Mary’s Song illustrates for us what participation with God in the divine dance looks like. Her song paints a broad picture that helps us understand what it means to get involved in the God life. Recorded in Luke 1:46-55, Mary’s song is an expression of worship, but not just any kind of worship. Her song is one that paints a specific picture of a dance with God, a risky dance of adventure with the untamable, unfathomable God.

The discussion about the filling of the Holy Spirit, is nothing if not controversial. There are those who make this the linchpin of the church, while other run from it and steer clear of any discussion about it. To attain some biblical understanding of the filling of the Holy Spirit, we will look at three questions. Question #1: Is the infilling of the Spirit distinct from simply believing? Question #2: What is the evidence of the infilling of the Spirit? Question #3: What does the infilling of the Holy Spirit do?

Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit when she was greeted by Mary, the mother of Jesus. To be filled or immersed in the Holy Spirit is a phrase often quoted, but what exactly occurs when we experience this filling? The role of the Holy Spirit is to connect our spirits with the divine nature so that we actually participate with God in His life. The goal of discipleship is to see yourself as you really are. See yourself as defined by Christ, as participating in God's self-relationship, the divine nature. When this is your self-image, all other sources of self-esteem become petty.

When Mary greeted Elizabeth, she was filled with the Holy Spirit. One of the central characteristics of the Kingdom Jesus inaugurated is that people would be immersed in the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit is not a sub-diety; He is the third person of the Trinity, three persons but one God. There are five biblical facts that substantiate the reality of the Trinity: 1.The Bible names that Father as God. 2.The Bible states that the Son is God. 3.The Bible also refers to the Holy Spirit as God. 4.The Father, Son and Spirit interact with one another. 5.The Bible makes it clear that there is only ONE God.

The story recorded in Luke 1:39-45 highlights Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth who was pregnant with John the Baptist. Elizabeth and John represent the old, while Mary and Jesus represent the new, the new things that God is doing in the world. Elizabeth and John are not in competition with Mary and Jesus; instead they acknowledge, submit and rejoice in the new that is coming.

"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:32-33). Such were the words of Gabriel to Mary regarding the coming of Jesus. These were words promising that Jesus would be the Messiah, the one who would reign over the earth, bringing peace and victory.So what does it mean for Jesus to reign today or “for everything to placed under his feet” as Paul writes in Eph 1:22? Where is the victory?

In July, Annie shared with us how God gives each of us a unique design and gifts to further the Kingdom of God. This week she was back to share a little more about what God’s “Kingdom Challenge” for us involves. The text Annie used was I Peter chapters 3 and 4 where the author is writing to Christians in Asia Minor who are suffering under intense resistance from their culture.

Greg’s sermon this week broke down into three parts. The topic was the meaning of the angel’s words when the angel told Mary that she was favored (Luke 1:28). Part I of the sermon focused on what “favored” does not mean. Part II focused on what it does mean. And part III examines why the word “favor” is used at all.

This week Associate Pastor Dwayne Polk continued his discussion of community by taking a close look at the powerful biblical metaphor of the Church as the Body of Christ. He started off by marveling at the amazing work of God in creating a human being. Our bodies and their various features are truly miraculous. Not only did God have an amazing plan for the human body, God has an amazing plan for the Church, the spiritual body of Christ, through which God intends to accomplish the reign of God on Earth.

It was great to hear from Dwayne Polk—one of our Associate Youth Pastors—this week! Dwayne reminded us of an important word Greg delivered to Woodland Hills in June of 2004. God led Greg to speak these words to us: “I know of your passion in worship and fervor in proclamation, but you are too much of an event and too little of a community…become a community. Let all who have an ear to hear listen to what the Spirit is saying.” Dwayne then challenged us to look at what it would look like to be living in redemptive community.