This past weekend at Eastbrook Church we commemorated the 500th anniversary of the Reformation with a weekend focused on two major Reformation themes: "Faith and Grace." The first part of the message focused on historical background and context of the Reformation. I eventually took us into an exploration of three Scripture passages central to Reformation thinking on faith …
The Immigrant Apostles’ Creed
A friend shared this creative rewriting of the Apostles' Creed from an immigrant perspective with me this week. Apparently it was originally written by Rev. Jose Luis Casal, the Director of Presbyterian World Mission and an immigrant to the USA from Cuba. It is thought-provoking. I believe in Almighty God, who guided the people in exile …
Leviticus for Today
This past weekend at Eastbrook, my message was essentially a theological interpretation of the book of Leviticus for Christians today. I found a number of resources helpful in this, but particularly enjoyed the insights of Gordon Wenham in his masterful commentary on Leviticus. In a section of his introduction to the book entitled "Leviticus and …
Next Steps on Displaced People
In response to our MissionsFest and preaching on displaced people both by me and Jenny Yang of World Relief, our mission team offered a list of next steps as our response to displaced people and the needs of the world. I've slightly edited it for online readership. SHOW HOSPITALITY. Thanksgiving is coming! Invite a refugee …
God of the Displaced Ones. part 2
This past weekend, I concluded both Eastbrook's Missions Fest as well as our series "God in Blank Spaces." Building off of Jenny Yang's message on the global situation of displaced people the previous weekend, I continued the theme of God's mission amongst the displaced people of the world. My approach to this topic, however, was …
Matthew Erickson 