pastor || writer || speaker
"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." (Ephesians 4:1) In Ephesians 4:1, Paul urges the Ephesians—and us, through them—to live a life worthy of the calling we have received. The unity of the church in divided times is, as always, first …
Continue reading "Putting on Christ’s Character in Divided Days"
"In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." (James 2:17) We are in a series at Eastbrook Church exploring "Authentic Faith" from the New Testament book of James. One of James' central themes is that faith must be active, or lived out, and without that active aspect, …
Continue reading "Faith and Works?: Why We Cannot Have One Without the Other"
The psalms are the prayerbook of the Bible, prayer-songs that were often used within the corporate and private worship of the people of Israel. They are also one of our strongest biblical resources for shaping our life of worship today within the Christian church. The entire psalter concludes with a summary psalm of worship, Psalm 150, …
Continue reading "Comprehensive Praise: some reflections on worship from Psalm 150"
Giotto, The Ascension of Christ, fresco; 1305. Almighty God and Father,thank You for Your everlasting love revealed in Jesus Christ,who did not consider equality with Yousomething to be used to His own advantage,but emptied Himself and took on the natureof a servant and became humanfor us and for our salvation. Thank You that in Your infinite …
These are my notes from a talk I delivered this past Monday night at our quarterly Leadership Community gathering at Eastbrook Church. We have spent a good deal of energy around the idea of growing in discipleship at Eastbrook, and I wanted to explore how that connects with one of our other vision objectives related …
Matthew Erickson 