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 the prelude of Easter. Is a dead Jesus still resting in the tomb? No!
  3. If we just say to God, “We don’t get it, please explain,” he will. He will send us a preacher to point us to his words for more clarification.
  4. 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.
  5. It’s scary to share my struggle and to show that I have cracks because once I’ve shown my cards, I open myself up for judgment.
  6. We can’t predict the harvest. We can only sow.
  7. 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.
  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. Rightly distinguishing between law and gospel, as Paul helps us see in 2 Corinthians 3, is, quite literally, a matter of life and death.