•“Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evening, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.” Fr. Pedro Arrupe•Acts 4:12•Acts 4:32-37•Holiness is not about what you are against – it is what you are for. The idea often divides us from the world by over-valuing our “set apartness.” But that is not the task of holiness. Holiness is not about what you abstain from – it is about your values and what you are for. The task of holiness is to be fully human and to empower others to be fully human – not harming ourselves or others. The Holy Spirit empowers this life.•“To be holy is not to be morally better than anyone we know; to be holy is to be made part of a community in which our lives depend on those we know and who know us. To be made holy is to be held accountable and to hold others accountable, to be loved and love as we have been loved by Christ.” “Wilimon/Hauerwas “The Holy Spirit”•“To be made holy by the work of the Holy Spirit is to be made part of a community of truth that makes friendship possible in a world of violence and lies. We are violent because of the lies we tell one another in our desperate attempts to force others to love us. To be sanctified is to be made a participants in a way of life which we discover friends who tell us the truth.” –“The Holy Spirit”•“To be sure fornication (sleeping around), stealing, or “foul words” are not to be done by Christians, but the reason such behaviors are forbidden is that they are behaviors that destroy community by making it difficult for people to trust one another. Mistrust kills friendships. To be holy does not mean moral perfection. Rather, holiness is the work of the Holy Spirit that makes us participants in the perfect love that constitutes the relationship between the persons of the Trinity.” •James 5:16•“It’s a great challenge to love in church. All of us know that it’s easier to love our neighbors in the abstract, those who are far away, than to love people with whom we must intimately work and pray within the Christian community. The church shows that the Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth, constitutes a relationship between people otherwise unimaginable exactly because it is a friendship based on truth.” “The Holy Spirit”•"The Didascalia’s authors were not particularly concerned about mission. They assumed the churches were growing but didn’t write much about growth. Significantly, they didn’t urge the clergy or laity to evangelize. According to their understanding, spreading the message was God’s work, and it was their calling to be “helpers for God.” Instead they wanted their communities to develop practices that expressed the gospel with integrity, both in their members relationship to outsiders and especially their behavior toward each other." Alan Kreider 'Patient Ferment' •What is negative bias? Refers to the notion that, even when of equal intensity, things of a more negative nature (e.g. unpleasant thoughts, emotions, or social interactions; harmful/traumatic events) have a greater effect on one's psychological state and processes than do neutral or positive things. In other words, something very positive will generally have less of an impact on a person's behavior and cognition than something equally emotional but negative.“If we’re not willing to be led through our fears and anxieties, we will never see or grow. We must always move from one level to a level we don’t completely understand yet. Every step up the ladder of moral development is taken in semi-darkness, by the light of faith. The greatest barrier to the next level of consciousness is our comfort and control at the one we are at now. Our first response to anyone calling us to truth, greatness, goodness, or morality at a higher level will be increased anxiety. We don’t say, “Isn’t this wonderful.” Instead, we recoil in terror and say, “I don’t know if I want to go there.” At the edges of medieval maps was frequently penciled the warning: “Here be dragons.” We confront these dragons when we approach the edges of our comfort level. “He must be wrong. That’s not true.” That’s our usual first response when we’re called to a higher level. But if we haven’t been trained to recognize our fears and let go of them, we will feed them.” –Richard Rohr, “Everything Belongs”

•“Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evening, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.” Fr. Pedro Arrupe•Acts 4:12•Acts 4:32-37•Holiness is not about what you are against – it is what you are for. The idea often divides us from the world by over-valuing our “set apartness.” But that is not the task of holiness. Holiness is not about what you abstain from – it is about your values and what you are for. The task of holiness is to be fully human and to empower others to be fully human – not harming ourselves or others. The Holy Spirit empowers this life.