Teaching & News From Eastgate PCB

1 Timothy #7: Matters of the Church (1 Timothy 3:14-16) Janelle Greene (9/27/26) Download I’m always curious about the different expectations that people have when they come to church. I wonder about when people step through the doors of Eastgate, whether it’s the first time or the hundredth time, what are they expecting to find? Those who have been to Eastgate many times might expect to be greete...

1 Timothy #6: Quality Control For Leaders (1 Timothy 3:1-3) Rob Woodrum (9/20/26) Download Any group of people that seek to unite and accomplish a common goal are going to, by necessity, have leaders within the group.  Even on game shows like Survivor, we see how people naturally fall into roles and leaders eventually emerge among the tribes.  An old axiom says, “If everyone is in charge...

1 Timothy #5: God's Kingdom In A Fallen Culture (1 Timothy 2:8-15) Janelle Greene & Rob Woodrum (9/13/26) Download Sunday we’ll be continuing our exploration of the 1st letter to Timothy – reading chapter 2:8-15 . This passage continues Paul’s encouragement from the first part of the chapter – challenging both men and women to carry themselves differently from what the cultural expectations are. P...

1 Timothy #4: How Can We Make A Difference? (1 Timothy 2:1-7) Janelle Greene (9/6/26) This Sunday we’ll be reading 1 Timothy 2:1-7 . Paul started off his letter with instructions about keeping the Gospel streamlined…not adding sensational stories or heavy-handed rules. From doctrine, he moves to practical instructions about the church’s place in this world, and our primary means of making a differ...

1 Timothy #3: God's Messy Children (1 Timothy 1:12-20) Rob Woodrum (8/30/26) Download We’re going to continue our series in 1 Timothy this Sunday, reading 1 Timothy 1:12-20. In our text last week, Paul launched his war on error, describing how the leaders in Ephesus had lost their way and were corrupting the message of the gospel. The things that he highlighted gave us clues about what was happeni...

1 Timothy #2: Paul's War On Error (1 Timothy 1:3-11) Rob Woodrum (8/23/26) Download This Sunday we’ll be continuing in our new study of 1&2 Timothy. We’ll be reading chapter 1, v 3-11. After his quick greeting, Paul jumps right into correcting teachers in Ephesus (through Timothy whom he sent there in order to get them re-established), warning them that they’re veering off the path Paul origin...

1 Timothy #1: An Introduction to 1 Timothy (1 Timothy 1:1-2) Janelle Greene & Rob Woodrum (8/16/26) Download Back in 1979, David Macaulay wrote and illustrated Motel of the Mysteries , an imaginative picture book of an archeological find in the far flung future of 4022. In the ancient country of Usa, archeologist Howard Carson finds the remains of an ancient motel buried beneath many feet of earth...

Matthew #61: The Conclusion of Matthew (Matthew 28:16-20) Janelle Greene (8/2/26) Download Well, after a year and some change, we have come to the final study in the Gospel of Matthew. We will be finishing up chapter 28, reading verses 16-20. This is Matthew’s abbreviated account of Jesus meeting up with his disciples after his resurrection. It’s a brief passage, but there is a lot of stuff to con...

Matthew #60: The New Creation (Matthew 28:1-15) Rob Woodrum (7/26/26) I’ve said many times before how much I love the Gospel accounts of the resurrection of Jesus. Critics will often point out all the discrepancies we find in them and declare the whole story as untrustworthy because of them. But it’s precisely because of those discrepancies that I find them so compelling! The narrative carries the...

Matthew #59: The Curse Removed (Matthew 27:32-66) Rob Woodrum (7/19/26) Download It’s amazing to me how much the crucifixion of one Middle Eastern man two millennia in the past has persistently and relentlessly invaded the imagination of humans right up until this present day. We just can’t escape the cross. That cross emanates something we vaguely intuit. There is a key there and we can’t shake i...

Matthew #58: The Beauty of the Cross (Matthew 27:1-31) Janelle Greene & Rob Woodrum (7/12/26) This Sunday we’ll be reading  Matthew 27:1-31 . It describes the preliminary stages of the cross experience of Christ. We’ve stated before that the cross is the central revelation of God’s character. So, we’ll be focusing on the cross in our teaching, discovering what it reveals and provides for us....

Matthew #57: When Our Faith Is Failing (Matthew 26:31-75) Rob Woodrum (7/5/26) This Sunday we’ll be reading  Matthew 27:1-31 . It describes the preliminary stages of the cross experience of Christ. We’ve stated before that the cross is the central revelation of God’s character. So, we’ll be focusing on the cross in our teaching, discovering what it reveals and provides for us. It’s a very pai...

