Pastor Sullivan's Blog

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. At the beginning of Revelation, Christ appears in the midst of seven golden lampstands, holding seven stars in His hand. The seven stars are the messengers, or pastors, of the seven churches which are the seven lampstands. Christ commands St. John to write to these seven churches of Asia Minor, that is, modern Turkey, to warn them of their sins and strengthen their faith. Since Revelation communicates through numbers and pictures, we see these seven churches as a symbol of the entire church, the universal church spread across all lands and all history. That makes Christ’s words to these specific seven churches words to all churches. Christ speaks to the universal church to warn her of temptations which, if they are not overcome, will disqualify her from everlasting life. What we will see in these seven letters is that these specific church’s temptations are universal to the entire church, even to ours. By God...

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. The world is closer to Christmas than the Church is right now. The world has its Christmas trees up, its decorations hung, and its shopping going on. There’s nothing wrong with any of those things. But the world only has those things. The world’s version of Christmas, which is simply a gaudy imitation of the real Christmas, is in full swing, racing toward the 25 th for the giving and receiving of gifts. Once the Thanksgiving turkey is put away, the world starts in on its version of Christmas immediately. Not so the church. The tree may be up but we are not yet celebrating the nativity of our Lord in the flesh. First comes Advent and Advent is its own animal. While the world is in the midst of its Christmas season already, Advent calls Christians to prepare their hearts for Christ’s second coming, for that’s what ‘advent’ means, “coming” or “arrival.” How do we prepare our hearts for Christ’s Second Advent? B...