Holi\u00adne\u00adss is a God-given vir\u00adtue that does not ori\u00adgi\u00adna\u00adte in me or my actions!<\/p>\n
Man wants to opti\u00admi\u00adse himself \tBear wit\u00adness to one ano\u00adther of what has chan\u00adged in you through your encoun\u00adter with Jesus! Holi\u00adne\u00adss is a God-given vir\u00adtue that does not ori\u00adgi\u00adna\u00adte in me or my actions! Peo\u00adp\u00adle want to opti\u00admi\u00adse them\u00adsel\u00adves We live in an atmo\u00adsphe\u00adre of self-impro\u00adve\u00adment in our socie\u00adty today! What is good should beco\u00adme bet\u00adter and what is bet\u00adter should beco\u00adme the best! We don\u2019t just want to be fit, we want to strive\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":7176,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[35],"wpfc_sermon_series":[90],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[12],"class_list":{"0":"wpfc_preacher-bernhard-hohl","1":"wpfc_sermon_series-heilig-heilig-heilig","2":"wpfc-sermon-single","3":"post-7092","4":"wpfc_sermon","5":"type-wpfc_sermon","6":"status-publish","7":"has-post-thumbnail","8":"hentry","11":"wpfc_service_type-gottesdienst"},"acf":[],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t
\nNowa\u00addays we live in an atmo\u00adsphe\u00adre of self-impro\u00adve\u00adment in our socie\u00adty! What is good should beco\u00adme bet\u00adter and what is bet\u00adter should beco\u00adme the best! We don\u2019t just want to be fit, we stri\u00adve to beco\u00adme even fit\u00adter! Healt\u00adhy living, that was once! Now we stri\u00adve for the healt\u00adhie\u00adst. The cur\u00adrent chairs at the dining table are alre\u00ada\u00addy more com\u00adfor\u00adta\u00adble than the last ones; but now you have dis\u00adco\u00adver\u00aded the abso\u00adlu\u00adte non\u00adplus, the most com\u00adfor\u00adta\u00adble chair during a visit to friends!
\nGood \u2013 bet\u00adter \u2013 best!
\nWhat about our holi\u00adne\u00adss? Holy \u2013 holier \u2013 holiest! How would we rate our\u00adsel\u00adves on a lad\u00adder of 1 \u2013 10? But wait, how do you mea\u00adsu\u00adre that? By atten\u00adding church? Whe\u00adther you read the Bible every day? How long your pray\u00ader time is? Whe\u00adther or not you use your gifts here in the church?
\nPrac\u00adti\u00adcal sanc\u00adti\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adti\u00adon does not begin with doing, but with being! Peo\u00adp\u00adle can never beco\u00adme holy on their own, by doing good and so on. In order to beco\u00adme holy, we have to talk to Jesus. He gave his life for us on the cross so that we can recei\u00adve for\u00adgi\u00adve\u00adness from guilt and sin. Tho\u00adse who come to him, cla\u00adim his grace and give their lives to Jesus are sanc\u00adti\u00adfied by God. Jesus moves into our hearts in his holi\u00adne\u00adss and thus sanc\u00adti\u00adfies our lives from within. This is the start of a holy life. Paul wri\u00adtes in Romans: \u00ab[\u2026] now you have been set free from the ser\u00advice of sin and ser\u00adve God. What comes out of this is a way of life through which you pro\u00adve your\u00adsel\u00adves to be God\u2019s holy peo\u00adp\u00adle, and in the end eter\u00adnal life awaits you\u00bb (Romans 6:22 GNB<\/span>).
\nJesus brought this about for us out of love. His imme\u00ada\u00adsur\u00ada\u00adb\u00adly gre\u00adat, divi\u00adne love is behind it. In return, this awa\u00adkens our love for him. We want to hear more from him. We want to talk to him. We pay atten\u00adti\u00adon to his words in the Bible. Jesus said to one of his disci\u00adples: \u00abIf anyo\u00adne loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him\u00bb (John 14:23 New Testament).
\nWhoe\u00adver opens his heart and his life to God beco\u00admes holy. Then God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spi\u00adrit will dwell in us. So God in me is what makes me holy. I want to sta\u00adte that alre\u00ada\u00addy now: Alt\u00adhough you can increase the adjec\u00adti\u00adve in and of its\u00adelf, you can\u00adnot increase this being holy in faith in God! Other\u00adwi\u00adse, it would only lead us to compa\u00adre and judge one ano\u00adther. In the who\u00adle Bible you will not find a form of increase of holy. The term \u00abholy\u00bb, for exam\u00adp\u00adle, is very clo\u00adse to the term \u00abpregnant\u00bb. No woman can be more pregnant than pregnant! No Chris\u00adti\u00adan can be holier than holy! If you are a born-again Chris\u00adti\u00adan, then you can say: \u00abI am cano\u00adnis\u00aded by Jesus Christ and the\u00adre is no one in the who\u00adle world who is holier than cano\u00adnis\u00aded by Jesus\u00bb.
