1. This sermon was originally given at Luther Seminary chapel on May 20, 1986.
  2. 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).
  3. Even as he was dying, the heart of God poured itself out for the sake of sinners.
  4. The gospel's message is the scandalous announcement that Yahweh has stooped to our frame, to where we are.
  5. 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.
  6. Fullness, truth, reality – all this God gives us as his gift in Christ.
  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. Maybe, just maybe, our goal for 2023 should not be to live more but to die more.
  9. To trust in the Lord, the Messiah, the Deliverer, is our salvation and our only hope. Yet he does not trust us to have this “trust” on our own or of our own will.
  10. Who would ever want all these screamers and haters? It turns out that Christ does.
  11. God is not calling us to “grow up.” He is calling us to dependence.
  12. For with God we look not for the order of nature, but rest our faith in the power of him who works.