Posts by Eastbrook Church (Page 7)

Read Hebrews 6:16-20 I hope it rains tomorrow. I hope I get an A on my test. I hope I don’t gain weight over the holidays. I hope I get a good job with great pay. I hope someone gives me 10 million dollars. Hope. I used to think hope was just wishful thinking—nothing special or helpful or particularly spiritual. Until I lost all hope. In February of 2013, while I was going through a bad bout of SAD (Seasonal…

Read 1 Timothy 1:1, 15-17 “But for that very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience…” (1 Timothy 1:16) In today’s text, the apostle Paul clearly states his identity: “I am the worst (of sinners)” (v. 15). Paul knew the life he had lived prior to his conversion; he knew the gravity of his sins. He knew his identity: a sinner in need of God’s patient mercy…

Read ROmans 15:12-13 What is hope? When I look at the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, these definitions stand out:  hope (noun): a desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment; someone or something on which hopes are centered; something desired or hoped for. In our passage today, Paul speaks a blessing from “the God of hope.”  We serve a God that brings hope, who is hope. If we need a reminder of why Jesus is our hope, we can take a…

Read Acts 16 The season of Advent is a season of anticipation. Entering the story of Israel in the Scriptures, we anticipate the appearing of the Messiah. Entering into the story of the Jesus-following community in Acts and our present moment, we celebrate the Messiah’s appearing in Jesus of Nazareth but also anticipate the future appearing of Jesus to mark the end of the age.  As we might expect, this season of anticipation begins with hope. Hope is what we…

There is something about being caught up in something bigger than yourself. Whether it is wildly cheering on your favorite sports team or dancing with wild abandon alongside family and friends at a wedding celebration or barreling down whitewater rapids in a raft with others.  This fall we have been journeying through the book of Acts, the New Testament account of the early church caught up in the powerful move of the Holy Spirit into the ever-expanding mission of God.…