Elijah is another prophet, like Samuel, who towers over the Old Testament. He comes to represent the best of the prophetic calling. In the Gospels, we encounter Elijah with Moses at Jesus’ transfiguration: “there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus” (Matthew 17:3). We remember Elijah best for his faith-filled challenge with the …
Expect God to Speak (Samuel)
Samuel was a child given as a gift to a godly woman who cried out to God for mercy in her barrenness. In response to God’s grace, Samuel’s mother, Hannah, gave him back to God to serve in the house of God with the priest, Eli. Samuel grew up in the place where God was …
Listening for God
This past weekend, Kelly and I were speaking at Eastrook’s Young Singles retreat. The messages for the weekend were themed around listening to God and how we respond to what we hear by how we live. I started off the retreat on Friday night by talking about three individuals in the Bible who give us …
Apprenticed to Jesus . . . what does it mean?
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24) What does it mean to follow Jesus? What does it mean to be His disciple or apprentice? Where are the ways in which our lives are different? Where are the …
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Facedown: A Lesson in Humility
Not too long ago, I was speaking on the topic of humility. That is a challenging message for me to give because I so often find pride more evident in my life than humility. As I prepared for the message, I found that God was giving me all sorts of opportunities to be humbled in …
Matthew Erickson 