•“To be holy is not to be morally better than anyone we know; to be holy is to be made part of a community in which our lives depend on those we know and who know us. To be made holy is to be held accountable and to hold others accountable, to be loved and love as we have been loved by Christ.” “Wilimon/Hauerwas “The Holy Spirit”•“To be made holy by the work of the Holy Spirit is to be made part of a community of truth that makes friendship possible in a world of violence and lies. We are violent because of the lies we tell one another in our desperate attempts to force others to love us. To be sanctified is to be made a participants in a way of life which we discover friends who tell us the truth.” –“The Holy Spirit”•“To be sure fornication (sleeping around), stealing, or “foul words” are not to be done by Christians, but the reason such behaviors are forbidden is that they are behaviors that destroy community by making it difficult for people to trust one another. Mistrust kills friendships. To be holy does not mean moral perfection. Rather, holiness is the work of the Holy Spirit that makes us participants in the perfect love that constitutes the relationship between the persons of the Trinity.” •James 5:16•“It’s a great challenge to love in church. All of us know that it’s easier to love our neighbors in the abstract, those who are far away, than to love people with whom we must intimately work and pray within the Christian community. The church shows that the Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth, constitutes a relationship between people otherwise unimaginable exactly because it is a friendship based on truth.” “The Holy Spirit”•"The Didascalia’s authors were not particularly concerned about mission. They assumed the churches were growing but didn’t write much about growth. Significantly, they didn’t urge the clergy or laity to evangelize. According to their understanding, spreading the message was God’s work, and it was their calling to be “helpers for God.” Instead they wanted their communities to develop practices that expressed the gospel with integrity, both in their members relationship to outsiders and especially their behavior toward each other." Alan Kreider 'Patient Ferment' •What is negative bias? Refers to the notion that, even when of equal intensity, things of a more negative nature (e.g. unpleasant thoughts, emotions, or social interactions; harmful/traumatic events) have a greater effect on one's psychological state and processes than do neutral or positive things. In other words, something very positive will generally have less of an impact on a person's behavior and cognition than something equally emotional but negative.“If we’re not willing to be led through our fears and anxieties, we will never see or grow. We must always move from one level to a level we don’t completely understand yet. Every step up the ladder of moral development is taken in semi-darkness, by the light of faith. The greatest barrier to the next level of consciousness is our comfort and control at the one we are at now. Our first response to anyone calling us to truth, greatness, goodness, or morality at a higher level will be increased anxiety. We don’t say, “Isn’t this wonderful.” Instead, we recoil in terror and say, “I don’t know if I want to go there.” At the edges of medieval maps was frequently penciled the warning: “Here be dragons.” We confront these dragons when we approach the edges of our comfort level. “He must be wrong. That’s not true.” That’s our usual first response when we’re called to a higher level. But if we haven’t been trained to recognize our fears and let go of them, we will feed them.” –Richard Rohr, “Everything Belongs”

•“Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evening, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.” Fr. Pedro Arrupe•Acts 4:12•Acts 4:32-37•Holiness is not about what you are against – it is what you are for. The idea often divides us from the world by over-valuing our “set apartness.” But that is not the task of holiness. Holiness is not about what you abstain from – it is about your values and what you are for. The task of holiness is to be fully human and to empower others to be fully human – not harming ourselves or others. The Holy Spirit empowers this life.•“To be holy is not to be morally better than anyone we know; to be holy is to be made part of a community in which our lives depend on those we know and who know us. To be made holy is to be held accountable and to hold others accountable, to be loved and love as we have been loved by Christ.” “Wilimon/Hauerwas “The Holy Spirit”•“To be made holy by the work of the Holy Spirit is to be made part of a community of truth that makes friendship possible in a world of violence and lies. We are violent because of the lies we tell one another in our desperate attempts to force others to love us. To be sanctified is to be made a participants in a way of life which we discover friends who tell us the truth.” –“The Holy Spirit”•“To be sure fornication (sleeping around), stealing, or “foul words” are not to be done by Christians, but the reason such behaviors are forbidden is that they are behaviors that destroy community by making it difficult for people to trust one another. Mistrust kills friendships. To be holy does not mean moral perfection. Rather, holiness is the work of the Holy Spirit that makes us participants in the perfect love that constitutes the relationship between the persons of the Trinity.” •James 5:16•“It’s a great challenge to love in church. All of us know that it’s easier to love our neighbors in the abstract, those who are far away, than to love people with whom we must intimately work and pray within the Christian community. The church shows that the Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth, constitutes a relationship between people otherwise unimaginable exactly because it is a friendship based on truth.” “The Holy Spirit”•"The Didascalia’s authors were not particularly concerned about mission. They assumed the churches were growing but didn’t write much about growth. Significantly, they didn’t urge the clergy or laity to evangelize. According to their understanding, spreading the message was God’s work, and it was their calling to be “helpers for God.” Instead they wanted their communities to develop practices that expressed the gospel with integrity, both in their members relationship to outsiders and especially their behavior toward each other." Alan Kreider 'Patient Ferment' •What is negative bias? Refers to the notion that, even when of equal intensity, things of a more negative nature (e.g. unpleasant thoughts, emotions, or social interactions; harmful/traumatic events) have a greater effect on one's psychological state and processes than do neutral or positive things. In other words, something very positive will generally have less of an impact on a person's behavior and cognition than something equally emotional but negative.