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Annual slogan 2006

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Joshua 1,5b

Have you had such a nightmare before? You simply keep falling into oblivion. There are no restraints, nothing which can stop you falling.

Maybe you can recognise this situation? Good friends have left you in the lurch, simply gone off or have averted themselves from you. They have let you fall like a hot potato.

Your life or situation suddenly seems quite different from one minute to the next. You feel awful, almost helpless and at rock bottom. You cannot see light anymore, because the hole which you have fallen into is deep and bottomless.

You feel lonely, helpless and abandoned.

However – and especially in such situations – you will learn to experience the annual slogan as a promise and as great hope: God does not let you fall, he will not leave you, even when everyone else has left you.

Is this pledge not a light at the end of the tunnel? You are allowed to build on God’s pledge and with God, you will find the way out of all seemingly difficult situations. Difficult situations can be mastered together with God.

Now for a final thought: Falling down is a part of life and especially part of your life with belief. The important thing is to stand up again.

Annual slogan 2005

But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail.

Luke 22,32

... Says Jesus to Simon in one situation as Simon has just assured Jesus that he will follow him everywhere and never renounce him. A little time later, Simon stands there as a failure. He has tripped over himself once again.

Are you also spoken to with this text? Do you sometimes feel like Simon too?

  • You want to follow Jesus – you have already decided on this and you still want to today ...

  • ..but stumbling blocks keep appearing, maybe similar situations as Simon, where you fail and renounce Jesus (in your club, in school, ...)

  • ..or do things which Jesus does not find very good (a white lie here or “hiding something” there, ...)

  • ... And you are already in the same position as Simon – you stand there as a failure and you also feel like a failure. (You have promised yourself to say and do something, but at the decisive Moment have acted and talked quite differently.)

Jesus knows about the weaknesses and the stumbling blocks which come out of the blue and throw the best resolutions to the dogs. He knows about our babbling, affected behaviour and fussiness and at the end of the day, not much becomes of it. We often realise that our belief quickly becomes shaky. We are never far away from "giving up" or "running away". (Jesus knows all about this because lots have already ran away)

What should we do in such situations? Jesus can forgive.

Just like Simon recognised his own failure, he faced Jesus and Jesus forgave him. You can also reckon with this if you do not evade him, but stand in front of Jesus and ask him for forgiveness.

  • It is great, that Jesus wants to help you and that your belief does not fail.

  • It is great, that Jesus helps you out, forgives and wants to carry on the path with you.

  • It is great, that you make such “failure situations” into “belief experiences”, you are brought back to the real facts and you will realise that following Jesus is only possible with his help and support.

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