1. Scent plays an important role in our memories and the story of Scripture
  2. Confession and absolution offer more than assurance, they gift real and genuine Divine promises.
  3. Charles V, for all his power, his lands, and his riches, was ultimately unable to hinder the spread of the precious Gospel.
  4. Dyson demonstrated a pious persistence with Lewis, something we can emulate in our own friendships and conversations.
  5. The issue is not the existence of so-called inner rings, but our desire and willingness to spend our lives in order to gain from an inner ring what is freely promised in Christ: hope, security, and identity.
  6. Jesus’s story in Luke 16 draws definitive attention to whom God helps — namely, God always comes close in order to help those who cannot help themselves.
  7. While midnight might seem long, the mercy of God assures us that the morning will come.
  8. In the tumultuous sea of information, opinions, and ideologies that break over us each day, we hold fast to the anchor of our faith—Jesus, the true prophet.
  9. The gospel tells me that the revelation of weakness in myself, my husband, and my son is the occasion for the revelation of God’s strength.
  10. Grace comes for every foolish, self-absorbed sinner, for every “Nabal,” and announces that there is one who has already taken it upon himself to shoulder all of our wrongdoing, paying the price for it through the sacrifice of himself.
  11. As Luther said, “Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection not in books alone, but in every leaf of spring.”
  12. The Parable of the Lost Sheep bursts through the confines of convention and demands that we embrace the messiness of life and the unpredictable ways in which God's grace and forgiveness operates.