Church Of The Open Door

Tom Johnson takes us into the wonderfully mysterious, fantastic ways Jesus personally encountered His friends after His resurrection. As you too encounter Jesus in the events of Easter may you hear Him calling your name, as He spoke to Mary. May your heart burn within you as you too recognize Him traveling with you in the confusing and despairing places of life. Teaching Pastor: Tom Johnson, Missional Life Pastor | Easter Sunday | www.thedoor.org

Congregational Meeting with Governing Board

Palm Sunday: branches, processions, a donkey. And Hosanna! Some think our hosanna songs are another way of saying hallelujah. But hosanna means to beseech, to cry out for salvation, to plead for rescue -- hosanna is a human and utterly fitting way to enter Holy Week and the journey to the Cross and Resurrection. Peggy Lang and Greg Bunce invite us into the Story to find ourselves in the narrative, to see (again!) our own need for rescue, and to encounter in Jesus the grace and forgiveness we need. Remember, worship and enter into these events as if we ourselves had been present that day, that week, in Jerusalem. The whole multitude of His disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." He answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."

Mark takes us into John 12:1-8 and Jesus' upside-down (or as Mark believes, actually right-side-up) kingdom. Mark sees in Mary's anointing Jesus with her rare and costly perfume an example of what it means to love like Jesus loves. Jesus poured Himself out for us and calls us now to incarnate that same kind of extravagant and costly love to others. Teaching Pastor: Mark Collier, Guest Speaker | Lent 2019 | www.thedoor.org

Teaching Pastor: Anne-Marie Finsaas, Pastor of Formational Life | Lent 2019 | www.thedoor.org

Dr Ruben Rivera contends what "If we have been saved through Christ, adopted even though enemies of God, something remarkable should emerge from that." We are God-for-us people, called to partner with God in extending that "for-ness" beyond ourselves, offering the world a remarkable alternative that is quite at odds with the way things are. Teaching Pastor: Ruben Rivera, Guest Speaker | Lent 2019 | www.thedoor.org

Dr. Ronn Johnson takes us into the 2nd week of Lent with a rich exploration of Genesis 15 and God's promise to Abraham to give him a son. Teaching Pastor: Dr. Ronn Johnson, Guest Speaker | Lent 2019 | www.thedoor.org

We've turned the corner from Epiphany and we now move into the weeks of Lent to follow Jesus to the cross and ultimately, resurrection. This past week we gathered for our Ash Wednesday service and Kati Beasley's beautiful introduction to the rhythms and reasons for this season. Peggy continues with those themes speaking on Jesus' time of testing in the desert and the goodness of God that Jesus held onto as He withstood the devil's temptations. We start the trek from Epiphany's brilliant unveilings to Lent's harder road toward Jerusalem. God is good; God is with us; and God is for us. And on that harder road to which Lent invites us, we can learn from our companion Jesus to anchor into the goodness that is the Kingdom of God. Teaching Pastor: Peggy Lang, Prayer Ministries Pastor | Lent 2019 | www.thedoor.org

Teaching Pastor: Kati Beasley, Adult Life Associate Pastor | Lent 2019 | www.thedoor.org

The final Sunday of Epiphany, Amanda Svensk, our interim Pastor of Next Generation, will be speaking. Epiphany’s theme is the unfolding revelation of Jesus as the divine Son of God; and this week’s passage from Luke 9, the Transfiguration, is the culmination of this unveiling, as Peter, James and John get “up close and personal” with God’s glory. Teaching Pastor: Amanda Svensk, Pastor of Next Generation | www.thedoor.org

Peggy starts off with "love your enemies" then progresses through "do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you" This is SO not human nature - but it is most definitely God's nature, who desires that all would flourish and thrive. Love is of God, John the Apostle said. So our efforts to follow Jesus' way must start with God, learning and growing in the beauty, truth, strength and mercy of His heart. Teaching Pastor: Peggy Lang, Prayer Ministries Pastor | www.thedoor.org

