Open Door Community Church

06/02/2026

Happy June! For the month of June, we're partnering with churches around the country in collecting funds for the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering.

The One Great Hour of Sharing offering began seventy-seven years ago in response to the devastation of World War II. On Saturday evening, March 26, 1949, a national broadcast titled “One Great Hour” featured a remarkable assembly of national leaders and celebrities. The 33rd U.S. President, Harry S. Truman’s, radio address during the broadcast included the following:

“There are thousands of children in foreign lands today who have no memory of their parents, no knowledge of the meaning of the words "home" and "family," and who have forgotten what it feels like to have enough to eat. There are hopeless thousands who wander among the shattered towns seeking a place to rest, seeking security and a chance to begin their lives anew. There are many who pray to God only in secret, fearing persecution if they profess their beliefs openly. It is hard for us to comprehend grief and distress such as this because we in America are so much more fortunate. Our country has been blessed with material riches. Our homes are secure. We can go to our churches and worship God as we desire. We know that we enjoy these great blessings not because of any special merit on our part, but because of the bounty of God. It is to His Providence that we owe the richness of our country and our heritage of freedom. Since these good things come to us from Him, we know that we must use them for the good of others in accordance with His will.”

The broadcast concluded by asking Americans to give generously the next morning in their churches. More than 75,000 churches responded.

Today, One Great Hour of Sharing serves people in over 80 countries around the world. Sponsored by five Christian U.S. denominations and Church World Service, One Great Hour of Sharing makes sure that we can respond to needs as soon as they happen and that tens of thousands of people receive support for ongoing relief, rehabilitation, and development.

06/01/2026

When things are going well, where do you turn? When they’re going poorly, what’s your response? How about when you’re scared, lonely, overwhelmed, burnt out?

Just like Moses, so often, we misplace our trust in things that were never meant to hold our trust.

We misplace our trust in our view of ourselves - we either think we can handle it all on our own, or we think there’s no way God can use us and we’ll never be good enough. Either way, we look at ourselves rather than the God who promises to be with us.

Sometimes, we misplace our trust in others and their ability to understand God. We think there’s no way they’ll listen or “get it,” so what even is the point of sharing Him? May as well quit before we’ve even started. Or maybe we *do* share about God and they have a negative reaction, so we take that as proof that we screwed up or that it wasn’t worth it.

Maybe we’ve taken an inventory of our skills and just don’t feel equipped to the work God has called us to do. We don’t speak eloquently enough so how could God possibly use us to share his word? We say “I don’t know how to do that, so You must not be calling me to it.”

Or we’ve screwed up before. We look at our past and say "I messed up. I'm too screwed up. God can't use me now." We think our past failures prevent future success.

Maybe the clock is ticking and it feels like God’s time just isn’t happening. You’ve struggled with the same thing for what feels like forever and it’s just not getting any better, so you feel doomed to be stuck forever.

And we misplace trust in our ability to change ourselves in our power. Rather than admit our powerlessness, we white knuckle our way through life thinking that we’ll get it when we just try hard enough.

But here’s the good news. God will always work to free us. He is inviting us to trust in Him. His promises. His power. His goodness. His provision. His redemption. His timing. It’s time to let him.

So What?
1. In what do you tend to trust most?
2. How have you seen misplaced trust keep you or others trapped?
3. Where and how is God inviting you to trust his promises?

05/31/2026

Today, we got to celebrate what 170 years looks like.

It looks like singing songs from different eras of the church’s history.

It looks like the youngest generation dancing on stage.

It looks like the encouragement and hope that come from remembering the One in whom we place our trust.

It looks like new members joining the church family.

It looks like celebrating the accomplishments of students graduating from high school and college.

It looks like plates filled with a smorgasbord of food.

It looks like friendship, fellowship, and laughter shared around the table.

It looks like stories and memories that stretch beyond the living memory of even our oldest members.

It looks like recognizing the many people who have faithfully been part of this church for decades (one for more than 80 years!).

It looks like praying for what God has done and will do.

It looks like honoring those who are no longer with us and making space for the grief that remains because they mattered so deeply.

For 170 years, it has looked like generations of people gathering to worship, pray, sing, serve, grieve, celebrate, and follow Jesus together.

And by God's grace, that story is still being written.

05/31/2026

Good morning! Welcome to Open Door Community Church! We are so excited to worship with you today!

We hope you’ll join us in worship today! If you can’t join us in person, you can always join us live (or watch the replay) at the link below!

The service starts at 10:10, followed by our 170th Anniversary Potluck! Bring a "mini bites" dish to share and enjoy the celebration!

