God the Holy Spirit, Mentor's Guide, MG14

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G O D T H E H O L Y S P I R I T

1. The reciting of the Nicene and/or Apostles’ Creeds during services.

2. Prayers with endings such as “this we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever Amen.”

3. Trinitarian songs/hymns (e.g. Doxology , Holy, Holy, Holy , Come Thou Almighty King , The Gloria Patri )

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4. Threefold benedictions such as “The blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you now, and remain with you always. Amen” or “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor. 13.14).

Conclusion

The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the one Trinitarian God. He is a distinguishable person in the Godhead who thinks, acts, and loves as fully as the Father and the Son and who fully shares their Divine Nature. The Church has sometimes disagreed about how to define the exact nature of the relationships between the members of the Trinity (e.g. the filioque ) but all agree on the full deity, personhood, and equality of each member. For both Catholics and Protestants, St. Augustine’s description of the Holy Spirit as the “bond of love” between the Father and the Son has proved to be a useful and enduring analogy. In keeping with the witness of Scripture, the Church has always worshiped God as Trinity giving glory to the Father and the to Son and to the Holy Spirit equally and indivisibly.