Through the rest of 2012, we are going to read the story of the early church, which is recorded in ‘The Acts of the Apostles’. We’ll see how, after the passing on (or rather, the going up!) of its charismatic founder, the ‘Jesus movement’ avoided the common tendencies of new religious movements. They did not find another new vision, nor did they lapse back into their old ways. Instead, we find a community continuing to discover the full meaning of what Jesus had done for them, through the living presence of the same Holy Spirit. Their lives make up an early chapter of the story that we are still living in, and the same Spirit is available to live in us and to lead us today.