Becoming One in Christ

Formation begins with relationship. Yeshua describes Himself as the Shepherd whose sheep know His voice. Prayer therefore becomes more than speaking to God. It becomes learning to listen, recognize, respond, and walk with Him.

Holy Spirit Ascension provides practices for becoming attentive to God through Scripture, prayer, thoughts, dreams, patterns, circumstances, and the movement of the Holy Spirit.

The goal is not dependence upon a program. The goal is an increasingly intimate relationship in which the Holy Spirit becomes Guide, Teacher, Comforter, and Counselor as you learn to follow the Way.

Hearing requires discernment. Thoughts, impressions, emotions, desires, dreams, and spiritual experiences must be examined rather than accepted simply because they feel meaningful.

Formation teaches you to test what you receive through Scripture, prayer, patterns, and fruit. Over time, discernment becomes part of how you walk with God in daily life.

Ephesians presents a remarkable picture of what God is building in Christ. Those who were once divided are reconciled, creating what Paul calls “one new man” and bringing both Israelite and Gentile together in one body.

“For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”
Ephesians 2:18 KJV

Holy Spirit Ascension approaches Formation within this larger vision. The journey is personal, but its purpose is not individual isolation. We are being formed as members of one Body, joined through Christ and inhabited by the same Holy Spirit.

Ephesians continues the image by describing believers as being built together into a holy temple, “an habitation of God through the Spirit.” The temple therefore becomes more than a place we enter. It becomes something God is building within and among His people.

Prayer, surrender, healing, discernment, renewing the mind, and learning to walk with the Holy Spirit all participate in this formation. As the individual is transformed, the Body is strengthened.

“In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”
Ephesians 2:22 KJV

Revelation ends with the vision of New Jerusalem, where God dwells with humanity and the separation between sacred space and ordinary life disappears. The city does not contain a temple because God and the Lamb are its temple.

Holy Spirit Ascension treats New Jerusalem as the horizon toward which Formation points: humanity reconciled to God, illuminated by His presence, joined in Christ, and living in communion with the Holy Spirit.

Formation therefore asks a larger question than, “How can I become more spiritual?” It asks, "How we become the people through whom the Kingdom of God becomes visible on earth?""

The work of Formation ultimately points beyond ourselves. Scripture describes the Body growing toward unity, maturity, and “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”

Holy Spirit Ascension is designed by, and as a resource, the Holy Spirit can use in that preparation: teaching us to recognize the Shepherd's voice, renew the mind, discern what is true, love one another, and live in communion with God.

We prepare the way for Christ not simply by waiting for His return, but by becoming a people increasingly formed in His image, united by His Holy Spirit, and ready to receive Him.