Open Worship - Sermon Audio

We’re beginning a new journey at Open called “Small Story, Big Story” where we will unpack some of the most common Bible stories and find glimpses of the greater story of God’s love in each of them. Today, we begin with the story of Moses and the great Exodus of the Israelite people out of Egypt. As we look a little closer, we begin to see how God hears, draws near, and sends us out to do justice work in our world today!

We’re celebrating 2 years of the Open community and all of the incredible people who call it home. So far, we’ve heard the inspiring stories of some of our Open friends, but today, we’ll remember and tell the story of Open as a community—how we came to be, how we’ve grown, and get a glimpse at who we’ll become.

Did you know that the secret to contentment is right here in our scripture library? Contentment is something that many of us have spent so much of our lives searching for, and God has something to share with us. Today, we also have the opportunity to listen to and learn from the story of Paige Dixon of our Open community, and perhaps we will continue to discover the sacred beauty of each of our own stories along the way.

On Mother’s Day, we gather to contemplate the Mother God and to affirm that God is neither created in the image of man or woman, but transcends it all and lifts us all up as equals. If we all are created in the image of an infinite God, then we need to hear each other’s stories in order to see a more complete vision of God. Today, we also have the opportunity to listen to and learn from the story of Courtney Banatoski of our Open community and perhaps we will each discover the sacred beauty of each of our own stories along the way.

We all have a story to share, an important story of our experience with God and life and lessons along the way. We don’t always think of our story as valued and needed, but your story is sacredly important. If we all are created in the image of an infinite God, then we need to hear each other’s stories in order to see a more complete vision of God. Today, we have the opportunity to listen to and learn from the story of Layton Hernandez of our Open community and perhaps we will each discover the sacred beauty of each of our own stories along the way.

The celebration of Easter at Open was so life-giving! (Just as Easter should be, of course). This Easter, experience Jonathan's message about Mary Magdalene's story and the ever-present power of resurrection invite us to live as people of a love that overcomes.

Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter that begins the Holy Week. It is the day that we remember and celebrate the day Jesus entered into Jerusalem as king, but as a different kind of king than everyone expected. Kings and kingdoms feel ancient and patriarchal, but there is life to be found when we learn what kind of King Jesus was claimed to be.

Sin is a difficult word that has caused a lot of harm in our world. But, when we take a deeper look at the heart of God, it seems that maybe sin isn't a list of don'ts, but something deeper and more true. Let's revisit and reclaim this word and find together that sin isn't our identity, but instead it's what disturbs the flourishing of God's creation.

What does it really mean to be #blessed? Journey with Rev. Don Lee, Senior Pastor of FUMC-Denton, as he walks us through the different meanings of the word "blessing" and helps us see that God is deeply happy with us all.

There are four kinds of love found in the Bible: storge, eros, philia, and agape, but in the church, we often find a fifth kind of love—tough love. Let’s look together at the kinds of love we see in God’s character and shine that love back into our world.