1. This is the Christian word: grace. Such grace is found only with this Lamb who is also our Shepherd.
  2. The drama of Scripture is about God renaming us by bringing us into his image-bearing family once again. And it would take “a name above all names” to accomplish it.
  3. The story of salvation is the true story of God doing his unexpected work of salvation for us.
  4. This is the prelude of Easter. Is a dead Jesus still resting in the tomb? No!
  5. If the season of Lent is a journey, Holy Week is the destination.
  6. If we just say to God, “We don’t get it, please explain,” he will. He will send us a preacher to point us to his words for more clarification.
  7. The needs of the people remain the same, but now the people are you and me. We still sin, and that sin causes so many challenges in our lives.
  8. 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.
  9. What we discover in O’Connor’s stories and Martin Luther’s theology is that God’s grace is elusive because the human heart is resistant to it.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.