-
Stewardship in the Inner City
At our church, we have a board inside the narthex that has the register of attendance and offerings. This board has numbers on it: our attendance the previous week and the attendance to the corresponding week last year, it includes our weekly giving goal, and our offering from last week. This is, of course, not…
-
“Remember, you are dust…”
I’ve always enjoyed Ash Wednesday services. I enjoy them not because they make me happy, but because they are powerful. The reminder that we are dust, and to dust we will return is an important reminder. The feeling of the grit of the ash on my forehead helps me to remember the grit of my…
-
Walking the Neighborhood
Each week, usually on a Wednesday afternoon, I go for a walk around the neighborhood. I do it for several reasons. The first of which is that it helps me to toss around the scripture text for Sunday’s sermon in my mind, and allows me to get some fresh air in the process. Secondly, it…
-
Recovering Evangelism
Let me begin with a confession: the word “evangelism” makes me cringe. It’s not that I don’t like talking about God, I certainly love doing that. It is just that I associate “evangelism” with programs: Evangelism Explosion, The Way of the Master, or other simplistic techniques: the Roman Road, the EvangeCube. I often find that…
-
Writing Letters
One of my favorite pastoral tasks is writing letters. I write a lot of letters. I write letters to individual donors, I write letters to churches thanking them for donations. I write letters informing people of special needs that we have. I like writing letters. I don’t send e-mails, and I don’t even use the…
-
Sitting In My Office
Every day when I come to church, I walk in the main door, and I walk in the back of the sanctuary. From there I walk all the way to the front of the sanctuary to where my office is, and I sit down and start working. At first it feels kind of strange to…
-
Why I’m Avoiding Christmas Music During Advent
This is the time of year when people begin talking about getting into the “Christmas Spirit”. I must confess, I’m not in the Christmas spirit, but I think that it is okay, because now is not the time to be in the Christmas spirit, this is the time to be in the Advent spirit. In…
-
Advent in a Wintry Eschatological Perspective
As a child, my family did not fully celebrate Advent. We lit Advent candles at church, but we still put up Christmas decorations and sung Christmas songs during Advent (which is not exactly proper observance). As an adult, I have begun celebrating Advent, and I have found it to be very meaningful. Advent is a…
Matthew van Maastricht
Writer | Speaker | Pastor
Matthew van Maastricht 