God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit

-Today I’m going to talk about the Trinity, or Triune God, concentrating on the Holy Spirit.

-First, let’s think about God the Father. State a word or sentence that describes God the Father to you.

-Now let’s do the same with God the Son, Jesus.

-And now the Holy Spirit

(Write down what people say and summarize)

-They’re different, aren’t they? I think some of us concentrate on or pray to just one of these persons, but all three are equally important.

-Last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday when we heard from ACTS 2:1-11 when the Holy Spirit came down on the disciples as tongues of fire and they spoke in languages from every nation.

-So, again, what is this Holy Spirit? We say (read what people said)

-In today’s passage John quotes Jesus telling Nicodemas,"Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." And He explained it as being born of water and Spirit.

- I think for many of us the Spirit is an enigma and not visibly present in our lives. I believe that the Spirit is available to all of us, but we need to receive it as a gift from God. He’s offering it to all of us, but not everyone believes. In the ACTS retreats we have a chant that goes “Trust, Surrender, Believe, Receive”. And that’s an openness of heart, and an act of faith.

- In ACTS 2:14,Peter explains a passage in the book of Joel describing the descent of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ miracles, and how He is the Lord and Christ. The people present were awed and asked the Apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter says “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

-Repentence: What is that? Change one’s mind and purpose; remorse; Catholics, confession

-Think and talk about repentance- Yourself, what you could change, what comes between you and God? Emptying of oneself.

So, How do we get this Holy Spirit? Trust, Surrender, Believe, and Receive.

Amen