“If we’re not willing to be led through our fears and anxieties, we will never see or grow. We must always move from one level to a level we don’t completely understand yet. Every step up the ladder of moral development is taken in semi-darkness, by the light of faith. The greatest barrier to the next level of consciousness is our comfort and control at the one we are at now. Our first response to anyone calling us to truth, greatness, goodness, or morality at a higher level will be increased anxiety. We don’t say, “Isn’t this wonderful.” Instead, we recoil in terror and say, “I don’t know if I want to go there.” At the edges of medieval maps was frequently penciled the warning: “Here be dragons.” We confront these dragons when we approach the edges of our comfort level. “He must be wrong. That’s not true.” That’s our usual first response when we’re called to a higher level. But if we haven’t been trained to recognize our fears and let go of them, we will feed them.” –Richard Rohr, “Everything Belongs”

•“Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evening, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.” Fr. Pedro Arrupe•Acts 4:12•Acts 4:32-37•Holiness is not about what you are against – it is what you are for. The idea often divides us from the world by over-valuing our “set apartness.” But that is not the task of holiness. Holiness is not about what you abstain from – it is about your values and what you are for. The task of holiness is to be fully human and to empower others to be fully human – not harming ourselves or others. The Holy Spirit empowers this life.•“To be holy is not to be morally better than anyone we know; to be holy is to be made part of a community in which our lives depend on those we know and who know us. To be made holy is to be held accountable and to hold others accountable, to be loved and love as we have been loved by Christ.” “Wilimon/Hauerwas “The Holy Spirit”•“To be made holy by the work of the Holy Spirit is to be made part of a community of truth that makes friendship possible in a world of violence and lies. We are violent because of the lies we tell one another in our desperate attempts to force others to love us. To be sanctified is to be made a participants in a way of life which we discover friends who tell us the truth.” –“The Holy Spirit”•“To be sure fornication (sleeping around), stealing, or “foul words” are not to be done by Christians, but the reason such behaviors are forbidden is that they are behaviors that destroy community by making it difficult for people to trust one another. Mistrust kills friendships. To be holy does not mean moral perfection. Rather, holiness is the work of the Holy Spirit that makes us participants in the perfect love that constitutes the relationship between the persons of the Trinity.” •James 5:16•“It’s a great challenge to love in church. All of us know that it’s easier to love our neighbors in the abstract, those who are far away, than to love people with whom we must intimately work and pray within the Christian community. The church shows that the Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth, constitutes a relationship between people otherwise unimaginable exactly because it is a friendship based on truth.” “The Holy Spirit”•"The Didascalia’s authors were not particularly concerned about mission. They assumed the churches were growing but didn’t write much about growth. Significantly, they didn’t urge the clergy or laity to evangelize. According to their understanding, spreading the message was God’s work, and it was their calling to be “helpers for God.” Instead they wanted their communities to develop practices that expressed the gospel with integrity, both in their members relationship to outsiders and especially their behavior toward each other." Alan Kreider 'Patient Ferment' •What is negative bias? Refers to the notion that, even when of equal intensity, things of a more negative nature (e.g. unpleasant thoughts, emotions, or social interactions; harmful/traumatic events) have a greater effect on one's psychological state and processes than do neutral or positive things. In other words, something very positive will generally have less of an impact on a person's behavior and cognition than something equally emotional but negative.“If we’re not willing to be led through our fears and anxieties, we will never see or grow. We must always move from one level to a level we don’t completely understand yet. Every step up the ladder of moral development is taken in semi-darkness, by the light of faith. The greatest barrier to the next level of consciousness is our comfort and control at the one we are at now. Our first response to anyone calling us to truth, greatness, goodness, or morality at a higher level will be increased anxiety. We don’t say, “Isn’t this wonderful.” Instead, we recoil in terror and say, “I don’t know if I want to go there.” At the edges of medieval maps was frequently penciled the warning: “Here be dragons.” We confront these dragons when we approach the edges of our comfort level. “He must be wrong. That’s not true.” That’s our usual first response when we’re called to a higher level. But if we haven’t been trained to recognize our fears and let go of them, we will feed them.” –Richard Rohr, “Everything Belongs”

