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Upcoming Sermons & Devotional Message
April Sermons 2026
4-2- Maundy Thursday Service - “ The Body and The Blood” Matthew 26:26-29
4-3- Good Friday Service - “It Is Finished” John 19:8-42
4-5 - Easter Sunday Service - “The First Day”
John 20:1-10 John 20:11-16
4-12 - The Other Road”
Luke 24:1-14 Luke 24:27-35
4-19 - “Jesus and the Doubter”
John 20:24-29 John 20:30-31
4-26- “ Redemption”
John 21:1-14 John 21:15-19
Devotional Message : These will change 1-2 times a week. Stop by often to read the new message.
HOLY WEEK: Monday—Cleansing the Temple
Why did Jesus need to cleanse the temple? According to traditional Jewish law, animal sacrifices were necessary to atone for sin. Money changers were a regular sight in the Temple as a convenience to the people—but in Jesus' time, these money changers charged exorbitant exchange fees. They also set inflated prices for doves, pigeons, cattle, and sheep to sacrifice. People knew their sins needed to be atoned for, but their pocketbooks couldn’t afford it. God never intended people to pay for atonement for their sins, and Jesus saw that the money-changing “business” was keeping people from atonement.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus cleanses the Temple on Monday of the last week of His life (see Matthew 21:12-17). The account begins like this:
“Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.” (Matthew 21:12)
When Jesus entered the Temple, He expected to see people praying for their needs and praising God for His provision. Instead, He saw a marketplace where people were profiting from animals to be sacrificed—which had become an obstacle to forgiveness. He saw greed and people being taken advantage of. He became angry, made a whip from some cords, and chased the greedy salespeople from the Temple. Jesus turned tables over and scattered coins over the floor. His Temple was never meant for that. His disciples remembered the Scriptures said that passion for God’s house will consume Him (Psalm 69:9).
The religious leaders didn’t understand what Jesus was doing. Later that week, Jesus told those same religious leaders that He could rebuild the Temple in three days if they destroyed it! Those leaders had only the thought of the physical building of the Temple in mind, which had taken forty-six years to build. But Jesus meant the Temple of His own body and the following of those who would believe in Him over centuries. All of it was more than the religious establishment could bear—Jesus had to go, and those same religious leaders would plot to have Him crucified. When the disciples thought back to this event after Jesus’ resurrection, they realized how synchronized the Scriptures and Jesus’ teachings were.
We can learn four lessons from Jesus' cleansing of the temple:
1. ALWAYS PRAY AND PRAISE: We should pray and praise when we’re in the House of the Lord. And since we’re the New Testament version of the Temple, we should pray and praise every day of our lives—no matter where we are. Don’t allow other things to get between you and the worship of God.
2. PEOPLE BEFORE MONEY: Helping those who are hurting and praying for help means much more than making money. Donations to churches are important to keep them operating, and they need to operate to equip Jesus followers to live lives of faith. These efforts, however, shouldn’t be put above helping people.
3. THE REAL TEMPLE IS YOU: When you accept Jesus as your Savior, He deposits His Spirit in your heart. Imagine—the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of you! Live like it! Separate yourself from faithless, sinful living. Live differently. Live righteously. Live for the Lord. Just as Jesus didn’t like the corruption of the money changers in His Temple, He also doesn’t like when we allow the pollution of this world to get inside of us. Take care of the temple of your body that houses the Holy Spirit.
You wouldn’t walk into a beautiful cathedral and throw fast-food wrappers all over the floor. In the same way, protect your body, mind, and spirit and keep them as healthy as possible.
4. BE AWARE OF GOD’S RIGHTEOUS ANGER: God’s compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and plentiful in mercy as He waits for us to stop our rebellion and come to Him for forgiveness and hope. He doesn’t want anyone to perish, but He won’t wait forever. Someday Jesus will return. No one knows when, but He will return. On that day, full and complete justice will prevail. If you're in Christ, that day will be a glorious day! But if you’re not, judgment will come.
We need to get to work applying these lessons in our lives because we know the time is coming when Jesus will change everything. In the meantime, Jesus cleanses the temple of our hearts every day. Shine His light while there's still hope for all to repent. Spread His Good News while there’s still time to respond. He’s coming soon—so blessed are those who hear and obey His word.
As we journey through Holy Week, I encourage you to allow Jesus to cleanse you.
Bishop Jeff Greenway
HOLY WEEK: Palm Sunday—Behold Your King
Today, we begin our journey through Holy Week with Palm Sunday. It’s the day we remember and celebrate when Jesus entered Jerusalem as Savior and King. As Jesus rode a donkey down the Mount of Olives and into Jerusalem, a large crowd gathered and laid palm branches and their cloaks across the road—giving Jesus "royal treatment." They shouted:
“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Matthew 21:9)
As Holy Week begins, let us remember the significance of Palm Sunday and its value for our lives today. On that day, Jesus began His final steps toward the cross. At the start of the week, Jesus is welcomed as a coming and triumphant king—but by Friday, the crowd's shouts of “Hosanna!” change in tone and tenor to “Crucify!” By the time we get to next Sunday, the risen and living Jesus will show us just what kind of King He really is—but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s try not to rush ahead to Easter!
Let me remind you of five things about Palm Sunday that remind us Jesus is King:
1. PALM BRANCHES—the onlookers that first Palm Sunday cut palm branches and waved them in the air, and laid them out on the ground before Jesus as He rode into the city. The palm branch represented goodness and victory and was symbolic of the final victory Jesus would soon fulfill over death.
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55)
2. A DONKEY—Jesus chose to ride in on a donkey, which directly fulfilled Old Testament prophecy. In biblical times, kings or other important individuals would commonly arrive by procession—riding on a donkey. The donkey symbolized peace, so those who chose to ride them showed they were arriving with peaceful intentions. Jesus even then reminded us He is the Prince of Peace.
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9)
3. HOSANNA—when the people shouted "Hosanna!"—they were hailing Christ as King. “Hosanna” means "save now"—and though in their own minds they waited for an earthly king, God had a different way in mind of bringing true salvation to all who would trust in Him.
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!” (Psalm 118:26)
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
4. JESUS WEPT—the Bible says upon His arrival Jesus wept for Jerusalem. Amid the praise of the moment, He knew in His heart it wouldn't be long before these same people would turn their backs on Him, betray Him, and crucify Him. His heart broke with the reality of how much they needed a Savior.“ As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it, and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes.’” (Luke 19:41, 42)
5. A DIFFERENT KING—Palm Sunday reminds us that the reign of Christ is far greater than anything our human mind can imagine or plan. The crowd looked for someone to fight their battles in the present-day world. Yet God had the ultimate plan of sending His Son to fight the final battle over death—from which He would rise as a risen and victorious King. The greatness of why we celebrate this week lies in Jesus' ultimate sacrifice, which sets us free from death.
“Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; those who believe in me though they die, yet shall they live, and whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.’” (John 11:25)
We have so much to be grateful for this week. The enemy of our souls knows that—and you can bet (although good Methodists don’t place wagers!), he's going to do everything he can to distract us from the true meaning of what this Holy Week means. Don't let him win. This week, may God direct our thoughts and focus our attention on what matters most—Jesus Christ, our King.
Behold your King. Focus on worshiping King Jesus. Thank Him for the gift of His sacrifice. Celebrate the power of the Resurrection. Rejoice in the new life found in Him alone. Behold your King!
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).