Die Gemeindenachrichten sind diesen Monat etwas kürzer als sonst, ich hoffe jedoch den Brief ab August wieder in gewohntem Umfang herauszugeben.
Der Bibelleseplan auf der Rückseite führt in einem Jahr durch das Neue Testament und in drei Jahren durch das Alte Testament. Das bedeutet, dass wir diesen Monat wieder beginnen das Neue Testament zu lesen. Wenn Du das Alte Testament weiter durchlesen möchtest, melde Dich bitte bei uns und wir werden Dir den zusätzlichen Plan zukommen lassen.
Er sprach aber zu allen: Wenn jemand mir nachkommen will, so verleugne er sich selbst und nehme sein Kreuz auf sich täglich und folge mir nach. Denn wer sein Leben retten will, der wird es verlieren; wer aber sein Leben verliert um meinetwillen, der wird es retten. (Lukas 9:23-24) Eine der Freuden der Nachfolge Jesu ist, dass er alles was uns bekannt ist auf den Kopf stellt. Was wir als etwas furchterregendes betrachteten hat Gott in seiner unendlichen Weisheit in etwas verwandelt das uns Hoffnung gibt. Wir leben alle mit der Furcht vor dem Tod, bis uns bewusst wird, dass Gott den Tod als Antwort auf den Zustand unseres Herzens benutzt. . Wenn wir unser Leben Christus unterordnen und “in seinen Tod getauft” werden, können wir “in einem neuen Leben wandeln”. Indem wir unser Leben verlieren werden wir, anstatt es zu verlieren, das Leben finden. Wenn wir so unser neues Leben in Christus begonnen haben, finden wir durch das Aufnehmen unseres Kreuzes und das Sterben unseres Ichs eine Antwort auf die Konflikte und Schwierigkeiten des täglichen Lebens. Dies befreit uns von einer selbstsüchtigen Lebensweise, die uns so oft erschöpft und befähigt uns miteinander in Beziehung zu treten!
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
July 2008 - English
This Newsletter is a little shorter than normal, and I hope to revert to its normal length again in August. The bible reading plan on the back page aims to cover the New Testament once each year and the Old Testament over a period of three years. This means that this month we start to read the New Testament again. If you would like to continue reading the Old Testament as well, please ask for the supplementary reading plan.
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. (Luke 9:23-24) One of the delights of following the Lord is that He turns everything that we know upside down. What we thought of as something to be feared, God, in His infinite wisdom, has made into something that gives us hope. Death is something that we grow up fearing, until we realise that God has made death the answer to the condition of our heart. By yielding our life to Christ and being ‘baptised into His death’ we can now ‘walk in newness of life.’ By ‘losing our life’ in this way; instead of losing it we ‘save it!’ Similarly, having started our new life in Christ in this manner, we find an answer to conflicts and difficulties by ‘taking up our cross’ and ‘dying to self’ on a daily basis. This sets us free from the selfish way of life that so often exhaust us and enables us to relate to one another!
Finally, I had my attention drawn to a wonderful article by AW Tozer called, ‘The New Birth is a Mystery’. If you have not yet discovered AW Tozer as a Christian writer, he is well worth getting to know.
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. (Luke 9:23-24) One of the delights of following the Lord is that He turns everything that we know upside down. What we thought of as something to be feared, God, in His infinite wisdom, has made into something that gives us hope. Death is something that we grow up fearing, until we realise that God has made death the answer to the condition of our heart. By yielding our life to Christ and being ‘baptised into His death’ we can now ‘walk in newness of life.’ By ‘losing our life’ in this way; instead of losing it we ‘save it!’ Similarly, having started our new life in Christ in this manner, we find an answer to conflicts and difficulties by ‘taking up our cross’ and ‘dying to self’ on a daily basis. This sets us free from the selfish way of life that so often exhaust us and enables us to relate to one another!
Finally, I had my attention drawn to a wonderful article by AW Tozer called, ‘The New Birth is a Mystery’. If you have not yet discovered AW Tozer as a Christian writer, he is well worth getting to know.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
