Easton Bible Church - Messages

Everyone knows it’s wrong to murder. But what about getting angry with someone? Or insulting them? How bad is getting mad really? In this teaching from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that the root issue behind murder and blind rage are the same: the inability to see the image of God in the other person. More info https://www.ebc.org or call (609.267.4755), email ( office@ebc.org ), DM us...

Have you ever been faced with the reality that your best wasn’t good enough? In this teaching from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warns that if we ask the question, am I good enough for God to love me? We won’t like the answer. Thankfully, there’s a better question he wants us to ask. More info https://www.ebc.org or call (609.267.4755), email ( office@ebc.org ), DM us on Instagram or Facebook, or...

There are moments when we catch a glimpse of Jesus. Such snapshots can be indelibly impactful. When you see that His actions reveal His character and the power His presence has in the lives of those present, you can't help but want to be more like Him. The self-reflection which ensues can be a key decision point in your day and even your life because, in that moment, the decision to live different...

At some level we all experience brokenness. At EBC,, we believe that people can experience growth and new life by working through the healing path God has given us in the Bible. So whatever struggles are holding you back in your relationship with God, others, or even yourself, come as you are and find a God who loves you, has a plan for you, and wants to restore you. Pastor Steve (and friends) sha...

We all aspire to be something–someone special. Yet when we take an honest inventory, we realize that we just can’t seem to get there. For me, I’m never satisfied with my level of understanding, physical fitness, intelligence, and depth of relationships. There’s just so much in life where I feel like a failure. For example, in my relationship with Jesus, I feel like I’m constantly tripped up by the...

What do you hope for? At one level, most of us probably have a vague hope that our lives will have meaning, for love and happiness, that justice will win out, and that we’ll enjoy our lives and not suffer too much. (Basically, we hope our lives don’t stink!) But without a basis for our hope, our hopes amount to little more than wishful thinking. When Jesus was killed, his followers’ hopes for a be...

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’—Matthew 21:10 Who is Jesus? For some Jesus was the Messiah, the king God had promised from the line of David. For others, he was a prophet, a teacher, or a miracle worker. For others, he was a dangerous heretic or a madman who had to be stopped. When Jesus enters Jerusalem on his way to the cross, Jesus forces the q...

Have you ever felt like you were dispensable… maybe disposable or replaceable? Sure, your mom thinks you’re special, but you’re just one of more than eight billion people on the planet! It’s easy to feel like your life doesn’t really matter much in the grand scheme of things, that the world is just too big for your life to make any real difference. But in his most famous sermon, Jesus tells us to...

Has anyone ever tried to convince you to do something a different way? It could be how you cook a particular dish or how you drive or how you parent or how you exercise. And getting that kind of advice isn’t always solicited or welcomed! But sometimes it’s the advice we need. As part of our current series, over the next few weeks we’ll be unpacking Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5–...

Institutions exist for the sake of existing. Movements exist for the sake of making a difference. When Jesus calls us out of the hopelessness of sin and death, he’s not calling us to be part of an institution. He’s calling us into his movement to change the world. More info https://www.ebc.org or call (609.267.4755), email ( office@ebc.org ), DM us on Instagram or Facebook, or come see us in perso...

Privilege, power, and popularity are the subtle drugs of celebrity. There’s nothing inherently wrong with having status or being famous. But when being seen as powerful or important becomes essential to your identity—either who you think you are or who you wish to be—the temptation to do whatever it takes to gain that level of prominence can become overpowering. And, if you’re not careful, you jus...

Have you ever had someone love you enough to tell you the truth about you? One of the most courageous acts in life is to see yourself as you really are. And the degree of honesty you have about who you are will determine the degree to which you grow in life. In Matthew chapter 3, Matthew introduces us to a man named John the Baptist who told people more than they wanted to know about who they were...

Have you ever known the right thing to do… and did the wrong thing anyway? Both behavioral psychology and neuroscience suggest that our brains operate on two different wavelengths. There’s the reasonable, rational, conscious part of your brain (left-side) and the automatic, intuitive, reactionary part of your brain (right-side). Jonathan Haidt compares the two sides to a rider on an elephant: the...

