Church of the Open Door

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:3-12

Join us for a powerful Community Ash Wednesday gathering as multiple churches come together in kingdom unity to begin the season of Lent.Through Scripture readings from Isaiah 53, worship, confession, corporate prayer, and Communion, we reflect on Christ’s suffering, our need for repentance, and the hope of redemption. Ash Wednesday reminds us of our mortality — “for dust you are, and to dust you will return” — and reorders our hearts in humility before God.Together, we prayed for unity among churches, for healing in our city, for those who are suffering, and for prodigals to return home. We shared the Lord’s Supper, lifted our voices in worship, and responded through prayer stations focused on healing, surrender, salvation, and receiving the ashes.As we enter the 40 days leading to Easter, this service invites us to fix our eyes on Jesus, lay down burdens we were never meant to carry, and prepare our hearts for the work God wants to do in us and through us.May this season draw us closer to Christ and to one another.

Scripture: Matthew 12:15-21This sermon from Matthew 12:15–21 highlights the quiet, steady way of Jesus in a loud and divided world. Instead of quarrelling or escalating, Jesus embodies gentleness, compassion, and unwavering justice—caring for the bruised reed and bringing hope without force or frenzy.As cultural tensions rise, we’re reminded that following Jesus isn’t about winning arguments or managing information—it’s about transformation into Christlikeness. The fruit of the Spirit marks the true way of Jesus, shaping us into people of love, peace, gentleness, and self-control.When darkness feels heavy, Scripture shows it often becomes the soil for a move of God. Remembering that Christ is building His Church and that the true battle is spiritual, we respond not with louder voices but with prayer. This message calls us to intercede for our neighborhoods, friends, family—even enemies—asking God for genuine breakthrough, humble repentance, and a fresh move of His Spirit in our community.

Scripture: I Corinthians 15:56-58Drawing from 1 Corinthians 15, this sermon names the real enemy we face—not one another, but sin, death, and the powers of darkness that distort God’s good world. Paul reminds the church in Corinth, and us today, that death does not get the final word—Jesus does. In a time marked by fear, grief, and cultural instability, we are invited to be re-anchored in resurrection hope. This hope is not optimism or positive thinking, but the living reality that God is renewing all things through Christ and his church. Because of the resurrection, our work is not busy work but resurrection work, and our labor in the Lord is never in vain. Standing firm in this hope, we are formed as disciples who carry love into the world while trusting that God will ultimately make all things new.

Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30; 26-43In Matthew 13, Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the weeds shows us the reality of living in a mixed world. God sows good seed, yet evil is present—not because God has failed, but because an enemy is at work. Jesus teaches that in this “already but not yet” season, wheat and weeds grow together, and we are not called to judge who is good and who is evil. Only God sees clearly.But this parable is not a message of despair—it is a message of hope. God does not abandon the world because it is tangled. He stays precisely because He intends to heal it. Jesus’ mission is to conquer evil and remove hell from God’s good creation through redemption, not force. Even now, goodness is growing, often quietly, in the midst of darkness.This leads us to humility, being slow to judge, and placing our confidence not in our own certainty but in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it leads us to hope—the assurance that evil is not the final reality. The kingdom of heaven is within reach, life is taking root, and one day the righteous will shine like the sun. Darkness will not win.