First Love Church
These podcasts are messages that were preached at First Love Church in Ocala, Florida. We hope that you are encouraged and inspired by what you hear. We are a non denominational, egalitarian church that practices a generous orthodoxy. Find out more about our local congregation online at firstlovechurch.org.
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First Love Church
Finding Peace, Joy, and Love Through Gratitude and Kindness
What if finding peace amidst chaos is as simple as embracing faith? Journey with us on the First Love Church Podcast as we recount a transformative vacation experience in Arizona that taught us to find serenity in God's unwavering presence. Through personal stories and reflections on the beloved hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness," we explore how unity and community worship can bolster our faith, turning life's disappointments into opportunities to witness divine grace.
We also reflect on living a Christ-like life, where patience and love are paramount. Drawing from 24 years of spiritual service, we share how embodying Jesus' teachings can inspire and uplift those around us, fostering a non-judgmental approach to life. Listen in as we examine the nuances between fleeting happiness and enduring joy, and delve into the miraculous power of gratitude to shift mindsets and perspectives, even during challenging times.
Join our conversation about the profound impact of choosing love over fear and good over evil. We share stories of becoming more attuned to the Holy Spirit's presence in our lives and emphasize the importance of maintaining a prayerful connection to the divine. With gratitude as our guide, discover how simple acts of kindness can transform lives and how every moment can be a sacred opportunity for growth and renewal. Embrace love, gratitude, and kindness as transformative forces in your life and witness how they enrich your everyday experiences.
This 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/giving
In the service of LOVE,
Pastors Dennis and Heather Drake
Welcome to the First Love Church Podcast. This is a collection of Sunday teachings inspired by the Revised Common Lectionary and recorded weekly in Ocala, Florida. We're grateful for your presence here today in the.
Speaker 1:Holy in this moment, and I remind you of this truth that God is already present with us. In fact, the scripture affirms to us that anywhere that two or three people are gathered together in the name of God, in the name of love, their Jesus is present with them. And so this morning we honor the presence of the Christ with us, and the Christ in us greets the Christ in you, and the light that you brought this morning is brighter because you're here with us, and I'm grateful.
Speaker 1:We just finished singing a hymn called Great is Thy Faithfulness, and I hope that this week you have time to go out in nature and allow that song to come up in you and remind you of great is God's faithfulness. But one of the things that we do together is we testify, that we remember that we witness together and say in the middle of heartbreak there is a peace for us. In the middle of disappointment, there is hope for us. In the middle of goodness, there is a joy that can be found In the middle of rejoicing. There is strength that can be found in the middle of rejoicing. There is strength that can be found. So, no matter where you find yourself this morning and what your week has been like, you are welcomed in the presence of God.
Speaker 2:You are welcomed in the presence of life you know, heather and I were on vacation a couple weeks ago and we were out in Arizona, in the desert there. And, uh, and I were on vacation a couple weeks ago and we were out in Arizona in the desert there, and we were just having such a beautiful, you know, couple weeks, her and I and Silas, and just you know, really feeling like the love and the presence of God was just going with us every day and we're just kind of flowing in this thing and it's just a better, peaceful place to be in, just this bliss, you know. So we drive a couple, three hours over to Monument Valley and we get there and the little skinny guy at the guard gate goes we're closed. And we're like what do you mean? You're closed, it's 3 in the afternoon. Well, the thing closes at 5.30, and we just want to make sure everybody's out. So it's closed. And I got to tell you like my peace began to seep right out the window and I wanted to strangle this little fella. You know, if you're going to announce that a place closes at 5, but it really closes at 3, that's information we could have used yesterday, you know, before we drove across you know, three hours of driving.
Speaker 2:You know, and I just remember feeling at that moment that I had a choice that I could stay in the peace we had or sell it and trade it for a good choking out. You know, and, and and. Just know that that nothing's worth your peace, you know. But I thought to myself even even in this moment God, you must have another way, because we've been following in you, in your path. So when we follow in your path, everything goes perfect, right? No, it doesn't. You still miss Monument Valley. You know still things that were in your plan and your will don't happen. But there's a way to stay in that peace, even though it doesn't go your way. And I think that that's where we miss it. We think being in God's grace means everything's gonna go your way, and it turns out that even when it doesn't go your way, we still can surrender to God and have his peace in the middle of it.
Speaker 2:So we just backed up out of that line and and drove back around and I thought, well, those monuments are giant mountains, so I don't think they can hide them from us. So we just started driving on back roads around and looking around and we and we had our own vacation that was, uh, outside of the control of the world's constant plan to provoke and anger you. It feels that way, doesn't it? That there's a system in place and it just tends to agitate and take you out. But we don't have to leave that, that place.
Speaker 2:But but I learned, I think, the most important lesson there, and it is that not that when you're in god, everything goes your way, but in god, when it doesn't go your way, it's still all right, and and uh, and sometimes our wills need to be usurped so that God's plan can happen, amen. And so I can just remember, you know, that moment, because there are other things that have happened since then and they're not exactly the way that I want them to happen, and I can get focused on that loss or that sadness, or that word that was said or that mistake that was made, or I can trust God that he is going to make a wonderful vacation out of out of failed plans that I have. Amen. Does that help anybody?