•Acts 1:4-8•Acts 1:21-26•Acts 2:1-21•“Paul tells the church at Ephesus, “You who were once so far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Christ is our peace. He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group. With his body, he broke down the barrier of hatred that divided us. The Acts of the Apostles is the story of how, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the church was given the mission to be a showcase that the violence inherent in our babbling isolation from one another has been overwhelmed by the cross and resurrection of Christ,” –Willimon/Hauerwas “Holy Spirit”•The church in Acts is a church dripping with power to be a liberating force to any and all people who have been caught up and crushed under the heavy wheels of the empire’s power, division, inequality, misogyny, violence, ethnic supremacy, and economic brutalism. -Jason Butler•“The claim [of Jesus is Lord] was not an attempt by Christians to grab power and to take over the role of Caesar; they proclaimed that Jesus’ Lordship was more radical [and threatening] than Caesar imagined. It is therefore not surprising that the disciples found themselves constantly in trouble. Why was the church so disruptive and so threatening to controlling politicians? Blame it on the out-of-control Holy Spirit.” Willimon/Hauerwas•“We in the church ought to confess the sin of division, admitting that our most tragic divisions are not between Catholic and Protestant or Protestant denominations but the divisors between rich and poor, Caucasians and people of color, the disabled and those who are “healthy,” the young and the old. The church out to be a showcase for what the Holy Spirit can do. It is to our shame that Christians willingly kill one another in the name of national loyalties or love our religion by hating other faiths. Is it any wonder that non-Christians find our disunity a confirmation that we do not believe what we say we believe?” –Willimon/Hauerwas•Unfortunately, most of the major denominations still practice segregation local churches, hospitals, schools, and other church institutions. It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o’clock on Sunday morning, the same hour when many are standing to sing; In Christ There Is No East Nor West. - Martin Luther King Jr.•Revelation 7:9•“To confess God as spirit is to acknowledge that the world is not under our control, nor is that of any creature, system, force or thing, for everything is breathed by God. To pledge ourselves pliable to God the Spirit may breed anarchy but it undoubtedly sets our face against all forms of fatalism…So when we pray, “Come, Holy Spirit!” it’s as if we pray, “Bring it on, Holy Spirit! Shake us up, send us forth, kick us out, and make us a more interesting church than we would be if you had left us alone.”

•Acts 1:4-8•Acts 1:21-26•Acts 2:1-21•“Paul tells the church at Ephesus, “You who were once so far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Christ is our peace. He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group. With his body, he broke down the barrier of hatred that divided us. The Acts of the Apostles is the story of how, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the church was given the mission to be a showcase that the violence inherent in our babbling isolation from one another has been overwhelmed by the cross and resurrection of Christ,” –Willimon/Hauerwas “Holy Spirit”•The church in Acts is a church dripping with power to be a liberating force to any and all people who have been caught up and crushed under the heavy wheels of the empire’s power, division, inequality, misogyny, violence, ethnic supremacy, and economic brutalism. -Jason Butler•“The claim [of Jesus is Lord] was not an attempt by Christians to grab power and to take over the role of Caesar; they proclaimed that Jesus’ Lordship was more radical [and threatening] than Caesar imagined. It is therefore not surprising that the disciples found themselves constantly in trouble. Why was the church so disruptive and so threatening to controlling politicians? Blame it on the out-of-control Holy Spirit.” Willimon/Hauerwas•“We in the church ought to confess the sin of division, admitting that our most tragic divisions are not between Catholic and Protestant or Protestant denominations but the divisors between rich and poor, Caucasians and people of color, the disabled and those who are “healthy,” the young and the old. The church out to be a showcase for what the Holy Spirit can do. It is to our shame that Christians willingly kill one another in the name of national loyalties or love our religion by hating other faiths. Is it any wonder that non-Christians find our disunity a confirmation that we do not believe what we say we believe?” –Willimon/Hauerwas•Unfortunately, most of the major denominations still practice segregation local churches, hospitals, schools, and other church institutions. It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o’clock on Sunday morning, the same hour when many are standing to sing; In Christ There Is No East Nor West. - Martin Luther King Jr.•Revelation 7:9•“To confess God as spirit is to acknowledge that the world is not under our control, nor is that of any creature, system, force or thing, for everything is breathed by God. To pledge ourselves pliable to God the Spirit may breed anarchy but it undoubtedly sets our face against all forms of fatalism…So when we pray, “Come, Holy Spirit!” it’s as if we pray, “Bring it on, Holy Spirit! Shake us up, send us forth, kick us out, and make us a more interesting church than we would be if you had left us alone.”

