1. This is the prelude of Easter. Is a dead Jesus still resting in the tomb? No!
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Ash Wednesday's purpose is not to motivate our resolve to redouble our efforts to do better.
  5. 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.
  6. Forty days after giving birth, Mary, along with her husband Joseph, presented their firstborn Son at the temple and "bought" him back with a sacrifice of two small birds. This is known as the "Presentation of Our Lord."
  7. Rightly distinguishing between law and gospel, as Paul helps us see in 2 Corinthians 3, is, quite literally, a matter of life and death.
  8. Even as he was dying, the heart of God poured itself out for the sake of sinners.
  9. 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.
  10. The sign of the cross, according to the earliest centuries of Christians, is “the sign of the Lord,” and every baptized Christian was “marked” with it.
  11. Repentance is meaningless unless we are willing to acknowledge who we are: sinners needing mercy.
  12. The law had to have its way with the expert to bring him around (and back) to Abraham's response.