First Love Church

Following Jesus Up Close

A softer heart sees more clearly. We trace a path from the Beatitudes’ upside-down blessings to Epiphany’s invitation to truly see, naming how distraction, certainty, and fear keep us from love while Jesus keeps moving toward the margins with light and welcome. When he says keep turning from sin and come back to God, we hear repentance as returning from the illusion of separation—back to union, belonging, and the kingdom that’s accessible now.We explore what close discipleship looks like in real life: dropping nets that bind, letting God untie the knots we can’t fix, and imitating the character of Christ—patient, gentle, self-controlled, and kind. The call isn’t to carry heavier yokes but to learn the unforced rhythms of grace. Healing becomes ordinary and near: presence that ends isolation, meals that communicate worth, words that bless instead of brand. With a simple filter—does this heal or harm—we practice everyday discernment in families, workplaces, and neighborhoods.Not every “Jesus” we’re handed is the real one. We name the counterfeits and return to the Jesus children ran toward and the excluded trusted. From stories of following too far behind to the relief of letting go, we re-center on a Savior who makes space at the table and sends us out as agents of mercy. Communion ties it together as embodied formation: waiting, receiving, and obeying even when it feels beneath us, like Naaman’s seventh dip that finally heals.If this message sparks hope, share it with someone who needs light today. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: what one knot are you ready to let God untie this week?Support the showThis podcast is made possible, thanks to the generosity of our donors. If you would like to support the ongoing work of First Love Church you can donate at https://www.firstlovechurch.org/givingIn the service of LOVE,Pastors Dennis and Heather Drake

Mary, Elizabeth, And The Art Of Waiting

Hope doesn’t wait for perfect conditions; it starts singing while the future is still hidden. We open Advent with Mary’s Magnificat and Elizabeth’s blessing, Isaiah’s blueprint for peace, and Jesus’ invitation to keep watch without fear. Along the way, a childhood story on a frozen Chicago platform becomes a parable for church: when anxiety rises and the crowd presses in, we wait together, make space for one another, and look for the signs of good coming down the tracks.We explore how patience is formed in real life—through small obediences, shared readings, and breath prayers that trade panic for presence. Mary declares God’s faithfulness before outcomes arrive, and Elizabeth names the holy before the world can see it. Isaiah calls us to reshape what we build and fund, turning conflict into cultivation and weapons into tools that feed communities. And Jesus points to a fig tree, teaching us to read the nearness of renewal not by rumors of doom but by noticing tender buds of life.John the Baptist reminds us that Advent is for the weary and the wonderfully weird, for those on the margins and those carrying threadbare hope. We talk about holding hope for each other when it’s too heavy to carry alone, celebrating moments of goodness, and gathering at the communion table where hunger meets provision. If you’ve been waiting without answers, or saying yes to God without details, this conversation offers language, practices, and community that help you see in the dark and trust the dawn that’s already breaking.If this resonates, share it with a friend, subscribe for more weekly teachings, and leave a review so others can find their way to hope with us.Support the showThis podcast is made possible, thanks to the generosity of our donors. If you would like to support the ongoing work of First Love Church you can donate at https://www.firstlovechurch.org/givingIn the service of LOVE,Pastors Dennis and Heather Drake

Choosing Mercy Over Judgment

What if deliverance starts with a baby, a whisper, and a man who chooses mercy over judgment? We step into Advent with a different clock—one that forms us in the slow, sacred work of waiting—guided by the quiet strength of Joseph and the costly yes of Mary. This conversation traces how Matthew’s “genesis” of the Messiah reimagines righteousness as protection of the vulnerable, not performance, and reveals why gentleness can be the bravest response when fear and shame demand a spectacle.We look closely at Joseph’s decision to shield Mary before any angel explains the mystery, and we learn how mercy can rewrite a story mid-sentence. From there, we talk about dreams, openness, and the holy capacity to change our minds. Naming and adoption emerge as powerful practices: claiming people as ours, speaking belonging over them, and recognizing that words create worlds. In a Jewish frame, sin is both personal and systemic; Emmanuel speaks to empires and inner lives alike, promising presence where power harms and hope feels thin.The winter solstice becomes an embodied parable of Advent hope: on the darkest day, creation keeps singing. We make space for calm, listening to birdsong as our bodies remember safety. Then we move to action. Lighting the love candle is not a show to watch; it’s a commissioning to become the steady light someone else needs. Whether you’re learning to play a supporting role, adopting those who need a protector, or practicing one small act of inconvenient kindness, this is how deliverance takes flesh—through people who love on purpose.If this speaks to you, share it with a friend, hit follow, and leave a review so others can find the message. Want to help us keep these conversations going? Visit firstlovchurch.org to support, and tell us: where will you choose mercy today?Support the showThis podcast is made possible, thanks to the generosity of our donors. If you would like to support the ongoing work of First Love Church you can donate at https://www.firstlovechurch.org/givingIn the service of LOVE,Pastors Dennis and Heather Drake

