Advertise on podcast: Opendoor Church Weekly Messages

Are you ready to step into what God has promised, even when you can’t see what’s on the other side? In this message, Apostolic Elder Pastor Jimmy Witcher shares from Hebrews and Joshua how faith is a relay race. He reminds us that the generations before us did not receive everything God promised, so that His promises could be carried forward through us. As Opendoor Church celebrates 40 years, he shares six keys to walking in the promise: recognize the season, ready your heart, remember what God has done, release your dependence on comfort and tradition, reproduce generationally, and run with endurance. If you’ve felt weary, stuck in what’s familiar, or uncertain about what comes next, this message will encourage you to fix your eyes on Jesus, lay down what’s slowing you down, and run your leg of the race with faith and hope.

Are you holding on to things God is trying to burn away? In this special Altar Night message, Senior Pastor Aaron Kennedy takes us to the threshing floor of Araunah in 1 Chronicles 21-22, the place of David’s greatest leadership failure, which became the place God chose for His temple. Pastor Aaron shows how a threshing floor separates wheat from chaff, and why the wind of the Holy Spirit doesn’t create that difference but reveals it. Wheat has weight. Chaff only has appearance. Drawing from Matthew 3 and Hebrews 12, he reminds us that God is shaking what can be shaken so only what is unshakable remains, and calls our church past convenience and into worship that costs us something. If you’ve felt stuck in old habits, settled into comfortable faith, or unsure whether your failures disqualify you, this message will invite you to surrender fully and discover that the place of your greatest mistake can become the place you meet God’s mercy.

Are you carrying weight into this next season that God is asking you to leave behind? In this message from our Generation to Generation series, Pastor John Conway walks through Joshua 1 as God’s people prepare to step into the promise. He shares five ways to get ready: be prepared for the promise, be patient in His presence, be people of His Word, be strong and courageous, and be positioned to move. He reminds us that the next generation won’t be built on adrenaline but on the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and that we’re invited to participate in God’s presence instead of watching from a distance. If you’ve felt weighed down, spiritually worn out, or unsure what comes next, this message will encourage you to let go of what needs to stay behind and move forward with Jesus as your provision.

Are you still on fire for Jesus, or has your love for Him slowly started to grow cold? In this message from our series celebrating 40 years as a church, Pastor Aaron Kennedy walks through Matthew 24, 1 John 2, and Revelation 2 to show how the love of many will grow cold in the last days: our love for God, our love for one another, and our love for the lost. He unpacks how culture, compromise, and the pull of the world can harden our hearts like cooling wax, and why God’s standard never shifts even when ours does. If you’ve felt spiritually distant, comfortable in your faith, or worn down by disappointment, this message will invite you to remember, repent, and return to the love you had at first, and let the Holy Spirit set your heart on fire again.

Are you living like an ambassador for Jesus, or has your faith quietly become all about you? In this message, Pastor Michael Chandler wraps up our 40th anniversary series with the final piece of our vision: going forth to reveal Him to our community and world. Drawing from Matthew 28 and Acts 1:8, he reminds us that sharing Jesus is not the calling of a select few but the call of every Christ follower. He describes a church that goes forth as equipped, aware of the authority it has been given, and kingdom-minded. He also gives five practical ways to share your faith with humility and patience in a post-Christian culture. If you’ve felt hesitant, unprepared, or afraid of what people might think, this message will encourage you to step out in faith, knowing Jesus goes with you and the Holy Spirit empowers you to be His witness right where you are.

Are you being led by God’s presence, or driven by your own plans and abilities? In this message, Pastor John Conway shares from 2 Corinthians 3 how embracing God’s character and gifts transforms us from glory to glory. He reminds us that we are led by His presence, not a platform; confident in the Holy Spirit, not ourselves; bold in declaring and demonstrating who He is; and set free as we are changed into His image. If you’ve felt stuck, self-reliant, or unsure how to find freedom, this message will encourage you to position yourself in God’s presence and let the Holy Spirit make you more like Jesus.

Are you settling for knowing about God instead of actually knowing Him? In this message, Elder Elliotte Pearson walks through the names of God revealed in Scripture, from Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides, to Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our peace, and shares personal stories of provision, healing, deliverance, and peace. He reminds us that God’s character must be discovered, revealed, and experienced, and that embracing who He truly is means letting go of the version of God we’ve built in our own minds. If you’ve felt anxious, worn out from relying on yourself, or unsure whether God will show up for you, this message will invite you to dig deeper and experience Him as your provider, healer, banner, and shepherd.

