1. Nothing moves or drives Paul more than preaching about “Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).
  2. We don't make Church "happen." Only Christ can do so. It's his happening.
  3. I hate to break it to you, but "are" is not an action verb. "Are" is a being verb.
  4. 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.
  5. I can guarantee you that when Paul was overtaken by the Spirit and inspired to write these words, he did not have in mind your local school's boys' basketball tournament.
  6. Even if the numbers are bad, the news about Jesus crucified for sinners and raised to new life hasn’t become any less good.
  7. 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.
  8. To believe God is love and thus loves you is a miracle wrought by the Holy Spirit.
  9. 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.
  10. “So loved,” then isn’t about how much but instead simply how.
  11. We too are God’s baptized, beloved, blood-bought believers. And no one can ever take that away from us.
  12. Hidden beneath the sinner is a glorious saint. Jesus has declared it to be so in your baptism.