•Acts 1:4-8•Acts 1:21-26•Acts 2:1-21•“Paul tells the church at Ephesus, “You who were once so far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Christ is our peace. He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group. With his body, he broke down the barrier of hatred that divided us. The Acts of the Apostles is the story of how, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the church was given the mission to be a showcase that the violence inherent in our babbling isolation from one another has been overwhelmed by the cross and resurrection of Christ,” –Willimon/Hauerwas “Holy Spirit”•The church in Acts is a church dripping with power to be a liberating force to any and all people who have been caught up and crushed under the heavy wheels of the empire’s power, division, inequality, misogyny, violence, ethnic supremacy, and economic brutalism. -Jason Butler•“The claim [of Jesus is Lord] was not an attempt by Christians to grab power and to take over the role of Caesar; they proclaimed that Jesus’ Lordship was more radical [and threatening] than Caesar imagined. It is therefore not surprising that the disciples found themselves constantly in trouble. Why was the church so disruptive and so threatening to controlling politicians? Blame it on the out-of-control Holy Spirit.” Willimon/Hauerwas•“We in the church ought to confess the sin of division, admitting that our most tragic divisions are not between Catholic and Protestant or Protestant denominations but the divisors between rich and poor, Caucasians and people of color, the disabled and those who are “healthy,” the young and the old. The church out to be a showcase for what the Holy Spirit can do. It is to our shame that Christians willingly kill one another in the name of national loyalties or love our religion by hating other faiths. Is it any wonder that non-Christians find our disunity a confirmation that we do not believe what we say we believe?” –Willimon/Hauerwas•Unfortunately, most of the major denominations still practice segregation local churches, hospitals, schools, and other church institutions. It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o’clock on Sunday morning, the same hour when many are standing to sing; In Christ There Is No East Nor West. - Martin Luther King Jr.•Revelation 7:9•“To confess God as spirit is to acknowledge that the world is not under our control, nor is that of any creature, system, force or thing, for everything is breathed by God. To pledge ourselves pliable to God the Spirit may breed anarchy but it undoubtedly sets our face against all forms of fatalism…So when we pray, “Come, Holy Spirit!” it’s as if we pray, “Bring it on, Holy Spirit! Shake us up, send us forth, kick us out, and make us a more interesting church than we would be if you had left us alone.”

•Acts 1:4-8•Acts 1:21-26•Acts 2:1-21•“Paul tells the church at Ephesus, “You who were once so far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Christ is our peace. He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group. With his body, he broke down the barrier of hatred that divided us. The Acts of the Apostles is the story of how, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the church was given the mission to be a showcase that the violence inherent in our babbling isolation from one another has been overwhelmed by the cross and resurrection of Christ,” –Willimon/Hauerwas “Holy Spirit”•The church in Acts is a church dripping with power to be a liberating force to any and all people who have been caught up and crushed under the heavy wheels of the empire’s power, division, inequality, misogyny, violence, ethnic supremacy, and economic brutalism. -Jason Butler•“The claim [of Jesus is Lord] was not an attempt by Christians to grab power and to take over the role of Caesar; they proclaimed that Jesus’ Lordship was more radical [and threatening] than Caesar imagined. It is therefore not surprising that the disciples found themselves constantly in trouble. Why was the church so disruptive and so threatening to controlling politicians? Blame it on the out-of-control Holy Spirit.” Willimon/Hauerwas•“We in the church ought to confess the sin of division, admitting that our most tragic divisions are not between Catholic and Protestant or Protestant denominations but the divisors between rich and poor, Caucasians and people of color, the disabled and those who are “healthy,” the young and the old. The church out to be a showcase for what the Holy Spirit can do. It is to our shame that Christians willingly kill one another in the name of national loyalties or love our religion by hating other faiths. Is it any wonder that non-Christians find our disunity a confirmation that we do not believe what we say we believe?” –Willimon/Hauerwas•Unfortunately, most of the major denominations still practice segregation local churches, hospitals, schools, and other church institutions. It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o’clock on Sunday morning, the same hour when many are standing to sing; In Christ There Is No East Nor West. - Martin Luther King Jr.•Revelation 7:9•“To confess God as spirit is to acknowledge that the world is not under our control, nor is that of any creature, system, force or thing, for everything is breathed by God. To pledge ourselves pliable to God the Spirit may breed anarchy but it undoubtedly sets our face against all forms of fatalism…So when we pray, “Come, Holy Spirit!” it’s as if we pray, “Bring it on, Holy Spirit! Shake us up, send us forth, kick us out, and make us a more interesting church than we would be if you had left us alone.”

