1. 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.
  2. We can’t predict the harvest. We can only sow.
  3. Nothing moves or drives Paul more than preaching about “Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).
  4. We don't make Church "happen." Only Christ can do so. It's his happening.
  5. There is a revival, no less real and even more definitive, taking place in every church, every weekend, where God’s people gather around his gifts.
  6. Reading includes, on some level, striving. Hearing, on the other hand, remains passive.
  7. Zephaniah has given us something more visceral to help us understand the love of God: the sound of salvation.
  8. This sermon was originally given at Luther Seminary chapel on May 20, 1986.
  9. 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.
  10. Christ our Word, as with a two-edged sword, burst the devil's belly.
  11. 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.
  12. The answer to our messages is God's "yes," Jesus, who sends his preachers to proclaim that there's no place for us now other than in the grip of our God and Savior.