Church of The Open Door Sermons

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Join us as we dive deeper into the Scriptures and themes from the Sunday morning sermons at Church of the Open Door! If you have questions to add to the conversation, let us know at [email protected]!

The Love That Launched Christmas

“Unfailing Love”

Psalm 130:7-8

God’s unfailing love is demonstrated to us through His:

Unshakable Lovingkindness

In the worst circumstances of your life, God loves you with an unfailing love that will carry you through whatever you’re facing.

Compassionate Mercy

When we fall into sin, God comes to us and offers a forgiveness that is rich in unfailing love and mercy.

Never-ending Faithfulness

Though we fail to love well, the faithful, unfailing love of the Lord never wavers.

Tenacious Persistence

When we’ve strayed from God, He chases us down with a fierce, persistent, unfailing love, and calls us back to Himself.

God’s love is reckless in that He extravagantly pours out His love on people who He knows will oppose Him, neglect Him, and reject Him.

LifeGroup Questions: Applying the Teaching to Our Life

Have you ever received a Christmas gift and thought after you opened it, “this person loves me well?” What was the gift and why was it so impactful?

“Love unexpressed is love unknown” is a favorite phrase Pastor Jim has repeated to describe how important it is to express and communicate the love you have for someone. What other passages or stories from the Bible can you think of that illustrates God expressing His love to humanity?

The phrase “unfailing love” is one of many ways to capture some of the meaning of the Hebrew word “khesed.” It simply cannot be sufficiently translated or captured in English by one or two equivalent words. We explored four phrases, but still didn’t capture all of the meaning inherent in this wonderful word. But of the four phrases we did look at, which one is most meaningful to you? Why? Spend some time on this question, and if anyone is struggling with understanding one of the four, discuss it together so you each come to a clearer understanding.

Has it been relatively easy or hard for you to grasp that God loves you as deeply and thoroughly as He does? Why?

How has God’s unfailing love wooed you towards relationship to him? How have you been affected by this type of love?

Close in prayer, asking God to reveal more of each of the facets of His “unfailing” love to each of us.

Join us as we dive deeper into the Scriptures and themes from the Sunday morning sermons at Church of the Open Door! If you have questions to add to the conversation, let us know at [email protected]!

“Redeeming Love”

Luke 6:27; Psalm 130:7-8, 1 Peter 1:18-22

1. When you love your enemies, you’re doing what God does.

Who are God's enemies?

Those who have opposed, rebelled and sinned against God.

God did not make us his enemies, we made ourselves his enemies.

How does God love his enemies?

With The Love that launched  Christmas

With redeeming, Unfailing, Reconciling, saving Love

2. When Jesus came to earth, He came to show us God’s Redeeming Love.

We were redeemed out of bondage.

Jesus paid the price for our freedom.

We were redeemed from an empty life of sin.

Jesus rescued us from our sin.

We were redeemed by the blood of Christ.

Jesus gave his life as a ransom.

From the cradle to the cross, God’s redeeming love is displayed in Jesus.

Core CHRISTlike Characteristic:

Relates with Other-Centered Love/Loving People

Join us as we dive deeper into the Scriptures and themes from the Sunday morning sermons at Church of the Open Door! If you have questions to add to the conversation, let us know at [email protected]!

Flipped

“Handling Rejection”

Luke 6:22-23; 26

Expect to be “cancelled” for following Jesus

Hated

Excluded

Insulted

Rejected

Rejoice when you suffer for following Jesus

Why rejoice? Because your suffering proves:

you belong to Jesus

you are becoming more like Jesus

you have a reward in heaven

you have the Spirit of God

Evaluate whether you’re facing opposition for following Jesus

Are you following Jesus?

Are you following from a safe distance?

Are you compromising your faith?

Will you take a stand for Jesus?

Core CHRISTlike Characteristic: Relates with Other-Centered Love/Loving People

Flipped

 “Break My Heart”

Luke 6:21b; 25b

We are all going to weep, it’s just a matter of

Jesus wants to flip our hearts to value what God values.

Each of the blessings and and each of the woes have an implication for the present and and an implication for the future.

Jesus is inviting His listeners to have a bigger view than just Israel

God’s Kingdom is anywhere that God is King!

We serve a God who is grieved by sin.

Escapism: avoiding reality.

Broken heart: commitment to reality

You are blessed when your heart breaks for what breaks God’s

DANGEROUS PRAYER: “Break my heart”

Let your compassion drive you to action!

What breaks your heart and what are you going to do about it?

Supporting Scripture: Ezekiel 6:9-10; Luke 19:41; Ephesians 4:30; Matthew 9:35-38; Isaiah 61:1-3; Genesis 3; Revelation 21-22

LifeGroup Questions: Applying the Teaching to Our Lives

What’s something new you learned from today’s message?