Speaker 1:this morning we sang great is thy faithfulness, and that there is a beauty in singing that when you are alone. But there is something powerful when voices join together and declare Great is God's faithfulness, reminding us that even in mornings when it's difficult, great is thy faithfulness. Just this past week we were with someone and they were rejoicing and somebody next to them said God is good, god is good, god is good. And while I agree with that, it did little to encourage me and I will tell you the time that I was encouraged most by someone who said God is good. It was a mother who had a dying baby and, as she knew this baby was passing, she kept saying God is good, god is good. And then she said to me say with me and I was really having a hard time with that God is good. And she looked at me and said I need you to say it with me because tomorrow I will not believe it, and I need you to know it so that you can speak that back to me, beloved, when in our sorrow, when in our heartbreak, when in our extreme disappointment, we can say God is good and we can look and say this may not have been the plan or the path that I choose, but I can trust that God has good for me, that he has good for the whole world, that he has good for each one of us and that there is abundance in everything. Let me testify to you this morning no matter where you are, there is goodness in the love of God. There is mercy that meets you in your disappointment. There is mercy that meets you in your heartbreak and when things do not work out the way that you thought or knew that they were going to, god is good. Plans are failing. We live in a world that is full of pain and heartbreak, and that's why the presence of Jesus is so important. That is why our connection to the Holy Spirit, to the comforter, to the anointing, to the one who can break yokes and destroy burdens, there is hope for us this morning. As we gather, as we gather in faith, as we gather together in hope and as we gather in love in the way of christ. There is for us this morning a peace that passes all understanding. You don't have to figure it out in your brain, but you can sense it. And this morning I'm asking the holy spirit that the eyes of your heart would be opened, that your inner spirit would be able to hear the words of Christ, the words of love, the words of God, and that you would remember. Yes, there is a new mercy this morning. Yes, there is hope, yes, there is a love and a kingdom of God that is here, so close, like to our next breath.
Speaker 1:This morning, we read from Thessalonians, and it's my joy. I think some of the joy that I'm experiencing this morning is because of the hope that Advent is coming and it's coming. It's just a few weeks away, so be anticipatory. And there's only four weeks of Advent. So I would encourage you, don't miss any of them, because there's only four of them. Like, get the whole set, get all of the Advent you can get. Actually, there's only four Sundays, but there's these incredible time before Christmas that we remember, and one of the things that Advent does for us is allows us to see in the dark.
Speaker 1:Things that Advent does for us is allows us to see in the dark. Sometimes, the things that scare us the most are when we can't figure it out, when we can't see, when we don't know how to step because it's dark and I don't know if I'm going to step off the edge of a cliff or if I'm going to jam my foot into the corner of a wall. You know that apprehension that comes from not being able to see, and one of the things that Advent does is teaches us to find the light even in the dark, and so I am excited this morning. The path toward Advent is Thanksgiving, and I'm sure that you're already making plans for your Thanksgiving feast, for your Thanksgiving table, which, here in the United States, is like one day where we say this, and I want to just remind you that this is a lifestyle For those who follow the way of Jesus.
Speaker 1:Giving thanks is something that we do all the time, or at least should be a practice that we have all the time that in the giving of thanks we can find peace. In the giving of thanks, we can see light. In the giving of thanks, we are aware of our connection with God, our connection with love and our collection with each other. Dear brothers and sisters, please listen to the family language that the apostle writes here. Honor those who are your leaders in the lord's work, the hard work among you, and give you spiritual guidance you know I want to take a moment here.
Speaker 2:We don't a lot of times here in the church talk about finances. I think that we have been handed a church history and a pattern that in some cases have abused it, and so as a response to that, we try to just trust God, like you trust God in your resources. But it is important for us to say that Scripture does instruct us in just common sense, as if you're part of any kind of a group or club. It needs financing. You know, when you go to that restaurant, they're not doing it as charity, you know. So you need to. You know, pay for your meal and and and even leave a tip if you appreciate it. You know, and and and I think that sometimes we forget as a church you're like well, they're believing god, so believe god for your own money. But the way that comes is that we all kind of connect, and so if you do get spiritual feeding, whether online or here, from Heather and I and from this church, we would ask that you partner with us in some fashion. You know, decide that if you want to tithe or or just, you know, give a certain amount of earmark $20 a week, a hundred dollars a week or whatever. But but what would help us a lot is just that fateful consistency, because you know, just like you know, we have to, at the end of the day, make sure the place is clean, we have to make sure that the power bill is paid, you know, and the insurance, and it's quite expensive for those things, and Heather and I are going to continue to do this with our family as long as we can.
Speaker 2:But if you've benefited from us and if you think other people benefit from us, then I'd ask you to consider to be a part of faithful giving towards the ministry, because you know, it's kind of one of those things that that you, you can kind of support us, and I think that we've proven we've been doing this for a while and we ain't quitting anytime soon that we're going to be doing this, and so you can just say, hey, there's a way we can help Dennis and Heather do the ministry that they're called to and help maybe take some of that burden off of them by by being faithful with your giving.
