This past weekend in my message, "Real Righteousness," I focused on Jesus' striking statement in Matthew 5:20: "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." While this statement has often plagued interpreters, I believe Jesus …
Real Righteousness: the old and the new
This past weekend at Eastbrook, we continued our series "Becoming Real" on the Sermon on the Mount by looking at a very long portion of Scripture in Matthew 5:17-48. This long passage of teaching by Jesus looks at what it means to truly be righteous before God and in relation to others. Jesus has not …
A Prayer of Daily Dedication
"Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, 'children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.' Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. (Philippians 2:14-16a) Lord, take my life and shape me around …
Gerard Manley Hopkins, “I Wake and Feel the Fell of Dark, Not Day” [Poetry for Lent]
Every Thursday during Lent, I post a poem that I find helpful for deeper engagement with Jesus' journey to the Cross and the significance of Lent. Here is Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem "I Wake and Feel the Fell of Dark, Not Day." Gerard Manley Hopkins was a Jesuit priest of the Victorian era whose poetry …
7 Ways to Lose Our Saltiness as Disciples
This past weekend I continued our series on the Sermon on the Mount by exploring our "Real Identity" as the salt of the earth and the light of the world from Matthew 5:13-16. In verse 13, Jesus says, "But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no …
Continue reading "7 Ways to Lose Our Saltiness as Disciples"
Matthew Erickson 