Your Faith Journey - Finding God Through Words, Song And Praise

This is a special musical presentation of For Everyone Born by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church.

Grace to you and peace from God our parent, Jesus our Savior, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Ahh yes, the Beatitudes, one of the passages of the Gospel that everyone seems to have heard and many love it. A nice passage providing hope for the future, even possibly for after we die and are joined with the saints in the heavenly kin-dom. A passage letting us know that even if things aren’t all that great here on Earth, that they will be much better once we are with God. Or is it?  Is this what it is about?  I think there is a lot more here. Just like much of Jesus’s life and preaching, Jesus was being counter-cultural here. He was going against everything that society, religion, and government was telling people. Wealth, religious piety in high positions in the church, power, strength, fighting for what they thought was right, forcing people into their ways, happiness - were all things society, then, and still today, values as a whole. In other parts of the Gospel, John the Baptist and others tell people to repent,

This is a special musical presentation of Come to the Table by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church.

I am sure some of you remember former United States Senator John Ashcroft, who also served as Attorney General during the George W. Bush Administration.  A story has been told about his father, J. Robert Ashcroft.  I don’t know if this tale is true, however, it provides a great illustration. According to the story, in January of 1995, J. Robert Ashcroft had fewer than forty-eight hours to live and he was holding on to life, hoping to see his son, John, sworn in as a US Senator the following day.  As his family and friends gathered around, J. Robert Ashcroft asked his son to play the piano while everyone sang, “We Are Standing On Holy Ground.”  After the song, the frail old man spoke some powerful words, saying, “John, I want you to know that even Washington can be holy ground.  Wherever you hear the voice of God, that ground is sanctified.  It’s a place where God can call you to serve him.  Wherever we are in our vocation…..that place is a holy place of service for God.” Called!  It is one of the great biblic

This is a special musical presentation of I Am For You by the Chancel Choir with a solo by Tammy Heilman at Faith Lutheran Church.

I am technologically challenged.  Just ask my husband.  I am challenged when operating the TV remote and trying to access various streaming services; I am challenged when trying to show a DVD or connect my computer to the large TV in the Fellowship Hall; and I am challenged when something happens to my computer.  While technological understanding comes very naturally to some (my husband for example), I always find myself befuddled and cannot seem to make sense of what needs to be done.  I have always been one of those people who needs to learn and verify things experientially.  I am an experiential learner and I usually must seek out someone to show me what to do, how to do it and thereby, through that experience, finally understand. Because I am an experiential learner, I appreciate the sequence of events described in today’s gospel reading.  Today we are told of John the Baptist who has the experience of baptizing Jesus.  John has the experience of seeing the Spirit descend upon Jesus in the form of a dove,

This is a special musical presentation of Noble Magi, a Quartet by Mike Eschelbach, Diane Hill, Linda Triemer & Rich Triemer at Faith Lutheran Church.

I have a friend who, when discussing people or individuals, will often say, “That person has a unique story, and his/her story should be honored.”  I share this statement because on this day, it is important to remember that each one of us has an important story to share about our identity, about who we are as a person.  You see, every single one of us has a valuable story to tell about the priceless identity each one of us has been given in baptism.  Today, as we remember and give thanks for our baptisms, we remember these words that were spoken over us, “Child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ in your life – forever.”  Think about that!  Wow!  What a story that is to tell!  Today’s gospel reading gives us the story of Jesus’ baptism.  Now, quite honestly, John did not know what to do with the fact that Jesus came to him to be baptized.  And, from the time Jesus first presented himself for baptism by John until today, Christians have puzzled over why Jesus ha

This is a special musical presentation of Mary, Did You Know, a solo by Chris Lewis at Faith Lutheran Church Chancel Choir.

This is a special musical presentation of Hallelujah to the King by the Faith Lutheran Church Chancel Choir.

This is a special musical presentation of He Shall Be Called by the Faith Lutheran Church Chancel Choir.

