1. Pentecost Sunday Ephesians chapter 1 verses 12-14 The Downpayment The Downpour The Downpipe or Drainpipe

2. When you believed, you were marked in [Christ] with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory. (NIV) You believed in Christ, and God put his stamp of ownership on you [put his seal on you/branded you] by giving you the Holy Spirit he had promised. The Spirit is the guarantee that we shall receive what God has promised his people, and this assures us that God will give complete freedom to those who are his. Let us praise his glory! (GNB) It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free - signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first instalment on what's coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life. (The Message)

3. A seal conveyed authenticity and ownership. The Spirit is “the seal” given to believers to verify that they belong to God. The Spirit is also a “deposit.” Greek word (arrabon) indicates a down payment that guarantees complete payment.

4. Apostle Paul says: Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6 v18-20, NLT) Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in/among you? God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. (1 Corinthians 3 v16, 17) And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. (1 Peter 2 v5)

5. 1. A church building is not a church. 2.Jesus’ visit to the Temple “My Temple/house will be called a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” If Jesus came to our temple of St Albans congregation, to observe our life, what would he discover? If Jesus came to our personal temple of the Holy Spirit, to observe our personal our lives, what would he discover?