Welcome to Open Door Community Church in Sterling, IL! Join us live for our Sunday service!Sermon Series: Exodus: Leaving SlaverySermon: The Slavery of Mispl...

05/29/2026

This Sunday is an exceptionally special Sunday for our church!

This Sunday, May 31, we’ll be celebrating 170 years of loving God, serving our community, and walking together through generations of ministry at Open Door Community Church, and we’d love for you to be part of it!

We’ll begin with a special family worship service, including recognition of our 2026 graduates, as we celebrate both where we’ve been and where God is leading next.

After the service, bring a dish and stick around for our “Mini Bites” Anniversary Potluck! Instead of full dishes, we’re inviting everyone to bring simple bite-size foods to share. Think things like sliders, meatballs, pinwheels, fruit skewers, brownie bites, mini cupcakes, and other easy finger foods.

Why mini bites? Because over 170 years, it’s often been the “little things” that God has used in big ways such as small acts of kindness, prayers, meals shared, hands serving, songs sung, conversations had, and lives changed. Little moments that, over time, became a powerful legacy of faith.

Whether you’ve been part of Open Door for decades or this would be your very first Sunday, we invite you to join us in celebrating the wonderful work God has done and the work we trust He will continue to do in the years ahead.

Come worship, celebrate, laugh, eat, remember, and look forward with us.

The service begins at 10:10. You are welcome here.

05/28/2026

Our 170th Anniversary “Mini Bites” Potluck is almost here, and we want to know…

What are YOU bringing? 👀

We'd love for you to bring a simple bite-size dish to share after the service this Sunday!

Need an idea? Think things like...
• Meatballs
• Pinwheels
• Sliders
• Fruit salad
• Veggie cups
• Cheese & crackers
• Brownie bites
• Mini cupcakes
• Cookies
• Little sandwiches
• Basically anything delicious that can disappear in 1-3 bites 😄

The idea is simple: little bites that add up to a full celebration, kind of like the little acts of faithfulness, kindness, service, and love that have added up to 170 years of ministry together.

Drop a comment below and tell us what you’re planning to bring! (Or what you’re hoping someone else brings 👀)

05/27/2026

Sometimes we are the oppressed and we need to be freed.

But sometimes we're the oppressor ... and we need to be freed.

What tends to happen is that when we are oppressed and we don't fully get freedom from what has oppressed us and what that's done deep inside of us, we turn around and oppress others.

Like when a child gets abused at home, home. They're oppressed. Then they go to school and become the school bully. The oppressor.

There are many, many ways that this works its way out in our lives if we are willing to admit it. But it's lot harder to say l am the oppressor than it is to say I'm the oppressed.

We need to look at both so that we can be freed from both.

05/26/2026

In the United States, May is Mental Health Awareness Month.

It’s no secret that our society experiences a variety of mental health struggles - both short term and long term. These struggles can range from having some dark days, to ongoing depression and anxiety to psychological disorders.

The church is not immune to mental health struggles, but we are uniquely equipped to offer support.

This Thursday, May 28, we’re participating in a training offered virtually through our denomination called “Mental Health Struggles in Congregational Life: What do We do?”

Together, we’ll receive training on how to best come alongside our church family through mental health struggles, whether they’re temporary or long term. Join us at 7 as we learn together what it means to be the reflection of Christ in the lives and minds of those who are struggling.

05/25/2026

When we think about slavery, most of us think about something from the distant past.

But slavery is still alive and well in our world today. And beyond literal slavery, many of us are also enslaved to things like addictions, fear, trauma, anger, control, shame, or destructive patterns we can’t seem to break.

That’s why Exodus still matters.

As we begin our new series through Exodus, we see that slavery comes in many forms, but only God brings freedom.

One of the hardest truths from the passage is that both the oppressed and the oppressor are enslaved. The oppressed are trapped by a lack of control. The oppressor becomes trapped by the need for more control. And if we’re honest, sometimes we play both roles in different parts of our lives.

We also saw several ways Moses tried to bring freedom that didn’t work. Violence didn’t work. Avoidance didn’t work. Hoping the next generation would fix things didn’t work.

Real freedom begins when God acts.

And the good news is that God is still in the business of freeing people, not only from literal slavery but also from sin, addiction, oppression, fear, bitterness, and everything else that keeps us trapped.

So What?
1. In what ways are you enslaved as an oppressor? As the oppressed?
2. How have you tried to get out of slavery by your own strength?
3. Where is God inviting you to look for his action to free you?

05/24/2026

The greeting team passed out loads of smiles along with the bulletin this morning!