1. The Holy Spirit isn’t so much the one you look at, as he is the one who turns you from looking at yourself and your sin to your Savior, Jesus.
  2. 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.
  3. In the sacrament, we receive an earnest of that future promise here and now in the body and blood of Jesus given and shed for us.
  4. The story of salvation is the true story of God doing his unexpected work of salvation for us.
  5. A set of Holy Week poems written and published first by Tanner Olson on his website, writtentospeak.com.
  6. Today I would like to share The Legend of the Dogwood, inspired by the words of Stoney Cooper.
  7. What we discover in O’Connor’s stories and Martin Luther’s theology is that God’s grace is elusive because the human heart is resistant to it.
  8. Reading includes, on some level, striving. Hearing, on the other hand, remains passive.
  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. The further up and further into the season of Epiphany we get, the bigger the grace of God in Christ is, the brighter the Light of Christ shines, and the more blessed we are in Jesus' epiphany for us.
  11. 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.
  12. Help comes for those who cannot help themselves. When we bottom-out and come to the end of ourselves, that is where hope springs.