1. Paul thinks the consequences of Christ not being raised are worse for those who believe than those who never did if it were to be true Christ was not raised.
  2. If it’s all a fiction spun by disappointed disciples, if it’s a mere symbol for the idea of an inner awakening, if it’s not a fact that Christ has been raised, then our grief and loss have no end, and we have no hope.
  3. This is the message of Lent. We are not called to sacrifice for Jesus in order to earn our salvation. Rather, we are called to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.
  4. Jesus not only healed her daughter, but he also gave himself to her. Wherever she went from then on, he was with her.
  5. In Memory of My Friend, James Arne Nestingen
  6. We will not become hopeless because the Lord is with us.
  7. While the world is full of horizons and endpoints, for Christians, there is always tomorrow, and there are people in that tomorrow waiting for us as we wait for them.
  8. We ache in eager anticipation as we see Christ in action and as we take in the snapshots of his life, death, and resurrection.
  9. Help comes for those who cannot help themselves. When we bottom-out and come to the end of ourselves, that is where hope springs.
  10. That is the task of preaching in these last weeks of the Church Year, to enable the people given to our care, to praise God from the perspective of the end when our Lord will return in glory bringing us into His Kingdom of glory.
  11. Our God is a living God and he listens to our cries for help.
  12. Through water, blood, and word, the Spirit never stops pointing us to Christ, and even more, giving us Christ.