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. The hardest thing you and I will ever be called to do is to believe that it is done already, that it really and truly is finished.
  3. I hate to break it to you, but "are" is not an action verb. "Are" is a being verb.
  4. As disciples of Jesus, our righteousness cannot be performed before others, because our righteousness was already performed by Jesus.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. To believe God is love and thus loves you is a miracle wrought by the Holy Spirit.
  8. 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.
  9. “So loved,” then isn’t about how much but instead simply how.
  10. Zephaniah has given us something more visceral to help us understand the love of God: the sound of salvation.
  11. This week we will take a closer look at God's love in Scripture.
  12. This sermon was originally given at Luther Seminary chapel on May 20, 1986.