1. Confessions Third Article Creed 1

2. WORSHIP LHoly God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, Chave mercy and hear us. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen 2

3. Worship - 2 C. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the ◦Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. 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 3

4. Worship - 3 LShow us your mercy, O Lord, Cand grant us your salvation. LClothe your ministers with righteousness. CLet your people sing with joy. LGive peace, O Lord, in all the world; Cfor only in you can we live in safety. LLord, keep this nation under your care, Cand guide us in the way of justice and truth. LLet your way be known upon earth; Cyour saving health among all nations. LLet not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten, Cnor the hope of the poor be taken away. LCreate in us clean hearts, O God, Cand sustain us with your Holy Spirit. LThe Lord be with you. CAnd also with you. 4

5. Worship - 4 LWe give thanks to you, heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have this day so graciously protected us. We beg you to forgive us all our sins and the wrong which we have done. By your great mercy defend us from all the perils and dangers of this night. Into your hands we commend our bodies and souls, and all that is ours. Let your holy angels have charge of us, that the wicked one have no power over us. CAmen LLet us bless the Lord. CThanks be to God. LThe + Lord bless us, defend us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life. CAmen 5

6. Experience 1 6 Draw a picture of what your faith looks like. To help you think about this, write down your answers (describe your faith) and then draw:

7. Experience 2 Is faith a noun (person, place or thing)? Or it is a verb (an action or state of being)? Is faith something you do or God does and gives to you? Is faith about relationships or possessions? 7

8. Experience 3 Pickup was going right to left. Is this the Holy Spirit? See next slide 8

9. Experience 4 9

10. Discussion & reflection: III. The Third Article: Holy Spirit I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. Q. What does this mean? A. I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, made me holy, and kept me in the true faith, just as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and makes holy the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one common, true faith. Daily in this Christian church the Holy Spirit abundantly forgives all sins—mine and those of all believers. On the last day the Holy Spirit will raise me and all the dead and will give to me and all believers in Christ eternal life. This is most certainly true. 10

11. Discussion & reflection: John 14: 25 I have told you these things while I am still with you. 26 But the Holy Spirit will come and help you, because the Father will send the Spirit to take my place. The Spirit will teach you everything and will remind you of what I said while I was with you. Basil (329-379) “I need use no argument to prove to those who are even slightly trained in Scripture, that the creature is separated from the Godhead. The creature is a slave; the Spirit is the Giver of life. The creature requires teaching. It is the Spirit that teaches. The creature is sanctified; it is the Spirit that sanctifies.” Who is your catechism teacher? What kinds of lessons does the Holy Spirit teach you? What does it mean if you don’t want to learn from the Holy Spirit? Everything true that we know about God is taught to us by the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Spirit uses parents, Sunday School teachers, Bible School teachers, friends, vicars and pastors to teach you, but the Spirit is the real teacher. Remember, then, the way that you treat your spiritual teachers is the way to treat the Holy Spirit. And the way to treat the Holy Spirit becomes the way you treat your spiritual teachers. 11

12. Discussion & reflection: Matthew 1: 18 This is how Jesus Christ was born. A young woman named Mary was engaged to Joseph from King David's family. But before they were married, she learned that she was going to have a baby by God's Holy Spirit. Chrysostom (354-407) Do not speculate beyond the text. Do not require of it something more than what it simply says. Do not ask, ‘But precisely how was it that the Spirit accomplished this in a virgin?’ For even when nature is at work, it is impossible fully to explain the manner of the formation of the person. How then, when the Spirit is accomplishing miracles, shall we be able to express their precise causes?” Do you believe in the virginal birth of our Lord? If you can’t believe that then what’s the point of believing in a god that can’t do miracles? But if you do believe in miracles, then everything in the Bible is true including the blessings for those who, by grace, love God and curses for those who, through sin, reject God. 12

13. Discussion & reflection: Students will be challenged many times on their belief in miracles by some or many of their friends, family, co- workers and teachers. The Scientific Method does not account for miracles. Nor are they logical, from a scientific viewpoint. So we need to switch hats when we think about the faith and start with the fact that the Bible is true and go from there. 13

14. Discussion & reflection: Matthew 12:And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. Rejecting the Holy Spirit is rejecting the God who loves us and sacrificed so much for us! Mark 13: 11 And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is an active and daily part of our life, wanting to help with the power of God if we are willing! 14

15. Discussion & reflection: Look at the picture to the right. Can you feel the Holy Spirit talking about you to our Father? What is the Holy Spirit saying about you? 15

16. Discussion & reflection: John 20: 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld." Spoken to the Disciples, the Spirit was given a special way for pastors to speak the word of forgiveness with holy authority, as well as the word of excommunication! What do you think the role of a pastor is? 16

17. Discussion & reflection: Isaiah 7: 9b If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.'" Augustine (354-430) “If you are not able to understand, believe, that you may understand. Faith goes before; understanding follows after…” Do you live by faith? We often talk about faith, but rarely stop and think about what it means. And when we do stop, we most often get it wrong. Here we begin with the 3 rd Article of the Creed. “I cannot come to Jesus or believe…” without the Holy Spirit. 17

18. Discussion & reflection: With this as a basic understanding, we can then say, “When the Holy Spirit gives me faith, then I can be faithful!” Do we live by faith or by the expectations of others? When the Spirit is leading us we live by faith. More often we live by our own wits and resources, as if there were no God. Trying to come to Jesus from our sinful nature, we try to understand without committing ourselves to believing. St. Augustine moves us beyond that little game and starts us where we need to start…believe! 18

19. Discussion & reflection: Philippians 3: 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Do you believe: ◦Knowing Jesus is better than knowing anything/anybody else? ◦It is better to be poor for the sake of Jesus than being rich? ◦It is better to be hated for the sake of Jesus than being well liked? ◦It is better to prepare for heaven than for the earth? 19

20. Discussion & reflection: Theodoret (393-466) “If, as he tells the Colossians, ‘In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’ (Col.2:3) then everything, whatever it is, is to be reckoned of no account, so that we may attain to the height of this wisdom and knowledge. Not only sufficient but superabundant indeed is the righteousness that comes from faith. This salvation is freely given by the grace of God through the knowledge of Christ… For to know rightly the mystery of his incarnation and passion and resurrection is the perfection of life and the treasure of wisdom.” Faith isn’t something we have to do in order to be considered good people. Faith isn’t a commodity that can be bought or worked for or bartered for or learned by osmosis. Faith is life. Faith is love. Faith is wisdom. Faith is a glimpse into heaven! Do you have faith in Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Do you have faith in the Church of Jesus Christ? 20