Nancy and I were recently reminded why we invest in the ministry of Church of the Open Door by the powerful testimony of our friend, Katherine Newman. Katherine and her friends are just one of 75 discipleship groups God has launched among us so far this year, and she shared the following about her experience: I was raised in church. I…

We talk a lot about discipleship here at COD. Discipleship simply means several people gathering together around the Word of God to open up to the Holy Spirit and to each other, for the purpose of growing in their relationships with Jesus. In fact, one of our 2023 Breakthrough Prayers is: Father, please launch 100 discipleship groups among us this year.…

I don’t like change. Good change, bad change, it doesn’t matter. In my head change is overrated. And while most of the time it is unconscious, just like the people in the Gospel of Luke asking and wanting more signs from God, I too find myself putting God in a box. I want to know the water is safe before…

As disciples of Jesus in this day and age, it’s easy to see that our children are bombarded by Satan who wants to kill, steal and destroy. One of His greatest attacks is on the sexuality of our children. Below is an excerpt of an email Student Ministries Pastor Ryan Berkman recently sent to parents of junior high and high…

There is a Tommy Walker song that says, "How good and pleasant it is when we dwell together in unity and praise the Lord, praise the Lord." That was this past Sunday. Celebration Sunday was such a beautiful picture of Christ's bride as He intended it. A gathering of his misfit bandit of children from all walks and stages of…

It's official - winter camp season has come to an end for our Student Ministries crew (cue the long exhale from all of our youth leaders and the groans from all of our students). For those who might have missed it - our high school group spent a long weekend up at Hume Lake last month, and this past Sunday,…

This past Sunday we continued through our Vision Month with a focus on financial stewardship. One of our COD families, John and Elizabeth Gregorich, shared some of their stewardship journey with us during the services. I found it so encouraging, and asked them if we could share some of it again this week with our email community. I hope it speaks…

The writer of Hebrews begins one of the most famous chapters in all of Scripture with these words, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) Faith is only necessary for things that we hope for that we cannot see. As Paul says, “Hope that is seen is not hope, for…

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19 Church of the Open Door…

A couple weeks ago, Darla Elder, our Discipleship Facilitator, extended a discipleship invitation to us as a church community. She shared, "I'm a 1st grade teacher, and in education we want our students to be lifelong learners. In the same way, as believers, discipleship invites us to be lifelong learners about Jesus! When we’re with other people who love the…