Speaker 2:And so online people enjoy this and we want you to be able to receive it as a free resource. But if you're convicted that you want to help support us, we'd ask you to go to our giving section, firstlovechurchorg, or go there, or you can always do this crazy thing called just writing a check and putting it in the mail to 2529 North Magnolia in Ocala, florida, or here as you walk by those offering boxes, if you would just maybe allow yourself to, and thank you for those that are consistent and faithful and have been throughout the years. But we ask others to join us so that we can do what it is that God's called us to do.
Speaker 1:Amen. This is the first Sunday here, the 10th, that we're together, and 24 years ago, in November, we had our first service. And so today we say great is God's faithfulness. For 24 years we have been giving food to our neighbors. For 24 years we have been trying to follow in the footsteps of our Rabbi, jesus, in the footsteps of going.
Speaker 1:If Jesus shows us what it is like to be fully human and to be fully integrated and embodied into love, then what does the way of Jesus look like? Sometimes it's important to mark specific times and say can we look back and say the faithfulness of God is like? Sometimes it's important to mark specific times and say can we look back and say the faithfulness of God is true, yes, and that is what gives us hope for the future. Show them respect and wholehearted love because of their work and live peaceably with each other. Live peaceably with each other, peacefully with each other. Live at peace with each other, peacefully with each other. Live at peace with each other.
Speaker 1:That's your job. You live at peace with your neighbor. You hold on to peace. You are the person who is in charge of your peace, and do this with each other. Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy, before any of the mothers have any kind of amen. Let the word of Christ build in you and convict you. The Holy Spirit is the convictor, but here it is. Urge you to warn those who are lazy. I'm not sure what the warning would be. Perhaps the warning would be you will miss out on some of the beauty that is all around you.
Speaker 1:Perhaps the warning would be there is so much more that can be mined from the goodness and from the abundance of God. Take tender care of those who are weak and be patient with everyone. Be patient. I remind you of another scripture, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 13,. Love is patience. Patience is a mark of someone who knows love. Hurry and love have absolutely no place together. Hurry says I need to get out of this present moment and I need to get somewhere that doesn't even exist and this present moment beloved. The grace is here, mercy is here, truth is here, staying in the present.
Speaker 1:But be patient with everyone. This means be patient with people who oppose you. This means be patient with people who don't believe you or agree with you. This means be patient with everyone. See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people Beloved. This is what it means to follow Jesus that we would try to do good for each other and to all people. And it is a practice Do good to the people that are right in front of you first, but in that good to the people right in front of you, I mean your right in front of you might be the person that you see in the mirror. How do you think good thoughts about the person that has your face and your life and is made in the image of God? Right, always try to do good to each other and to all people.
Speaker 2:You know, I think that way that you kind of can urge those people that are lazy is really by doing the thing that's right. I remember, you know, my dad told me to cut the grass and I slept late and I heard my dad had worked the 3 to 11 shift and then. So he just got a couple hours sleep and then he was mowing the grass and he was got to go back for another three to eleven shift while I was sleeping in bed and and as much as I wanted to sleep in bed, I could climb down that bed. I took the more from it, you know, because the my my laziness was convicted, not by him yelling at me standing over my my bed, you lazy, so-and-so, but by him just doing what needed to be done.
Speaker 2:And I think that, for you and I, taking care of those that have need and loving these people like Christ's love, is what we're called to and that calling, I think sometimes it can be maybe a little bit difficult to wrap our mind around, because we look at Jesus as the Son of God.
Speaker 2:So he's got a special set of gifts and a strength that you and I could not possibly have, but yet Scripture kind of talks about him as the firstborn of many brethren, and that's the first.
Speaker 2:But there's you and I, and so I think that if you could kind of look at Jesus instead of standing in this unique place, that maybe we begin to say, well, how can I become christ-like?
Speaker 2:And that is the offer, that jesus is really the prototype of how god wants us to live. I was thinking about that, meditating on that, and no disrespect to christ at all, you know, but to understand that's what god is offering, that that his transforming love and his way to rise above a situation is a prototype for how to live. We have been living another way, but this is the invitation, and so that invitation isn't to stand around and beat people over the head with the Bible, but to live in a way that causes them to want to get out of bed and help mow. Do you see what I'm saying? And that there's something that is empowering in us that will enable us to see people for who they really are, and not, maybe, the offense of how they've hurt you or others, but to really be able to love and serve those people that are desperate for someone to show them, to serve them in a way that would show them light.
Speaker 1:Let's go back to that, verse 15. See that no one pays back evil for evil. Paying back evil for evil is something that you can do without training. You can watch a baby hit someone and they hit you right back. No one trained that, that just happened. So when you see people exacting their own vengeance, that is not the spirit of God, that is not the spirit of love. Don't be a part of that. Do not engage in paying back evil for evil. In fact, the scripture says it is good that overcomes evil, it is wholeness that overcomes that brokenness. But always try to do good to each other and to all people. Always be joyful.
