First Love Church

Peter argues with God, and it might be the most honest doorway into spiritual growth. We start by welcoming our in-person and online community, then lean into Pentecost as a season of staying attuned to the Holy Spirit, the living source that keeps expanding our understanding. With the summer solstice as a backdrop of maximum light, we also honor the Spirit-filled women who carried resurrection hope across generations, from Mary Magdalene to Phoebe, Junia, Priscilla, and beyond. From there w...

That quiet thought that tells you to slow down, listen longer, and choose kinder words might not be “just you.” We’re in the season of Pentecost, and we’re asking a simple but life-changing question: how do we recognize the Holy Spirit’s voice, and how do we respond when it calls us into a bigger life? We start with the fruit of the Spirit as a clear test for discernment, then speak a Pentecost blessing rooted in freedom, hope, and a love that outgrows tribe. From there, scripture and story ...

A locked door doesn’t stop Jesus. We’re celebrating Pentecost with John 20, where the disciples are shut in by fear and grief, and Jesus shows up anyway, stands among them, and speaks the words our nervous systems crave: “Peace be with you.” We talk honestly about what fear feels like, how grief marks us, and why the presence of God often meets us right where we think we’ve failed or “missed” God completely. From there, we lean into what Pentecost really means for everyday Christian life. Ac...

Your mind can tell a convincing lie: you’re alone, you’re unseen, you’re on your own to carry the grief, the anger, and the ache. We start by naming how a day can be both beautiful and painful, then we lean into God’s promise from Isaiah to comfort us like a mother comforts her child and the “refamily” Jesus creates at the cross when he gives Mary and John to one another. If you’ve ever felt like an orphan in the middle of your own life, this message is for you. From there we open John 14 an...

The loudest voice in your life is not always the truest one. On Good Shepherd Sunday, we sit with John 10 and let Jesus re-teach us what spiritual discernment actually feels like: not coercion, not panic, not religious pressure, but the steady voice of love that calls us by name. We talk about attention as something sacred, because whatever we give our attention to gains power in us. With a simple body-based exercise and a few honest stories from our own home, we explore how anxiety can masq...

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 payba...

Gratitude is not a holiday mood; it’s a way of seeing that rewires what we value and how we give. We open with 2 Corinthians 9 to reframe resources as seeds, not trophies, and walk through the simple pattern that Jesus models again and again: give thanks, then act. That single move challenges the myth of scarcity and turns generosity into a predictable harvest. Along the way, we talk frankly about prayer—what it means to trust that the Father hears—and how the Spirit intercedes when words fai...

What if the prayer God always answers is the simplest one: “Be merciful to me”? We take a fresh look at Luke 18’s Pharisee and tax collector and discover a bigger, braver reading of mercy—one that refuses the lie of spiritual scorekeeping and invites us to live free from the need to earn love. We start by slowing down. As the season turns toward longer nights, we trade the tyranny of the clock for the attentiveness of the Spirit. That shift reframes everything: fasting and tithing become pra...