart? Why did God make the sky blue? But maybe you just wanted to ask him: Who are you? or What are you? or What do you want? The answer…

When we understand that we live, move, and have our being in Christ, in the One who created all things and redeemed all things, and who loves us unconditionally (Apg 12,32; Kol 1,19-20; Joh 3,16-17)We can lay aside all fear and worry about "where we stand with God" and begin to truly rest in the assurance of His love and guiding power in our lives. This is what the gospel is good news for, and it is indeed not just for a select few, but…

Towards the end of his Gospel, we read these fascinating comments by the Apostle John: “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book… But if they were written down one after the other, I suppose that the world could not contain the books that would have to be written” (Joh 20,30; 21:25). Based on these observations and taking into account the differences between the four Gospels, it can be concluded that…

Nothing sells like prophecy. It's true. A church or ministry can have a stupid theology, a weird leader, and ridiculously strict rules, but they have a couple of world maps, a pair of scissors, and a stack of newspapers, along with a preacher who can communicate reasonably well, then, it seems people will send them buckets of money. People fear the unknown and they know the future...

There is often talk of getting to know Jesus. However, how to go about it seems a little nebulous and difficult. This is especially because we cannot see him or talk to him face to face. he is real But it is neither visible nor touchable. We cannot hear his voice either, except perhaps on rare occasions. How then might we go about getting to know him? Recently, more than one source have…

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul gave an excellent explanation of how the wonderful gift of joy practically touches the lives of believers. “Now we want you to know, brothers and sisters, the grace of God that has been given to the churches of Macedonia.” (2 Kor 8,1)Paul didn't just give an insignificant account—he wanted the believers in Corinth to respond to God's grace in a similar way to the church in Thessalonica. He…

We were born to be born again. It is your destiny, as well as mine, to experience the greatest possible change in life—a spiritual one. God created us so that we can partake of his divine nature. The New Testament speaks of this divine nature as the Redeemer, washing away the filth of human sinfulness. And we are all in need of this spiritual cleansing, since sin has taken away cleanliness from every man...

Many Christians are not quite sure and worry about this, does God still love them? They worry that God might cast them out, and worse, that he has already cast them out. Maybe you have the same fear. Why do you think Christians are so concerned? The answer is simply that they are honest with themselves. They know they are sinners. They are aware of their failures, their mistakes, their transgressions -...

The Holy Spirit possesses the attributes of God, is equal to God, and does things that only God does. Like God, the Holy Spirit is holy—so holy that it is just as sinful to revile the Holy Spirit as it is to revile the Son of God. (Hebräer 10,29)Blasphemy, or blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, is an unforgivable sin. (Matthäus 12,32)This means that the spirit is inherently holy and was not, as with the temple, granted sanctity. How…

A phrase we've all heard before. Albert Schweitzer described "being in Christ" as the main mystery of the teaching of the Apostle Paul. And finally, Schweitzer had to know. As a famous theologian, musician and important mission doctor, the Alsatian was one of the most outstanding Germans of the 20th century. In 1952 he was awarded the Nobel Prize. In his 1931 book The Mysticism of the Apostle Paul, Schweitzer deletes the important…

Faith simply means "trust." We can fully trust Jesus regarding our salvation. The New Testament clearly tells us that we are not justified by anything we can do, but simply by trusting in Christ, the Son of God. The Apostle Paul wrote: "Therefore, we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law." (Römer 3,28)Salvation does not depend on us at all, but only on…

It sounds too good to be true, this is how a well-known saying begins and you know that it is rather improbable. However, when it comes to God's grace, it is indeed true. Still, some people insist that grace cannot be so, and turn to the law to avoid what they see as a license to sin. Their sincere yet misguided efforts are a form of legalism that robs people of the transformative power of grace that...

As servants of Jesus Christ, we are often asked to offer comfort to people as they go through various tribulations. In times of suffering we are asked to donate food, shelter or clothing. But in times of suffering, in addition to requests for relief of physical needs, we are sometimes asked for an explanation of why God allows Christians to suffer. This is a difficult question to answer, especially when you're in a time...

Many people know the name of Jesus and some things about his life. They celebrate his birth and commemorate his death. But the knowledge of the Son of God goes much deeper. Shortly before his death, Jesus prayed for his followers to gain this understanding: "And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (Joh 17,3)Paul wrote the following about the knowledge of Christ: "But what was gain to me was…"