pastor || writer || speaker
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, a Cistercian monk in 12th century France, rose from relative obscurity to wide-ranging influence, shaping many aspects of church life during his time. Born within a family of the lower nobility, Bernard forsook all of that to enter a small monastic community in Cîteaux. Influential even at this stage of his …
Continue reading "Learning God’s Love with St. Bernard of Clairvaux"
As I continue my journey of re-learning and recovering what it means to be a pastor, I am blogging my way through Eugene Peterson's Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work. In this book, Peterson seeks to recover a sense of pastoral practice and integrity based on the Megilloth, the five scrolls connected with five key …
My wife, Kelly, and I concluded the "Holy Sexuality" series this past weekend at Eastbrook Church by talking about sexuality and marriage. I was so glad to have Kelly join me for preparation and delivery of the message. She is such a gifted pastor and woman of God, and working together on this made the message so …
Whether using provocative sexuality to advertise products or acclaiming sex as the pinnacle of human experience, there is no doubt that our culture is sexually charged. Unfortunately, Christians often react to this aspect of culture in two less than helpful ways. The first is to lambast the glorification of sexuality as evil, at times avoiding …
This past Sunday, October 18th, Kelly and I spoke together at Brooklife Church in the third week of our series on marriage entitled "Happily Ever After?" Our message was entitled "In the Bedroom" and, as you might expect, we were talking about sex and sexuality. Our message addressed the goodness of sexuality, the need for …
Matthew Erickson 