1. It would serve us well to embrace the beauty of our diversity within the unity of the body of Christ.
  2. We must also address the stigma surrounding addiction within so many churches.
  3. 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.
  4. God comes to us through the flesh and blood and spirit of Christ precisely where he promised to be manifest to us and for us.
  5. I’ve experienced firsthand the promise that God never leaves a congregation empty-handed.
  6. A pastor is sent to proclaim the unconditional grace of God, reminding us again and again that it is our Heavenly Father who reaches out to us in love through his Christ-won forgiveness, and not the other way around.
  7. While we wait in tribulation for our white robes (or pants) to be washed in the blood of the Lamb, we confess to one another our seen and unseen stains.
  8. The resurrection of Jesus encompasses the total and comprehensive glorification of a human being, not merely his restoration.
  9. 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.
  10. The Parable of the Lost Sheep bursts through the confines of convention and demands that we embrace the messiness of life and the unpredictable ways in which God's grace and forgiveness operates.
  11. 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.