1. If Jesus did not rise, then religion is just religion — a mere anthropological phenomenon.
  2. 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.
  3. The Lord’s Prayer is liturgy and catechism, action and instruction, praxis and theology.
  4. Prayer is not just about asking for things. It's about receiving what has already been given to us in Christ.
  5. God cares about our real life where we actually are. He is present in the everyday.
  6. When we forget that we live by promise, that's when the danger tends to creep in. Because failing to embrace promise means we usually fall back into notions of luck, or even worse--into works.
  7. 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.
  8. The Lord knew how it felt to be a rejected stone.
  9. Jesus cries on the cross for us. He suffers and cries and dies in our place. He is forsaken by his father so we don’t have to be.
  10. As I look back, I choose to remember her as a soul redeemed by Christ.
  11. The testimony of every son and daughter of God is, God has brought us through.
  12. What is undoubtedly true, however, is that St. Peter wasn’t left outside. He wasn’t left weeping. He was restored, as am I, as are you.