1. This is the message of Lent. We are not called to sacrifice for Jesus in order to earn our salvation. Rather, we are called to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Rightly distinguishing between law and gospel, as Paul helps us see in 2 Corinthians 3, is, quite literally, a matter of life and death.
  5. 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.
  6. The law had to have its way with the expert to bring him around (and back) to Abraham's response.
  7. God resolves his wrath through the unexpected giving of his Son.
  8. Maybe, just maybe, our goal for 2023 should not be to live more but to die more.
  9. Toy Story is indeed a Christmas story.
  10. That great truth of creedal Christianity – that God is man in Christ – is not set forth for our speculative enjoyment.
  11. The good news of the Gospel is Jesus has come, and Jesus will come again.
  12. It makes perfect sense that the day honoring Jesus' birth would be observed in a decidedly less than refined manner.