“And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
This was the passage, according to the New York Times, that was being studied at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church when the racially motivated terror attack occurred.
I don’t have anything to say. I’m struggling with tomorrow’s sermon (which is Mark 4:35-41 – Jesus calming the storm). But I wanted to write down the passage they were studying. I want to make sure I remember.