Speaker 1:This one also feels difficult sometimes. Joyful and happy are very different. I just want to remind you about that. Happy often depends on circumstances, and joyful is a settled knowing that there is a deeper story that is being told, there is a greater truth that is being revealed, and you can have joy and sorrow at the exact same time. You can be fully engrossed and in the throes of grief and also have a deep, confident, joyful spirit.
Speaker 1:Beloved, death does not have the final word. Darkness does not win, even though it looks like it may. This is not the end. Beloved, there is more. Always be joyful.
Speaker 1:Joy is something, just like peace you choose to hold onto. You choose to hold onto joy. It is a miracle, a miracle, miracle. Miracle that any one of us is actually here. If you went back and spent any time thinking about the fact that certain people had to come together in a very scientific type of way and that, over and over again, these patterns had to be repeated and the world was right, and that, over and over again, these patterns had to be repeated and the world was right, and that you are here right now, you are a miracle the fact that you opened your eyes this morning and that you breathed with your lungs and you got yourself here. Beloved, you didn't earn any of that. It is a grace and we thank you for sharing with us this morning. Always be joyful. Find yourself and anchor yourself in that belovedness, in the joy that tells you. This is not the whole truth, this is not the final story, this is not the way it ends.
Speaker 2:What do you think it means by always in here? Do you think this is like something confusing? Are we being tricked here? Or does always mean always? And there's just times when you're at Disney with your daughter and it's just easy to be joyful, that's just fun, you're on a ride and it just makes you smile, you're like I can't wipe this off my face. And then there's times where it is an absolute choice and and uh, you know in scriptures, reminding us that this is the way followers of christ live, that we choose, and there's such a temptation.
Speaker 2:Something happened to me the other day and it was just, it was really a bummer and and I was looking it and it was really like, okay, we're preaching this this week. This is real. I choose, you know, to be joyful. And then somebody is set up in a situation where they asked me where I could have. They were like, welcoming me to share, and I so wanted to tell my story about what had happened to me. But I know what happens with that. I tell that story, that heavy, heavy story, and it brings you and I want you to agree with my misery, and there's some. We get something from that, we get satisfaction from that and and there's a reason why, pattern after pattern, we do that all the time there's something that you get from it and it is a soulish satisfaction and it's something. But God is saying, if you'll go up higher here and choose this, it has a better result, a better fruit, it's a better existence. To choose gratitude, to choose joyfulness, to choose that kind of energy, that kind of life, that kind of light from God, because that down there you know where that leads you. Then you try to top one another on how negative things are and pretty soon all you've done is rehearse the negative so much that you see nothing but that. Or practicing that joy-filled life helps. You see that wait a minute, my very existence.
Speaker 2:Someone said something to me and it's absolutely ruined my life as a Floridian, because I have enjoyed rejoicing on how miserably hot our summer is, enjoyed rejoicing on how miserably hot our summer is. And then someone said to me do you realize that our planet is so close to the sun that it warms us and we don't freeze to death, and that if that were out of whack at all, and the way that that goes around, and even the fact that the moon is exactly where it is that keeps our planet in position in such a way that it doesn't spin out of control and cause violent storms and destroy us all. And so you really are being warmed by a star. There's a, you know I mean, this is just celestial in what's going on here and we're going.
Speaker 2:It's stinking hot. You get to go outside and you don't get consumed by a nuclear explosion that's in the sky out there. Instead, it causes everything around you to live and grow. It is a perspective church. It's stinking hot. It is a perspective church. It's stinking hot. Oh my God, thank you for the warmth that causes these photosynthesis and all this stuff, and now all this living life is here. Oh my God, I am so joyful that I am alive, stinking hot.
Speaker 1:I think this is where this particular command is right, there in the middle of that Never stop praying. Don't give up on praying To those of you who are brokenhearted. Don't give up on praying To those of you who are fully at peace with everything around you. Don't give up on praying In every circumstance. Prayer, that connection to the source, the connection to the love that is real and the love that is eternal, beloved, that is prayer, and I want to encourage you to be a people of prayer. In fact, jesus said this my father's house will be a house of prayer. If there is not prayer in the house of God or in other places, there is a loss of connection to the presence. And prayer isn't us begging God to do anything or to be anything. Prayer is us remembering we are not alone, that there is a loving, eternal parent who sees good for us, who has good for us. Always pray, pray in all circumstances, under every condition. Never stop praying. And I believe, beloved, that praying has many forms. Sometimes your tears are prayers enough. Sometimes it is the prayer of the ancients and the mystics that lead us further into the spirit, and sometimes it is silence that is the prayer of the ancients and the mystics that lead us further into the spirit, and sometimes it is silence that is a prayer, and sometimes it is in the bending and in the embodied of our form, in kneeling beside a bed, a chair, an altar, and reverencing the fact that the eternal and the sacred is with us. These are all prayers. Giving generosity is also a prayer. Trusting in the God who is full of abundance and has given you every good thing, it is a prayer. It is a prayer that abundance would be everywhere and that scarcity and lack would not control us. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. We pause here for a moment to thank you for joining us today. If you're finding this episode meaningful, would you take a moment to share it with a friend? This podcast is made possible thanks to the generosity of people just like you. If you would like to support the ongoing work of First Love Church and the continued work of our podcast, visit us online at firstlovechurchorg, reminding you to like, follow and subscribe.
