Open Worship - Sermon Audio

Covenants define our relationships—they set expectations, help us find clarity and identity, and create a way of life. Before Jesus, the old covenant set an expectation that those who wanted to be in relationship with God would keep the commandments, and that they would obey and be blessed in return. But Jesus’ new covenant was somehow simple and even more difficult than keeping all 613 of the old commandments—to love God and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

In our world, it’s the norm to look out for ourselves first—to make sure that we’re taken care of. We’re taught to climb the ladder of success, to seek out the corner office, and to provide first for our own. Yet, Jesus laid out a different way, the way of servanthood. Jesus shocked his followers when he proclaimed that greatness is really about serving others and that even though the world around us says to look out for ourselves, we find our own greatness when we look out for our neighbors. Check out this week’s message to unpack the way of servanthood!

We all have a lot to do—and there's so much more that we wish we could do! Most of us are doing so much, that we tire, feel depleted, or crash. But when we pause to remember to just be—that all of our doing flows from just being beloved—then we can go with renewed strength and remembering that self-care and rest are important along the way.

We are the light of the world and each of us glows with the love of God in the depth of who we are. Today, Pastor Kake helps us discover this truth through stories from the Bible, from the world, and from our community, highlighting a new LGBTQIA+-led Open group—Glow by Open. May your light shine bright!

Discover how generosity opens our spirit, connects our lives, and opens ourselves to take us even deeper into who we are created to be!

Jonathan shares the story of Open’s origin—how our tagline “Radical Love, Uniquely Denton” came to be, where our logo came from, and how Open became so much more than anyone ever dreamed it would be.

Jesus was a wallbreaker—he tore down dividing lines and made sure to emphasize that all are equal and welcome in the kingdom of God! Join us this week as we look into the Openness of God.

Last week, we found that God’s invitation to us is to be for our city—to seek the holistic flourishing of our neighbors and communities. What does this really look like? Jesus once shared a parable—that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed was sowed and grew to become a tree offering shelter and life to the world. What kind of seeds are we sowing in our cities? Let’s sow seeds that give shelter, support our neighbors, and offer radical love to our world.

When the people of Israel were in exile, they didn't know what to do. The Babylonian empire conquered them and expected them to assimilate into Babylonian culture. Jeremiah brought the radical word of God that was so different than what they expected—to seek the wholistic, universal flourishing of the city they were in. God called them to be for their neighbors, not against them. Check out this sermon and see how this is still God's radical message for us today.

As Jesus was gathered with the disciples at the table, a woman unexpectedly anointed him with expensive oil. She did this from a place of deep generosity and appreciation of the person of Jesus because he brought good news to her life and her story. When the disciples responded angrily, Jesus radically lifted her story to be part of the good news. He elevated her story to be equal to his own and made it clear that the good news is for us all.