The Sovereign Love of God

The Holy Spirit Has Come to God’s People O n Pentecost we commemorate the coming of the Holy Spirit to the people of God, the Church. Jesus Christ, the risen Lord, is now present with his people in the person of the Spirit of God in the midst of the assemblies of faith. Now during this season after Pentecost, we affirm the work of the holy Trinity on behalf of humankind. The love of the Father elects us to salvation, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ has won us to God through his blood, and the Holy Spirit indwells the Church, helping and empowering us to represent and advance the Kingdom in the earth. On Trinity Sunday , we worship our Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and celebrate the mystery of God’s revealed nature in three persons, expressed in their unity, equality, and diversity. The Season after Pentecost is called Ordinary Time or Kingdomtide . During this time the Church considers the overarching theme of salvation history, the need for diligence in Christian discipleship, and focuses on the advance of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth. This is the longest season in the Church’s calendar, having from twenty-three to twenty-eight Sundays, and lasting until Advent. During this time we, as believers and congregations, focus on the Church’s maturity and multiplication and emphasize Christ’s headship and the power of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of the apostles and through the body of Christ.

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