Speaker 1:If you were one of my children in the house, you would have heard me say this about a million, jillion times. I learned it in a King James Version, so it doesn't sound exactly like this. This is, gentler, I think I learned in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. In everything give thanks, and I like to use that verse when somebody has a long list of complaints this happened, and then he did this, and then he said that, and then he took this, and then this happened. And in everything, give thanks.
Speaker 1:Now I want to tell you something. It does not say for everything give thanks, and that's a difference. You cannot be thankful for the horror that has been inflicted on you. That is not what God has asked of us. But in that circumstance, is there anything you can see that you could give thanks for? Sometimes, the thanksgiving that you can give is I thank you that this is not forever. I thank you that this is not how it always will be. I thank you that this is not the end of my story.
Speaker 1:But the choice is this is the hope, this is the practice. Find a way to find joy, to be thankful and to be in prayer and beloved. This is the path, this is the way. For those of you who are younger, if you were a Mandalorian, this is the way and there has been for all kinds of people, the story that tells us what is the way that we should walk. In fact, the disciples said this show us how to live and Jesus shows us over and over again. These are the patterns of Jesus over and over again in the stories and the telling of Jesus.
Speaker 1:Jesus would give thanks. He takes the loaves and fishes and he gives thanks and he distributes them and God blesses them and it is enough. And he gives thanks and he distributes them and God blesses them and it is enough. And he gives thanks for the wine and the bread and the beautiful communion and says do this in remembrance. And I want to tell you, when it feels like it's not enough, give thanks, when it feels like there's no way that this is working, give thanks. Give thanks in and it will change your life. There is wonderful information on the internet. You have an internet with you. Go home and look it up, what it does to your physiology, to your brain, as you practice giving thanks. The Harvard Medical Review has beautiful information on how it actually affects your neuroplasticity in your brain when you choose to give thanks Beloved.
Speaker 1:You can heal parts of yourself by choosing to give thanks and we give thanks to God, who is so good. It reminds us and it stirs up our faith and it reminds us of hope and truth and it sets for us our north that love is real. Love is real, it is eternal, it is here with us. And this part of the verse, because it says this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus, have you ever said all I want to know is God's will for me, beloved, this is it. Do you want to know what God's will is for us, that we would be a people who give thanks? This is where it's really great to have a good friend, because sometimes, in the middle of something, you can't figure out what we could give thanks for in this.
Speaker 1:I was in an admission trip and we were going to the market to buy food, and it was loosely food. I just want to tell you that we grew up and had the fortune and again, we don't choose where we grow up. It's a privilege. But we grew up in the Midwest, where the soil is dark like the night sky and you throw a seed in the ground and it comes up and it just does its seed thing. Food is there. But these people at the market had food and it was food of some kind. I don't know if it was fit for consumption, but anyway, I was smiling the whole time and I was so happy and I was like, look, we can get this, and we can get this and we can do this.
Speaker 1:And the people who got in the truck with me and they were like that is the worst things I have ever seen. How could you possibly give thanks for that? And I said I give thanks because I know there's better food than that. I give thanks because I look at this and think this is not all. There is. There is so much more. And so if we practice, not in ignoring the difficulty, to make food with what is before you, but to be able to say there is more beloved, there are better times coming, there is more joy for you, there is more hope, there is the kingdom and all of its fullness, that is allowed, that we're participating in, that we're bringing things in. So, even if you have to give thanks for the very fact you know this is not right, give thanks for that. Practice giving thanks.
Speaker 2:You know, I've been talking for a little bit at church about the idea of you know, as a human being, what's so unique about you is the ability to change your mind. You know that other animals, you know they, just that's the way they do it. You know you can teach a dog a trick, but it's still a dog and it's going to do dog stuff. But we can actually behave one way and maybe you might know you're negative, If not everybody else around you does, and they could tell you if you were willing to ask. But I know people that just can turn it all Anything. You say yeah, but. But I know people that just can turn it all anything. You say yeah, but you know. You know you're talking about the sun, yeah, but you know in four billion years the thing's going to burn out. You know that right, it's got, we're all doomed in four thousand four million years. You know all right. Well, you know, yeah, you can take a great day and really ruin it, thank you. But what about the gift of being able to take no matter what happens to you and find good in it? That's the gift. And people say, well, that's easy for Heather. People have said it to me for years. Well, your wife. That just comes natural to her and you know that's a huge discount on the effort that she makes daily to choose that, and it's oftentimes our excuse to blow off why we're going to just continue to be sticks in the mud. And I'm really asking you to consider the power, and I don't think it's going to be a lifelong time of reversal. I think that if you can surround yourself by the right people, the right thoughts, and you can decide, I am going to look at things differently. I'm going to ask the Spirit of God to help me find the good. You don't have to be that kind of negative all the time. And what is the advantage to you? First of all, you're going to be someone that other people enjoy to be around, and you know what? Even if your circumstances never change, you change within them Because you're finding the joy in life instead of always finding the sorrow in it. And so I'm telling you this idea of being thankful. It is life change. It is a gift from God that he's offering you, and I know people all the time that that, and I love them. They're part of the church, some of them used to be part of the church and I'll talk to them how you doing. And I just know when I say how you doing, I'm opening up 10 minutes of them, just opening up a black hole of misery and anger, and just how God doesn't do it. You know, I tithe and God don't ever show up for me and I'm thinking, wait a minute, you just got a new job. You're, you just got a new job. You're driving a car. You know, isn't there anything that you can find in this but the? But they choose that. And when you choose that, yes, you'll see it because you're choosing that.
