I can remember so many times I have been hurt by others and others have been hurt by me. This is, unfortunately, part of what it means to be human. One of the great gifts of our humanity one with another is to forgive each other. I often say when officiating weddings that two of …
Arriving One: the final destination of the church
This past weekend we concluded our series, "One: The Being of God in the Life of the Church," at Eastbrook Church. To bring this great exploration of unity to a close, I traced the movement from the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9 to the heavenly vision in Revelation 7:9-10. In one sense this is …
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A Prayer to Love and Forgive One’s Enemy
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:35-36) But I tell you, love your enemies and …
A Prayer inspired by the prophet Micah
Almighty God, You see the ruin that we as human beings so often bring upon ourselves, individually and corporately. We acknowledge that we have looked to human strength instead of your strength and to human leaders in place of your kingly rule. We long for someone to set things right and all our worry and …
Jonah [God in the Ruins]
One of the hardest tasks of the preacher is to take a well-known part of Scripture and make it fresh for people again. This past weekend at Eastbrook, I tried to do just that as I preached on Jonah in our series on the minor prophets, "God in the Ruins." Unlike all the other minor …
Matthew Erickson 