The Holy Spirit
The Paraclete
Final part of Jesus Creed…
 “…
he ascended to heaven and is seated
at the right hand of the Father. He will
come again to judge the living and the
dead.”
Ascension:
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The Ascension of Jesus refers to the time when
Jesus stopped appearing to the disciples in
visible, human form.
 Being seated at the Father’s right hand means
that Jesus continually prays for us as the
Messiah and King.
 Just before Jesus ascended he told his
followers, “I am going to send you what the
Father promised; but stay in the city until you
have been clothed with power from on high… he
left them and was taken up into heaven (Lk.24).”
The Ascension:
Remember:
Ancient Jewish view of universe
Assign.
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Read Acts 1:1-11 (p.180) and answer the
following questions:
How many days was Jesus present from his
resurrection to his ascension?
What command did Jesus give to his followers
before he ascended?
What did Jesus say that the Holy Spirit would
do to the followers?
What did the two men dressed in white say
after Jesus had ascended?
The Final Part of the Apostles
Creed
 “…
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy
catholic Church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of
the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.”
 We will be talking about the role of the
Holy Spirit in the world over the next
couple days…
Key Verse from the Acts of the
Apostles 1:8 (Note: slide bground)
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes
upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth.”
 Disciple means one who learns
 Apostle means one who is sent
 On July 15th of every year the church celebrates the
dispersion of the Apostles.
 Christianity has, from the beginning, had a missionary
message.
 If the Apostles had not left then we would not know about
Christ today. (see PG. 180 of your Bible)
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So What?
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What happened when this power came upon the
disciples? How did it happen?
Read Acts 1:12-26.
They became Apostles.
Q: What were the requirements for being a
disciple?
Q: Who were the two candidates?
Who was chosen? How
Then what happened…
Stay tuned next class.
Questions: Read Acts 2:1-47
(p.181)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
What did the wind represent? The tongues?
(re: Tower of Babel)
What did people think was happening to the
believers?
Who preached to the crowds about Jesus?
What did Peter say to do to believe in Jesus?
How many people joined the Jesus movement
on that day?
What did the new believers devote themselves
to (vs.42)?
Pentecost
Pentecost: Feast of Weeks
 Held
50 days after Passover
 Festival of thanksgiving for the harvested
crops
 Jews of many nations would gather in
Jerusalem for this festival
 Thus, Peter’s speech was given to an
international audience, and it resulted in a
worldwide harvest of new believers—the
first converts to the Way.
The Birth of the Way
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What do you think about the first followers of
Jesus being known as followers of the Way?
Is there a difference between believing in a set
of ideals or following a person?
Think about it…
Do you think Christianity today has become too
much about following a set of beliefs rather than
following Jesus way of life?
The word Christian means little Christ’s or
Christ-ones.
What did the earliest believers do?

Review:
 They devoted themselves to four things:
1. The teaching of the apostles
2. To the communal life
3. The breaking of bread
4. To prayers
**In this way a movement about a different way of
living had started with Jesus and his first
followers
The Story We Find Ourselves In
1.
2.
3.
4.
What feelings did Kincaid experience in
church? Have you ever had any
experiences like that?
What was Kincaid experiencing?
What choice did Dan say that Kincaid
had to make after experiencing what he
did?
What three things does the Spirit do
inside of us?
The Beginnings…
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Jesus brought together a community of men and
women who were called out from the crowds to
be disciples.
 These disciples were the sent out as apostles
into the world on a mission of expressing Jesus’
message of God’s kingdom, and helping others
become disciples who will in turn help others.
 The movement spread from country to country,
generation to generation, all the way to us today.
It was not easy…
The history of the Way
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1.
2.
3.
Read Acts 3 and 4 and answer the
following questions:
Where did Peter and John go at 3
o’clock? Who did they meet there?
What did Peter give the man? Where did
Peter say the power to heal came from?
In ch. 4 who confronted Peter and John?
What did they warn them not to do? How
did Peter and John respond?
The Early Persecuted Christians
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Christians were persecuted for their strange
beliefs and their way of non-violence when
asked to give up their beliefs.
 Christians met secretly for hundreds of years
until an Emperor of the dying Roman Emperor
named Constantine made Christianity the official
religion of Rome (story of battle)
 Q: Many people think that the acceptance of
Christianity by the Roman Empire was a bad
thing for Christianity. Why? Do you agree? Why
or why not?
The Roman Catholic Church
 Rome
became the headquarters for the
Christian movement… Both Peter and
Paul moved there and were killed there…
 St. Peter’s Basilica was built on top of
Peter’s corpse.
 Constantine found Peter’s bones and built
a church on top of it.
 Do you think Jesus would have wanted
this?
The Vatican
Or this?
The Holy catholic
Church
What is Church?
