Eastbrook Church

Habakkuk lifts his voice to God in lament again but this time calls God’s attention to the unending pain that His people are suffering at the hand of their oppressors. How do we respond to God when it seems that our suffering is larger than we ever thought possible? What do we do?

God’s first response to Habakkuk is surprising at numerous levels. God will respond to Habakkuk’s call for punishment of wicked but it will come in a surprising way. The punishment of wickedness will come at the hands of an even-more wicked people. The oft-quoted phrase here, “I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told” (Habakkuk 1:5), is actually a m...

The first of Habakkuk’s two laments begins with the prophet’s agonizing question about how long God will let violence and wickedness continue unpunished. What do we do when wrong seems to carry forward in the face of a righteous God? What does it look like to cry out to God in these times?

From the crucifixion of Good Friday to the resurrection of Easter morning, God invites us on a journey from brokenness to wholeness; from emptiness to completion.

John’s account of Jesus’ final hours is crowned with prayer. The prayer is perhaps one of the most beautiful views into Jesus’ interior life with the Father and is even more powerful in light of the pending suffering to come. Jesus asks His Father that glory would stream from His suffering path to the Cross, through His disciples, and through His future followers in ages to come.

Jesus’ trials threaten to overcome Him, but they actually become a way of life and victory as Jesus overcomes death and sin. Jesus tells His followers that they will suffer like He suffered, but that He will turn their grief to joy and fill their trials with peace. What does it all mean? What are we to do with these particularly unpleasant – even painful – portions of Scripture?

Perhaps the most-quoted words from Jesus’ final teaching are found in this passage about abiding in the vine as branches that bear fruit. But what does that really mean? What was Jesus trying to tell us about our life hidden in God?

Jesus comforts His disciples by providing them insight into His life with the Father and the promise of the Holy Spirit; highlighting the Trinity as a community of love that we are invited into.

Jesus’ journey through trouble leads to salvation and a future place of peace for His followers. The disciples’ betrayal (Judas), forthcoming denials (Peter), and fear gather around them but Jesus offers hope.

Jesus washes His disciples’ feet as an example of servant love; Jesus serves and calls them to serve one another; Jesus calls His followers friends.

Does freedom mean we are careless about how we live with God? No, in fact Paul draws upon Old Testament teaching to say that our daily lives are to be a reflection of the grace of God that frees us from slavery to sin and into a new creation way of life. He boasts in the cross of Christ (6:14) and summarizes it all with the grace of Jesus (6:18).

What does it really look like to live with freedom? Paul describes the freedom in Christ that comes by the Holy Spirit's indwelling presence. In Galatians 5 we see the famous fruit of the Spirit discussion.

Paul calls the Galatians to a new life of freedom in God. He uses an allegory about Hagar and Sarah in order to illustrate the radical new beginning and life we have as children of grace and not children of law.

Paul explores the relationship between the law and faith, righteousness and grace. Drawing upon the life of Abraham and the revelation of the Law to Moses after the Exodus, Paul makes a case that there is a justification before God that comes from faith apart from the law, and he begins to move into what life looks like under the grace of God.

Paul continues to reflect on his own story and how the unique revelation of the Gospel came to him and what it meant within the early church and his authority. This is a key historical piece that gives us understanding of the ministry of Paul and why we should take him seriously as the 'Apostle to the Gentiles.' He presents the basic issue at stake in Galatians: "I do not set aside the grace of Go...

The real message of the Gospel is at stake in Paul's writing to the churches in Galatia. He is wrestling with his listeners on their approach to life with God. Here is a strong statement about how we approach life and what we think about the good news. He begins to reflect on his calling and the radical nature of the gospel to the Gentiles.