Check out the latest messages from the Open community. You can also find messages on Facebook, our YouTube channel, or via the Open podcast.
We find ourselves at the intersection of relationships with God (or something greater), others, and ourselves. Sometimes those relationships are unbalanced or fractured, but Jesus came to put them back together in love. When all of those relationships align, we find a new sense of purpose and an empowering sense of self.
We’re invited to have a style that is new, even when all around is old. There are a lot of old things we can wear around — selfishness, close mindedness, resentment — but Jesus invites us into a whole new way of being and living and clothing ourselves. This new way has love at its center and compassion as its outer layer. Find out how this new style can help you be new when all around is old.
This Sunday, we reflected on the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wall-breaking, bridge-building work that challenges us to answer the call in our time. Like Jesus, MLK worked to make the world new even when the world around him was trapped in the old patterns and prejudices. Learn how Jesus’ wall-breaking work overcame the old walls of separation, and calls us to continue breaking walls and building bridges in our lives.
It's hard to imagine that things could really be different. But Jesus brought something that wasn't just religion 2.0, it was brand new—and all about a new start in love. Find out how this can be the key to breaking through, being new, and making a difference this year.
In a world of division, suspicion, and even hate, how do we make peace and live out love? Jesus said the kingdom of God, those places where God’s love and live reign, is like a seed that is planted that grows into a tree that gives safety and life to many. Seeds are small, but with nutrients, time, and growth, they can flourish.
God calls us to be for the places where we live. That means seeking the shalom, or universal holistic flourishing of our communities. Find out how oyu can start where you are, with what you have, and seek shalom in your city.
We all want to live the good & beautiful life—and God wants that for us as well. The skills to get there are called wisdom, and the book of James is full of wise thought and direction. But, the wisdom from above comes when we use our skills and our self for the good of others. Find out how in this final installment in our summer James series.
Your words have power — they can bring life and healing in your home, school, or workplace — anywhere they are needed — or they can squash life and cause harm. Learn how you can learn to use the power of words to build up and bring life to those who need it.
“Faith makes you alive, apart from works” — and “faith that is alive works for love.” These two perspectives run throughout Scripture. Taken together they give us a deeper picture of life with God and how you can come alive in the life and love you were meant to find.
Though it seems counterintuitive, God declares that mercy triumphs over judgment. No matter where we come from, when we draw near God's heart, what we find is mercy not judgment.
God moves toward the margins, the messy, the vulnerable and misunderstood. If we are following God, we need to move in the direction God is heading. Find out how and find hope in our own messiness as well.
Trials are not good; they are hard. But can lasting good come even through trials? Find some wisdom in trials from James 1:3-6.
What if doubts and questions are a part of the journey of faith? Believe it or not, God invites us to seek — and loves our questions.
As we go through life, we accumulate wounds and scars and baggage. But God wants to help us be free. Forgiveness is incredibly hard, but it helps break the cycle so we can be who we were built to be.
What does God think about you? Amazingly, the answer is simple: God SO loves you. Explore a familiar verse, John 3:16, and uncover the incredible foundation of God's unqualified love.
Over and over God makes it clear — God's heart is compassionate. Though it can feel overwhelming, our heart should be compassionate as well. Discover a real, practical way to be shaped by compassion in your life.
God invites us to a profound calling: to be ambassadors of Christ's love. How do we even begin to do that? Begin where you are, with what you are, and see what God's inclusive, missional, radical love can do.
What are we supposed to be up to in life? What is our purpose? Well, God has an incredible, clear purpose for all of us — to be light in our location, using who we are and what we have to share love and light in this life.
The world is good at labeling people, defining and stereotyping them. But God built you uniquely, with purpose and in love. Discover God's labels and discover who you truly are. (From Romans 12:1-2).
People create boundaries between who is in and who is out, but God is open to all people, no matter what. You are loved by a God who knows no boundaries.
