Ministry of the Church (174)
  1. For Christians, Advent is the time when the Church patiently prepares for the coming of the Great King, Jesus the Christ.
  2. The epistle text from Colossians 1 declares how the great drama of redemption and human history ends.
  3. Whatever else may be said about the Last Day it consists of these two inseparable things: Christ’s coming and His kingdom people being gathered to Him.
  4. Jesus speaks His Word, and a new world order emerges, with the possibility of uniting disparate parties in the true faith.
  5. The Word and the Spirit go together. The Spirit, the breath of God, illumines and makes alive through the Word of God; both written and external, that is, preached and sacramented.
  6. Paul is talking about military-level allegiance here, the strongest kind of allegiance sworn to a king.
  7. By making a big deal of every baptism, of every confirmation, of every rite of matrimony, the Church takes a stand against the intrusion of consumerism, secularism, identity politics, subversive subcultures, gender dysphoria, and the like.
  8. This ministry of the Gospel, this standing in the stead and by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, is demanding business and is entirely unsuitable for the weak-willed or those who compromise with the zeitgeist of the day.
  9. Hymns were a means by which people were brought into direct contact with the Gospel that brought justifying faith. Set to music, they could readily memorize it, take it home with them, and rehearse its messages around the hearth and at work.
  10. St. Paul extends to us the call to arms. In particular, there is one weapon which is effective against so elusive an enemy. The weapon is prayer.
  11. The one who embodies the dove, that is, the Holy Spirit will be mounted upon the staff of Calvary.
  12. Being the baptized just may be the last, great resistance.
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