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thanks to the Holy Ghost

"Pastor: Our Heavenly Father promised to share a gift with us.

Congregation: Thank you, Father, for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Pastor: The followers of Jesus were all gathered together in one place.

Congregation: Thank you, Father, for the gift of community and Your beloved church."

Our "verses" today are from the liturgy in our church service at Holy Ghost Lutheran in Fredericksburg, Texas. It helps summerize some of the lessons we learned from the verses following Pentecost in the second chapter of the book of Acts. The takeaway is that they followed God's plan and the Lord added to the church daily! If we follow the example of Acts 2:42-47, God will take care of growing the church Himself.

The Holy Ghost is one third of the Holy Trinity. When we are given faith in our Lord and Savior, it is thanks to the Holy Ghost.

That gift of faith brings us together. We are encouraged by each other's faith journeys, and we are blessed to help and be helped. The Christian life is to be joyful and simple. Our main source of delight and pride is our Lord and Savior. We need to cultivate the radical humility that the Apostle Paul describes in his first letter to the Corinthians. In chapter three he gives all the credit for the growth and success of the church to GOD. And he highlights this by saying that he is NOT "any thing." Our complete focus needs to be on God. This mindset is where Christians give up their belongings and even their lives for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is the example given to us by the founding members of the Church.
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