Tonight, we come together to celebrate and reflect upon the God who pours God’s very self into a human person, the God who stands outside of time, yet entered time and became human, the God who took on flesh and bone to dwell among us. Tonight, we celebrate the mystery of the God who is infinite but becomes finite; the God who is all powerful but becomes all-vulnerable.  We reflect upon the God whose very womb gave birth to all of creation, to the entire cosmos, but now is born of a woman’s womb to bear the good news of God’s grace and love for this world.  We reflect upon the living, creative Word that spoke the universe into being, but now cries from a baby’s lungs.  We reflect upon the breath of God that swept across the dark waters of the deep separating the day from the night, but now quietly exhales, breathing softly on a teenage mother’s cheek.  Tonight, we reflect upon and celebrate the gift of incarnation – the ultimate gift of love.  We celebrate God coming among us and to us with skin on. We celebr

This is a special musical presentation of O Come, Lord Jesus Come by the Faith Lutheran Church Chancel Choir.

The Birth of Jesus the Messiah American political satirist and journalist, P. J. O’Rourke, once said, “Family love is messy, clinging, and of an annoying and repetitive pattern, like bad wallpaper.”  I agree with him - family love is very messy, and the messy, dysfunctional aspects of family life too often become systemic, passed down through generations.  Quite honestly, life is very messy.  And the Bible is brutally honest about this messiness in our lives as it contains stories of all kinds of people in the depth of messiness and dysfunction.  One of the beautiful aspects of scripture is that it speaks the truth about our very lives, the truth about the messiness that creates all sorts of systemic problems within families and communities, the messiness that prevents us from living in relationship with others, the messiness everyone experiences in some form.  And it is so fascinating that when looking at the messiness in our own lives, our reaction to it or our inability to thoughtfully respond in a healthy

Today's sermon was the Children's Christmas Pageant at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Please join along and celebrate the great work of our young church members!

This is a special musical presentation of Creation Will Be At Peace by the Faith Lutheran Church Chancel Choir.

I have a quotation by theologian, Soren Kierkegaard, hanging above my desk and I read it every week. His words have meaning for me as I work on my sermon.  This is what he said, “People have an idea that the preacher is an actor on a stage and they are the critics, blaming or praising him [or her].  What they don’t know is that they are the actors on the stage; he [or she] (the preacher) is merely the prompter standing in the wings, reminding them of their lost lines.” In other words, as we gather to worship, the liturgy that we experience week after week, that work of the people, is a work that we do.  We hear the readings and proclamation of Scripture and then we act out the Gospel in the ritual drama of a meal.  We believe that God acts in our words and, in that ritual of drama making, the Gospel happens.  And then, that work of the people happens not simply in the context of Sunday morning worship, it continues to happen as we leave worship and live our lives throughout the week. I really appreciate Kierk

This is a special musical presentation of A Carol for Advent by the Faith Lutheran Church Chancel Choir.

On this first Sunday in Advent as we usher in a new church year, we begin a time of waiting.  Waiting is something all of us experience.  In many ways, one could say our whole life is spent waiting. We wait for all kinds of things.  A recorded voice puts us on hold as we wait on the phone while our ears are pumped with thin, irritating music. Our order hasn't come yet and we are hungry.  The driver in front of you is going so slowly and you cannot pass because of oncoming traffic. Certain circumstances cause us to ask questions like:  Will the rain or snow ever stop?  When will the paint finally dry? Will anyone ever understand? Will I ever change? Our kids ask, “How long is it until we get there?” or “How many days until Christmas?”  Life is simply a series of hopes, times of waiting, and only partial fulfillments.  Quite honestly, the human condition does seem to be a state of living with constantly unsatisfied desire as we wait for something that is truly fulfilling.  Advent invites us to understand with n

Over the past few months, I have been thinking a great deal about leadership and the personal characteristics we look for and value in good leaders.  Leadership is something many of us think about as we look to the future. In fact, as I along with Council members are presently looking for leaders who will be willing to serve within the life of the faith community over the next few years, I realize how important it is for us to understand what leadership means in the life of the church.  So, it very interesting that as we come to this last Sunday of the church year, that Sunday when we proclaim the reign of Christ as all in all, we receive scripture readings that force us to really grapple with what meaningful leadership looks like.  On this day we are essentially confronted with the question, “What does it mean for us to name Christ as our leader?  What can it mean for us to name Christ as our King?” It is truly difficult for most Americans to understand living under royal rule.  After all, our identity as a