The fourth-century church historian, Eusebius, relates a story gathered from the lost works of Hegesippus during the second century about James "the Just," who likely wrote the epistle of James and was the earthly brother of Jesus. In the midst of outlining the persecution of the church in his Ecclesiastical History , Eusebius details the death of James …
Notes on Church Growth
These notes came from my preparation for my message on Ephesians 4, "A Crash Course in Church Growth," from a few weeks ago. Church growth is founded upon the unity we receive from God through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Church growth is something that happens to us over time and by …
Peter: God’s restoration in failure
This past weekend in my message, "The Good News of New Beginnings," I didn't make my way into all the detail I had planned in the new beginning of Peter from his failure. Here are my sermon notes from that section, exploring Jesus' restoration of Peter from the failure of his denials. I hope this …
Exemplary Lives of Renewed Pastors
In reading J. I. Packer’s A Quest for Godliness some time ago, I came across this moving quotation from Richard Baxter about the need for pastors to attend to their own lives in ministry. Baxter was an interesting figure, best known for his writing of that classic of pastoral practice, The Reformed Pastor. Just a quick …
Pastor, Know Your Context
When I was a graduate student, I took a missions class called "Contextualization" as an elective. The class was essentially intended to equip missionaries for understanding the cross-cultural context, or setting, in which they were going to do mission work so that they could share the message of Christ in culturally astute ways. We discussed …
Matthew Erickson 