Anne-Marie Finsaas speaks from John 6:1-11, where a young boy offers his five barley loaves and two small fish, a meager meal that could not possibly satisfy the hunger of the great crowd following Jesus.

And that’s the point: it isn’t enough. We aren’t enough, don’t have enough – yet when we hand over our not-enough self and our not-enough resources into Jesus’s hands, it becomes enough. In Anne-Marie’s words, “We’re meant to have our minds blown and realize that we have nothing to do with this but our tiny little deed.”

Teaching Pastor: Anne-Marie Finsaas, Pastor of Formational Life | When Enough is Enough | www.thedoor.org

Steve Wiens shares with us from 2 Samuel 7:1-14a. May Steve's return be a moment where we recall God's faithfulness to us as a church over the many years and also look forward with hope, asking God, "What are You up to here? What work do You desire to do in and through our church?

Teaching Pastor: Steve Wiens, Guest Speaker | 3 Words for Open Door | Ordinary Time

Bethany Hoang, from International Justice Mission, joins us to help us see more of what breaks God’s heart in our world, and how we can continue to move toward hope in the face of despair. She’ll give us some insights into the systems of child sex trafficking that isn’t just “overseas somewhere” but is happening in our own back yard, with the US Department of Justice identifying the Twin Cities as one of the nation’s 15 largest centers for child sex trafficking.

Teaching Pastor: Bethany Hoang, Guest Speaker | Ordinary Time | www.thedoor.org

Dave picks up the thread of the gospel story in Mark 6:1-6, where Jesus preached in his hometown synagogue but His own people took offense because they thought they knew everything there was to know about Him:

“Where did He gain this wisdom? And what are all these stories we’ve been hearing about the signs and healings He’s performed? Where did He get that kind of power? Isn’t this Jesus, the little boy we used to see in Joseph’s carpenter shop? Didn’t He grow up to be a carpenter just like His father? Isn’t He the son of Mary over there and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, Simon, and their sisters? Who does He think He is?” (Mark 6:2b-3, Voice trans.)

As a result, Mark tells us that Jesus wondered at their unbelief; and the invitation the text offers us this week is to wonder at our own sense of expectancy about and openness to the power of God, at work in our ordinary lives.

Teaching Pastor: David Johnson, Lead Teaching Pastor | Ordinary Time | www.thedoor.org

Peggy follows Dave’s message from last week with another very familiar passage from Mark’s gospel – the woman who’s had a 12-year flow of blood, pushes through the crowd jostling around Jesus, touches the fringe of His garment, and is healed. Initially she is unnoticed by Jesus, until He perceives that healing power has gone forth.

There are so many unanswered questions in these verses from Mark 5:24b-34: How old was this woman? Was she married? What had caused her condition? What treatments had the doctors tried, that left her worse off? How did Jesus know healing power had gone forth from Him? How did the woman feel, having to describe to the whole crowd what her health issue had been, now that she’d been healed? Was anybody else in the crowd healed of their particular disease as they crowded in on Him?

This passage leaves our curiosity unsatisfied. But God’s heart for His people is clear, and that’s what Peggy makes space for this Sunday as we come to the Table. That we would encounter this caring, compassionate, restorative God, then be agents of that restorative shalom for others as we do our everyday lives.

Teaching Pastor: Peggy Lang, Prayer Ministries Pastor | Ordinary Time | www.thedoor.org

David continues in Mark’s gospel with a familiar passage: Jesus is asleep in the boat; a storm blows up; the panicky disciples wake Jesus with “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”; Jesus silences the wind and asks why they’re still so timid; and the disciples become even more afraid, asking, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

Written originally to the beleaguered Christians in Nero’s Rome, this story enfolds all of us as terrifying life-events overtake us; and it makes space for our “Where is God right now?” questions when the chaos overwhelms us.

Teaching Pastor: David Johnson, Lead Teaching Pastor | Ordinary Time | www.thedoor.org

Mark 4:26-34: Mark was writing to the church in Rome that hadn’t had the impact on the culture they desired. Rather, they were becoming the scapegoat for everything that was going wrong in the current culture, and Mark was reminding them that this life in God IS worth it. A sower goes out to sow some seeds, and things WILL grow, regardless. A tiny mustard seed, so insignificant, becomes a huge bush that provides protection and shelter. The kingdom is alive, fertile, and utterly extravagant! (This is the Bigger Story Al referenced last week, the Story that is strong and vibrant enough to bear the weight of our human and often pain-filled stories.)

David Johnson, Lead Teaching Pastor | Ordinary Time | www.thedoor.org

Al Schuck is speaking from 2 Corinthians 4:14-5:1 reminding us that all the parts of all our life-stories are so competently held in the bigger, ETERNAL story of God.

Teaching Pastor: Al Schuck, Community Life Pastor | Ordinary Time | www.thedoor.org

The texts for “Ordinary Time,” the weeks after Pentecost, take us into Mark’s and John’s accounts of the miracles and teachings of Jesus as He unfolded the truths of the Kingdom for His disciples – and for us.

As we walk with Jesus this week through Mark 2:23-3:6 – plucking grain with the disciples on the Sabbath, then watching Jesus heal the man with the withered hand, again on the Sabbath – we learn that God’s Kingdom is so much more abundant, merciful and robust than the kingdoms of this world. The weeks of Ordinary Time, numbered from Pentecost, remind us that we are bearers and extenders of this Kingdom because we, the Church, are filled with the Spirit of that same Jesus and shot out of Pentecost’s fire hose to bring that abundant, merciful, robust Life to others.

Teaching Pastor: Anne-Marie Finsaas, Pastor of Formational Life | Ordinary Time 2018 | www.thedoor.org

The text this Sunday is John 3:1-17; and while it presents some of the greatest truths of all time, We're reminded that this passage (with which we’re so familiar!) is also a record of a deeply personal interaction between Jesus and Nicodemus.

Teaching Pastor: Ronn Johnson, Guest Speaker | Pentecost 2018 | www.thedoor.org