Cape Town. Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber conducted this year’s Pentecost service in Cape Town, South Africa. He preached about being filled with the Holy Spirit: “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”

This passage from Acts 4: 31 heralded a new era, said the Chief Apostle: this was the beginning of the first Christian congregation. Of course there was resistance to the doctrine of Jesus and the activity of the Apostles, but the young congregation prayed until they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Of this the Chief Apostle said: “Possessing the Holy Spirit is no guarantee that we are constantly ruled by the Holy Spirit and that all our actions result from the prompting of the Spirit of God.” He called upon the approximately 1.5 million listeners to live their faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. He noted that the results would be evident: a deeply rooted knowledge helps us to understand God. Being filled with the Holy Spirit creates the strength to resist temptation. Even the ability to see past the earthly and to have joy is a gift of the Spirit. Finally the New Apostolic Church leader also listed the courage to boldly profess our childhood in God as another gift of the Spirit.

The Pentecost service was conducted in the Tafelsig church and was transmitted by satellite to 60 countries on all continents. Some 1.5 million New Apostolic Christians were able to witness the service by live transmission.