Eastgate Church Sermons - Wilson

Without a vision for your life from God, life slowly loses direction and purpose. Most homes, and churches, don’t fall apart all at once. They drift. Conversations get shorter. Patience gets thinner. And many of us are exhausted, not because we don’t care, but because we’re trying to hold relationships together with our own strength. When God’s vision is missing, both our house and God’s house slo...

Some of us may feel like we have no vision for our life at all. We’re drifting, reacting, just trying to get through life. Others of us do have a vision, but it may be unclear, incomplete, or even in conflict with God’s purposes. We know what we want, where we’re going, and how we plan to get there. But our vision may be shaped more by ambition, fear, or trying to stay in our comfort zone, rather...

Simeon was waiting for something, longing for the Messiah. Every single person is living in expectation. We chase what we think will console us, but instead of relief we often find more pressure, more disappointment, and more emptiness. What if we are longing for something far greater? What if, like Simeon, we are longing for the true comfort for our souls? We are all longing for Jesus. In the Gos...

The INFINITE became an INFANT. The ETERNAL ONE entered human history. At Christmas, we celebrate the staggering truth that the One who CREATED all things stepped into His own CREATION. God did not send a MESSAGE from heaven, He sent the MESSIAH, His one and only Son, Jesus Christ––God in the flesh! But here’s the question: Why does the incarnation matter to us today? Why should it move our hearts...

Does the message of Christmas, of Christ’s coming, cause you to make much of the Lord? To esteem Him highly? To call Him great! Or do you struggle during the Christmas season? You’re tired of all the “Jingle Bells” and Santa songs on the radio? You’re overwhelmed by the crazy busyness and expense of the gift buying and present wrapping, home decorating…and it’s giving you a “Bah! Humbug!” attitude...

Like Mary, many of us struggle to understand that God wants to do something significant in our lives. We look at our resumes, our past mistakes, or our current limitations, and we think, "God couldn't possibly use me. I'm nothing special." We tend to think God's favor is something we have to earn, achieve, or qualify for. We need to know today that God’s activity in our li...

How are you and God? When's the last time you asked that question? And how do you even begin to answer it? If we’re honest with ourselves, sometimes we are all over the place with our spiritual life, aren’t we? Why is there such a variation in how we ourselves feel about our spiritual health from one day to the next? Why is there such a variation in different people and how they seem to be do...

We live in a world filled with anxiety, uncertainty, and spiritual drift. Many believers feel ill-equipped to live lives that truly please God. We often try to rely on our own strength, self-help strategies, or even religious routines rather than trusting the One who is greater than all our problems and needs. Some of us feel wounded, weary, or wandering. Like sheep, we easily go astray. What we n...

When it comes to leadership, people today are both skeptical and searching. Many have seen leaders fail, whether in politics, business, or even the church. The result is a growing distrust of authority. Yet, God designed His church to be led, not by celebrities or dictators, but by faithful shepherds under the authority of the greater, unchanging Leader, Jesus Christ. The Hebrew background believe...

We live in a world where love often grows cold—where relationships are strained, marriages are fractured, and people are lonely even when surrounded by others. What’s worse, our world has lost sight of what true love really is. It is not merely an emotion, but an act of the will. It involves commitment, sacrifice, and steadfast devotion. Yet we can’t manufacture this kind of love on our own. We ne...

Today, we’re concluding our study of Hebrews chapter 12. And we’re nearing the finish line of a marathon—the race of faith that Hebrews 12:1-3 first began to describe to us. But just as a runner must not break stride, the author of Hebrews gives us some final, urgent warnings and overwhelming motivation to continue running for the goal. And what is the goal? It’s Christ Jesus and His Kingdom. Yet...

Many believers start the race of faith well, but grow weary when trials come. We lose focus, stumble under the weight of sin, or misunderstand the Father’s discipline. Sometimes we feel exhausted, discouraged, or even tempted to give up. We see others running seemingly effortlessly, while we struggle to put one foot in front of the other. What we need is not more grit and self-effort, but a greate...

