There are times when we falter in our pursuit of God. The wind and rain of life's pressure comes against us to put out the fire of our passion for the Lord. Jesus' parable of the seed and the soils is fitting for times like that. In that parable Jesus describes how we receive God's …
Patience and Personal Discipleship
Good things come to those who wait, I’ve been told, but, honestly, I have a really hard time with that. Let me give you three situations many of us face. Number one: music tries to calm me down as I anxiously wait behind unending lines of traffic, hoping I arrive reasonably on-time to my next …
Running the Race: Spiritual Practices for Persevering
Yesterday our staff at Eastbrook Church took a day away on retreat in order to grow with God and one another. We do this every year around this time, and our speakers, Paul and Lisa Sinclair, helped us engage with Hebrews 12:1-3. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let …
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The Contagious Generosity of God
We read about the generosity of the early Jerusalem church in Acts 4: “And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. ” (Acts 4:33-34) The result of God’s grace at work within the church was a generosity that was unparalleled by those around them. …
Walk with Jesus: The Road to Emmaus as a Picture of Whole-Life Discipleship
The story begins like this: Jesus was arrested and His followers fled. He was tried and killed by crucifixion. His body was taken from the Cross by Joseph of Arimathea, who was a wealthy, secret follower of Jesus. The disciples scattered at Jesus' arrest, but returned to one another in a gathering place in Jerusalem. …
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Matthew Erickson 