1. This is an excerpt is from Chapter 1 of Let the Bird Fly: Life in a World Given Back to Us written by Wade Johnston (1517 Publishing, 2019).
  2. This is an excerpt from Martin Luther’s Commentary on Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians (1535), edited by Haroldo Camacho (1517 Publishing, 2018).
  3. It is of the utmost importance that pastors teach their congregation that through faith in Jesus Christ, they are fortified against the machinations of the adversary.
  4. In that moment of greatest despair, we find the antidote for all our fears. We know we are beloved of God and there is salvation in Christ’s atoning death.
  5. Honest confession brings us into the fatherly care of God where we are always greeted with grace, mercy, peace, love, and forgiveness in Jesus Christ.
  6. Prior sees much of evangelicalism’s imaginary trouble arising from the fact that it emphasizes quick and dramatic conversion experiences and a personally directed relationship with God.
  7. God comes to us through the flesh and blood and spirit of Christ precisely where he promised to be manifest to us and for us.
  8. I’ve experienced firsthand the promise that God never leaves a congregation empty-handed.
  9. A pastor is sent to proclaim the unconditional grace of God, reminding us again and again that it is our Heavenly Father who reaches out to us in love through his Christ-won forgiveness, and not the other way around.
  10. Chains may have restricted Paul, but nothing can restrict the gospel.
  11. It was meant to be Karlstadt’s moment to shine, but all anyone remembered was Luther.