1. Dear hearers of the word of God, you are finished. You cannot be the same now. All that is ended, over.
  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. 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.
  4. We don't make Church "happen." Only Christ can do so. It's his happening.
  5. I hate to break it to you, but "are" is not an action verb. "Are" is a being verb.
  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. Even if the numbers are bad, the news about Jesus crucified for sinners and raised to new life hasn’t become any less good.
  8. 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.
  9. Ash Wednesday's purpose is not to motivate our resolve to redouble our efforts to do better.
  10. Even as he was dying, the heart of God poured itself out for the sake of sinners.
  11. God gives us the power and authority to proclaim the forgiveness of sins to burdened sinners who entrust us with their pain, guilt, and defeat.
  12. 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.