This past weekend at Eastbrook, as we continued our series "Becoming Real" on the Sermon on the Mount, we turned to Matthew 6:25-34. This passage speaks right into one of our most personal and constant issues as human beings: worry. I explore what worry is and what it does and doesn't do. I also spent …
Jesus’ Six Examples of Surpassing Righteousness in Matthew 5
In my message at Eastbrook this past weekend, "Real Righteousness," I utilized a chart that helped show how Jesus' teaching on "righteousness that surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law" (Matthew 5:20) is worked out in six examples. I'm including that chart here for those who asked to see it. Again, …
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Contrasting Forms of Righteousness in Matthew 5: how Jesus’ way is different from that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law
This past weekend in my message, "Real Righteousness," I focused on Jesus' striking statement in Matthew 5:20: "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." While this statement has often plagued interpreters, I believe Jesus …
What Does It Mean to Live in the Kingdom of God?
Near the end of his magnificent letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul calls early believers to live fixed on the most important things, not superficial things such as what we eat or don’t eat, what we drink or don’t drink, but true life in the kingdom. This is how Paul describes the Christian life …
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We Cannot Be Silent
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2) The church cannot be silent about the current situation. These days have especially brought into focus the reality of racial injustice and taking of African American lives made in the image of God and valuable to him, most …
Matthew Erickson 