On Sunday 1st of May, 2016 we experienced a cheerful Divine Service. Guests were adopted into our congregation. Our Evangelist served with the word out of Romans 5, verse 5: “And hope does not put us to shame because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us”.
He explained that this hope cannot be compared to a hope which we sometimes express saying we “hope” we will get a good job or “hope” to ge a good examination result at an exam. With those hopes you have no guarantee that they will come true. The hope however, mentioned in the text word is based on the promise of God or on the promise of Jesus “… I will come again and take you with me so that you are where I am…”
The Evangelist said that through the Holy Spirit we received Divine life which was poured into our heart which is “the centre of our being where decisions are made”. And what is God? God is love! How does the love of God manifest itself? God always is the one who gives! He gives without condition, without hoping to get something in return. Now if this love of God is poured out into our decision making centre of us as human beings then our decisions and our behaviour are driven by love. If we love him indeed then we should be the giving ones as well. We should give without calculation, without waiting for what we will get in return.
At the end of the Divine Service six guests were adopted into the congregation. Actually it would have been seven but one man who is very old was hospitalised only few days before this Divine Service where he would have been adopted. There he mentioned his desire to be adopted to our Rector because he would not know if ever would get out of the hospital alive again. Therefore the Rector performed the adoption in the hospital. In the meantime however, he is on his way to recovery. Thus altogether seven souls could be adopted into the congregation which caused great joy with all people present. At this Divine Service 68 persons participated of whom 19 were guests.