1. Today I would like to share The Legend of the Dogwood, inspired by the words of Stoney Cooper.
  2. 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.
  3. 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).
  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. We can’t predict the harvest. We can only sow.
  6. We don't make Church "happen." Only Christ can do so. It's his happening.
  7. I hate to break it to you, but "are" is not an action verb. "Are" is a being verb.
  8. Even if the numbers are bad, the news about Jesus crucified for sinners and raised to new life hasn’t become any less good.
  9. 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.
  10. To believe God is love and thus loves you is a miracle wrought by the Holy Spirit.
  11. 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.
  12. “So loved,” then isn’t about how much but instead simply how.