Speaker 2:But I'm telling you, if you will choose light and you will choose life, you will choose love, you will choose gratitude, joy, thankfulness. That's the kind of life you can have, and you can have it now. It's not. Oh, the cards were dealt with me. I was born on the wrong side of the tracks, I was born this way or that.
Speaker 2:No, I'm talking about every single one of us, where we are now, because it doesn't matter what the skinny little guard at the gate says about Monument Valley. At the gate says about Monument Valley. What matters is how I perceive that situation and how I respond to it. I was not willing to let joy leave that car and to embarrass my wife and my son with my shenanigans any longer. Come on now and I would have had a momentary high followed by a lot of shame. But let's just get past that kind of life and go into this place of joy. Isn't that the kind of person you? Isn't that the kind of legacy you want to leave to your friends and your family and your children? Well, it is a choice. And when you mess it up, oh, there's such good news that there's a makeup test tomorrow. Only a couple people got excited about that part.
Speaker 1:I want to remind you of something true as followers of Jesus, we are people who understand the power of resurrection. It can look dead today, it can look dead tomorrow, it can look dead tomorrow, but beloved, resurrection is our birthright. Miracles are our birthright. We are people who understand the power of love to raise the dead, to change a circumstance, and hear the next part of the scripture. And do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not stop the Holy Spirit, do not put a lid on the Holy Spirit. Do not do that, and how that? It is the Holy Spirit that will give you the idea of what you can be thankful for.
Speaker 1:The Holy Spirit is the thought adjuster, the perception adjuster. Belo, beloved, you are deeply loved by the eternal parent, by God in mercy, who has made you for a purpose to enjoy the beauties of this world, to bring in, to usher in the kingdom of our Christ. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. And if you say I don't even know the Holy Spirit, good news we have seen the work of the Spirit among us and we can help you recognize that or you can recognize it, offering your consent to be able to say Spirit, show me, oh, offer to me an alternative to the way that I'm thinking now. This is a miracle, when we can change the way that we think and there is wholeness for us, there is peace for us, but the scripture is reminding us you don't stay for it.
Speaker 1:This is a beautiful indication of the holy spirit's presence and willing to offer suggestions. The holy spirit will not force you to do anything. It is a beautiful, beautiful, loving invitation. Love does not bind us, love releases us and God is love. And God is not making you do any of these things. He's just simply saying to you there is another way to live, there is another way to experience all of the joy and all of the goodness that is already given to us by the good father, the merciful creator. There is so much joy.
Speaker 2:You know what product recognition is Like. If you, you know, never really thought about a Jeep before, you don't remember ever seeing one on the road. But once you start going, I really kind of think I want a Jeep. You start to say everybody's driving a Jeep. It's like I really like red Jeeps. You know what I saw today? I saw five red Jeeps on the way here.
Speaker 2:You know, we become aware. It's a very natural thing within us, in our mind, and how it works, and so what I would ask that you consider is to begin to look for the Holy Spirit in your life, because for many people they would say, does it seem like the Holy Spirit's moving at all? And other people would say I see the Holy Spirit all the time and it's awareness. Are we becoming aware of just these opportunities, you know, and how they come up? We were at the grocery store the other day and Heather and I had a plan of a few things to get and we really wanted to get back to the you know, the house and all of a sudden this lady just struck up a conversation with me there and I was trying to get through it as quick as possible to get my stuff. That was behind her, and so we started talking and then she started engaging and pretty soon I realized no, we're into this, this is happening here, and I could either fight it and oh man, I had this aggravating thing that happened to me on the way to getting my groceries or the holy spirit gave me this beautiful supernatural interruption and next thing, you know, we're finding out that there's this human being, that that has this life and all this stuff going on and and we connected and and I don't know what will ever come of that. I felt, I felt like we have a another church member. I haven't seen him, but I felt that we felt like we made a real connection in the and the life that was exchanged. That that was so.
Speaker 2:It was so subtle, it could have so subtle, it could have been missed and it could have been even considered as a distraction, but it becomes a beautiful moment between people that are really right in the middle of a store, just feeling love and the presence of God, just feeling love and the presence of God. So I want to remind you that it is happening around you all the time and I'm sorry to say I'm sure I miss most of it, but there are times when I don't. Or there's times when Heather will come back from wherever she was and tell me a story and it's like, oh, she didn't miss it, oh, it's so beautiful and we can train ourselves that we want to say, well, that just happens to the pastor. We can have those moments where our faith is built up. You know, joy is shared Because the Holy Spirit is moving and doing things and orchestrating your life to bring you to this place of great wells of joy and gratitude. I mean just abundance of things to be grateful for. Lead on Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1:Like gentle rain for all of the things outside that are parched, these kind of things. In fact, when you were mentioning just a moment ago, I was reminded of the text in Scripture where people come to Jesus and they say give us the sign. And Jesus is like you missed the gentle breeze. Sometimes what we're asking for is already there. That is a sign, that is a reminder of like this God is with us, there's goodness all around us.
