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A Greater Power
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 discusses the power of love for Jesus in overcoming affliction, temptation, suffering, and even death. The story of Father Maximilian Kolber, a priest martyred in Auschwitz, is shared as an example of someone who chose to die out of fervent love for Jesus. Despite being in a starvation cell, Father Kolber's love for Jesus was so strong that he did not scream or lose his mind like others. The speaker emphasizes that divine life, which is fueled by the love of God, is greater than any tribulation or affliction we may face. The sermon encourages listeners to cultivate a deep love for Jesus and to accompany him on his path.
Sermon Transcription
God lives and works today. Do you feel oppressed by the powers of darkness that fill our world today? The powers of hatred, suffering, and death? Today's program by Basilía Schlinck will tell about a power that is greater than all of these. Mother Basilía once shared with us an experience which she had as she stood before the starvation cell of Father Maximilian Kolbe, a priest who was martyred in Auschwitz during World War II. She said, I had read Maximilian Kolbe's story and it moved me very deeply. Some of the men who were brought to these starvation cells lost their minds. They screamed day and night. However, there was one cell from which no one ever heard any screaming. It was the cell of Maximilian Kolbe, a man who loved Jesus and who had chosen this death out of fervent love for Him. Up until the end, he could be heard singing in this cell as he praised and worshipped our Lord Jesus. And his face shone till the very hour of his death. What kind of power can be greater than such tribulation, such torture, such a death by starvation? What power is greater than all fears, than all physical sufferings, than all temptations? What power is greater? Affliction, temptation, suffering and death, these all belong to our earthly life. Jesus, however, tells us about another life, divine life. This life has been promised to all those who love Jesus and will follow Him, those who are willing to forsake, lose and sacrifice that which they hold dear. These people value Jesus above all. They have divine life which consists of love, the love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts. Oh, none can be loved as is Jesus, none like Him is found anywhere. Tis He whom I love, whom I live for, for no one with Him can compare. Yes, love is the strongest power, and love for Jesus, this divine life inspired by the Holy Spirit, is greater than all tribulation and all affliction that may descend upon us. We need this love for Jesus, and Jesus needs our love too. And so Jesus stands before us ever anew, begging for our love. He asks us, Will you give me your love? Will you accompany me on the path that I take? I won't disappoint you. I will make you blissful because I am love itself. Oh, make me thine, my Savior, Lord most holy, that I may only live to give thee glory. Oh, make me thine. Oh, make me thine. Take all I love and treasure, my life, my honor, if that brings thee pleasure and shows my love. Yes, make me thine. You have been listening to a program written by Basileus 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. 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 contact this radio station for our postal address. God bless you.
A Greater Power
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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.