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I came across this the other night as I was reading through John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. This overflowing reflection on Christ's person and work caps off Calvin's theological reflections on The Apostles' Creed. We see that our whole salvation and all its parts are comprehended in Christ [Acts 4:12]. We should therefore take …
Continue reading "Christ Alone: John Calvin on drinking our fill from the fountain of Christ"
One of my favorite books of the Bible is the Psalms. Through the Psalms I have learned how to pray. One of my other favorites is the Gospel of John. John's telling of Jesus' story has helped me connect my spiritual longings with the revelation of God in Jesus Christ so powerfully. Right after the …
Continue reading "A Crash Course in the Gospel (Ephesians 2:1-10)"
This past weekend at Eastbrook Church, I continued our new series walking through the New Testament book of Ephesians, entitled "Ephesians: A Crash Course in Basic Christianity." This weekend, I continued with the second half of chapter 1, which offers us a "Crash Course in Knowing Christ." This is really a prayer of Paul that …
Continue reading "A Crash Course in Knowing Christ (Ephesians 1:15-23)"
This past weekend, I preached a message on Jesus as the Son of Man at Eastbrook Church. This was part of our series, "Name Above All Names," on the titles of Christ. Once again, I want to recommend that you view this roughly video from The Bible Project which condenses a tremendous amount of theology …
Continue reading "The Son of Man: a video from The Bible Project"
While preparing for a retreat with Eastbrook Church's student ministry, I came across this excerpt from Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard that hit home to me. Given some of my recent reflections on the nature of pastoral leadership in North America (see "Five Themes of Resilient Ministry" and "Five Steps for Overcoming the Dark …
Continue reading "Transformation into Christlikeness is Possible: Dallas Willard"
Matthew Erickson 