Aldersgate Free Methodist Church

Satan in Eden said, “Take and eat.”
Jesus at the table said, “Take and eat.”

Same words… but NOT the same meaning.

In Genesis, it was temptation that led to a fall.
At the table, it was grace that led to REDEMPTION

One bite brought separation, the other brought restoration.

What was broken in Eden by disobedience, was restored through Christ by sacrifice.

The first Adam reached for what he wasn’t supposed to have. The second Adam gave what we could never earn.

Don’t miss this fam… God didn’t just fix what was broken… He REDEEMED it!

And now, what once condemned you, no longer has the final say.

That’s not just theology… that’s FREEDOM!

Holy Week : Monday

The day Jesus cursed the fig tree and flipped the tables.

On His way to the temple, Jesus saw a fig tree full of leaves. From a distance, it looked alive.
Healthy. Fruitful.

But when He got close… there was no fruit.
So He cursed it.

But this wasn’t about a tree. It was about a warning.

In that environment, a fig tree with leaves was supposed to have fruit. Leaves were the signal.
The evidence that something more was there.

But this tree had the appearance… without the substance. It was advertising something it didn’t actually produce.

Then Jesus walked into the temple… and found the exact same thing.

A place that looked holy on the outside : rituals, structure, tradition…

But underneath? Corruption. Exploitation.
A system that was making it harder, not easier, for people to encounter God.

So He flipped the tables.

Not because He was emotionally uncontrolled — but because He was exposing something and righteously angry.

Today we tend to reduce this moment to, “Jesus would flip that table…” when we see something we don’t like or agree with in someone else’s life.

But Jesus wasn’t reacting to inconvenience, disagreement, or culture.

He was confronting corruption that looked like God on the outside… but led people away from Him on the inside. Ring any bells?

The fig tree and the temple were saying the same thing, giving the same warning.

God is not looking for appearance. He’s looking for fruit and a heart that knows Him.

Not just leaves. Not a performance. Not a perfect image.

Fruit. Heart. Connection.

So the real question for this Monday asks us is this: Are we producing fruit in our lives… or just leaves?

Have we built a life that appears close to God…
but is missing true connection with Him?

Before we start pointing at tables around us… Jesus is pointing at the root in our own temple.

Our focus today is this: making sure that there’s real fruit in our own lives when He comes looking. So that our tables don’t need flipping.

Rest assured though, Jesus doesn’t just flip them. He restores them too.

Monday Mentor.

This verse is fascinating. When a mother bird protects her young, the chicks do nothing except stay. The mother takes on the storm, the chaos and the distress.

Today, at the height of your chaos, breathe and just stay. Stay under the protective covering of your Heavenly Father who took all your storm, all your chaos, all your distress and crushed it under his heel on Calvary.
~ Donna Miller

Let’s release our worries to God today.

Father, You know every burden I’ve been carrying. Today I place them in Your hands.

Give me peace that quiets my fears and faith that trusts Your timing.

“The Lord gives strength to His people.” — Psalm 29:11

Amen.

Some of the greatest battles in the spirit are fought at gates. Because gates control access. In Scripture, gates were not just city entrances. They were places of authority, influence, and decision. Whoever controlled the gate controlled the territory. Elders judged at the gate. Leaders sat at the gate. Authority was established at the gate (Ruth 4:1, Proverbs 31:23).

And the same principle exists in the spirit.

There are spiritual gatekeepers over regions, systems, and environments. Some are righteous. Some are not. Daniel discovered this when he prayed and the answer from heaven was delayed because a principality resisted the message for twenty one days (Daniel 10:13).

The resistance was not in Daniel’s prayer.

It was at the gate.

This is why some places feel unusually heavy. Why truth provokes immediate reaction. Why revival is questioned before it is welcomed. Something has been guarding access.

Religion guards gates.
Control guards gates.
Fear guards gates.

Systems rise to protect the status quo because the moment heaven begins pressing on a gate, everything behind it feels threatened.

But gates are not meant to stop the church.

Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). Gates are defensive. The church is supposed to confront them.

When God sends people into a place carrying authority, the gate begins to shake. That is why the resistance feels personal. You are not just encountering disagreement.

You are touching a gate.

And gates only open when heaven backs the authority confronting them.

She wasn’t invited.
She wasn’t called forward.
She wasn’t even supposed to be there.

For 12 years, she suffered.

Twelve years of disappointment.
Twelve years of unanswered prayers.
Twelve years of watching other people receive what she was still begging God for.

The Bible says she had spent everything she had on doctors… and only got worse. (Mark 5:26)

She was out of options.
Out of money.
Out of strength.
Out of hope.

And according to the law, she was considered unclean.
Meaning she lived isolated. Overlooked. Forgotten.

But then Jesus walked by.

He wasn’t coming for her.
He hadn’t called her name.
He wasn’t even speaking to her.

Yet something inside her said:
“If I can just touch His garment, I will be healed.” (Mark 5:28)

Not His hand.
Not His voice.
Just the edge.

She pushed through the crowd.
Past the doubt.
Past the pain.
Past the years of disappointment.

And the moment she touched Him…

Everything changed.

Immediately, the bleeding stopped.

But what happened next is even more powerful.

Jesus stopped.

In the middle of a crowd pressing in from every side, He turned and asked,
“Who touched Me?”

He wasn’t asking because He didn’t know.
He was asking because He wanted her to know.

She came forward trembling, and instead of calling her “woman”…
instead of calling her “unclean”…
instead of calling her “sick”…

He called her “Daughter.”

Her condition had given her a label for 12 years.
But Jesus gave her back her identity in one moment.

And then He said:
“Your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” (Mark 5:34)

Twelve years of suffering… ended in one touch.

Here’s what this means for you:

You are not disqualified because of how long you’ve been struggling.
You are not forgotten because heaven has been silent.
You are not too far gone, too broken, or too late.

Jesus is still passing by.

And sometimes, your breakthrough isn’t in being chosen publicly…
It’s in having the faith to reach for Him privately.

All it takes…
is one touch