Thanks for listening to our podcast! We pray that you would find hope in Jesus as you listen. If you would like to know more about our church please visit us at www.opendoorsanrafael.com

Thanks for listening to our podcast! We pray that you would find hope in Jesus as you listen. If you would like to know more about our church please visit us at www.opendoorsanrafael.com

Thanks for listening to our podcast! We pray that you would find hope in Jesus as you listen. If you would like to know more about our church please visit us at www.opendoorsanrafael.com

Thanks for listening to our podcast! We pray that you would find hope in Jesus as you listen. If you would like to know more about our church please visit us at www.opendoorsanrafael.com

As we journey into the uncharted waters of a global pandemic and what that means for us as the local church, we continue our Wide Open series with a message that hits close to home. What is our steadfast hope when threatened with bodily death or decline? Resurrection and future glory.

This Sunday we started a new series on vulnerability. Why vulnerability? Because it's the only way to intimacy and intimacy is what we all need most. In this opening message we look at the need for comfort in moments of suffering - one of the greatest invitations to vulnerability and intimacy there is.

The Bible tells us that humanity, apart from Jesus, dwells in darkness. History and our own experience confirms this to be true. There is struggle everywhere you look and no one is immune. This is where those who trust in Jesus have a wondrous opportunity to share the hope that is in Him. All it takes is the audacity to sing when it makes no sense.

As we move with compassion toward hurting and broken people there is a danger we must be aware of - that we would see the need in others for gospel transformation and forget about the need in ourselves. But we can never forget that the gospel of Jesus can only be administered by people who are intimately aware of their own need for it. Humility matters. There is no "them," only "us."

When the pharisees (the religious elite) saw who was gathered around Jesus, they judged him for it. His followers weren't your typical church crowd. Some were cheats. Some were even prostitutes. Growing up, most of us heard that "bad company corrupts good morals," but if we want to walk like Jesus the simple fact is most of us need more friends...and worse friends than we have now.

Our vision as a church in 2020 can be summed up in two simple words: "Go Low."

Jesus said, "Go quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame... Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled." (Luke 14:21 & 23)

Our vision is nothing new or fancy. It's not some strategy contrived for church growth. It's just getting back to the heart of the gospel and living the way Jesus lived. It's keeping our eyes open to people in need, keeping our heart open to the wind of the Spirit, and moving with compassion toward the ones others are moving away from.