I don’t know if you’ve ever had trouble with spam robocalls on your phone, like I have, but it is so annoying. I signed up for the National “do-not-call” registry, but I continue to receive these calls. I have a special spam filtering app on my phone, but I still get the calls. When I …
“Come, Follow Me” – a prayer poem
Inspired by Matthew 4:18-25 Come, follow Me—all you at work and at rest,all you burdened with responsibilityall you with no sense of direction. Come, follow Me—all you living in another's shadowand all you trying to prove something,all you who belong and all you on the outside. Come, follow Me—all you sick with diverse diseasesand all …
Led by the Spirit into the Wilderness
Ivan Kramskoi, “Christ in the Desert,” 1872 (oil on canvas) inspired by Matthew 4:1-11 Led by the Spirit into the wildernessJesus fasted from foodto the extremes of human possibility.And it was then,then, that the devil set to work. Then the devil set to workchipping away at Jesus' identity:"If you are the Son of God..."Immediately after …
What If God Is Leading Us Into the Wilderness?
This is a repost of something I wrote back in February 2021. It ties in with some of what I preached about in my message this weekend at Eastbrook. Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (Matthew 4:1) What if God is leading us into the …
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Beginning Lent with Jesus :: Ivan Kramskoi, “Christ in the Desert”
Ivan Kramskoi, "Christ in the Desert," 1872 (oil on canvas) The journey of Lent begins with attention on Jesus. We trace His pathway through incarnate life to death on the Cross. One of the first inklings we have in the Gospels that Jesus' life will bring salvation at a great cost comes in the prophetic …
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Matthew Erickson 