Because sin is not just breaking the rules, it is putting yourself in the place of God as Savior, Lord, and Judge just as each son sought to displace the authority of the father in his own life.

What greater value could you possibly have than to be delighted in and sacrificed for by the Maker of the universe.

If your god never disagrees with you, you might just be worshipping an idealized version of yourself.

Worry is not believing God will get it right, and bitterness is believing God got it wrong.

If you have money, power, and status today, it is due to the century and place in which you were born, to your talents and capacities and health, none of which you earned. In short, all your resources are in the end the gift of God.

While the difference between a bad sermon and a good sermon is mainly the responsibility of the preacher, the difference between good preaching and great preaching lies mainly in the work of the Holy Spirit. . . . We should do the work it takes to make our communication good and leave it up to God how and how often he makes it great for the listener.

The deeper the experience of the free grace of God, the more generous we must become.