Silent Time

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, rather humbly wants to give all the glory to the Lord alone.

How comes that parliaments and governments often debate for many hours, weeks and years but they do not really get to the point? Frequently they miss the topics that would be relevant for the people, whether directly or indirectly. Often time of highly paid politicians is wasted on irrelevant short term side-topics that are then proudly announced via the media, but rarely any major results that would be really beneficial for the people in the long term. Most decisions only concern to the next few months, hardly ever the impact on time spans beyond a couple of years are considered.

They do not ask for God and his eternal wisdom.  

He told to similar leaders at the time of the prophet Isaiah “Make your plans, but they will not succeed. Talk as much as you like, but it is all useless”.

The offer from the sovereign almighty Lord is available to everyone, to high politicians as well as to everyone else: the heavenly Father offers wisdom, guidance and help.

Have you ever reached the limits of your own energy? Worn out and so tired that you cannot accomplish the tasks that you want to do? Tried to do good, but evil is coming out?

As long as we rely on our own strength alone, sooner or later we will reach our limits.

But if we put our trust in the Lord God Almighty, the Saviour, then he can help us with his eternal power, which is available to everyone who turns to him.

What gives you guidance?

There are so many choices we need to take, in which we cannot know upfront what will be the best for the future, for example: which education, which profession to choose? Few big decisions of life, but also many more small decisions we need to take every day.

Of course there is valuable support and experienced people can give good recommendations. But nobody knows everything and there are always uncertainties remaining.

God is all-knowing and has a good long term plan for each person individually.

He offers his wisdom and guidance for free to everyone who puts faith in him.

What will you answer, when one day you have to give account in front of God the judge?

By that time it will be not sufficient to refer to our own good works and deeds.

But we can refer to Jesus, he has won the victory on our behalf. Whoever believes in him has sufficient to pass the judgment.