What happens when you’re finally free, but all you’ve ever known is captivity? In this powerful teaching from The Beloved Circle, Pastor Mo explores Exodus 23:20–30 to uncover God’s “little by little” strategy for transformation.

The Israelites spent 430 years in Egyptian slavery. When God delivered them, they were physically free but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually still bound. They couldn’t problem solve. They constantly complained. They had no framework for what freedom actually looked like. Sound familiar?

God didn’t drive out their enemies in a single year. Not because they weren’t righteous enough, but because He was protecting them. The land would become desolate. Wild animals would threaten them. They weren’t ready to handle the blessing yet.

This message challenges us to trust three critical realities: God’s pace (it may not happen this year), God’s protection (delays are often divine shields), and God’s process (growth happens little by little). We want the miraculous now, but God is saying, “Your capacity needs to increase before I can give you what I’ve promised.”

The pathway forward isn’t more programs, louder worship, or trying harder. It’s simpler and harder: Be with Jesus. Become like Jesus. Do what Jesus did. When you abide in Him, fruit happens automatically. You don’t see fruit trees trying to produce fruit; they just do.

Join us Thursday nights at The Beloved Circle for inspiration, challenge, and honest conversations about what it really means to follow Jesus.

This is Worth My Attention | Luke 10:38-42 NLT

In the story of Mary and Martha, Jesus doesn’t rebuke Martha for serving. He invites her to something better: being with Him.

It’s easy to replace being with God with doing for God. We stay busy with good things, ministry things, even spiritual things, but miss the one thing that matters most: simply being present with Jesus.

This message encourages us to slow down, sit at His feet, and rediscover what it means to truly be with Jesus, not just work for Him.

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Our Mission: Receiving God’s love and giving it away.

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Do you see yourself as a grasshopper when God sees you as a giant slayer? In this powerful teaching from The Beloved Circle, Pastor Mo takes us into Numbers 13 and 14, where ten spies saw themselves as grasshoppers compared to the giants in the Promised Land. But Caleb and Joshua saw something different: a faithful God who would be with them in the battle.

This message challenges the “spirit of small” that keeps us from stepping into everything God has called us to become. When we believe God is with us, the giants in our lives no longer define us. Join us for this inspiring and challenging dive into God’s Word as we learn to see ourselves the way God sees us: beloved, empowered, and victorious.

The Beloved Circle meets Thursday nights for deeper exploration of Scripture, inspiration for the journey, and challenge to live fully as followers of Jesus.

In this episode, Pastor Mo Brooks teaches from Matthew 4:17, the moment Jesus begins His public ministry with one central announcement: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” This is not a message of shame, fear, or behavior policing. It is an invitation to rethink your assumptions about God, yourself, and others, and to step into the reality of God’s reign that is accessible right now.

This teaching reframes repentance as belief renewal that leads to real life change, and it highlights how spiritual growth accelerates when you stop trying harder and start seeing differently.

Phase 1 Context

The Beloved Church of Kalamazoo is currently in Phase 1 of 4 in its new church plant. Each episode is a short teaching followed by group discussion and strategic work on building the church.

What You Will Learn

• Why Matthew 4:17 is a turning point in the Gospel story and the foundation for Jesus’ message

• What repentance means in Jesus’ context: a change of mind that realigns your worldview

• Why behavior change follows belief change, and why performance based faith keeps people stuck

• How fear based obedience creates shame and hiding, while love based discipleship produces joyful obedience

• What the “Kingdom of Heaven is near” means as God’s active reign, not merely a place you go when you die

• Why communion is a practice of receiving before doing, and remembering Jesus before striving

Scripture Focus

• Matthew 4:17

• Matthew 3:17

• Matthew 4:1–11

• Romans 12:2

• Acts 3:19

• 1 Corinthians 10:16

Quotes and Key Ideas

• Repentance is not primarily feeling bad. It is learning to see reality differently.

• If beliefs do not change, behavior will not change.

• Jesus did not begin His ministry by telling people to behave better. He told them to think differently.

• The Kingdom is God’s reign made available in everyday life.

Next Steps

• Reflect: What do you believe about God that might be shaping your choices more than you realize?

• Practice: Ask God to help you see Him as He sees Himself, and to see yourself as He sees you.

• Share: If this helped you, send it to someone who feels stuck in shame or religious pressure.

