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How the Turning Point Came
Basilea Schlink
Basilea Schlink (1904 - 2001). German religious leader, writer, and co-founder of the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, born Klara Schlink in Darmstadt to a professor of mechanics. Raised Lutheran, she studied at Fröbelseminar in Kassel (1923) and Berlin’s Inner Mission girls’ school (1924), later earning a doctorate in psychology from Hamburg University in 1934 with a thesis on adolescent faith struggles. From 1933 to 1935, she led the Women’s Division of the German Student Christian Movement, resisting Nazi exclusion of Jewish Christians. In 1947, with Erika Madauss, she founded the Sisterhood in Darmstadt, taking the name Mother Basilea, growing it to 209 sisters across 11 global branches by 2001. Schlink authored over 60 books, including My All for Him, translated into 60 languages, and published tracts in 90. Her radio programs aired in 23 languages, emphasizing repentance and reconciliation, especially between Germans and Jews. Unmarried, she dedicated her life to prayer and ministry, shaping interdenominational Christian communities.
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Sermon Summary
In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of love and not erecting barriers between oneself and others. They highlight the need to love unconditionally, regardless of what others may have done to us. The speaker shares a personal testimony of their struggle to live in harmony with sisters from different countries in a Sisterhood. However, through Jesus' revelation of their own pride and stubbornness, they were able to let go of judgment and love their sisters. The speaker concludes by praising God for His love that has no barriers.
Sermon Transcription
God lives and works today. If you can witness to his reality in your everyday relationships with people, you are really fortunate. But what if just the opposite is true? Listen to the testimony in today's meditation called, How the Turning Point Came. When I came from Switzerland and entered the sisterhood in 1968, there were sisters from Holland, Finland, Sweden and Germany who also joined the sisterhood at the same time. I'm not a very sociable type, and soon I thought I couldn't live with my sisters from these different countries. The Dutch sisters seemed to me to be so loud, the Finnish sister was so slow, and the Swedish one so inefficient. And the way my German sisters could talk, how could I ever put up with them? A turning point had to come. But with my nature, it was inconceivable that the problem would ever be solved. Previously, if I didn't like people, I would just stay out of their way. But here, there was no escape. And then the turning point came. Jesus told me the truth about myself. He showed me my pride and stubbornness. Now the faults of my sisters no longer bother me. When I look at my own sin of pride, everything else seems insignificant, and I can only be astonished and grateful that my sisters have put up with me for so long. Now I no longer need to look at the faults of my sisters and let them bother me. No, now I can love my sisters. Only the Lord Jesus could do such a thing. If He had not set me free, I could never live in a fellowship with other people. Ever anew I praise Him for this wonder. God's love doesn't have any barriers. He calls to all of us, Come, follow me. Don't erect any barriers between yourself and other people. Don't set a limit to your love, no matter what the other person has done to you. By doing so, you erect a barrier between yourself and God. Lord, love like this give me. Lord, hear my prayer, my earnest cry, my plea, that you may soon your image see in me. Give me your love, Lord, love comes from you alone. Oh, having saved me, would make me all your own. Lord, love like this give me. You have been listening to a program written by Basilea Schlink of the Little Land of Canaan. To learn more about how God lives and works today, visit us at our website, www.canaan.org. That's K-A-N-A-A-N dot org. If you contact us, we would be happy to send you a free inspirational booklet. If you do not have access to the web, please write to God Lives and Works Today, 9849 North Fortieth Street, Phoenix, Arizona, 85028-4099, USA. God bless you.
How the Turning Point Came
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Basilea Schlink (1904 - 2001). German religious leader, writer, and co-founder of the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, born Klara Schlink in Darmstadt to a professor of mechanics. Raised Lutheran, she studied at Fröbelseminar in Kassel (1923) and Berlin’s Inner Mission girls’ school (1924), later earning a doctorate in psychology from Hamburg University in 1934 with a thesis on adolescent faith struggles. From 1933 to 1935, she led the Women’s Division of the German Student Christian Movement, resisting Nazi exclusion of Jewish Christians. In 1947, with Erika Madauss, she founded the Sisterhood in Darmstadt, taking the name Mother Basilea, growing it to 209 sisters across 11 global branches by 2001. Schlink authored over 60 books, including My All for Him, translated into 60 languages, and published tracts in 90. Her radio programs aired in 23 languages, emphasizing repentance and reconciliation, especially between Germans and Jews. Unmarried, she dedicated her life to prayer and ministry, shaping interdenominational Christian communities.