Greenwood Christian

What does it mean that God became human? Matt shows how Jesus experienced thirst, exhaustion, grief, and temptation yet remained sinless. Through Scripture and real life, he reveals how Christ’s humanity makes Him the perfect high priest who understands us. Whether you are wrestling with doubt or seeking deeper connection, this message shows how Jesus’ humanity gives us confidence to approach God and become His children.

Why do Christians step into a pool of water in front of everyone? Matt Bean explains how baptism is far more than a ritual. It symbolizes our death to sin and resurrection to new life in Christ. Sharing his own story of being baptized alongside his 71 year old grandmother, he reminds us it is never too early or too late to say yes to Jesus. Baptism is not about getting wet. It is about going all in.

What if your everyday conversations could change someone’s eternity? This message explores what it means to be a Kingdom ambassador and shows how sharing Jesus is less about pressure and more about real relationships and a life that stands out. Through Paul’s example in Athens, you’ll learn practical ways to build common ground, form genuine friendships, and confidently point people toward Jesus.

Matt’s New Year’s message focuses on what it means to worship God with our whole lives. He explains that worship is more than Sunday services and calls believers to love God fully, live humbly, and offer lives of ongoing surrender. Drawing from Scripture, he challenges the church in 2026 to pursue worship that truly shapes daily life and reflects what God values.

Matt and four ministry students shared how God calls and shapes young believers through mentoring, discipleship, and everyday obedience. Drawing from 1 Timothy 4:12, they challenged the church to see young people not as future leaders, but active participants now—and to invest in them through relationships, not just programs.

Ever longed for something deeper than the latest gadget under the Christmas tree? This message explores how our deepest desires for safety, love, and belonging point to our true purpose: life with God. From Creation to Christ’s incarnation, it shows that God is not distant but invites close relationship. Jesus as Emmanuel, God with us, opens the door to the loving community of the Trinity. Watch now to see how life with God reshapes your identity and daily purpose.

Have you ever chased “more” and still felt something missing? In this message, Matt contrasts living “from God” with living “with God,” showing how easy it is to turn faith into a transaction and inviting us to find true treasure, not in God’s gifts, but in His presence.

Have you ever tried to master life through formulas instead of walking with God? In this message, Craig shows how we often substitute principles for presence, using Moses at the rock and Jesus with the religious leaders to reveal that even biblical wisdom loses power when it’s disconnected from relationship. If you’re tired of religion that feels empty, this message invites you to move from living life over God to life with Him—experiencing the abundant life Jesus promised.

Matt uses the story of a blind man Jesus healed to challenge a transactional “Life Under God” mindset—where we follow rules expecting God to perform. Instead, he shows that God wants genuine relationship, not religious obligation. This message launches a series focused on experiencing God’s presence rather than treating faith like a contract.

Ever wondered how your resources could make an eternal impact? In this message, Matt unpacks Jesus’ teachings on generosity, showing that money is a poor master but a powerful tool for Kingdom work. Through vivid stories—from a widow’s coins to a clinic in Ghana—he reveals how giving transforms both giver and receiver. This challenge to move beyond accumulation invites us to invest in what lasts and discover the joy of strategic generosity.

What if our greatest treasure isn’t what we keep, but what we give? Using King Tut as a contrast, this message challenges us to find security not in possessions, but in God. Contentment with less creates margin to bless. When we choose generosity now, we get to see lives changed in real time.

Have you ever wondered how God funds His work? Through stories from Exodus and 2 Corinthians, Matt reveals that God’s strategy has always been “crowdfunding” — the collective generosity of His people. He challenges assumptions about giving, showing that it’s about practice, not wealth, and that generosity reflects Jesus’ nature and fuels real Kingdom impact.

Many of us are confused by money. We’ve heard for years that “money can’t buy happiness,” but we still feel the need to test that theory. God promises to bless the generous, and yet we convince ourselves we can’t really afford to give. The key to financial freedom is to recognize that “our” money is actually God’s and let His Word, rather than the cultural current, shape the way we manage it.

What does it really mean to surrender to Jesus? In the conclusion of The Greatest Story Ever Told, Pastor Matt shares his personal story of God’s faithfulness through his wife’s cancer journey and reveals Jesus as Creator, Savior, and King. This message invites you to see how your response to Him shapes both your life now and your eternal future.

