At no point does the gospel come into more violent collision with the world than in its insistence on humility as the paramount virtue.  The wisdom of the world despises humility.  Western culture has been greatly influenced, often unconsciously, by the power-philosophy of Nietzsche, who envisaged the emergence of  "a daring and ruler race."  His hero was the Ubermensch, tough , brash, masculine and overbearing, who would become a "lord of the earth."  But if the ideal of Nietzsche was the superman, the ideal of Jesus was the little child.  There is no possibility of finding a compromise between these alternative models; we are obliged to choose.

John R. W. Stott in Alive to God

Where the Spirit is poured out on the church, it sweeps the believers along as though in a great river of obedience, praise, and mighty works.  Empowered by the Spirit, the community can dare and hope great things, seeing visions, dreaming dreams, turning the world upside-down...Preeminently, the Spirit energizes the community to bear witness in word and deed to the power of the resurrection...Where the Spirit is at work, liberation is underway: good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, deliverance to the oppressed.  The purpose of God's outpouring of the Spirit is to establish a covenant community in which justice is both proclaimed and practiced. 

Richard B. Hays, The Moral Vision of the New Testament

Order of Worship, October 10 2010

Grace Presbyterian Church