1. The drama of Scripture is about God renaming us by bringing us into his image-bearing family once again. And it would take “a name above all names” to accomplish it.
  2. This is the prelude of Easter. Is a dead Jesus still resting in the tomb? No!
  3. Unprompted, without any warning, for no reason at all, without any instigation say, "I love you." And that will wash over your parents like a beautiful absolution.
  4. His love for you is so deep that in his mercy, while you were yet a sinner, God sent his only begotten Son to die for you.
  5. Predestination, Jim knew, is no longer a frightening doctrine of mystery when you understand that God makes his choice about you in the simple word of God, given from one sinner to another.
  6. Rightly distinguishing between law and gospel, as Paul helps us see in 2 Corinthians 3, is, quite literally, a matter of life and death.
  7. I think the problem with the idea of eternity is that we do not have any direct experience of it, but we encounter enough of its possibility to be unsettling.
  8. God gives us the power and authority to proclaim the forgiveness of sins to burdened sinners who entrust us with their pain, guilt, and defeat.
  9. The law had to have its way with the expert to bring him around (and back) to Abraham's response.
  10. Maybe, just maybe, our goal for 2023 should not be to live more but to die more.
  11. The lesson of Malachi reveals God’s love for his people. When the people ask for proof of God’s love, he reminds them of their election.
  12. Help comes for those who cannot help themselves. When we bottom-out and come to the end of ourselves, that is where hope springs.