\nJesus our Faith Pacemaker
\nWhen a woman is con\u00adfirm\u00aded to be pregnant, it has far-rea\u00adching con\u00adse\u00adquen\u00adces for her: A lot chan\u00adges in her body and also in her ever\u00ady\u00adday life \u2013 the lon\u00adger, the more! Soon some\u00adthing will live and stir in her bel\u00adly. When Christ lives in our hearts \u2013 some\u00adthing hap\u00adpens. Some\u00adthing stirs and chan\u00adges in our lives! Then Jesus is in you, simi\u00adlar to the heart pace\u00adma\u00adker, he is the \u00abfaith pace\u00adma\u00adker\u00bb in your life of faith.
\nHow does this being com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly dif\u00adfe\u00adrent show its\u00adelf in prac\u00adti\u00adcal life? It actual\u00adly affects ever\u00ady\u00adthing in your life: your rela\u00adti\u00adonships, your work, your stu\u00addies, your dealings with the media, your hand\u00adling of finan\u00adces, sud\u00adden\u00adly you expe\u00adri\u00adence how you are being chan\u00adged step by step, inspi\u00adred by your \u00abfaith pace\u00adma\u00adker\u00bb Jesus. In sum\u00adma\u00adry, you could say that ever\u00ady\u00adthing that belongs to your natu\u00adral life as a man and a woman is new\u00adly shaped and influen\u00adced by your holy rela\u00adti\u00adonship with God. That sounds nice, but I have to be honest, some\u00adti\u00admes it\u2019s a strugg\u00adle. A strugg\u00adle bet\u00adween my will and God\u2019s will! A strugg\u00adle bet\u00adween dif\u00adfe\u00adrent powers! And we quick\u00adly rea\u00adli\u00adse that we are still temp\u00adta\u00adble human beings. We must not for\u00adget that! The Bible also speaks of this. Lea\u00adding men and women among God\u2019s peo\u00adp\u00adle have fai\u00adled: lying, ido\u00adla\u00adtry, adul\u00adtery, impa\u00adti\u00adence, envy, hat\u00adred. No dif\u00adfe\u00adrent in the NT<\/span>!
\nThe first churches in the NT<\/span> also speak of stri\u00adfe, sin and immo\u00adral beha\u00adviour: Stri\u00adfe, sin, immo\u00adral beha\u00adviour\u2026 But then we noti\u00adce that the apost\u00adle Paul, the dili\u00adgent let\u00adter wri\u00adter, wri\u00adtes to the churches in six let\u00adters like this: \u00ab\u2026 to the saints in Ephe\u00adsus who belie\u00adve in Christ Jesus! \u2026to all the saints in Christ Jesus in Phil\u00adip\u00adpi! \u2026to the saints in Colos\u00adse, the brot\u00adhers and sis\u00adters who belie\u00adve in Christ. How does this fit together?
\nThe apost\u00adle John wri\u00adtes to his con\u00adgre\u00adga\u00adti\u00adon: \u00ab[\u2026] I am wri\u00adting the\u00adse things to you so that you will not sin. But if you do, the\u00adre is someone who inter\u00adce\u00addes for you befo\u00adre the Father: Jesus Christ, who is righ\u00adteous befo\u00adre God in ever\u00ady\u00adthing. He is the sacri\u00adfice for our sins. He not only can\u00adcels our sins, but tho\u00adse of the who\u00adle world\u00bb (1 John 2:1\u20132 NLB<\/span>).
\nYou are not per\u00adfect, but thanks to the grace in Jesus Christ, you have the pos\u00adsi\u00adbi\u00adli\u00adty to renew your rela\u00adti\u00adonship with Him again and again. God is con\u00adti\u00adnu\u00adal\u00adly rene\u00adwing you until we reach the goal of our faith tog\u00ade\u00adther! And we meet here in wor\u00adship and in small groups so that we can sup\u00adport each other in faith. That means I care about how my fri\u00adends are doing in their walk with Jesus. I care about how tho\u00adse with whom I share my faith are doing. And I accept it when others care about me. We abso\u00adlut\u00ade\u00adly need this tog\u00ade\u00adther\u00adness. The\u00adre must be no indi\u00advi\u00addua\u00adlists in the style of: \u00abYou belie\u00adve what you want, I belie\u00adve what and how I want, so plea\u00adse let us lea\u00adve each other as we are!\u00bb A soloist is in dan\u00adger of self-righ\u00adteous\u00adly clo\u00adsing hims\u00adelf off from the others. He will pro\u00adba\u00adb\u00adly never ask: \u00abJesus, how are you actual\u00adly doing in me?
\nThe wri\u00adter to the Hebrews says: \u00abExhort and encou\u00adra\u00adge one ano\u00adther day by day, [\u2026] so that no one among you may be decei\u00adved by sin and ther\u00adeby clo\u00adse hims\u00adelf off from the work of God\u00bb (Hebrews 3:13 New Tes\u00adta\u00adment). Mar\u00adtin Luther, the refor\u00admer, once pre\u00ada\u00adched the fol\u00adlo\u00adwing in the city church of St Peter and Paul in Wei\u00admar: \u00abThe Chris\u00adti\u00adan life is not about being pious, but about beco\u00adming pious, not about being healt\u00adhy, but about beco\u00adming healt\u00adhy, not about rest, but about exer\u00adcise. It is not the end, but the way. Not ever\u00ady\u00adthing shi\u00adnes yet, but ever\u00ady\u00adthing impro\u00adves!\u00bb (Mar\u00adtin Luther).
