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 don't make Church "happen." Only Christ can do so. It's his happening.
  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. Even if the numbers are bad, the news about Jesus crucified for sinners and raised to new life hasn’t become any less good.
  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. Rightly distinguishing between law and gospel, as Paul helps us see in 2 Corinthians 3, is, quite literally, a matter of life and death.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  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. Despite our best efforts to avoid him, King Jesus remains very much unavoidable.