Everything begins with this foundational truth: the church is the womb of civilization. Just as a womb gives birth to new life, the church gives birth to the new creation in Christ. "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10). The church is the vessel through which divine life is born and nurtured into maturity. Christ is looking for His perfect bride, one who is prepared, pure, and without blemish. "For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready" (Revelation 19:7). Just as Adam needed Eve, the church is the bride of Christ. The two—Christ and His church—must become one for the fullness of God's incarnation on earth to be realized. "The two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church" (Ephesians 5:31-32). In this union, we also see the significance of the divine feminine. Eve, as the mother of all living, represents the matrix through which life comes into existence. "She is the mother of all living" (Genesis 3:20). Just as Eve complements Adam, so too does the church, as the bride, complement Christ. This is the perfect balance—the masculine Logos and the feminine matrix—coming together to form a complete vessel capable of holding the Spirit. Without this balance, the vessel is incomplete. Jesus, the Son of God, is the cornerstone of this new creation. "On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" (Matthew 16:18). The church is not built on ordinary ground; its foundation is supernatural. The apostles and prophets have supererogated the ground, meaning they have gone beyond in laying a foundation for the future. As Paul writes, "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:20). They have prepared the deep wells—the storage banks of spiritual wisdom and authority—so that the church can contain the fullness of God's Spirit. The encounter with the woman at the well in John 4 provides a profound image of this process. Jesus tells her, "Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:14). This moment foreshadows the outpouring of the Spirit into vessels that are deep enough to contain it. The five-fold ministry—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers—serves to deepen these wells, making the church a suitable vessel for the magnitude of the Spirit to dwell. These offices ensure that the vessel is not shallow but capable of holding the weight and power of the Spirit’s movement. Thus, the foundation has been set: Christ is the cornerstone, and the apostles and prophets are the living stones that have formed this divine structure. Now, we—the church—are the living stones that complete it. "You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house" (1 Peter 2:5). Together, we form the earthen vessel, the visible body through which the invisible Logos will incarnate. As Paul reminds us, "we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" (2 Corinthians 4:7). The vessel must be sealed and sanctified, which brings us to the Eucharist and communion. In this sacred act, we are reminded that the church is not just a gathering of people but the body of Christ, made tangible and alive. It is through communion that we participate in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, ensuring that the invisible Logos—Christ—has a living home within the earthen vessel of His church. Communion also incorporates divine justice—righteousness—which ensures that the vessel is balanced and able to hold the Spirit without leaking. As the psalmist declares, "The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever" (Psalm 37:29). The vessel must be balanced, sealed with righteousness, for if it is unbalanced, the Spirit will spill out, and the vessel will not be able to contain it. The sealing comes through righteousness, which acts as the boundary to hold the divine presence within. Pseudo-Dionysius and the teachings on the up and down dynamic explain how this incarnation occurs: the divine descends into the earthly, and the earthly is lifted into the divine. The church, as the vessel, must be prepared to hold this constant flow, this sacred exchange of divine life. In this term, we will lay the foundations of this divine vessel. You will learn how to build, deepen, and prepare yourself to become a living stone, a part of the church that Christ will incarnate into. This is where the journey begins: understanding that you are both a part of the foundation and the future of God's divine plan