Mark 16:6-8Luke 24:13-17, Luke 24:45-49Matthew 28:19John 21:15-17“God is a relational being: without the concept of communion it would not be possible to speak of the being of God…God has no true being apart from communion.” – John ZizioulasPerichoresis (from Greek: perikhrsis, "rotation")“The Holy Spirit is the agent of the kingdom of God. That kingdom is present, often hidden, in the church. The Holy Spirit is the way that God keeps actively loving us in time, the way that the Trinity keeps showing up to us, keeps pointing us toward the truth embodied in the crucified. By God’s love, we live in the age of the Spirit, that new time in which the church exists and testifies to the world that our time is not our own. God has taken time for us, and the sign of that divine intrusion is the Holy Spirit at work in the church that lives and works in the world. God through the Spirit draws us into the life of the Trinity, making possible a people who would otherwise not exist. The Spirit must have a body on which the Spirit can rest. That body turns out to be called church.” – Willimon, The Holy SpiritJohn 14:25-27“The Spirit has distinct work to do: to make us one body, the body of Christ. That the Holy Spirit is called “Advocate” indicates that in Christ we are more than simply accepted by God or even justified by God. The advocate continues to plead for us, represent us to God in ways greater than our ways, and to speak on our behalf to God better than we could speak for ourselves. At the same time the advocate is God representing God to us, revealing God to us in ways that we could not have come up with on our own.” – Hauerwas, The Holy SpiritPreveniant Grace:There’s this idea we have in Wesleyan theology that says "pre-grace". That God is pursuing us and working things out for us even before we realize that God is pursuing us and working things out for us. God was moving in your life before you realized it. God is working everywhere all the time with everyone. There is no place that God is not working. Epiclesis Prayer:We celebrate the memorial of our redemption, O God, in this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Recalling Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, we offer you these gifts.Sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of the Son, the holy food and drink of new and unending life in him. Sanctify us also that we may faithfully receive this holy Sacrament, and serve you in unity, constancy, and peace; and at the last day bring us with all your saints into the joy of your eternal kingdom. All this we ask through Jesus Christ: By him, and with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours now and forever. Amen.

Mark 16:6-8Luke 24:13-17, Luke 24:45-49Matthew 28:19John 21:15-17“God is a relational being: without the concept of communion it would not be possible to speak of the being of God…God has no true being apart from communion.” – John ZizioulasPerichoresis (from Greek: perikhrsis, "rotation")“The Holy Spirit is the agent of the kingdom of God. That kingdom is present, often hidden, in the church. The Holy Spirit is the way that God keeps actively loving us in time, the way that the Trinity keeps showing up to us, keeps pointing us toward the truth embodied in the crucified. By God’s love, we live in the age of the Spirit, that new time in which the church exists and testifies to the world that our time is not our own. God has taken time for us, and the sign of that divine intrusion is the Holy Spirit at work in the church that lives and works in the world. God through the Spirit draws us into the life of the Trinity, making possible a people who would otherwise not exist. The Spirit must have a body on which the Spirit can rest. That body turns out to be called church.” – Willimon, The Holy SpiritJohn 14:25-27“The Spirit has distinct work to do: to make us one body, the body of Christ. That the Holy Spirit is called “Advocate” indicates that in Christ we are more than simply accepted by God or even justified by God. The advocate continues to plead for us, represent us to God in ways greater than our ways, and to speak on our behalf to God better than we could speak for ourselves. At the same time the advocate is God representing God to us, revealing God to us in ways that we could not have come up with on our own.” – Hauerwas, The Holy SpiritPreveniant Grace:There’s this idea we have in Wesleyan theology that says "pre-grace". That God is pursuing us and working things out for us even before we realize that God is pursuing us and working things out for us. God was moving in your life before you realized it. God is working everywhere all the time with everyone. There is no place that God is not working. Epiclesis Prayer:We celebrate the memorial of our redemption, O God, in this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Recalling Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, we offer you these gifts.Sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of the Son, the holy food and drink of new and unending life in him. Sanctify us also that we may faithfully receive this holy Sacrament, and serve you in unity, constancy, and peace; and at the last day bring us with all your saints into the joy of your eternal kingdom. All this we ask through Jesus Christ: By him, and with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours now and forever. Amen.