This week, Leauretta Simmons and Jeffrey Burnell drop in to discuss giving for the sake of giving, the simplicity of obedience, the connection between growing faith and growing generosity, and how honest reflection on WHY we're doubtful or suspicious about giving can tell us volumes about what's going on in our hearts.

This week long-term pastor and financial consultant Greg Gibbs drops in to discuss what a capital campaign is, how one works, why one of Jesus' favorite subjects is often our least favorite, and the connections between our generosity, our hearts, and our discipleship.

Reality LA staff members Milla Nieminen (Executive Director), Chaundra Hitchens (Director of Care and Community), Mary Beth Lattimore (Director of Operations), and Heather Fischer (Communications Director) drop in to describe their roles and responsibilities on staff, why a church staff exists in the first place, and why such roles matter. They discuss how our church's different ministries and departments integrate and support one another, their mission to equip the saints, the work that goes...

Jenny Oetzell and Jeremy Treat drop in to discuss Reality's unique central/regional church model and its limitations, difficulties, but many benefits. Jeremy provides a clear picture of how central operations is like a heart pumping blood to the regional limbs; while Jenny shares the story of how she came to Reality LA and the blessings she has received from being rooted both regionally and centrally.

As we discuss the upcoming capital campaign, Kyle Mueller, Jeremy Treat, and Kevin Weiner drop in to discuss the relation between Reality LA and Serve LA, their shared history and values, the way they mutually benefit from one another, and Serve LA’s unique opportunities within the city.

As we discuss the upcoming capital campaign, Cesar Sotelo, Kyle Mueller, and Mary Beth Lattimore drop in to share their experiences and hopes for our buildings. Serve LA’s head chef, Cesar, tells how the ministry of Serve LA was instrumental in his coming to know Jesus, and Mary Beth shares the tale of her own journey coming to work at Reality LA. They discuss the limitations and hindrances of the current state of our buildings and how the Reality LA and Serve LA ministries could bless even...

Jeremy Treat, Nadine Harris, Mary Hashimoto, and Sydney Cooper drop in to share with Nathan the stories of the Hope Center and how Reality LA came to inherit its buildings, congregations, and ministries. Nadine and Mary joined the Hope Center in the 70s when it was called Fountain Ave Baptist Church and Sydney joined the church family in the 90s. They share how they came to the church, the many iterations of the Hope Center they've been part of, Pastor Ed, and the work, miracles, and...

The Drop In returns with an eight-episode deep dive into our capital campaign! This week, Michael and Nathan introduce the campaign, the series, and the seven key questions we’ll delve into over the coming weeks: What is the story of the Hope Center? What is the condition of the buildings? How do Reality LA and Serve LA relate? How does investing centrally enhance regional ministry? What does the staff do? How does a capital campaign work? How should we think about giving?

In our season one finale, producer Heather Fischer drops in to discuss how the earthly pales compared to the eternal, healthy detachment from fallen creation as investment in the new creation, surrendering all to Jesus, and how our church communications and branding reflect our value of kingdom mindset.   Between seasons, we’ll be taking a break from our weekly schedule—and as we prepare for season two we invite you to email us at [email protected] to give us feedback and share topics...

Kate and Nicole drop in to chat about familial love; living out a faith visible to your children; sibling love in families of origin and within church families; and God’s tender, sweet parental love for us whether we have it together or not.

In this clip show, we return to some of our past conversations to revisit two crucial foundations for loving one another well: being vulnerable and knowing the fullness of a person’s story. We revisit Chaundra Hitchens on the power of our personal stories, Dr. Crawford Loritts on generational stories, Alex Hitchens on God’s story in our story, and Lindsay C and Ian Mackley on the shared stories we call friendships.

Fiona and Saz drop in to chat about love as friendship, needing people in our lives different from ourselves, desiring the best for one another, saying yes to one another, being on mission together, and complementary partnership.

Cody and Lindsay drop in to discuss ways to healthily adjust our expectations for friendship, how idealizing community actually kills it, community groups as places we welcome and love one another, how to join a Reality LA community group, and curiosity as the way into deeper friendship.   Want to join a community group? Visit reality.la/community. Want to message Cody and Lindsay? Email [email protected].

Nathan’s wife Stevie drops in to join him for a conversation with Mike about love as intimacy, reimagining romantic passion around God’s word, not being afraid of our desires but submitting them to the Lord, and building meaningful, non-romantic friendships through expressing fondness and admiration. CONTENT WARNING: While not explicit, this week’s episode covers such topics as sex and pornography. 

Ben Chung drops in to chat about how God created not just a functional world but a beautiful one, intimacy with God through art, and the grace of our identity resting in God and not depending on anything we create.

Reality LA elder Philip Chew drops in to discuss love as grace, the love that other loves point to, experiencing agape in the little things of life, and learning to receive love that hasn't been "earned."

The Burnells drop in to discuss love as intimacy, how it relates to friendship and brokenness, the role of prayer and communication, and some of the ways love can evolve over the course of a 45-year marriage.

Love is supremely important, but the word “love” can be extremely overused. This is where we can learn something from ancient Greek, which had four words to distinguish between different types of love: friendship, affection, intimacy, and charity. Inspired by C.S. Lewis’ The Four Loves, starting next week we’ll invite various people from our church family to help us explore one of the four loves. But first, Mike and Nathan take this week to introduce each kind of love and get us excited about...

Drop In producer Heather Fischer joins Nathan this week and, in place of a full episode, they offer a few Easter reflections to encourage us to continue to rest in the confidence graced to us through the resurrection of Jesus.

Our Worship Leader, Graham, drops in to discuss music as something first created by God, its role in his journey to Jesus, recognizing when music is worshipful, and music as a formative practice and extension of Sunday's preaching of the word.

Reality LA elder Erich Lee drops in to discuss being discipled in our money habits, the connection between the gospel and giving, and the relationship between generosity with wise financial planning. Listen to Pastor Jeremy's recent teaching on money within our Everyday Discipleship teaching series at reality.la/money.

Macie and Tyler drop in to chat about Cru, the burden created by misunderstanding our role in evangelism, relational boldness, and praying for the people in our lives.

Our Community Group Director, Cody Weston, drops in to discuss the radical importance of rest, how we should practice it not just as individuals but as a community, and learning both to sit still and to trust God to keep things going as we do. Listen to Pastor Jeremy's recent teaching on rest within our Everyday Discipleship teaching series at reality.la/rest.    

Cristina and Pastor Jonathan drop in to discuss how God created work as a good thing before sin, how it plays out now in a redeemed and fallen world, how calling is usually simpler than we think, and how our work can be a place to commune with God and a tangible outworking of his eternal kingdom. Learn about upcoming events on the topic of faith and work at events.realityla.com. Listen to Pastor Jonathan’s recent teaching on work at reality.la/work.