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

This is a special musical performance of Rain Down by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos Michigan.

I want to confess something to you this morning.  I have a tattoo.  Yes, many years ago, when I was much younger, I got a tattoo on the inside of my ankle.  Now, there is something I know about people who have tattoos.  If you ask them for the story behind their tattoos, most people are very willing to share their story because it usually says something about their identity.  So, I will share my story.  Two things I absolutely love are butterflies and music.  I love the fact that butterflies symbolize new life and freedom.  I feel that my life has always been a process of living into the new life and freedom God has given me as a baptized child of God.  And, I also love music.  In fact, for me, music is a form of prayer because through music I can express the deepest longings of my heart, those things that cannot be expressed through words alone.  So, my tattoo is a butterfly surrounded my music notes.  It is so old that one can no longer recognize it as such but, nevertheless, that is what is on my ankle. I

Today, is not only the first Sunday of the new year and the first Sunday of a new decade.  Today is also the twelfth day of Christmas, and it is NOT about twelve drummers drumming!  No, today is all about newness!   And, as we enter a new year and a new decade with all that is going on in this world, including yet more war that seems to be looming on the horizon, we deeply need to hear the message of John’s gospel.  On this day, we need to hear John’s telling of the Jesus story because, in this gospel, we find a daring, audacious, bold message that tells of a whole new beginning for humankind, a whole new beginning for the world. The writer of John’s gospel is a big picture person.  The gospel writer begins presenting the Jesus story in a very lofty, grand manner.  And, in doing so, he is so gutsy in his telling of this new beginning through the person of Jesus that his first words to us are “In the beginning….”  If we have any understanding of Biblical literature, we will recognize that these three words are

This is a special musical performance of When the Angels' Song is Silent by the Chancel Choir from Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

If you missed the Christmas Eve service at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos Michigan you can listen in to the amazing music and celebrate in the service celebrating Christmas! 

American journalist and writer, 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 messiness too often becomes systemic, passed down through generations.  Quite honestly, life is very messy.  And, the Bible is brutally honest about this messiness 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 manner, is usually rooted in some aspect of fear. In today’s gospel reading, we meet

This is a special musical product of People, Look East by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

This is a special musical presentation of He is Born by the Faith Bells at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

This is a special musical presentation of The Friendly Beasts with soloists Ryan Thompson, Diane Hill, Bob Nelson and Emily Brown at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

This is a special musical presentation of Christmas Melody by the Flutes of Faith at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. 

This is a special musical presentation of We Will Know Him with the Chancel Choir with flutist Gwynne Kadrofske at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

This is a special musical presentation of Mary Had a Baby with soloist Tammy Heilman at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

I have a sign above my desk and I look at it each week as I write my sermon.  It contains a quote from theologian, Soren Kierkegaard, about preaching and the proclamation of the Word.  He wrote, “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.”  I really appreciate Kierkegaard’s words when he says the gathered people are the actors and the preacher is the prompter standing in the wings reminding the people of their lost lines, the lines they are called to remember as they experience the liturgy of worship and then go out and live that liturgy in their daily lives.  Today, we hear of this preacher, John the Baptist, standing in the wings of the wilderness on the banks of the Jordan river, crying out lost lines to the actors saying, “This is it!  Repent, for the kingd

This is a special musical performance of Creation Will Be at Peace by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir of Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Yes, today marks the first Sunday of a new church year and the first Sunday in Advent.  Today, 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.  Information 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.  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, 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 a new patience that condition, that very difficult state of being.  Advent means

This is a special musical presentation of Where Is the Savior? by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Today, at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, MIchigan the new organ was dedicated to the congregation with amazing music and more.

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 have been struggling with the need for leadership on many levels within the life of the faith community, I realize how important it is for us to understand what leadership means in the life of the church.  So, I find 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 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 nation was borne out of the experience of breaking aw

This is a special musical presentation of Hosanna to the King by the Chancel Choir with special percussionists, Addie Thompson on drums and Rich Weingartner on tambourine at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

I graduated from seminary on May 21, 2011.  During our last weeks of school leading to graduation day, my entire class was experiencing the typical anxieties and emotions that accompany the end of one’s senior year.  We were facing final exams, we were completing final projects and papers, some of my colleagues were waiting for assignments to synods, some were already interviewing for future calls, and we were anticipating the many ways in which life would be different after May 21 when seminary would finally come to an end.  And, throughout those last weeks of school, we continually saw these big billboards throughout the Columbus area, one of which was located near the seminary.  On each of these billboards, one would find some version of the following message:  The world is going to end on May 21, 2011.  This message was being publicized throughout the area by a fundamentalist “false prophet” who, apparently having reflected upon the state of the world, including multiple wars, natural disasters and politi