This past weekend at Eastbrook, we continues our preaching series entitled "Scandalous Jesus," that parallels our journey of Lent. This week, I turned our attention to three episodes within Jesus' time in and aroundJerusalem. The first is Jesus' overturning of tables in the Temple, a sort of enacted parable about purification and rededication of the …
Begin with Brokenness: An Ash Wednesday Sermon
Last week at Eastbrook's "Journey to the Cross" service, I shared this message for Ash Wednesday rooted in Joel 2:12-17. Sometimes what’s broken can become more beautiful and stronger than before. In the Japanese artform kintsugi broken pieces of pottery are taken by an artist and repaired by mending the imperfections with a lacquer infused with powdered …
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Unlikely King
This past weekend at Eastbrook, we began a new preaching series entitled "Scandalous Jesus," that parallels our journey of Lent. This week, I turned our attention to two episodes that set up the entire series and Jesus' time in Jerusalem. The first was Jesus' third prediction of His coming suffering in Jerusalem (Matthew 20:17-19) and …
Jesus on Taxes, Wealth, and God’s Generous Kingdom
This past weekend at Eastbrook, we concluded our preaching series entitled "Jesus Said What?!" by turning to another important topic: wealth. I led us through an exploration of four passages on this topic: Matthew 17:24-27; 19:16-30; 20:1-16; 22:15-22. In the end, I called us to live open-handed before God through a series of prayers included …
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Finding Our Way Back with Christ: Four pathways for preaching Lent
I recently wrote an article for Preaching Today on approaches to preaching during Lent. I explore the following ways to preach Lent: A Call to RepentanceFacing into the Darkness of Human ExperienceJourney through the Longings of the Human HeartFollow the Journey of Jesus This is a parallel article to my "Recovering the Wonder of Christmas: …
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Matthew Erickson 