Connect With The Beloved Church of Kalamazoo

Website: belovedchurchkzoo.org

Most of us have been taught to become like Jesus through raw effort. Try harder. Use more willpower. Know more Bible. Work on your behavior. In this message, Pastor Mo Brooks explains why that approach keeps so many of us stuck, exhausted, and discouraged. Drawing from Romans 12:2 and the life of Jesus, he shows that we are not called to simply try to be like Jesus. We are invited to train with Jesus and be transformed from the inside out.

You will learn the difference between trying and training, and why willpower always runs out. You will see how renewing your mind reaches deeper than your thoughts and touches your subconscious, your habits, and your identity. Through stories, examples, and honest reflection, Pastor Mo explores how spending time with Jesus, practicing spiritual disciplines, and receiving Gods love over and over again slowly reshapes who you are, not just what you do.

In this episode you will:

• Discover why trying to follow Jesus through willpower and knowledge alone does not work

• Understand the marathon picture of discipleship and why spiritual growth happens through daily training

• Explore how silence, solitude, Scripture, and simple prayers become spiritual exercises that renew your mind

• See how identity and belief about yourself shape your behavior, and why you must learn to see yourself the way God already sees you in Christ

• Be encouraged to start small, train consistently, and trust that the Holy Spirit is changing you over time

The Beloved Church of Kalamazoo is currently in Phase 1 of 4 in our new church plant. Each podcast episode features a short teaching followed by group discussion and strategic work on shaping and building our church together.

You were never meant to live for God, you were meant to live with Him. In this message, Pastor Mo Brooks reveals the secret to spiritual growth: learning to abide in Jesus daily. Drawing from John 15 and Galatians 5, this episode explores how being with Jesus transforms who you are, how you love, and how you live.

In this message you will learn:

• The three goals of true faith: Be with Jesus, Become like Jesus, and Do what Jesus did.
• How to slow down and experience the presence of God in everyday life.
• Why awareness of Jesus produces the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Stay connected with The Beloved Church of Kalamazoo as we continue the Rooted in Love series and learn how to build a faith rooted in presence, not performance.

The Beloved Church of Kalamazoo is currently in Phase 1 of 4 in our new church plant. Each podcast episode features a short teaching followed by group discussion and strategic work on shaping and building our church together.

Sermon Title: The Crazy Love of God Part Two

Scripture: Luke 15 25 32

Series: Rooted in Love

This message was shared during our third Sunday Gathering at The Beloved Church of Kalamazoo. In Part Two of The Crazy Love of God, Pastor Mo Brooks teaches from the story of the Prodigal Son and shifts the focus to the often-overlooked elder son.

While the younger son represents those who wander far from home, the elder son represents those who stay close yet struggle to understand grace. This sermon reveals how God’s love reaches both—the rebellious and the resentful, the lost and the loyal.

You will see that the Father goes out to both sons, inviting each one into the same celebration of love. This is the kind of love that listens, includes, and restores. It is a love that breaks the spirit of comparison and calls us to rejoice when others are found.

We are a new church plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with a simple mission: to receive God’s love and give it away. Thank you for praying, supporting, and walking with us as we grow together in His love and freedom.

Support the ministry: https://give.tithe.ly/?formId=32f9fa70-381a-4c3e-8338-df397775c7fc

OR Cash App: $belovedchurchkzoo

Prayer request: https://thebelovedchurchofkalamazoo.breezechms.com/form/cfebe8

Have questions or want to connect: info@belovedchurchkzoo.org

Sermon Title: The Crazy Love of God

Scripture: Luke 15:11-24

Series: Rooted in Love

This message was shared during our second Sunday Gathering at The Beloved Church of Kalamazoo. In this teaching, Pastor Mo Brooks walks through the story of the Prodigal Son and reveals what it shows us about the heart of the Father. While most people focus on the son who left home, this sermon centers on the main character of the story, the Father, to help us understand the crazy love of God.

Discover how God listens without retaliation, grants freedom even when it hurts, waits with hope, and runs to restore us. His love does not control or condemn but celebrates our return and covers our shame.

We are a new church plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with a simple mission: to receive God’s love and give it away. Thank you for watching and supporting this ministry as we grow together in His love and freedom.

Support the ministry: https://give.tithe.ly/?formId=32f9fa70-381a-4c3e-8338-df397775c7fc

OR Cash App: $belovedchurchkzoo

Prayer request: https://thebelovedchurchofkalamazoo.breezechms.com/form/cfebe8

Have questions or want to connect: info@belovedchurchkzoo.org