Matthew #56: Tasting The Tree Of Life (Matthew 26:17-30) Janelle Greene (6/28/26) When I was in college, one of my professors led an activity that has stayed with me ever since. He said the word “apple” and asked us to write down as many descriptive words as we could. We wrote things like fruit and tree. Then he showed us a picture of an apple, and our list grew with words like red, round, and lea...

Matthew #55: Proximity Doesn't Mean Transformation (Matthew 26:1-16) Lawana Schreifer & Nate Prepelka Download Join us as Nate and Lawana continue in our study of the book of Matthew. Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.

Matthew #54: Identifying With The Insignificant (Matthew 25:31-46) Janelle Greene (6/14/26) Download I once had a job where I wasn’t entirely sure what I was supposed to be doing. Every time my boss walked into the room, I suddenly felt the need to look busy. The problem was that I wasn’t even sure whether what I was doing was close to what was actually expected of me. Maybe you’ve felt that way b...

Matthew #53: The Risk of Grace (Matthew 25:14-30) Rob Woodrum (6/7/26) This week we’ll be reading a very familiar parable – what is often called “The Parable of the Talents”, in Matthew 25:14-30. As you read this story, remember that parables aren’t meant to be exact representations of God’s kingdom in all the details. Jesus said it is “like” this sort of thing. The most important element of this...

Matthew #52: Waiting For The Wedding (Matthew 25:1-13) Rob Woodrum (5/31/26) It seems like every culture has a different approach to weddings and the rituals associated with them. This Sunday, as we continue our study in Matthew, we’ll be reading about the unusual wedding rituals of ancient Palestine as we study  chapter 25:1-13 . As you read the parable that Jesus tells, what do you believe...

Matthew #51: Faithfully Waiting (Matthew 24:36-51) Rob Woodrum (5/24/26) Download My wife and oldest daughter were in Chicago once, trying to navigate our way to my son’s house on the city’s train service. This was back before it became much easier and all on your phone – at that time we had to buy metro cards and load them with the proper amount for our trip. My daughter had gotten hers in order...

Matthew #50: Wise Living In A Troubled World (Matthew 24:15-35) Rob & Janelle (5/17/26) Download This Sunday we’ll be continuing our trek through Matthew 24, reading  v15-35 . Much of what Jesus predicts in this section deals with the upcoming siege of Jerusalem, a prediction that was fulfilled in 70 AD. As we did last week, we’ll focus on the instructions we receive from Jesus concerning how...

Matthew #49: Living In A Fading World (Matthew 24:1-14) Rob Woodrum (5/10/26) Download This Sunday we’ll be starting chapter 24 of Matthew’s gospel this Sunday reading the first 14 verses. End time predictions are almost a cottage industry in the Church over the years…needless to say, we won’t be adding to those. What we’ll learn from Jesus is that there is a  presupposition  of the...

Matthew #48: Bad Religion (Matthew 23:1-39) Janelle Greene (5/3/26) Download Join us as we continue our study of the book of Matthew. In this passage, Jesus pronounces woes upon the religious leaders. Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.

Matthew #47: God's Redemptive Plan (Matthew 22:15-46) Janelle Greene (4/26/26) Download This Sunday we’ll be reading through a string of confrontations Jesus experiences in Matthew 22:15-46 as we continue our study in that Gospel. It’s delightful to me how Jesus is able, not only to gracefully answer his accusers, but to weave clues into his answers that reveal an overview of what God is up to. Th...

Matthew #46: An Invitation From The King (Matthew 22:1-14) Janelle Greene (4/19/26) Download What is the biggest, most elaborate party you’ve ever been invited to? Did you enjoy yourself or was it challenging to be there? No matter how big the party was that you attended, I can guarantee it didn’t hold a candle to ancient royal feasts. They were known to last up to 10 days. Even into the medieval...

Matthew #45: The Great Power Grab (Matthew 21:33-46) Rob Woodrum (4/12/26) Download Has someone ever taken something that belonged to you – or at least you felt belonged to you? How did that make you feel? Have you ever been in charge of something and someone else starts stepping all over your authority? What do you want to do in a situation like that? We’re going to be thinking about that theme t...

Matthew #44: A Fruitless Religion (Matthew 21:18-23) Rob Woodrum (3/29/26) Download Many years ago I was with my dad at the home of family friends. At one point, he reached out for an apple that was in a fruit bowl as the centerpiece for the table where we were sitting. Our friends gasped in horror as he quickly put it to his mouth and bit down hard…only to find it was plastic. I have to give it t...