1. 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.
  2. This is an excerpt from “Finding God in the Darkness: Hopeful Reflections from the Pits of Depression, Despair, and Disappointment” by Bradley Gray (1517 Publishing, 2023).
  3. I’ve experienced firsthand the promise that God never leaves a congregation empty-handed.
  4. 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.
  5. Chains may have restricted Paul, but nothing can restrict the gospel.
  6. It was meant to be Karlstadt’s moment to shine, but all anyone remembered was Luther.
  7. As Luther said, “Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection not in books alone, but in every leaf of spring.”
  8. The Holy Spirit unleashes his power through us, his vines, and we then get to watch as his fruits blossom and ripen.
  9. Christ Jesus brings his word and presence to where you are and he is even willing to do so through the likes of your personally present pastor.
  10. The Parable of the Lost Sheep bursts through the confines of convention and demands that we embrace the messiness of life and the unpredictable ways in which God's grace and forgiveness operates.
  11. It’s not our eloquence or persuasive rhetoric that changes hearts, but the Word of God that pierces through the hardened shells of unbelief and breathes life into the dead bones of sinners.