1. This is an excerpt from part two of “On Any Given Sunday: The Story of Christ in the Divine Service” by Mike Berg (1517 Publishing, 2023).
  2. This is an excerpt from the prologue of “On Any Given Sunday: The Story of Christ in the Divine Service” by Mike Berg (1517 Publishing, 2023).
  3. We don't make Church "happen." Only Christ can do so. It's his happening.
  4. Unprompted, without any warning, for no reason at all, without any instigation say, "I love you." And that will wash over your parents like a beautiful absolution.
  5. Even if the numbers are bad, the news about Jesus crucified for sinners and raised to new life hasn’t become any less good.
  6. There is a revival, no less real and even more definitive, taking place in every church, every weekend, where God’s people gather around his gifts.
  7. We assert, we herald, the truth about God becoming King of the world in and through Jesus of Nazareth alone. It is our public announcement.
  8. The sign of the cross, according to the earliest centuries of Christians, is “the sign of the Lord,” and every baptized Christian was “marked” with it.
  9. Despite our best efforts to avoid him, King Jesus remains very much unavoidable.
  10. A.I. can’t make the proclamatory move that delivers God’s word in a way that is specifically for me.
  11. Rejoice with Mary as she would rejoice with you. Be blessed, like her, with humility from God, so that you may serve joyfully and willingly wherever and in whatever role God has placed you.
  12. The more awareness we have that we are weak and low and frail and incapable of doing this thing called life, the more perfectly we are positioned to meet the God of grace.