About us


He was in the begin­ning with God. (John 1:2)

Peo­ple often ask us who we are, expect­ing to hear the name 1 Samuel 1:1 of a par­tic­u­lar Chris­t­ian group or reli­gious orga­ni­za­tion.

We are not an orga­ni­za­tion, nor do we want to be one, so we can­not intro­duce our­selves with a par­tic­u­lar name. Jesus’ dis­ci­ples did not give them­selves any spe­cial name either, but were rec­og­nized as such through their mes­sage and lifestyle. Lat­er 1 Corinthi­ans 1 they were called Chris­tians because they pro­claimed Jesus as the Christ, the Sav­iour who came to mankind from God.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, con­secte­tur adip­isc­ing elit. Fusce at tem­pus neque, sit amet lobor­tis lec­tus. Eti­am fringilla sit amet leo nec ornare. Cras com­mo­do jus­to sem, id viver­ra ris­us rutrum id. Proin a orci id turpis con­va­l­lis sem­per ut ut augue. In hac habitasse platea dic­tumst. Duis laoreet ante purus, finibus finibus sem fau­cibus nec. Quisque a ante sem. Cras eu urna et nisi finibus ali­quam viver­ra eget dui. Viva­mus eget effici­tur dui, ac gravi­da metus. Sus­pendisse ultri­ces feu­giat tor­tor, at condi­men­tum jus­to ali­quam id. Pel­len­tesque plac­er­at tem­por lorem, in fer­men­tum est sodales eget. Mor­bi in gravi­da turpis, ut vene­natis quam. Fusce nec erat eu elit dig­nis­sim bland­it. Mae­ce­nas ali­quet mat­tis quam sed sagit­tis. Sus­pendisse poten­ti. Aenean nisi augue, facil­i­sis ac posuere id, fer­men­tum [1] sit amet lorem.

This is a stan­dard quote! Nul­lam ac ris­us finibus jus­to posuere euis­mod sit amet a est. Mor­bi port­ti­tor fer­men­tum quam vel condi­men­tum. Donec eros nisi, con­va­l­lis ut lec­tus at, con­va­l­lis phare­tra urna. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, con­secte­tur adip­isc­ing elit. In hac habitasse platea dic­tumst. Eti­am tem­por sodales arcu eu facilisis.3

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, con­secte­tur adip­isc­ing elit. Fusce at tem­pus neque, sit amet lobor­tis lec­tus. Eti­am fringilla sit amet leo nec ornare. Cras com­mo­do jus­to sem, id viver­ra ris­us rutrum id. [2] Proin a orci id turpis con­va­l­lis sem­per ut ut augue. In hac habitasse platea dic­tumst. Duis laoreet ante purus, finibus finibus sem fau­cibus nec. Quisque a ante sem. Cras eu urna et nisi finibus ali­quam viver­ra eget dui. Viva­mus eget effici­tur dui, ac gravi­da metus. Sus­pendisse ultri­ces feu­giat tor­tor, at condi­men­tum jus­to ali­quam id. Pel­len­tesque plac­er­at tem­por lorem, in fer­men­tum est sodales eget. Mor­bi in gravi­da turpis, ut vene­natis quam. Fusce nec erat eu elit dig­nis­sim bland­it. Mae­ce­nas ali­quet mat­tis quam sed sagit­tis. Sus­pendisse poten­ti. Aenean nisi augue, facil­i­sis ac posuere id, fer­men­tum sit amet lorem.

This is a quote high­light! Class aptent tac­i­ti sociosqu ad lito­ra torquent per conu­bia nos­tra, per incep­tos hime­naeos. (Sed volut­pat I,2,6) 1

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, con­secte­tur adip­isc­ing elit. Fusce at tem­pus neque, sit amet lobor­tis lec­tus. Eti­am fringilla sit amet leo nec ornare. Cras com­mo­do jus­to sem, id viver­ra ris­us rutrum id. Proin a orci id turpis con­va­l­lis sem­per ut ut augue. In hac habitasse platea dic­tumst. Duis laoreet ante purus, finibus finibus sem fau­cibus nec. Quisque a ante sem.

