1. The needs of the people remain the same, but now the people are you and me. We still sin, and that sin causes so many challenges in our lives.
  2. This is an excerpt from the introduction of “Common Places in Christian Theology: A Curated Collection of Essays from Lutheran Quarterly,” edited by Mark Mattes (1517 Publishing, 2023).
  3. We can’t predict the harvest. We can only sow.
  4. Nothing moves or drives Paul more than preaching about “Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).
  5. This is the message of Lent. We are not called to sacrifice for Jesus in order to earn our salvation. Rather, we are called to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.
  6. I can guarantee you that when Paul was overtaken by the Spirit and inspired to write these words, he did not have in mind your local school's boys' basketball tournament.
  7. A Christian is a man who desires to enter heaven not through his own goodness and works, but through the righteousness and works of Christ.
  8. To believe God is love and thus loves you is a miracle wrought by the Holy Spirit.
  9. His love for you is so deep that in his mercy, while you were yet a sinner, God sent his only begotten Son to die for you.
  10. “So loved,” then isn’t about how much but instead simply how.
  11. Love is pointing to Jesus who said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
  12. Even as he was dying, the heart of God poured itself out for the sake of sinners.