1. We are the fruit that grows from the branch, which extends from the trunk of the tree, which is rooted in the soil that it grows out of, which is all Christ.
  2. Regularly reading and hearing God’s Word helps us to keep a song in our hearts.
  3. What if the dissonance in this calendrical coincidence can be harmonized into a deeper melody?
  4. Christ's resurrection does not merely negate the bitterness of sin; it changes it into a source of divine sweetness, embodying the promise of a new life for us and a restored existence overshadowed by heavenly hope.
  5. My goal here isn’t to selfishly reflect on all the reasons I will miss Rod because I know that if you are reading this, you may miss this man, too.
  6. God demonstrates his great love for us in the actions of Jesus, who came down into the flesh and soaked up all our sin.
  7. God never delights in seeing his children struggle or suffer. But God does desire that we trust him no matter what the circumstances might look like.
  8. When the Savior gets on our trail, nothing, not even the grave and hell, can stop him.
  9. A “good death” and “good life” are not accomplished through personal striving but are grasped by faith in the promises of God.
  10. When we believe in Jesus as the true and better fulfillment of every promise made to Abraham, we, too, are counted as righteous in the same way that he was — by faith.
  11. Jesus will lead us through the deep waters onto the dry land of that celestial shore, where he will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
  12. The essence of what it means to be a son or daughter of Abraham, an inheritor of the Abrahamic promise, was irrevocably tethered to faith.