THANK YOU! I would like to thank everyone for the cards, prayers, calls, car rides to and from my treatments and other acts of kindness shown to me the past few weeks. Whatever you may have done, know that it has meant a great deal to me.—Darrell Small p..

ABIDING IN JESUS. In John 15:5, the Lord Jesus told His disciples, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” The Lord is obviously talking about spiritual fruit. That leaves us with a question. Do we genuinely desire that our lives bring forth much spiritual fruit for the glory of God? Jesus spoke this to His disciples shortly before His death. Although He had already appeared to them after His resurrection, Jesus appears again in John 21. In this passage, the disciples knew that Jesus had conquered death and had commanded them to go and proclaim the Gospel. However, how did His disciples respond? Simon Peter, the clear leader at this point, said to six of the other disciples, “I am going fishing” to which they responded, “We are going with you also” (21:3). They responded by returning to their normal lives as if all that Jesus had taught them had fallen on deaf ears. What the Lord had said in John 15 was straightforward. We can do nothing spiritually without being spiritually connected to Him. But if we do continually, ongoingly abide in Him, then He will abide in us resulting in a great harvest of spiritual fruit. Shouldn’t that be the longing of every soul who claims Jesus as their Lord? Shouldn’t we long for God to use our lives to impact our generation spiritually to the end that they, too, know the blessing of serving the One who served us by sacrificing His very life on Calvary? It seems that the key to bearing “much fruit” is found in our abiding in Jesus by abiding in His Words or the revelation that He has given to us (15:7). Thankfully, the Lord eventually gave the disciples the necessary grace to leave their fishing for fish that they might start fishing for the souls of sinners. As a result, their lives did bear much spiritual fruit. By God’s grace, our lives can bear fruit, too, as we abide in Him.

If you were to have the opportunity to meet Jesus face-to-face here on Earth, would he be astonished by your faith? Such was the case in Matthew 8 when Jesus was approached by a Roman centurion who asked Jesus to heal his paralyzed and suffering servant. The centurion tells Jesus, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” (Matt. 8:8) In verse 10, it then says, “When Jesus heard this, he was astonished.”

The pretty young lady being wished a happy 60th birthday in last week’s Sentinel was Stockton’s Carolyn Earl. Here’s to a new decade!.

A congratulations to Nancy Becker for winning the Stockton Recreation March Madness Bracketmania Challenge! She won a cool, crisp $100 dollar bill for her bracket! And FYI: Exactly 0 people picked Baylor to win it all!

Bonita and Leo Oliva shared Easter Dinner April 4 at the home of Kathy Pabst in Logan. Family present were Dan Pabst, grandson Kyle McClurg and wife Jacqueline and children Izabella, Luci, Anni, Lewis and Clyde of Topeka; grandson Tanner Pabst and wife Katerina and children William, Charlie and Maizie of Hays; and grandson Tyson Pabst and wife Paige and children Ivan, Marshall and Della of Manhattan. Also present were Rev. Troy Buss and wife Sherri and son Ethan of Logan and Glen Buss of Stockton. Kathy’s niece Shelby Griffin and sons Ryder, Ridge, Ranger, and Rowan of Logan and her brother Monti Griffin and son Cooper of Logan attended. During the afternoon the children enjoyed an Easter egg hunt. Later the southern gale provided an opportunity for kite flying. This was the first time Bonita and Leo had gathered with all eleven great-grandkids at the same time since before the pandemic. Bonita attended Easter services at the Cedar Christian Church on her way to Logan.

The Stockton Mealsite Council met for the April monthly meeting after a dinner of liver and onions. Vice President DeVane Cunningham called the meeting to order.

The best spellers in 74 counties competed in the Sunflower State Spelling Bee, sponsored by ITC, KICA, Cox Communications and the Kansas Press Association on Friday, March 26th. This year’s Bee was 100% online using the Scripps National Spelling Bee platform.

KIDS FROM ONE YEAR IN AGE through fifth grade enjoyed a beautiful sunny Saturday at the Palco City Park for the Palco Public Library’s annual Easter Egg Hunt. The 500 eggs hidden all around the park were found and in baskets in about 15 minutes. Besides the small candies and prizes in each egg, there were six sparkly prize eggs that earned their finders an activity book, stickers, or a package of squishy pals. In addition, there was a “buy back” program for the plastic eggshells. Kids could trade their empty eggs for a foil wrapped chocolate bunny or other candy. It was great to see the children and their parents having fun together outdoors on a gorgeous Saturday in April. (Information & Photo Courtesy of Tammy Steeples)

U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. joined dozens of his Senate colleagues to introduce legislation to permanently repeal the federal estate tax, more commonly known as the death tax. The Death Tax Repeal Act of 2021, would finally end this purely punitive tax that has the potential to hit family-run farms, ranches, and businesses as the result of the owner’s death.