Teaching Archive

Men’s Conference 2025

Stand Up and Step Up:
Lessons on Biblical Masculinity in Life

May 2 - 4, 2025

Masculinity has fallen on hard places in recent years. In some places, masculinity is seen as equal to being misogynistic. Expected acts of penance for men are to perpetually apologize for the ills that they have contributed to over their lifetime and show their sincerity through countless acts of deferring and submitting. As a result of this trend, cultural prophets have risen to deliver a different message. The likes of Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan, and Andrew Tate, and others have called for anything from facts over feelings, to championing mixed martial artists, to taking the “red pill” and inviting other men to an alternate way of living and interacting with women. The question is what are CHRISTIAN men to think about all of this and how should they respond? How should they think about their roles in society, their interaction with women, and have confidence they are acting in a way that God who created them has called them to? This men’s conference addresses these matters and more. Spoiler alert: The lesson is not to buy a Glock, subscribe to a monthly BBQ club, and find a man to get matching tattoos with. It is something much more important and society shaping than that.

Pastor Bancroft is the senior pastor of Grace Church in Miami Shores, Florida. He served as senior pastor at Castleview Church in Indianapolis and associate pastor at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles under Pastor John MacArthur.  Eric has a B.A. from Trinity International University, an M.Div. from The Master’s Seminary, and a Th.M. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition to pastoring, Eric helped start the Indianapolis Theological Seminary, the Indianapolis Chapter of The Gospel Coalition, the Indy Sr. Pastors Network, and has served as a Fellow at The Mathena Center for Church Revitalization at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also writes for 9Marks, Ligonier, and The Gospel Coalition.

Eric’s passions include dating his wife of 28 years, hanging with his sons and daughter-in-law (24, 23, 22, 21) when they are in town, preaching, discipling men, and helping serve other pastors. Besides all of that, he is the father of our own Issac Bancroft.