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. Ash Wednesday's purpose is not to motivate our resolve to redouble our efforts to do better.
  3. A Christian is a man who desires to enter heaven not through his own goodness and works, but through the righteousness and works of Christ.
  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. Rightly distinguishing between law and gospel, as Paul helps us see in 2 Corinthians 3, is, quite literally, a matter of life and death.
  6. Even as he was dying, the heart of God poured itself out for the sake of sinners.
  7. The further up and further into the season of Epiphany we get, the bigger the grace of God in Christ is, the brighter the Light of Christ shines, and the more blessed we are in Jesus' epiphany for us.
  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. Repentance is meaningless unless we are willing to acknowledge who we are: sinners needing mercy.
  10. The law had to have its way with the expert to bring him around (and back) to Abraham's response.
  11. Maybe, just maybe, our goal for 2023 should not be to live more but to die more.
  12. 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.