About Us

HISTORY:  Pastor/Apostle Louise Banks founded Downtown Ministries/Downtown Community Church in February 1994.  Under the unction of the Holy Spirit with excellence and integrity the foundations of this ministry were established.  Now called First Love International Ministries, her son Pastor Jerry Banks, in obedience to the call, began pastoring in January 2003. 

First Love is a congregation that is focused on becoming an assembly after the Father's Heart, loving what He loves and seeing people and the nations from His eyes, aiming always to please Him and to keep Him as our First Love.
As an assembly we are strongly focused on making disciples of Christ.  We are aiming to witness transformations that are radical and awe inspiring, seeing those who were bound by various addictions freed by the power of the gospel. We seek to develop real Men and Women of God who are committed to the Lord first, to their marriages, and their children, Men and Women of God who embrace their Lord's call so that they see the Great Commission as their dedication.  

The Lord is helping more and more Christians to see that we should have never gotten into, man- centered Christianity.  Christ is our focal point, He is our prize, and He is the one we should aim to please.  There is a hunger brewing in the land a hunger for the Word of God to be clearly taught, with no ulterior motives from the one teaching it.  There is a hunger and thirst to hear a pure Word from God that sanctifies, and purifies the heart.  Thank God that the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power and in the Holy Ghost.  Let's aim to see Christ exalted, His name magnified, and only His Kingdom reigning.   




Jesus said "suffer the little children to come, and forbid them not for such is the Kingdom of God."  So, we should live our lives in childlike faith and obedience.  Going into all the World preaching the gospel to every creature. 

  KINGDOM NUGGET

 

PARTICIPATING IN DIVINE NATURE

 

The bible says that Jesus Christ came to give us life and that more abundantly.  This word abundantly found in John 10:10 is from the Greek word (perissos).  This word means in the sense of beyond, or superabundant in quantity, or superior in quality, it even implies excessive and preeminence.  The life Jesus gives is life that is higher!  This word alone used by Jesus explaining what Life He brought implies exactly what that word means “Life More Abundant.” Life Higher than any other life here on earth.  The bible says in II Peter 1:3, 4  ³His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.  Life without traditional or worldly limits, Life not held in the constraints of sin and its powerful affects on our lives.  Life that enables us to participate with divinity!

 

Life participating in divine nature, first of all we need to understand what this is not saying

A.    It is not life that makes you better than others

B.     It is not saying a life that makes you aloof from others or distant from others without association with others

C.     This Life does not make you higher than others

D.    This life does not make you more significant than others

 

This life does exactly the opposite………It makes us closer to other people…..this life makes us in touch with all people from all walks of life to the most affluent and distinguished, to the most retched and depraved of mankind………it makes us care about other people and what they are going through…….it makes us reach out to help other people……..and this life makes us compassionate and caring, but with no ulterior motives

 

What is most profound to mention is; most of us would not know an abundant life, or who are those participating in divine nature if we saw it or them.  Not to be offensive, but we have warped ideas of what is “abundant life”, and what is “participating in divine nature.” 

 

According to today’s Christian standards Paul was a flat failure!  Think about this extraordinary man of God who wrote over 2/3 the New Testament.  Was there a greater apostle than Paul?  Yet he was beaten and left for dead, experienced hunger and thirst, when he was in Asia all forsook him including Pylegus and Hermogenus.   Many, would consider this failure! 

 

Life abundantly is not about you or me……Colossians chapter 1 all things were created by him and for him.  Life abundantly starts with Jesus and ends with Him.  We have the opportunity to live this abundant life, where sin doesn’t have dominion over us; where we can be holy even as our Lord is holy.  He has given us everything we need to accomplish this.  We can live this abundant life and have peace when there is no peace around us; we can have joy in the very face of sorrow.

Abundant life, a life so powerful that even those who hate you, you can love, and show kindness to those who persecute you a life so superior that when anyone else would want to literally kill themselves we can sing and make melody in our hearts to the Lord.

 

This life is ours Jesus purchased it for us.  Why not say today no matter what others may do to me, no matter how much crisis may be in my life, no matter how high the mountain I must climb, a life was given me an abundant life.  This life is powered by Christ, Jesus living in me is powerful enough to handle persecution, and strong enough to give me peace in a storm, awesome enough to make me love my enemies, and potent enough to heal my body, yet precious enough to free me from all sin, and bad habits glory to God!

Start saying these words; "I'm a participant in divine nature."  Speak it practice it grow in it.......if you have received Jesus Christ into your heart you can participate in divine nature.