With Pentecost only a week away, Bishop Martin Rheinberger, assisted by District Evangelist Lothar Heim, prepared the hearts of members from the congregations of the Southern Germany District church in a divine service broadcasted via YouTube on 24th May 2020.
 
The bible passage was taken from Mark 1: 10, “And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.”

We are loved by God. We are God’s children and are loved by Him, just as in the way God said about the Son at His baptism, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”. Yet, not long after, Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. Despite all the sufferings, He was still loved by God, and for that matter was resurrected and seated at the right hand side in the glory of God.
As children of God, we must not only focus on the good side of life and when we ask ourselves, “Does God love me?” We must remember how greatly He loved us first, when He gave us His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall have eternal life.

God gave us His Holy Spirit. We have received the Holy Spirit just as the book of Acts records of the early church. However, just as Apostle Paul told Timothy to awaken the gift that is put into him, we must also remind ourselves to awaken this gift which has been given to us. When the Holy Spirit works and lives within us, one can easily see it by the fruits we bear.

Fruits of the Holy Spirit. One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is joy. When the disciples returned to Jesus that demons obeyed them in His name, Jesus told them to rather be joyful that their names are written in Heaven. “Let us give room to the thought that our names are written in Heaven” he said. 
Another fruit of the Holy Spirit is patience. We wait in patience for the return of Jesus Christ. “We are filled with confidence that Jesus will return, let us give room to this patience to grow in our hearts” the Bishop added.

The Holy Spirit also admonishes us not to do evil deeds, but good things. “When the Holy Spirit works within us and admonishes, it also encourages us to pray for each other”.

The Holy Spirit is also a comforter.  Jesus said to His Apostles He is with them always to the end of the world. If this thought occupies our hearts, then we will be able to live our lives in a totally different way. It is a comfort knowing that Jesus will come again and have a future with those who lived before us.

The Bishop concluded: “Open the door of your hearts and give room to the work of the Holy Spirit, and we will experience how our lives will grow.”