We, too, are Chris­tians, dis­ci­ples of Jesus. We want to fol­low the exam­ple of the first Chris­tians and put what we read in the Bible into prac­tice in our lives. We do not belong to any denom­i­na­tion or any oth­er kind of reli­gious soci­ety. We are togeth­er because each of us wants to fol­low Jesus, our Lord and our God (John 20:28) and not out of any oblig­a­tion to abide by the rules and reg­u­la­tions of an insti­tu­tion [3].

Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28)

We regard the Bible as the sole basis of Chris­t­ian doc­trine. This is why we meet every day to think togeth­er about God’s word. We take the Bible seri­ous­ly as the author­i­ty for our faith and life, while also try­ing to under­stand it with­in its his­tor­i­cal and lit­er­ary con­text, using the mind God gave us to con­tin­u­ous­ly gain a deep­er under­stand­ing of it. We want to avoid both the fun­da­men­tal­ist and the lib­er­al errors in their views on the Bible and we are aware that we can only under­stand the Bible cor­rect­ly with the help of the Holy Spir­it.

We agree with the doc­tri­nal con­tent of the the creeds of the ear­ly cen­turies, espe­cial­ly the Apos­tles’ Creed, the Niceno-Con­stan­ti­nop­o­li­tan Creed and the Athanasian Creed.

Faith, for us, is a real­i­ty which ful­fills all areas of our life and does not mean cul­ti­va­tion of tra­di­tion­al cus­toms.

Our com­mu­ni­ty is small in num­ber and con­sists of peo­ple with dif­fer­ent pro­fes­sions, with for­mer­ly dif­fer­ent reli­gious and social back­grounds. We sim­ply want to be Chris­tians, broth­ers and sis­ters who wor­ship God as our com­mon Father and Jesus as our Lord.

We reject hier­ar­chi­cal struc­tures as they are in clear con­tra­dic­tion to God’s word and broth­er­ly love. We are con­vinced that uni­ty, which God want­ed to be the real­i­ty among Chris­tians, can­not be achieved by the con­trol­ling human struc­tures of author­i­ty but is only the fruit of obe­di­ence of every sin­gle dis­ci­ple towards the Holy Scrip­ture. We are in uni­ty because each of us puts his own self aside and wants to fol­low what God revealed in the Bible and made rec­og­niz­able for every­one.

At present we know Chris­tians in a few dif­fer­ent coun­tries, but we are look­ing for­ward to get­ting to know broth­ers and sis­ters in oth­er parts of the world as well. We think it would be a sin against broth­er­ly love for Chris­tians to live side by side with­out tak­ing an inter­est in one anoth­er. In 1 John 3:14–16 the apos­tle wrote:

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the broth­ers. Who­ev­er does not love abides in death. …By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the broth­ers.

PS: In order to avoid con­fu­sion we want to make it clear that we have noth­ing in com­mon with the so-called Inter­na­tion­al Church of Christ or any of the splin­ter groups that formed after its col­lapse.

Nor are we the fol­low­ers of any present-day “prophet” or “mes­si­ah” like William M. Bran­ham, E. G. White, Joseph Smith or Sun Myung Moon. Jesus brought us the ulti­mate and direct rev­e­la­tion, of which he is the end.

No longer do I call you ser­vants, for the ser­vant does not know what his mas­ter is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15)

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spo­ken to us by his Son, whom he appoint­ed the heir of all things, through whom also he cre­at­ed the world. He is the radi­ance of the glo­ry of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the uni­verse by the word of his pow­er. After mak­ing purifi­ca­tion for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…. (Hebrews 1:1–3)

The mes­sage of Jesus is com­plete and can­not be added to by any self-styled “prophets”.

No longer do I call you ser­vants, for the ser­vant does not know what his mas­ter is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15)

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spo­ken to us by his Son, whom he appoint­ed the heir of all things, through whom also he cre­at­ed the world. He is the radi­ance of the glo­ry of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the uni­verse by the word of his pow­er. After mak­ing purifi­ca­tion for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (Hebrews 1:1–3)

 



There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. (1 Samuel 1:1)

Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge — even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you — so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgement. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarrelling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul”, or “I follow Apollos”, or “I follow Cephas”, or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1)

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.——…

The foo bar and the foo bar

And the third foo bar of the foo bars

There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. (1 Samuel 1:1)

Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge — even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you — so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgement. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarrelling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul”, or “I follow Apollos”, or “I follow Cephas”, or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1)

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.——…

The foo bar and the foo bar

And the third foo bar of the foo bars