What does it really mean to step into the power of service? And why do so many of us resist the very thing Jesus calls greatness?

In this message, we walk through Matthew 20 and uncover three realities we must embrace if we’re going to live as servants of the Lord. Before service is action, it’s mercy. Before it’s a title, it’s an outcry. Jesus doesn’t redefine greatness by lowering the bar — He raises it through humility, surrender, and sight. If you’ve ever thought, “I’m a pretty good person,” or wondered why serving feels beneath you, this teaching reframes everything. From Bartimaeus’ cry for mercy to the disciples’ struggle with status, we’ll see why service is not weakness — it’s worship. Whether you’re exploring faith, ready for baptism, or deciding if you’ll stay committed to community, this message will help you understand how healing, identity, and purpose are all found on the path of serving Christ.

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Pull up any Sunday at 11 am
Eden Church NJ (in the FiveSix School)
321 State Street, Hackensack, NJ 07601

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What does it really mean that Jesus “did not come to be served, but to serve” (Matthew 20:28)? And why do some of the most blessed people in church quietly grow the most bitter? In this message, we confront a hard spiritual truth: if you don’t learn to serve more than you’re served, your faith will slowly rot. Through the bold request of James and John’s mother and Jesus’ repeated prediction of His own suffering, we uncover how self-centered worship can disguise itself as devotion — and why spiritual maturity requires moving from consumer to contributor.

This episode wrestles with the reality that service is not seasonal, emotional, or circumstantial — it’s spiritual. From the example of Jesus serving on the way to the cross to the powerful story of Pierre Toussaint’s faithful impact in New York City, we’re reminded that no season, wound, or limitation disqualifies you from pouring out living water. If you’ve been tempted to sit back, drift, or make faith about what you receive, this message will challenge you to grow up, step in, and discover how serving clarifies just how deeply you’ve already been served.

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Pull up any Sunday at 11 am
Eden Church NJ (in the FiveSix School)
321 State Street, Hackensack, NJ 07601

• Follow @eden.jersey
• And plan your first visit

When Can I Get a Divorce? Is Divorce okay with God?

Few questions carry as much weight, pain, and urgency as this one. In this sermon, Pastor Brandon walks straight into the tension without shortcuts or religious loopholes, letting Jesus define the conversation instead of culture or convenience. Rather than starting with legality — what’s allowed — this message begins where Jesus begins: What is marriage? Through Matthew 19, marriage is reframed as a covenant, a union meant to reflect God’s faithful, self-giving love. And divorce? It’s described with sobering clarity — not as freedom or failure, but as amputation: never celebrated, sometimes permitted, always costly. The teaching challenges the impulse to rush toward an exit without first reckoning with the purpose God intended from the beginning.

This message presses deeper than behavior into the condition of the heart. Jesus exposes the real threat to marriages — not just betrayal, finances, or conflict, but a slow, numbing hard-heartedness that goes unnoticed until damage is done. Divorce may be allowed in God’s grace, but it is never His joy — and it should never be treated lightly or defended casually with Scripture. For married, single, divorced, or discerning listeners, this sermon offers a better question than “When can I leave?” It asks, “What would it look like to heal?” Calling us to divorce apathy, bitterness, judgment, and numbness — and to take hold of the healed heart only Jesus can give.

Support the show

Pull up any Sunday at 11 am
Eden Church NJ (in the FiveSix School)
321 State Street, Hackensack, NJ 07601

• Follow @eden.jersey
• And plan your first visit