In the midst of our pursuit of God, we can sometimes focus so much on the seriousness of discipleship that we miss out on the joy of our life with God. Of course, there are good reasons for that. First of all, Jesus called us to take up our cross, deny ourselves and follow Him. …
Christian Persecution in Iraq
NBC World News had a recent feature on the impact of the Iraq war and subsequent instability on the Christian community in Iraq ("'People turned on Christians': Persecuted Iraqi minority reflects on life after Saddam"). This reminded me of a time about two and a half years ago when I was at a gathering in the …
||40days|| week six: live thankful
Every year in the US, we mark out a day to celebrate what we have been given. Thanksgiving Day, in my opinion, is actually one of the most culturally amazing moments where we take time out from work and normal routines to simply celebrate and enjoy God's goodness. Of course, like all things, Thanksgiving can …
||40days|| week six: live
The||40days|| journey of Lent has taken us along the road of acknowledging difficult things in our lives, turning from them, listening to God's voice, and then following Jesus, our Leader. This week, we continue the journey with a focus around the theme: 'live.' At times, it might be easy to mistake the journey of these …
Facing Trials
I continued our series, "Journey to the Cross," this weekend at Eastbrook Church as we looked at Jesus' trials before the Jewish and Roman authorities in Mark 14:53-65 and 15:1-15. My message was entitled "Facing Trials." My main focus centered around this idea: when Jesus was facing His trials, there was more than meets the eye …
Matthew Erickson 