The very first priority. The very first thing which needs to be said about Christian ministers of all kinds is that they are 'under' people (as their servants) rather than 'over' them (as their leaders, let alone their lords). Jesus made this absolutely plain. The chief characteristic of Christian leaders, he insisted, is humility not authority, and gentleness not power. --- -From "The Message of Thessalonians" by John R.W. Stott

Today he is in Bedford, making these newly minted North American Anglicans feel special. He has accepted only three speaking engagements this year - one to the largest assembly of Muslims in America and the other to a general gathering of the Assemblies of God - two polarities one cannot imagine and to ACNA delegates in Bedford, Texas.

He makes his audience feel special.

No other Christ. We have put our trust in Christ, and we have done it through the apostles' teaching. If the apostles had not borne their unique testimony to Jesus Christ and if their unique first-hand testimony had not been recorded and preserved in the New Testament, we could never have believed in Jesus.

The eye and the ear. Both Word and sacrament bear witness to Christ. Both promise salvation in Christ. Both quicken our faith in Christ. Both enable us to feed on Christ in our hearts. The major difference between them is that the message of the one is directed to the eye, and of the other to the ear. So the sacraments need the Word to interpret them. The ministry of the Word and sacrament is a single ministry, the Word proclaiming, and the sacrament dramatizing, God's promises.