We live in a world that constantly bombards us with offers for immediate gratification— fleeting pleasures, temporary treasures, and the shallow status that money and influence can buy. These things distract us and actually weigh us down. For they only last for a moment and they never really satisfy. That’s the tension we’re going to see in today’s Scripture. For the OT people of God had to choose...

Since we were children, we have made a big deal about promises. Who hasn’t heard a child crying to a parent, “But you promised?” We all make promises and try to keep them. We promise to take our son fishing. We sign a promissory note at the bank to buy a car or obtain a mortgage. We promise “till death do us part.” We make a lot of promises and try to keep them, but a promise is only as good as ou...

You’ve probably heard someone say, “Keep the faith.” In our culture, that usually means, “Stay positive,” or “Don’t give up hope.” But notice what’s missing—it never defines the object of that faith. No wonder so many today are “deconstructing” their faith, pulling it apart piece by piece until nothing remains, because if faith is only a vague feeling or a cultural inheritance, why hold on to it?...

Jesus empowers us to be a witness to his work in our lives so others can experience his love. But it's also a key part of our own spiritual formation. Find out why this Sunday. In the book of Acts, Luke recorded that the first century believers were committed to witnessing to others about Jesus and the church exploded upon the scene, experiencing exponential growth in spite of persecution. We...

We live in a culture that prizes getting more than giving. Advertisers constantly tell us we don’t have enough, while inflation and bills pressure us to hold tighter to money and possessions. As God’s children, instead of a having a mindset of abundance, we often struggle with a mindset of scarcity, doubting God’s provision and anxious about having enough. Yet, God is generous! And we were created...

Americans today have more access to the Bible than any previous generation. Most us have several copies in various versions. We even Bible apps on our phones. Yet according to recent polls the overwhelming majority do not actually read those Bibles regularly, much less study or deeply engage with the Bible. In the apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he charged him to remain faithful to the st...

This time of year, school’s back, sports are back (travel ball never left), maybe work is ramping up your work load, the holidays will be here before you know it. We live in a state of stress … an overwhelmed sort of just getting by until the next weekend, the next vacation, the next glass of wine, the next night of doom scrolling, or sadly until next summer. But these “nexts” are not real rest bu...

You might easily be able to see why you need a habit of personal devotion to Jesus like we studied week 1 and you may see the need for fellowship as we studied last week. But service, why would service be a spiritual habit or discipline? How does a spiritual habit of service help me to connect with the Holy Spirit and grow in Christlikeness? That’s the right question and the right motivation! As w...

Over time isolation leads to loneliness, weakened support systems, and deeper disconnection. The short-term gain creates long-term pain. What we really need spiritually and even physically is fellowship. God’s word teaches us that fellowship is an essential habit to connecting with God. In Hebrews chapter 10, the author concluded his instruction about drawing near to God and holding fast the confe...

Spiritual habits act as a conduit that connects us to the power of the Holy Spirit. We not only open up and ask the Spirit to fill us, we create habits that give Him a conduit to fill us and use us to do God’s will. We can be passive with our faith, just waiting for the Holy Spirit to move while we coast through life. “Fill me”, we say, but then we don’t physically do anything. Today we will be ki...

We all know the pain of broken communication—harsh words, unresolved conflict, silence that grows like a wall. Whether in our homes, marriages, friendships, or church family, we’ve all experienced the damage that unforgiveness causes. But God has given us the way to restoration: Christlike forgiveness. Without forgiveness, communication breaks down and relationships fall apart. So how do we move f...

Today, we’re talking about a topic that every family—and every believer—must face: anger. Let’s be honest, anger shows up in every home, every relationship, and even in the church. It can flare up with a harsh word or simmer beneath the surface with a cold shoulder. But left unchecked, anger can wreak havoc on the relationships God has called us to nurture. Uncontrolled, sinful anger is a danger t...

In families and churches alike, conflict and the need for correction are inevitable. But how we speak the truth, and how we receive it, makes all the difference. Without spiritual preparation, correction can wound instead of heal. We need Christ to shape us into people who can both give and receive correction with grace, truth and love. Real peace doesn't come from avoiding truth, it comes fr...