1. To give us God’s name, the name that is above every name, Christ gave us the exact words to say at baptism: the name of the triune God who is three persons, one God: “I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
  2. Free-range Christ is fearful Christ because he is present, speaking, and I just crucified him.
  3. Who we are buried with matters. But there is no need to go out and find a dead prophet so you can join him six feet under.
  4. Sometimes it’s important to go far away to learn of holy places back home.
  5. You are not in debt to sin. You don’t owe it anything. There’s no reason for you to serve it.
  6. Not only does God reveal the identity of Jesus in this season through what we see and hear Jesus doing and saying, but God also reveals His gracious will through Jesus despite what we see and hear.
  7. Paul is thinking of the cross and empty tomb, but the liturgical calendar places us at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, not the end: Jesus standing waist deep in the Jordan River.
  8. Throughout the Scriptures, God puts "signs" or "seals" upon people. Often these are placed upon the forehead. How do all these connected stories take us from the mark of Cain, to the Exodus, to the cross, and finally to baptism?
  9. Without the sacraments, God’s grace is simply an artifact behind a glass-case in a museum. We might be able to describe and even admire it, but we never get firsthand access to it.
  10. Grace and mercy are a powerful act of the Almighty God. God alone can grant forgiveness and restoration, salvation from the sorrow of this world.
  11. The following several articles of Smalcald are concerned with the application of the Gospel.
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