This Sunday at Eastbrook Church I continued our “Living Church” series with a message entitled “He Must Increase, I Must Decrease.” This was really a chance for me to speak about my view on pastoral ministry as a follow-up to my installation service as Senior Pastor of Eastbrook on Saturday night, September 17th. My message focused on the closing statements from John the Baptist in John 3:22-30.
You can listen to my message online at the Eastbrook web-site here. You can also subscribe to the Eastbrook podcast here or follow Eastbrook Church on Twitter.
My message outline is below.
Gift: Our Ministry is a Gift from God (John 3:27)
- John’s ministry
- Jesus’ ministry
- Our ministry
Him: Knowing Who He Is and Who We Are Not (John 3:28)
- John is not ‘the Light’ (1:8), not the Christ (1:20), not Elijah or the Prophet (1:21)
- Jesus is ‘the Light’ (1:4-5, 9), the One and Only Son (1:14, 18), the Lamb of God (1:29, 36), and the Son of Man (1:51)
- We are…
Friend: A Picture of Our Relationship to Jesus (John 3:29)
- The Bridegroom
- The Bride
- The Friend of the Bridegroom
Appropriate Proportions: He Becomes Greater – We Become Less
- He must become greater
- I must become less
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Matthew Erickson 
May your joy be “complete” as you hear his “voice” (John 3:29). We are those “calling from the wilderness” (John 1:23) with John.
Thanks, Bruce, to you and Joan for the copy of Eugene Peterson’s book, “The Pastor.” Loving it.
Possibly the Scandinavian connection? BTW, you can download an audiobook version from my Christian Audiobook account, if you consume adiobooks during exercise or commuting. Contact me directly for details. (mccallum@mcw.edu)