 Means
“belonging to the Lord”
 Local: A community of Christians who
gather to worship
 Global: It is also the whole worldwide
gathering of those who have faith in Jesus
Christ
The Mystery of the Church
 Mystery
is a reality filled with God’s
invisible presence
 The Church is at the same time:
 A visible group and a spiritual community
 A group organized with a fixed order and
the mystical body of Christ
 An earthly community blessed with
heavenly riches
Metaphors of the Church
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The Church is in a marriage union with Christ
The Church is a pilgrim on a journey towards a
final destination (my icon)
The Church is a flock with Christ as the Good
Shepherd
The Church is a vineyard with Christ giving it life
and fruitfulness
The Church is like a human body

The Body of Christ
The Good Shepherd
The Church’s mission statement
Message
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Has often been abused (residential schools)
God’s love in Jesus Christ
Community
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A group of people who really love each other
Service
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Offering our lives for others
Worship
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Is realizing that God is the source of life
Leadership within the Church
Different opinions
 Leadership
structures within the catholic
(universal) Church are based primarily on
the Bible verse in Matt.16: 17-19
 After Peter said Jesus was the Christ,
Jesus said to Peter:
 … you are Peter, and on this rock I will
build my church, and the gates of hell will
not overcome it. I will give you the keys of
the kingdom of heaven…
Different interpretations:
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The Rock is:
 Peter the Apostle
(Catholic)
 Jesus, Peter is just
one of the stones
(Orthodox)
 The confession of
Peter that Jesus is
the Christ (Protestant)
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The Kingdom Keys:
 Peter is the first pope
and his successors
are Jesus’ rep’s on
earth (Catholic)
 All Christians have
authority to act as
Jesus’ rep’s equally
(Protestant)
Different responses to the Gentiles:
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Judaizers (some Jewish Christians)
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Gentile Christians
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Gentiles must become Jewish first to be eligible for
salvation
Faith in Christ as Savoir is the only requirement for
salvation
Peter and James
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Faith is the only requirement, but there must be
evidence of change by rejecting the old life-style
Catholic Perspective:
 See
handout
The Church: Who’s In and who’s
not?
 Can
non-Christians get to heaven
 Three Baptisms
 Water—official way to join the church
 Blood—if killed/persecuted for justice,
truth, Jesus
 Desire—people who haven’t heard of
Christ but who respond to the graces God
gives them and live according to their
consciences.
The Marks of the Church
 One—Diversity
within unity
 Holy—made up of holy ones or saints, us!
 Catholic—means universal
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It is open to all people of every race
Least amount of followers in its birth place
 Apostolic—means
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one who is sent
Meant to be Christ’s hands and feet to the
world
Ecumenism
 The
movement which seeks the union of
all Christian religions and eventually the
unity of all peoples throughout the world
 Very needed in today’s world with so many
diff. splits in Christianity and in all of the
world religions
 My friend Abbas
 Pere was very ecumenical
Hope…
Similarities
 Faith
in the Trinity (unlike cults)
 Acceptance of the Bible
 Prayer and grace
 Gifts of the Holy Spirit
 The sacrament of Baptism
 Commitment to God’s kingdom and desire
to live a moral life and serve others
The Story We Find Ourselves In:
Ch. 27 A Junior High Kid at Dance
1.
2.
3.
4.
What is the name of the final episode of
“The Story We Find Ourselves In”?
What experience does Kincaid relate
prayer to? How did he relate his
experience in church to a cup of coffee?
What was Kerry’s birthday wish?
Have you had a memorable prayer
experience? What happened?
The Communion of
Saints
All God’s People
The Communion of Saints:
St. Francis of Assisi
The Communion of Saints
 People
who have responded to God’s
invitation in Christ to be redeemed.
 Includes the Church on earth, in heaven,
and in purgatory.
The Communion of Saints:
3 major parts
1.
2.
3.
The pilgrim Church – those of us who are
living on earth today aka Church militant
The Church suffering – those undergoing
purification in purgatory.
The Church triumphant – those in
heaven
What is Purgatory?
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A state of purification or accountability that takes
place after death for those who need to be made
clean and holy before meeting God in heaven.
 We have moments of purgatory on earth when
we feel remorse or guilt for wrongdoings.
 God wants us to shed our guilt before entering
our new life.
 Ex. Like a caterpillar to butterfly.
Who are the Saints?
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Saint means holy or set apart
They’re both on earth and in heaven
Asking them for prayers is like asking someone
down here for prayers.
Catholics venerate or honor saints, not worship
them as worship is for God alone.
We can ask both family members and well
known saints for their prayers.
All saints are alive either in this world or the
next.
What About Mary?
 Mary
was given to be the mother of the
Church meaning all of us.
 She is our mum in heaven
 Her greatest example is her “yes” to God
during the incarnation.
 The Church has given Mary four major
titles
Mary: 4 Titles
Conception – free of original
sin so that she could house God in her
womb
 Virgin Mary – a virgin her whole life.
 Mother of God, Mother of the Church –
Mother of Jesus.
 Assumption of Mary – she didn’t die. She
is in heaven as in Rev. 12.
 Immaculate
Mary, Queen of Heaven
The Communion of Saints
 Pic
from Rapheal room