When Jesus proclaims that “the kingdom of God has come near” (Mark 1:15), He draws upon a powerful idea that pervades the Hebrew Scriptures and history. There was an expectation in the Hebrew Scriptures that God’s kingdom would catastrophically break into the world. The Scriptures described a figure—the Messiah or Son of Man—who would inaugurate …
Jesus on Divorce and Marriage
This past weekend at Eastbrook, we continued our preaching series entitled "Jesus Said What?!" by turning to another tough topic: divorce and marriage. But is that really the only point of these passages? We look at two important passages on these topics in Matthew 19:1-12 and Matthew 22:23-33. This message is from the eighth part …
Mixed-Up Priorities
This past weekend at Eastbrook, as we continued our preaching series, "Who Do You Say I Am?", Fred Pierce preached on an interesting passage from Matthew 16:1-12. This begins with the religious leaders' request for a sign from Jesus and then veers into a discussion with the disciples about their missing the point of what …
Jesus and Four Competing Approaches to God’s Kingdom
When Jesus proclaimed that “the kingdom of God has come near” (Mark 1:15) He drew upon a powerful idea that pervades the Hebrew Scriptures. The prophets, particularly Isaiah and Daniel, spoke of God’s kingdom catastrophically breaking into the world. They described a figure – the Messiah or Son of Man – who would inaugurate God’s …
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Matthew Erickson 