What if the same divine fire that transformed ancient Jerusalem could ignite your community today? Drawing parallels with the Great Fire of London, Pastor Coty explores Acts 2 to show how one spark of the Holy Spirit turned anticipation into action that changed the world. This message calls believers to embrace that same power and leave a lasting legacy of heaven on earth.

Have you ever felt trapped by rules you could never follow perfectly? In this message, Pastor Matt shows how Jesus fulfills and transforms God’s covenant with humanity. Through vivid stories—from HOA rules to Abraham, Daniel, and his wife’s cancer journey—he reveals how every story points to Christ’s new covenant, offering freedom, purpose, and lasting hope through genuine relationship with God.

Ever felt weighed down by rules you can’t keep? Pastor Matt shows how Jesus fulfills and transforms God’s covenant, turning obligation into relationship. Through real stories—from HOA rules to his wife’s cancer journey—he reveals how Christ’s new covenant brings true freedom, purpose, and lasting hope.

This is our 8th Annual Serve Day Weekend where we forego our normal worship experience to serve together in our community.

What does it really mean to surrender everything to God? Pastor Matt traces Israel’s journey from slavery to kingdom, showing how stubborn sin blocks God’s best for us. Through stories of Moses, Joshua, and Israel’s kings, he reveals that God’s commands are loving guardrails for true freedom. This message invites you to let go, repent, and let God write a better story with your life.

What if the greatest story ever told is your story too? Pastor Matt reveals how God’s epic narrative—from Abraham’s faith to Moses’ mission—points to Jesus’ transforming work in us today. Through Abraham’s journey, we see that real faith means trusting God with the unknown and surrendering what’s most precious. Discover how your life fits into God’s unfolding story of redemption.

What does true surrender look like in a world that celebrates self-reliance? Through Abraham and Isaac’s story, Pastor Coty shows how trusting God over our own understanding leads to transformation and blessing. This message invites you to let go of control and find peace through genuine trust in God’s abundant provision.

Why do ancient stories still capture our hearts today? In this opening message of The Greatest Story Ever Told, Pastor Matt reveals how Genesis uncovers God’s character, our purpose, and His plan to redeem humanity. With vivid movie analogies and modern parallels, he shows how this ancient story still shapes our identity, relationships, and hope today.

Ever felt disqualified by your failures? Through Peter’s story, Pastor Matt shows how Jesus meets us in our deepest regrets and restores our purpose. From denial to redemption, this message reveals that God repurposes our brokenness for His glory—proving His power works through imperfect people.

Ever felt like your past defines your future? Pastor Matt shares Matthew’s story—a tax collector transformed by grace—to show how anyone can leave a broken past for a new beginning. This message reminds us that Jesus calls imperfect people, restores their purpose, and invites us to extend that same grace to others.

Ever felt like an outsider longing to belong? Pastor Matt unpacks the story of the Samaritan woman, showing how Jesus met her shame with grace and offered living water that satisfies the soul. This message reminds us that God isn’t deterred by our past—He redeems it—and invites us to share that same hope and acceptance with others.

How could God call someone “a man after His own heart” despite deep flaws? Pastor Matt explores David’s story—from victory over Goliath to his failures with Bathsheba—to reveal that grace, not perfection, defines us. Through David’s repentance in Psalm 51, we see that God restores surrendered hearts and uses the repentant, not the perfect, to carry out His purpose.

What if your greatest regrets became the foundation for your greatest purpose? Pastor Matt explores Moses’ story—a flawed yet chosen leader—to show how God turns weakness into calling. Even through doubt and fear, God’s promise remains: “I will be with you.” This message invites you to lay down excuses, trust His presence, and let your past become the launching point for purpose and hope.

The key to holy living is reliance on the Holy Spirit. Our lives are a battleground in which our flesh (the urges of our bodies) and the Holy Spirit duke it out for supremacy. And our actions and attitudes demonstrate who is winning the fight.

Jesus Christ came because we’re unable to keep God’s Law perfectly. So if we insist on trying to earn our salvation with good behavior, we actually reject His gift.