Speaker 1:Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Test it, see if it's true or not. If it's not, discard it immediately. Do not carry that with you. Do not carry with you words that people have said with you about you and who you are. Leave those down. You've tested them. They are not true, they are not good, they are not holy, they are not loving. But hold on to that which is good, beloved, hold on to love, hold on to things that are good, hold on to the working of the Spirit, hold on to just the goodness that is all around us. Test everything that is said.
Speaker 1:I think this is essential because a lot of times people have surrendered their really good intelligence at the door of a church Beloved. We're to love the Lord, our God, with all of our mind. That means we should be paying attention. There are things that you should be looking at going. Why are we still doing this? Why are we doing that, and not in a way that is cynical, but in a way that says use your good brain that God gave you and let's find better roads to help each other's find more love.
Speaker 2:Let's find more mercy, test everything that is said and hold on to that which is good I came up in the church when I first got born again, in the era where everybody had a word for everybody. And they come up, oh brother, I got a word for you and they'd have a, and everybody would be giving a word to everybody. And none of those I take with me today. But I remember walking into that church about the second or third time I came to that church on North Avenue in Narragansett in Chicago, illinois, and the greeter woman said I've noticed, you come in here and you don't have a Bible. I want to give you this Bible. And she gave me this paperback Bible and, man, I used that until that thing just disintegrated. You know, and I remember that act of her generosity, I didn't have a Bible and I just wept that someone would pick me out of the congregation there, notice something and give me that, and then the hugs that woman would give me. Out of the, the congregation there, notice something and give me that, and then the hugs that woman would give me.
Speaker 2:I was a young man, broken, searching for, for love and for the lord, and just to be able to have that adult woman just hold me. In that way I would. I come to church just to get the greeter hug. Those were the things that sustained me, not, oh, brother, here's your word for the day. You know, it's those acts of real love and generosity. So so, yeah, someone gives you a word, listen to it, consider it, but hold on to the things that are really good, and that's that generosity of love and kindness. Hold on to those truths, because those are the things that are transforming.
Speaker 2:You know, when we were talking about launching this church, we're like what do we call? You know, that church was called international love ministry and we're like we wanted, we wanted it to be love, like, like the church that we met at and we were transformed at, and we were like, what about first love? And I thought that would be perfect. If people leave, I could say you need to return to your first love. So, no, that's not but. But she's praying the tongues now. We were so close, but the thing is, you know, just having that love is what, what?
Speaker 1:love is the reason that we didn't name it. What you really?
Speaker 2:wanted to name it. Well, I did want to call it God's Best Church.
Speaker 3:Because if you were looking through the phone book, you would obviously go to that church.
Speaker 2:What are you going to go to? His second best church? And I wanted to put a big Budweiser blue ribbon on the logo, but it was shot down by the elders it was. It was shot. I was like we got to go back to love. Aren't you glad you go to First Love Church? We got to go back to love.
Speaker 1:We have to go back to love, because God loves everyone. There is no best. There is only good and gracious, and mercy and a table that is set for everyone. Stay away from every kind of evil. Just stay away from it. That's just a good parenting tip. From anybody, just stay away, but be mindful that you know evil for evil. That's why you need the Holy Spirit. Yes.
Speaker 1:Sometimes people have called evil and it is not evil. It is, in fact, wickedness in their own heart and their own projection. But that is why we need the Holy Spirit to direct us to find out what is good.
Speaker 1:In fact, this is the very first thing that in the poetry of the Genesis, in the very beginning, where it says this is the choice that people have. Do you yourself want to make a decision between good and evil, or do you want to walk with God, who will make decisions and open pathways and give you everything that is good? There is no evil in the presence of God. There is no decision that has to be made when you are in fellowship, in walking with God. And so sometimes we have been told and it is fear, in fact, from the very source of fear, that is a hallucination, that tells us that things are evil and so we are to use the Holy Spirit. But we need to be mindful that we here's how you stay away from evil if you just keep doing good, if you just run after the good, if you just do good to each other and listen for the good from God, you will stay away from evil. And now may the God of peace make you holy in every way. I would like for you to listen to me, read this over you, and today I speak in the authority of love and the authority of God. May the God of peace make you holy in every way and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all of the good things that we have in Christ, all of the good things that we have in Christ Beloved.
Speaker 1:There is a treasure and it is an eternal one, and it is partially manifested here while we live in this world. But there is an eternal treasure and it is in Christ and it is in understanding that this is not the end of the story, that we are just in this particular understanding right now, but there is a bigger story that is being played. There is a greater story that is being told through all of us, and the story that is told is there is a creation, but there is a new creation coming, that God is coming to set things right and that we are invited to play our part in that story, in that coming. Can you imagine with me what the prophet amos and what the other ancient prophets said that one day we will all lay our weapons down yes and one day we will beat our swords into plowshares.