So far in this series, we’ve seen that Easton’s mission (and ours) is to help people experience a life-changing relationship with Jesus (cf. Matthew 28:19-20), and that we’re here both for believers and non-believers (cf. Acts 2:42-47). As we grow in our relationship with Jesus, we become who we were created to be, which in turn reveals Jesus to an otherwise uninterested and skeptical world. This...

Depending on who you ask, there are some Christians who think that the church’s primary purpose is to serve believers. For them, church equates to bible studies, fellowship dinners, small groups, and programs designed exclusively for Christians. For other Christians, church is essentially an outreach event. What really matters is getting more people—especially non-believers—in the doors where they...

Have you ever wondered why churches exist? Or perhaps more specifically, why does our church exist? Is it because we needed someplace to go on Sunday mornings? A place to make friends or network? Someplace to learn about God and the Bible? At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus lays out a clear mandate for all believers and, by extension, all churches: that we are to go into all the world to make d...

Merry Christmas! Pastor Lucas concludes our Advent sermon series, "The Gift of a King," with a Christmas Eve encouragement for each of us to shine like stars in response to our Gift of a King, The Lord Jesus Christ.. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to cond...

Have you ever missed out on something amazing? Maybe you were too tired or forgot, or maybe you got stuck at work or got stuck in traffic. But it was a moment that people would be talking about for the rest of their lives. Perhaps a moment that would have changed the rest of your life. And you missed it. This week, we’re looking at a moment that is both uplifting and heart-breaking. People you wou...

Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth (Matt. 1:18-25) is unusual because it is written almost entirely from Joseph’s perspective. Other than these few verses, Joseph gets virtually zero airtime in Scripture. For all we know, Joseph was a wholly unremarkable person. He was a blue-collar worker, a carpenter, from a little nowhere village in the backwoods of Palestine. And yet, when asked to believe that...

Have you ever felt like you didn’t belong? Belonging is one of the most fundamental needs we feel as humans. To know that others accept you, welcome you, and care for you is vital for human flourishing. And yet, especially in our post-pandemic and increasingly virtual world, it’s so easy to feel alone. In the opening verses of his Gospel, Matthew gives what seems like an odd introduction to Jesus,...

Have you ever felt like you had no good options? That no matter what you tried, you couldn’t win for losing? In many ways, that’s the conundrum Solomon wants us to feel, that life is a puzzle you cannot solve, a mystery you cannot unravel. But this isn’t some brainteaser you read for fun and then toss aside. This is your life! As Solomon leaves us with his final thoughts, he offers us the solution...

When your time comes (I know we don’t like to think about that), what kind of person will you be? Right now, you’re laying the foundation for who you’ll be in your old age. Some people age gracefully, full of joy and happiness despite their growing infirmities. For others, old age only brings sorrow and anger. You might not realize it, but the decisions you make today will shape the kind of person...

Have you ever walked down the cereal aisles and felt paralyzed to decide what to buy? Or maybe it was scrolling through the endless movies on Netflix trying to decide on the perfect movie to watch. Which cereal is the right one? Which movie is the perfect movie? Sometimes life presents us with too many options with too many unknowns and it’s hard to know what to do. So, what should you do when you...

Here’s the inconvenient truth you don’t want to hear. You are going to die. Death is no respecter of persons and—barring Jesus’ return—death is coming for you. Which could be a depressing or hopeless thought for some. But for Solomon, the reality of death is the sharp wedge we need to dislodge our hearts from the meaninglessness of life and discover real meaning and purpose that comes through anti...

We are natural planners. We look to the future, we dream, we strategize, and we anticipate problems and plot solutions. And then life punches you in the face. You can plan your vacation, but you can’t do anything about the unforeseen sickness, or the car breaking down, or the flight canceled, or the weather. You can plan your retirement, but you can’t do anything about the disease you never saw co...