Rev. Don Erickson

Luke 18:13 (used for contemplative prayer in Eastern church) Do people change? Can they change? Is it possible to go from being all about me and ignoring others and their plight and their needs to becoming the opposite, changed to someone humble, compassionate and just? We live in a world that seems to dismiss the possibility of true, real transformation and heart-change. But we follow a way, Christ's way, that preaches that transformation, a heart-change indeed is possible.  Not only that, it is inevitable. Philippians 2 reminds us that in the end all knees shall bow and all tongues confess that a God who is Love is real and that God's beloved, Christ, changed it all. And how our world needs a heart-change! This morning’s story from Luke 18 gives us an example of transformation, a transformation that takes someone from the chief of the lowly and unjust to someone justified and lifted up. The word justified is especially pertinent. It is certainly a word maybe l

Did you know there is a new testament within the old testament? Marsha read about it. The word translated covenant in Jeremiah 31:33 is the same word translated testament. In fact, some translations of the bible separate the bible with old and new not testament but old and new covenants. Jeremiah 31:33 offers us a new testament in miniature. Jeremiah 31:33 can be read this way.  “This is the new testament: I will place my law within them, inside their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people.” If only the new New Testament were as simple and straightforward. Let’s look at this new testament in miniature. A couple verses earlier in Jeremiah 31, the stage is set for this New Testament, this new covenant. The covenant of old is the one handed down in tablet form to Moses. Verse 32 says, this new covenant, this new testament will not be like the covenant I made with your ancestors. You've seen it in the news in some form. A big, heavy monument

2 Timothy 1:5  I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. I grew up going to church. My mom dragged us 4 kids and eventually 6 to church. Sometimes with my dad home on the weekend. Sometimes with him gone on the road working. My pastor was my first mentor. His name was Morgan Jones. Morgan was an interesting man. He was not your stereotypical pastor. He wasn't especially warm or sentimental. Friendly in his own way, with emphasis on “his own way.” He grew up in the Bronx In New York city. He saw a lot as a veteran of World War 2, storming the beaches of Normandy. He had an edge to him even in his 60s. His Toyota Tercel actually had a matchbox or maybe a Hot Wheels sized toy motorcycle glued on the dashboard. I asked him about it. He answered that his ideal vacation, which he never took, was to drive a motorcycle across the country all by himself. A true introvert. Mo