1. Honest confession brings us into the fatherly care of God where we are always greeted with grace, mercy, peace, love, and forgiveness in Jesus Christ.
  2. While midnight might seem long, the mercy of God assures us that the morning will come.
  3. 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.
  4. This is an excerpt from part two of “Finding God in the Darkness: Hopeful Reflections from the Pits of Depression, Despair, and Disappointment” by Bradley Gray (1517 Publishing, 2023).
  5. If Jesus did not rise, then religion is just religion — a mere anthropological phenomenon.
  6. 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.
  7. The Lord’s Prayer is liturgy and catechism, action and instruction, praxis and theology.
  8. Prayer is not just about asking for things. It's about receiving what has already been given to us in Christ.
  9. God cares about our real life where we actually are. He is present in the everyday.
  10. 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.
  11. God wants his word of promise to be the only thing we bank on, the only thing we have confidence in.
  12. 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.