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. Paul is writing as a man who has already lived a life of law-keeping while denying the resurrection.
  3. What if sin was truly removed and what if the one who took it from us had the power to conquer it’s curse and spit in the face of death?
  4. This is the prelude of Easter. Is a dead Jesus still resting in the tomb? No!
  5. Dear hearers of the word of God, you are finished. You cannot be the same now. All that is ended, over.
  6. It’s scary to share my struggle and to show that I have cracks because once I’ve shown my cards, I open myself up for judgment.
  7. I hate to break it to you, but "are" is not an action verb. "Are" is a being verb.
  8. I can guarantee you that when Paul was overtaken by the Spirit and inspired to write these words, he did not have in mind your local school's boys' basketball tournament.
  9. As disciples of Jesus, our righteousness cannot be performed before others, because our righteousness was already performed by Jesus.
  10. If you interpret James, as most do, as an encouragement toward proving your faith by your works and then say it is your "favorite" then you are proclaiming that your favorite thing about the Christian faith is the practical outworking, the proving your faith by your works.
  11. Ash Wednesday's purpose is not to motivate our resolve to redouble our efforts to do better.
  12. To believe God is love and thus loves you is a miracle wrought by the Holy Spirit.