Why is a Kingdom mindset so important when reading the Beatitudes?

Do you find yourself seeking escapism?

God grieves for sin and brokenness. Why is that important?

How should we respond to the brokenness we see in the world? What would it look like for you to lean in instead of trying to escape?

The Dangerous prayer: Have you ever asked God to break your heart?

What makes you weep? What makes you pound the table?

What would it look like to let your compassion drive you to action? What could God be asking you to do?

Flipped

“Flipped Response”

 Luke 6:21b, 25b

Jesus wants to flip our hearts to value what God values.

 

When we value what God values, it flips how we respond to the world around us.

How can there be blessing in weeping as a response to the world around us?

Weeping is an appropriate part of living in a broken

Mourning is an expression of sorrow and grief that communicates that things are not as they should be.

Laughter allows us to escape the tension that is caused by all that’s gone wrong. The worst thing we can do is to live as though a real problem doesn’t exist.

We are invited to weep because we are commanded to love.

Application: Am I quick to mourn over sin and its effects in my life and in the world? Or, am I chasing after temporary safety or happiness that distracts me from my need for Jesus?

God comforts those who are broken over the brokenness of the world.

The present blessing is God’s solidarity: God is close to the broken hearted.

The blessing is grounded in God’s solution: God will put an end to sin and death.

Take Home Truth: There’s blessing in weeping when brokenness drives us to the One who will make things whole again.

LifeGroup Questions: Applying the Teaching to Our Lives

Icebreaker: Are you a movie crier? If yes, what is the last movie that made you cry?

Looking back over your notes, what is one thing that stuck out to you from the sermon? Why did that stick out?

What was your initial reaction to Jesus saying “Blessed are you who weep now”?

What does it mean that “Death is the most unnatural thing in the world?” Do you agree or disagree?

What are some common ways that people escape the brokenness of the world? Why is this so common in our society?

What do you usually do when you get a piece of bad news, or hear about something terrible happening in the world? Then, ask yourself: Does it look more like leaning into the brokenness of the world, or like trying to escape the discomfort?

Read Romans 12:5-9. What does it practically mean to “mourn with those who mourn”?

In your own words, why is it better to allow your heart to be broken by the sin that breaks God’s heart?

If you were honest, are you quick to mourn over sin and its effects in your life? Or is there sin and brokenness in your life or in the world that you’ve begun to accept as the norm?

Flipped

“From grief to glory”

The blessing hidden in our mourning.

Luke 6:21b and 25b

 

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LifeGroup Questions: Applying the Teaching to Our Lives

 

What is the time you wept the most in your life? If possible, describe how you immediately felt. What, if any, joy or comfort did God bring from that situation?

How has your experience of hurt and suffering helped you connect and love others?

In what way(s) are you tempted to avoid pain/run toward pleasure in your life? How has this effected your relationship with Jesus and others?

How, as followers of Jesus, do we balance the sorrow we feel over sin and suffering with a reality that we are to live in joy and peace? Can you share an example from your experience?

Is there anyone/anything Jesus is calling you to weep over in your life?

*Conclude by reading Hebrews 5:7-9. Take time to pray for one another.

 

CHRISTlike characteristic: Relates with Other Centered Love/Loving People

Flipped

“Now and Later”

Luke 6:21b, 25b

(1) JESUS’ LIFE

(2) MAN’S LIFE

(3) HOPE FILLED

(4) now WEEPING

(5) later LAUGHING

(6) Attentive to God & His Kingdom

(7) Ignorant of God

(8) attuned to man’s Kingdom

(9) now LAUGHING

(10) later WEEPING

(11) HOPE LESS

LifeGroup Questions: Apply the Teaching to Our Lives

Begin Life Group with prayer - invite the Holy Spirit to speak and move among you.

What’s your preference: weeping or laughing? Why? What are the benefits and dangers of both?

Storytime: share a time in your life when weeping turned to laughing OR when laughing turned to weeping.

As a group, read (silently or aloud) Psalm 51 and discuss the following:

What’s the context? What situation is David in from our notes today? Weeping to laughing or laughing to weeping?

Take a closer look at verses 16 and 17. Which approach does this illustrate from our text today?

How can we as a church and especially as a life group, keep one another attentive to God and His kingdom and avoid slipping into an ignorance of God?

Spend time going over the handout from service Sunday - how can lament, self examination & confession help us to stay alert to God’s kingdom? What are the benefits of these practices?

Spend time together as you end praying some of these prayers of lament or confession. Perhaps break into groups as men or women or break into 2’s or 3’s to have closer conversations.

Core CHRIST-like Characteristics: Connected to God through the Word and prayer, Heart of Worship