1. Love is pointing to Jesus who said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
  2. Rightly distinguishing between law and gospel, as Paul helps us see in 2 Corinthians 3, is, quite literally, a matter of life and death.
  3. 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.
  4. Fullness, truth, reality – all this God gives us as his gift in Christ.
  5. Repentance is meaningless unless we are willing to acknowledge who we are: sinners needing mercy.
  6. The law had to have its way with the expert to bring him around (and back) to Abraham's response.
  7. As the writer to the Hebrews affirms, what makes the Christian gospel so much better is that we are no longer dealing with “types and shadows."
  8. God resolves his wrath through the unexpected giving of his Son.
  9. Maybe, just maybe, our goal for 2023 should not be to live more but to die more.
  10. Toy Story is indeed a Christmas story.
  11. That great truth of creedal Christianity – that God is man in Christ – is not set forth for our speculative enjoyment.
  12. The good news of the Gospel is Jesus has come, and Jesus will come again.