Dear Members and Friends of IBCZ, A couple months ago we finished our study of the life of Abraham. He has so much to teach us! There are, of course, other characters from the Old Testament from whom we can learn much. But there is also something about them that
Continue readingDear Members and Friends of IBCZ, Last Sunday in worship we considered God’s wonderful gift of joy. As we saw, joy is much deeper than happiness, which is dependent on outer circumstances. Joy is rooted in the character, faithfulness, and love of God. Knowing this is how God always is,
Continue readingDear Members and Friends of IBCZ, First, I want to thank the Elders for writing the news articles for the past several months so I could spend more time focusing on my German studies. Second, I invite you to prayerfully consider attending our next church camp – Nov. 1-3 in
Continue readingOn the 16thof June, we as a covenant people would once more assemble as a family to listen and to be led by the Spirit of Him who called us to His local church. All of us who trusted to count himself/herself to be accountable to one another will seek
Continue readingAs I started reading 1 Thessalonians this week, I had to stop and meditate already after the 3rd verse of the letter. Paul thanks God for his audience, specifically for their faith, love, and hope. The placement of these comments so early in the letter suggests these are essential marks
Continue readingRomans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Society has moved on even since I was a lad and so has a mother’s role to some degree, but the pity of this is society somehow can now take a dim view of mothers
Continue readingDear Members and friends of IBCZ, Looking back to Abraham’s life in the sermons of the last months, many points are still relevant today, more than 3000 years ago. Abraham is known for having faith, but even being one of the great figures in the bible it was quite amazing
Continue readingMost of you have heard the disturbing news of the bombings in Sri Lanka. Many of the more than 300 victims are Christians. Whilst Sri Lanka is not generally known to be a country where Christians are persecuted, Open Door (a charity helping the persecuted church) nevertheless lists it on
Continue readingAt the very heart of the Gospel is the Christian’s reality of what the reformer Martin Luther coined – Simul Justus et Peccator. Simul – where we get the word simultaneous; at the same time. Justus – just; righteous. Et – and. Peccator – sinner. This Latin phrase captures two realities, two truths about the believer’s very essence –
Continue readingThis past Sunday we learned that while people usually expect satisfaction in life to result from the successful achievement of some goals they have set for themselves, the real and sustainable satisfaction comes from accomplishing God’s will for one’s life. Even when we are aware of this and focus on
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