Speaker 1:And one day we will no longer train our sons for war. And one day the lion will lay down with the lamb. And one day we will no longer train our sons for war. And one day the lion will lay down with the lamb. And one day all humanity will flourish.
Speaker 1:Beloved, I am longing for that day. You are longing for that day when war is no longer the normalcy and the invitation of Christ is to eat at his good table, to be reminded of our communion with God, to be reminded of our communion with each other, to be reminded that these practices of thanksgiving and generosity are part of the things that form us into the people of God. May the God of peace make you holy in every way and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. From the book of Ephesians, the apostle says this to us before the worlds were formed that's a long time, no matter what math you do before the worlds were formed, love had you in mind and God had chosen you to be the object of love's affection, that you would be made whole and holy by God's love. It is love that brings us into wholeness. It is God's love that restores us to our holiness. There is a practice now in Thanksgiving where we begin to remind all of the earth of its sacredness Every person here made in the image of God, in the diversity of nature, in the diversity of people that made in the image of God.
Speaker 1:There is a portion in the Torah that says over every blade of grass, there is an angel there whispering grow, grow, grow. That's a beautiful image to me, that there is an encourager, that there is someone. And I want to tell you this morning that we have that same Holy Spirit who is with us saying love, love, love. That there is love everywhere, as long as we learn to see it, as long as we learn to cherish it, as long as we remember that we're made in God's image and God has set upon us that we are the objects of God's affection. You, beloved, are the objects of God's affection. You, beloved, are the objects of God's affection. Love is not fickle, love is not irritated. God is not anything other than wildly, passionately, deeply in love with you. You bring joy to the heart of God, just as you are, just in your being, and so I remind you if you have thoughts in your head that are contrary to that. I speak in the authority of love. Hold fast to that which is good. The words of Christ are good, the words of love are holy, and there is a practice where we learn to hold everything as sacred.
Speaker 1:In fact, the only difference between sacred and profane is how we treat it. You have a bowl in your kitchen. Maybe it's beautiful, maybe your grandmother gave it to you, maybe you paid a lot of money for it. You have a bowl in your kitchen. Maybe it's beautiful, maybe your grandmother gave it to you, maybe you paid a lot of money for it, maybe you just like it. It's a bowl, it's beautiful and you appreciate it.
Speaker 1:You also have a bowl in your bathroom. You have two of them. Hopefully it's a bowl. A lot of times it's made of the same thing. It's how we treat it Very often. We need to recognize that the things in our life very often that we have considered profane are in fact holy, and we need the Spirit of God to re-enchant and re-imagine the life that we could have, where we could see every person as an image bearer of the divine, where every person could see and know their worth and where we could greet the light in us, saluting and acknowledging the light and the love in every person made in the image of God Beloved, hold fast to that which is good.
Speaker 2:You know, if you're honest with yourself and you are a negative Nelly, good, you know, if you're honest with yourself and you are a negative nelly, you know you just have that gravity towards the negative, whether it's a little bit or a lot of bit. It might seem like that's just the way our family is, or that's just the cards that were dealt to me, but I, if you're honest, that's not making you happy and it's not making people around you happy. And I'm telling you the answer, the rope to pull us out of this pit, is gratitude, the thanksgiving that we would just choose to find those places. And I'm telling you it's transformative. You do not have to be that way and feel that way and then walk in the fruit of that. There's a way out.
Speaker 2:And I'm telling you, it's not years and years of you climbing, it's you changing, uh, you know your patterns of thinking, your mindset, and it can happen, uh, relatively quickly by the power of the holy spirit. But I got to tell you, when you find yourself in that, just where, holy spirit, what do you want me to say? And where can I find gratitude? And and I will rehearse that I will choose to be grateful. I mean, just for me, it's become a real joy with us driving, because it was. Those sons of so-and-sos are now the blessed children of God that we can bless.
Speaker 1:On the same road.
Speaker 2:it turns out yeah, and it's like you know, and it's yeah, and it's like, uh, you know, it's like, now it's my. They've given me a great opportunity to choose the. The fact that we all have these roads that we can share, and that thing we found on that sign last week with the we shared with you has been our mantra. I don't, were you here last week? Did you hear us talk about? Uh, that, that that lane is not your birthright? Move over.
Speaker 2:Merge Let them merge, let them merge. And these cars were cutting in front of me last night as I was driving back from the funeral and I was just going. Let them merge, let them merge. And so the difference is, traffic doesn't part and all of a sudden I'm like Moses on the Red Sea of I-4. But I'm different, and that is so much better than just hoping some circumstance would line up one day and I'd have a decent trip somewhere. Then, no matter what traffic's like, I get to be in the presence of God and love and joy, and it can't be taken from me unless I give it away. Church, there's something to this. I urge you to come on the side of love, to live on the side of gratitude we hope you've enjoyed this week's sermon.
Speaker 1:If you would like more information about us, visit us online at firstlovechurchorg.
