As I concluded our series, "Will You Be My Neighbor?", this past weekend at Eastbrook, I took a practical look at how John 8:12 and Matthew 5:14 fit together in our faith and practice. In these two verse, a theme of light from God shining through Jesus and His people come together, yet in different …
Retelling Scripture: Pär Lagerkvist’s Barabbas
In the gospel telling of Jesus' journey to the cross, one small character catches our attention for an instant and then disappears from the rest of the biblical account. We read about him in Matthew 27:15-26: 15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they …
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Caravaggio, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas
When God Became Our Neighbor
This weekend at Eastbrook, we began a new 4-week series entitled "Will You Be My Neighbor?" This series is an extended reflection on how Jesus' call to love God and love our neighbor works its way out into the ordinary context of our neighborhoods. I began the series this weekend by looking at the call …
Peter: God’s restoration in failure
This past weekend in my message, "The Good News of New Beginnings," I didn't make my way into all the detail I had planned in the new beginning of Peter from his failure. Here are my sermon notes from that section, exploring Jesus' restoration of Peter from the failure of his denials. I hope this …
Matthew Erickson 