All that was planned by the Father before the world began was accomplished in time by his only Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and continues to be delivered day by day by the Holy Spirit who works through the preached word and sacraments administered in his name.
The Care of Souls xvii
There is not much here about us. The work of ministry to God’s people—his church—happens through the Trinity. And yet the human element is not absent. The word—God’s revealed truth—is preached. This does not come about by an audible yet invisible voice from on high, nor just by some inner voice in our head, but through the faithful work of pastors who rightly divide God’s word and feed his sheep. And those same hearers of the word are nourished as faithful men administer Jesus’s gift of his own flesh and blood and who faithfully lower the repentant into the water and proclaim life as they are raised up. God does the work. We are privileged to participate in the glorious transformation.
Lingering Over Leaves 