1. This feast is the Gospel, “the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.”
  2. In this article Amy Mantravadi give a short but helpful summary of the differences in Lutheran and Reformed thought regarding assurance.
  3. Confession and absolution offer more than assurance, they gift real and genuine Divine promises.
  4. How can he say it? How can he say that Christ is after all the entire meaning of life for him, and that death is no real worry?
  5. God knows that when we face insurmountable odds in our moments of weakness, we are more likely to turn to him in trust and reliance.
  6. Even at Lewis’ graveside, Havard was a faithful friend, and a friend full of faith in Christ, confessing his hope in the resurrection.
  7. We know that death does not have the last word in Christ.
  8. We have to “remember” that God remembers us. He has not fallen away. For God to remember us means he is working for our good; a restoration.
  9. Faith sees your neighbor not as a means to an end, not as a way to score points, but as an object of love: Christ's love and yours.
  10. What if Jesus had said on the cross, “Earn it”?
  11. 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.
  12. It is of the utmost importance that pastors teach their congregation that through faith in Jesus Christ, they are fortified against the machinations of the adversary.