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"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"
Outside of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ resurrection, there is really no better passage of Scripture on the resurrection than Paul’s writing in 1 Corinthians 15. There, in a church that was grappling with the meaning of the resurrection, Paul begins by setting the stage for the believers with the historical resurrection of Jesus: 3 For …
Last week while I was at Fort Wilderness speaking at one of their weeklong family camps, I also had the opportunity to share a devotional with their summer staff. Their theme for the summer is "After the Fire," and is drawn from 1 Kings 19, where Elijah meets with God. It is after the wind, …
Continue reading "Ministry in Community: a devotional for summer staff at Fort Wilderness"
Photo by Rahul Pandit on Pexels.com The past few weekends at Eastbrook, our series from 1 Corinthians, "God's Grace for an Imperfect Church," has taken us into some very challenging words from this letter of the Apostle Paul. The first two verses of chapter quickly give us a sense of that challenge: It is actually …
Continue reading "Why Is Sexuality Such a Big Deal in the Bible?: a brief reflection"
This coming Sunday at Eastbrook Church we begin a new preaching series entitled “God’s Grace for an Imperfect Church: 1 Corinthians.” This series is an exploration of the Apostle Paul’s letter that we know as 1 Corinthians. Ranging through a wild ride of various challenges, this epistle brings the gospel into connection with topics which …
Matthew Erickson 