Are you loving people the way you did when you first fell in love with Jesus, or has your love slowly grown cold? In this message, Pastor Aaron Kennedy shares from Revelation 2, Matthew 24, and 1 John 4 how the clearest evidence of our love for God is the way we love the people around us. He defines agape as the deliberate choice to seek another person's good, even when emotion, agreement, or reciprocity is absent, and offers three thoughts: agape is the third option in a polarizing culture, it is a conviction and not a convenience, and its source determines its capacity. He also gives a simple rhythm for returning to our first love: remember, repent, and repeat. If you've felt worn down by division, short on grace, or full of information about God but distant from His presence, this message will invite you to slow down, experience His love again, and let it flow out to the people around you.

What if the way you love people is the clearest evidence that you love God? In this message, Pastor Michael Chandler continues our 40th anniversary series by looking at what it means to be a church that loves people. Teaching from 1 John 4, he reminds us that we love because God loved us first, and that real love looks like Jesus laying His life down on the cross. He shares three marks of a church that loves people: it is compelled to action, it sees God's potential in people, and it pursues the one. If you've felt too busy, too distracted, or worn down by people who are hard to love, this message will encourage you to receive God's love again and let Him interrupt your plans for the person right in front of you.

Are you as in love with Jesus today as you once were, or has your heart slowly grown cold without you noticing? In this message, Pastor Aaron Kennedy launches our Generation to Generation series, celebrating 40 years as a church by returning to Opendoor's original vision: to be a church who loves God. Drawing from Matthew 24, he shares how easily love can drift and grow cold, and calls us back to a love that endures through a love for God's Word, a love for God's ways, and a love for God's presence. If you've felt spiritually distant, worn out from trying to perform for God, or unsure how to trust Him when life doesn't make sense, this message will invite you to stop striving and simply come back into His presence.

Are you still loving God the way you did at first, or has your faith slowly settled into routine? In this message, Pastor Michael Chandler begins our 40th anniversary series by unpacking the first part of Opendoor Church's vision: to be a church that loves God. Drawing from Jesus' words to the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2, he reminds us that loving God is more than a catchphrase on a wall. It is our highest calling, and it shows up in a church that loves His presence, loves His will, and loves His heart. If you've felt spiritually distracted, worn down by the noise of the world, or like your passion for God has grown cold, this message will invite you to return to your first love and let your heart burn for Him again.

Are you experiencing the presence of God, or have you lost the sense of Him without knowing why? In this message, Guest Speaker Dr. R.T. Kendall shares from the story of Peter and John in Acts how the Holy Spirit is gentle and sensitive, and how bitterness, anger, and unforgiveness can quietly lift the sense of His presence from our lives. He reminds us that the Spirit came down on Jesus and remained, and that we grow in the anointing as we get to know God's Word and His ways, and as we shorten the time between sin and repentance. If you've felt spiritually distant, held onto hurt, or wondered why God seems far away, this message will encourage you to forgive, walk closely with the Holy Spirit, and boldly point others to Jesus.

Are you reading the Bible, or are you actually chewing on it? In this message, Pastor Megan Holland shares that we are called not just to read God's Word but to feed on it, the way Jesus answered temptation with Scripture. She walks through six practices for taking it in: pray, read, discover, apply, meditate, and discuss. Then she leads us through John 11 to put them into practice together. If you've felt like you're going through the motions in your quiet time, unsure how to approach the Bible, or spiritually hungry without knowing why, this message will encourage you to come to the table and let the Holy Spirit speak to you through God's Word every day.

Are you fighting to win, or fighting for what God has actually called you to protect? In this message, Pastor Miriam Wamer shares the story of Jacob wrestling with God the night before facing his brother Esau, reminding us that God changes our identity and our fear before He ever changes our circumstances. She unpacks the difference between a testimony, the story of what God has done in us, and a legacy, what God does through us that remains for the next generation, and challenges us to stop asking only what we survived and start asking what God wants to do through it. If you've felt weighed down by regret, family patterns, or a past you wish you could undo, this message will encourage you to trust that God can still restore your story and use it to build a legacy of faithfulness for those who come after you.

Are you unknowingly passing dysfunction down to the next generation instead of breaking it? In this message, Pastor Aaron Kennedy shares how children inherit our practices more than our beliefs, and how the giants we refuse to confront in ourselves become the giants our kids are left to face. Using the story of Caleb, he reminds us it's never too late to kill the giant in your life, and that healing comes not from hiding our brokenness but from getting honest about it. If you've felt weighed down by generational patterns, regret, or things you know you've been avoiding, this message will challenge you to act instead of react, honor instead of judge, and finally take back the ground the enemy has held for too long.