Religious rule-keeping is not spiritual growth. But when legalism is all we’ve known, it’s easy—even after encountering the grace of Jesus—to revert back to the futility of trying to earn our salvation.

The entire Old Testament anticipated Jesus because Law alone is unable to give life or produce righteousness. Regardless of ethnicity, gender, or economic status, all who are in Christ—are God’s children.

Emphasis on God’s grace is not a “watering down” of the gospel. We receive the Holy Spirit by faith, not by law-keeping, and we can’t finish His work by our own willpower.

The Gospel is for all people, and its promise is that we become righteous before God through faith in Christ. We cannot save ourselves through legalistic rule-keeping.

No matter who preaches it, there is no other gospel but the message of Jesus, who died to deliver us from sin. To add to that gospel is to abandon Christ.

The pain in our world isn’t just our own. The longer we live, and the more relationally connected we are, the more likely we are to encounter others who are hurting in significant ways. And when we do, we have a choice to make: Will we back away from the hurt for our own comfort, or try to help?

Life sometimes feels unfair, especially when we hurt while others seem to just glide through life, problem-free. But the presence of pain doesn’t mean the absence of God, and God never wastes a hurt. When we trust Him through our trials, God redeems our pain and uses us for His glory and for others’ good.

Pain often perpetuates pain. Hurt people hurt people. Much of the pain in our world is inflicted by people who’ve been hurt themselves, and who lash out at others in bitterness and anger. But rather than cathartic release, those explosions tend to produce only more hostility, which leads to more pain. So God provides a better way.

Our world is a place of pain. But pain happens for many different reasons, so we need to be wary of simplistic, one-size-fits-all explanations. We won’t always understand the suffering we see and experience, but God paved the way for a future without pain, tears, and death by personally enduring all of the above.

In its own words, the Bible’s validity hinges on the resurrection of Jesus. If Jesus rose from the dead, that historical reality underscores the authority of all He taught, claimed, and promised, and demands that we listen to Him. If Jesus is still dead, then He’s just another teacher and philosopher who lived, died, and was overshadowed by others. The Roman Empire’s hostility toward Christianity makes it hard to imagine that the Church would have survived—let alone grown explosively—without the resurrection.

Matt reflects on the significance of Good Friday, emphasizing how this day, often seen as bleak and unjust, represents the profound love of God demonstrated through Jesus' sacrifice for humanity's sins. He recalls the events leading up to the crucifixion, highlighting the pain and suffering endured by Jesus, and reinforces that this day is essential to the Christian faith, as it leads to the hope of resurrection. The sermon encourages attendees to remember Jesus' body and blood through communion, which serves to nourish the soul rather than the body. Ultimately, Pastor calls the congregation to slow down, reflect on the meaning of the sacrifice, and appreciate their shared faith as a family in Christ.

To our Western appetite for feel-good, self-help religion, Christianity’s most recognizable symbol is uncomfortable and offensive. But the cross stands as a monument both to God’s holiness and His love.

The Bible’s reliability is often questioned, but not always for honest reasons. Many aspects of the Bible—its date, content, form, extensive manuscript evidence, etc.—call for a closer look. Much of the Bible’s teaching is counter-cultural, but if it passes the literary and historical litmus tests, we can’t honestly dismiss it as irrelevant.

The Bible wasn’t written as a science textbook, but it does speak to where our world came from. If your worldview disallows the possibility of anything beyond what’s physical and tangible, you’ll likely be dismissive of faith. But there’s a difference between saying that science isn’t equipped to detect spiritual things and insisting that the spiritual doesn’t exist at all. If there is a Creator God, then there’s nothing far-fetched about believing in the miraculous.

People are universally flawed. So when lots of us come together—whether in our world, or in the Church—it should be no surprise that messiness and hypocrisy ensue. Jesus didn’t come to establish a club for a hand-picked group of good, upstanding people; He came to call broken, messed-up, spiritually dead people to new life.

Many people see pain and suffering as evidence against a good God. But there are many legitimate reasons, particularly our choices, as to why pain exists in our world. Christianity is the story of a God who, rather than always preventing pain, entered personally into our pain to provide us a way out of it.