pastor || writer || speaker
This past weekend in my message, "Fools for Christ," I explored some aspects of finding identity with God through Christ. To help us grasp this, I’d like to explore a little more deeply than I could in a Sunday sermon what personal identity is and how it is formed. Why do we have a sense …
Continue reading "Finding Identity with God in a Secular Age"
Open Doors released the World Watch List 2024, an annual resource "ranking...the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution." Open Doors has been tracking religious persecution of Christians since the 1970s and their approach to the work is well-informed and reliable. Religious persecution affects many religious groups and not just Christians, but Open Doors …
In 2018, I had the privilege of publishing an article in The Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care, published by Biola University. That article, entitled "Time to Live: Christian Formation through the Christian Year," explores ways in which the rhythms of the Christian, or liturgical, year can subtly form our spiritual lives as Christians. …
Continue reading "Time to Live: Christian Formation through the Christian Year"
The Triune God, who is eternally in reciprocal, self-giving relationship, is a sending God. The Father sends the Son at the incarnation because "God so loved the world" (John 3:16). After the Son's ascension, the Father sends the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, as Peter reminds us, quoting Joel the prophet: "In the last days, God …
Continue reading "The Triune God Sends with Self-Giving Love"
This past weekend at Eastbrook, Pastor Ruth Carver preached a message entitled "Revival in the Ruins" from Nehemiah, chapter 9, as part of our series, "Rebuild and Repair: Engaging the World with Nehemiah." Ruth did a wonderful job expounding this passage, while also exploring the fascinating topic of revival. Revival has diverse definitions and understandings, …
Matthew Erickson 