Both preachers and hearers are susceptible to a practical Sadducee-ism, which removes the proclamation and confidence of the bodily resurrection from the regular life of Christ’s Church.
The edifice which the Church is being built into has a purpose: To be a dwelling place for the Spirit of God, a place of encouragement and consolation, of revelation and knowledge, of catechesis, and worship.
Each member finds their value, worth, and identity from the same inexhaustible source: The grace-drenched water of baptism which splashes every living body just the same.
The most counter-cultural action any Christian church can take right now would be to foster healthy and constructive conversations among its members and neighbors across their variety of opinions and perspectives.
Jesus’ baptism ushers in more than only His own life of ministry, the reign of God come near. It opens the power of the baptism He received from God, the power of the Spirit with fire, to all the baptized.