1. 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.
  2. Even if the numbers are bad, the news about Jesus crucified for sinners and raised to new life hasn’t become any less good.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Repentance is meaningless unless we are willing to acknowledge who we are: sinners needing mercy.
  6. A.I. can’t make the proclamatory move that delivers God’s word in a way that is specifically for me.
  7. The more awareness we have that we are weak and low and frail and incapable of doing this thing called life, the more perfectly we are positioned to meet the God of grace.
  8. All our sin and shame is answered for in the death and resurrection of our Lord.
  9. A theologian is a passive receiver of God’s active revelation about Jesus Christ, his words, works, and ways.
  10. You are the friend in low places. It’s only from this place that you are free to look outside yourself for the remedy to the issues that plague you and humanity.
  11. In the Reformation, as in the tabernacle, God gave skill, artistry, and craftsmanship to put his Word in images so that through art, his Word would be revealed.