Sewer Rats, Camel Hair, And Unshakable Joy

A desert that learns to sing changes how we measure hope. We trace a vivid thread from Isaiah’s promise of blooming wastelands to John the Baptist’s prison question, and we sit with the hard truth that our most honest doubts often surface in the dark. Instead of scolding, Jesus answers with action: sight returned, legs strengthened, voices set free, and good news made tangible among the poor. That’s the shape of divine dealing—restorative justice that liberates the oppressed and refuses payback as the final word.We open up James’s call to patient endurance and talk frankly about hope with teeth—the kind that survives under pressure and keeps community from collapsing into grumbling. Prophetic vision stops pretending and learns to see better than what is, naming siblings where rivals stand and choosing generosity over scarcity. Along the way, we revisit John’s odd beauty—camel hair, wild diet, inconvenient honesty—and hear Jesus dissolve hierarchy with a single sentence, tying greatness to service and neighbor love that refuses to draw borders around who belongs.All of this points to a larger horizon: a remade world lit by the light of Christ, where tears end and former things pass away. Until then, we practice sacred alchemy—holding grief and joy together, leaving vengeance to the only One who knows the whole story, and preparing the way by living love in concrete, small, faithful acts. If this journey gave you courage, share it with a friend, subscribe for more weekly teachings, and leave a review so others can find a shelter for their questions and a spark for their hope.Support the showThis podcast is made possible, thanks to the generosity of our donors. If you would like to support the ongoing work of First Love Church you can donate at https://www.firstlovechurch.org/givingIn the service of LOVE,Pastors Dennis and Heather Drake

Christ The King: Surrender, Forgiveness, And A Better Way To Live

A crown without a castle and a King who chooses a cross: that’s where our journey starts. We dive into Christ the King Sunday by naming a hard truth—judgment is easy and joy is costly—and then show how the Spirit leads us from one to the other. With a traffic-lane confession, a garden full of “dead” banana roots, and the Emmaus story’s slow-burn reveal, we trace a path from ego to surrender, from frustration to forgiveness, and from weariness to a resilient joy that does not deny pain but outlasts it.We sit with Luke 23 to hear Jesus pray “Father, forgive them,” and ask what it means to follow a crucified King whose authority looks like mercy. Then Colossians 1 reframes our identity: rescued from darkness, transferred to the kingdom of the Son, and held together by Christ who is the visible image of the invisible God. That vision reshapes our everyday lives—marriage tensions, quick tempers, careless words—into places where patience, gratitude, and listening become spiritual technologies that grow good fruit. Reconciliation isn’t abstract; it includes you. Shame isn’t a virtue; freedom is your inheritance.Along the way we offer honest, practical steps: leave the seeds in the ground, bless instead of fume, be quick to listen and slow to anger, and trust that surrender makes room for joy. We close at the communion table with a clear assurance—you come forgiven, holy, and blameless. If your heart needs a fresh flame and your days need a kinder rhythm, this conversation is for you.If this resonates, share it with a friend, subscribe for more weekly teachings, and leave a review to help others find the hope and joy of a cross-shaped King.Support the showThis podcast is made possible, thanks to the generosity of our donors. If you would like to support the ongoing work of First Love Church you can donate at https://www.firstlovechurch.org/givingIn the service of LOVE,Pastors Dennis and Heather Drake