1. If Jesus did not rise, then religion is just religion — a mere anthropological phenomenon.
  2. The Holy Spirit unleashes his power through us, his vines, and we then get to watch as his fruits blossom and ripen.
  3. Everything in Scripture is God revealing himself to his people, you and me.
  4. Christ Jesus brings his word and presence to where you are and he is even willing to do so through the likes of your personally present pastor.
  5. It’s not our eloquence or persuasive rhetoric that changes hearts, but the Word of God that pierces through the hardened shells of unbelief and breathes life into the dead bones of sinners.
  6. God's faithfulness is constant and consistent. It knows no season. His love for us doesn't fade with the summer sun.
  7. What I desperately needed was not to preach to myself, but to listen to a preacher—not to take myself in hand, but to be taken in the hands of the Almighty.
  8. Luther's emphasis on the need for sinners to have preachers who can provide them with the comfort and support they need for their faith in Jesus Christ and life is as relevant today as it was in his time.
  9. Predestination, Jim knew, is no longer a frightening doctrine of mystery when you understand that God makes his choice about you in the simple word of God, given from one sinner to another.
  10. I think the problem with the idea of eternity is that we do not have any direct experience of it, but we encounter enough of its possibility to be unsettling.
  11. Who would ever want all these screamers and haters? It turns out that Christ does.
  12. The lesson of Malachi reveals God’s love for his people. When the people ask for proof of God’s love, he reminds them of their election.