\nChan\u00adge through Jesus Christ
\nThe well-known Ame\u00adri\u00adcan wri\u00adter Lew Wal\u00adlace expe\u00adri\u00aden\u00adced chan\u00adge through Christ in this way: He was sur\u00adpri\u00adsed one day how an offi\u00adcer in the mili\u00adta\u00adry made fun of God, faith and Chris\u00adti\u00adans. He could not stop mocking him. Wal\u00adlace, who was not a belie\u00adver at the time, deci\u00added to inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adte and cri\u00adti\u00adcal\u00adly exami\u00adne ever\u00ady\u00adthing that had to do with the Bible, Jesus Christ and faith. The offi\u00adcer encou\u00adra\u00adged him to wri\u00adte a book to pro\u00adve the fal\u00adse\u00adhoods of the Chris\u00adti\u00adan faith. Wal\u00adlace rum\u00adma\u00adged through count\u00adless old wri\u00adtin\u00adgs until he final\u00adly belie\u00adved he had gathe\u00adred enough evi\u00addence. He star\u00adted wri\u00adting, wro\u00adte the first chap\u00adter, then the second and also the third. He stop\u00adped at the fourth chap\u00adter. He was asto\u00adnis\u00adhed to find that through his inten\u00adsi\u00adve rese\u00adarch of old scrip\u00adtures he beca\u00adme more and more con\u00advin\u00adced that Jesus real\u00adly lived and per\u00adfor\u00admed many mira\u00adcles. For days he strug\u00adg\u00adled with his doubts and one night, Wal\u00adlace fell on his kne\u00ades in front of his bed and asked God to reve\u00adal Hims\u00adelf in his life. Towards mor\u00adning he felt a deep peace and a sen\u00adse of reli\u00adef. He told his wife about it and she con\u00adfes\u00adsed to having pray\u00aded inten\u00adse\u00adly for him. What should hap\u00adpen now with this mate\u00adri\u00adal he had coll\u00adec\u00adted? His wife recom\u00admen\u00added that he wri\u00adte a who\u00adle new book in which he pres\u00adents Jesus as the Saviour of the world. So Wal\u00adlace set to work and wro\u00adte a who\u00adle new book. Its title was \u00abBen Hur\u00bb! Wal\u00adlace later wro\u00adte that his encoun\u00adter with the mocking offi\u00adcer had two con\u00adse\u00adquen\u00adces: first, his tur\u00adning to God and Jesus Christ; and second, the book \u00abBen Hur\u00bb, which was published in 1880. The book beca\u00adme a best\u00adsel\u00adler. It is still known today through its film adaptations.
\nI will con\u00adclude the ser\u00admon with two quo\u00adta\u00adti\u00adons. First\u00adly, I will give the flo\u00ador to the recent\u00adly decea\u00adsed Pope Bene\u00addict XVI<\/span>, from his book \u00abJesus of Naza\u00adreth\u00bb: \u00abThe saints are the true inter\u00adpre\u00adters of Holy Scrip\u00adtu\u00adre. What a word means beco\u00admes most com\u00adpre\u00adhen\u00adsi\u00adble in tho\u00adse peo\u00adp\u00adle who have been com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly sei\u00adzed by it and have lived it.\u00bb (Pope Bene\u00addict XVI<\/span>, Jesus of Naza\u00adreth, p. 108).
\nFinal\u00adly, a word from the Apost\u00adle Peter. In one of his let\u00adters, he pro\u00adclai\u00admed a call to a life of holi\u00adne\u00adss that is still rele\u00advant today: \u00abThe\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre endea\u00advour to think cle\u00adar\u00adly and sober\u00adly and to exer\u00adcise self-con\u00adtrol. Place all your hope in the grace that awaits you at the return of Jesus Christ. Obey God becau\u00adse you are his child\u00adren. Do not fall back into your old, bad habits. You did\u00adn\u2019t know any bet\u00adter back then. But now you are to be holy in ever\u00ady\u00adthing you do, just as God who cal\u00adled you is holy. For he hims\u00adelf has said, \u00abYou shall be holy, becau\u00adse I am holy\u00bb \u00bb (1 Peter 1:13\u201316 NLB<\/span>).
\nAmen
\n
\n
\nPos\u00adsi\u00adble ques\u00adti\u00adons for the small group <\/p>\n
\n\tBeing holy can\u00adnot be increased, but what can be improved?
\n\tHow can I bet\u00adter bring Jesus in me to the fore in ever\u00ady\u00adday life?
\n\tJesus in me \u2013 com\u00adpa\u00adri\u00adson with a pregnan\u00adcy! What more does this com\u00adpa\u00adri\u00adson give? Or do you have an idea of ano\u00adther comparison?
\n\tHelp each other to under\u00adstand the Luther quo\u00adte even better!
\n\tRecall once again the moving quo\u00adte from Pope Bene\u00addict XVI<\/span>!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"