Vince Miller, author and founder of Resolute, speaks on Jeremiah 17:5-12 the Old Testament passage in the lectionary for this week. Jeremiah lays out such a clear contrast between our pull to trust in our own strategies for power, esteem and security and the life God offers as we relinquish our own schemes and root ourselves deeply into Him. Teaching Pastor: Vince Miller, Guest Speaker | Jeremiah 17:5-12 | www.thedoor.org

Tom Johnson and Prince Cole share the pulpit. What does the Beloved Community look like and how do we practice some of the practical ahava Joel described last week -- God 's kind of love, shalom, the Kingdom. This week we'll look at where the power comes from and how we access the power of Jesus' resurrection in daily Life. We sense God wants to release, heal, deliver and welcome ALL of us in this community we call Open Door. Teaching Pastor: Tom Johnson, Missional Life Pastor and Prince Cole, Guest Speaker | www.thedoor.org

Joel speaks on 1 Corinthians 13 and because this is such a well-known passage, Joel is intent on helping us get past our cliched familiarity with these words. Joel shares a beautiful practice that'll help us to align increasingly with God's kind of love. Teaching Pastor: Joel Hanson, Worship Pastor | What's Love Got to do With It? | www.thedoor.org

Jesus' reading the scroll in Nazareth's synagogue, proclaiming such ROBUST good news that is able to carry the world's troubles and struggles and not be overwhelmed by them. His statement that "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" was a pivotal point in history, a declaration that Salvation had indeed come among them - and now among us. The restoration He brings is something we then participate in and extend outward to the world around us. Teaching Pastor: Anne-Marie Finsaas, Pastor of Formational Life | www.thedoor.org

Paul the Apostle saw the Beloved Community as so organic, so connected, he needed the physical metaphor of the human body and its arms and legs to describe the significance of our attachment to one another. We all comprehend in our own bodies that when one limb is injured, every other part of the body suffers as well. In the Beloved Community Body of Christ, we have work to do to acknowledge and heal the pains and injuries in our limbs; and to do that, we need the illumination of the Holy Spirit to guide us in God's ways. Teaching Pastor: Dr. Ken Young, Guest Speaker | www.thedoor.org

Dr. Young sets before us this vision of The Beloved Community. Teaching Pastor: Dr. Ken Young, Guest Speaker | www.thedoor.org

Tom speaks on the arrival of the Wise Men. The story of the Magi was Matthew's confrontation on the learned Jewish scholars who knew where Messiah was to be born but failed to act, as those pagan Magi did. Teaching Pastor: Tom Johnson, Missional Life Pastor | Matthew 2:1-12 | www.thedoor.org

Luke 2:41-52 is the only account of Jesus as a boy, amazing the religious leaders in the temple with His answers to their questions. This is a pivotal point in Jesus' life: He's coming into His identity, awakening to the truth of who He is. And for all their amazement, the religious leaders don't see what was going on right in front of them. What are we of Open Door awakening to? As we look throughout the room and the story of our church on this last Sunday of 2018, what is growing? What seeds have been sprouting that we can notice, water, and call out as a gift God has given us? Teaching Pastor: Taylor Bongard, Adult Life Associate Pastor | www.thedoor.org

What an amazing story we're in, and what an almost-unbelievable piece of it we're getting ready to celebrate!!! The God Who Comes--not just to the burning bush, to Mt. Sinai, to the Holy of Holies --THIS God puts on flesh and blood and moves into the neighborhood with us!!!!! We're celebrating with carols, candles and some thoughts from Anne-Marie Finsaas to help us see more clearly what kind of God our God is, that after 400 years of silence, the first thing God says to humanoid is, "Fear not" to Zacharias, to Mary, to the shepherds. Teaching Pastor: Anne-Marie Finsaas, Pastor of Formational Life | www.thedoor.org