1. He declared you what you might not always feel you are, but what you were from the moment he knew you, before you were you, when he foreknew you.
  2. He shows up when we are at our worst to usher us back to his side, lead us to repentance, rescue us, and reclaim us as his own.
  3. Sometimes, we get prayer dementia. We can’t remember what we were going to pray for, we can’t put the words together, and, frustrated, there is nothing we can do but sigh and groan.
  4. A “good death” and “good life” are not accomplished through personal striving but are grasped by faith in the promises of God.
  5. This feast is the Gospel, “the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.”
  6. In this article Amy Mantravadi give a short but helpful summary of the differences in Lutheran and Reformed thought regarding assurance.
  7. Confession and absolution offer more than assurance, they gift real and genuine Divine promises.
  8. Finding rest in God when the “what ifs”come calling
  9. We know that death does not have the last word in Christ.
  10. We must also address the stigma surrounding addiction within so many churches.
  11. If Jesus did not rise, then religion is just religion — a mere anthropological phenomenon.