1. It's easy to have courage when things go well.
  2. Jesus continues to do the same for me and for you as he did for his disciples. He still shows up for us. He still speaks his peace to us.
  3. A “good death” and “good life” are not accomplished through personal striving but are grasped by faith in the promises of God.
  4. When the waters of anxiety and depression rise, there is One who understands.
  5. Finding rest in God when the “what ifs”come calling
  6. How can he say it? How can he say that Christ is after all the entire meaning of life for him, and that death is no real worry?
  7. In that moment of greatest despair, we find the antidote for all our fears. We know we are beloved of God and there is salvation in Christ’s atoning death.
  8. Honest confession brings us into the fatherly care of God where we are always greeted with grace, mercy, peace, love, and forgiveness in Jesus Christ.
  9. If Jesus did not rise, then religion is just religion — a mere anthropological phenomenon.
  10. Christ Jesus brings his word and presence to where you are and he is even willing to do so through the likes of your personally present pastor.
  11. What I desperately needed was not to preach to myself, but to listen to a preacher—not to take myself in hand, but to be taken in the hands of the Almighty.
  12. Luther's emphasis on the need for sinners to have preachers who can provide them with the comfort and support they need for their faith in Jesus Christ and life is as relevant today as it was in his time.