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As I continued our series "Ephesians: A Crash Course in Basic Christianity," last weekend we turned to Ephesians 4:17-5:20 for the following message: "A Crash Course in Christlike Living." I structured the message around four comparisons that Paul brings to the Ephesians believers around: living holy, living love, living light, and living wisely. Underlying it …
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This past weekend, in my message "A Crash Course in Christlike Living," I explored Ephesians 4:17-5:20. One part of my message that I had to drop because of time was a discussion of how spiritual growth toward Christlike living occurs. Many times, when we want to become more like Christ, we simply read the Bible …
This past weekend at Eastbrook Church, I continued our series "Ephesians: A Crash Course in Basic Christianity," by looking at Ephesians 4:1-16 with the message: "A Crash Course in Church Growth." The message aims to recalibrate our understanding of what church growth is all about by focusing on the direction of growth outlined by the …
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This from Andrew T. Lincoln in his commentary on Ephesians, which is part of the Word Biblical Commentary series: So Christ's giving of gifts to the Church is to enable the Church to move toward its goals, and that movement is seen in terms of believers' growth toward Christ. In Paul's letters, believers' faith can …
While preparing for a retreat with Eastbrook Church's student ministry, I came across this excerpt from Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard that hit home to me. Given some of my recent reflections on the nature of pastoral leadership in North America (see "Five Themes of Resilient Ministry" and "Five Steps for Overcoming the Dark …
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Matthew Erickson 