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If blessing means "to speak good words over something or someone," what a powerful message of blessing comes to us from Paul's words in Ephesians 1:3-14. He tells us that God "has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ" (1:3). Every spiritual blessing. Just that one word sets the tone of …
Continue reading "Re-speaking God’s Good Words to Ourselves and Others"
This past weekend at Eastbrook, I concluded our series on 1 Thessalonians entitled "Hope Rising: 1 Thessalonians for Today." This fifth and final week of the series I preached from 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 on joining the melody of God's hope in Jesus Christ with the variations of living response. You can find the message outline …
Here is John Calvin reflecting on Ephesians 1:3, which says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." This is part of the text I preached from this past weekend in my message, "A People Called by God." The …
Continue reading "Blessed with Every Spiritual Blessing: John Calvin on Ephesians 1:3"
While the first three verses of Psalm 1 provide us with a description of God's blessing, the last three verses offer an alternative vision that is distressing. 4 Not so the wicked!They are like chaffthat the wind blows away.5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.6 …
Continue reading "When Blessing Atrophies [Psalm 1, part 5]"
Now look with me at Psalm 1, verse 3, we encounter the results of growth toward the full blessing of God. When our choose to walk into the way of God’s blessing, when we take steps with our environment for growth – our relationships and choices, and when we take in the essential food for …
Continue reading "The Full Blessing of God [Psalm 1, part 4]"
Matthew Erickson 