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

Come and experience the 2018 Christmas Pageant with youth from Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan

This was a special performance from the Flutes of Faith at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. The Flutes of Faith presented a number of songs including: Carol of the Bells, Hallelujah Chorus and others.

This is a special musical presentation of Away in a Manger by the Faith Bells of Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan

Narrator:  In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, Commentator:  Nazareth? God sent an angel to the podunk, insignificant, nothing of a town called Nazareth? Narrator:  Yes, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, Angel:  “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Narrator:  But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Commentator:  What kind of greeting is that Mary? Had you ever been called favored before? Mary. They are all called Mary aren’t they? Mary the sister of Lazarus, Mary from Magdala, That other Mary and Mary the mother of Jesus. So common a name. Almost as though when the writers couldn’t remember a woman’s name they just automatically called her Mary. Like Jane Doe- it’s just this side of forgettable Mary. So common but yet now angelically deemed “favored one”. What kind of perplexing greeting is this cal

This is a special musical presentation by the Faith Lutheran Joyful Noise Handbell Choir and flute soloist Gwenn Kadrofske.

This is a special musical presentation of Who Would Send a Baby by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir.

I love the gospel of Luke!  One of the reasons I like this book is because the writer of Luke’s gospel is such a good storyteller.  And, I do believe that, if he was writing today, he would use multimedia to tell his story.  I think he would have used tools like satellite images, Google Earth and video to help communicate his message.  Just think about the way today’s gospel reading begins.  The imagery that comes to my mind at the beginning of this reading is one of seeing the world from the perspective of outer space.  Then, as the reading progresses it draws us down into a geographical location.  I can imagine the writer of Luke’s gospel using resources like Google Earth to gradually zoom in on the Mediterranean, then the Middle East, then the country of Israel, and finally the wilderness area by the Jordan River.    While the writer of Luke had no access to imagery of this sort, he is doing something very similar with words as he introduces the story of John the Baptist.   Placing the focus of action with

This is a sermon based on Mark 13: 1-8. Pastor Darrell Nieves preached today at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan

This is a special musical performance of For the Beauty of the Earth by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

This is a special musical performance of Give Thanks by the Faith Bells at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

My professor, Lois Malcolm, teaches that some people need to check their ego while others need to start taking up some space.  Just before the Gospel we heard today from Mark, Jesus says that the second commandment after loving the LORD your God is to “Love your neighbor as yourself” Jacqueline Bussie reflects on this commandment and also recognizes people who need to take up space.  She writes that some people, like her mom, like me, maybe like you, need to view this commandment as “you already adore other people and you are fabulous at it, now remember to love yourself as much as you do them.”  It is within the context of loving my neighbor and loving myself that I consider the message of scripture today. We hear about two widows and I wonder if they’re victims of the one-way love street as well.  Within the patriarchal system of the time, widows had no rights, they were the poorest of the poor and were often reduced to begging.  Neither woman is named, which is perhaps yet another sign of the marginalizati

This is a Special Musical performance of Day by Day by the Joyful Noise Children's Choir of Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

This is a Special Musical performance of Gaudeamus Hodie by the Chancel Choir and Joyful Noise Children's Choir of Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

This is a special musical performance of Twelve Gates into the City by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Over the past few weeks, I feel as though we have been living what one theologian calls “the Saturdays of our lives.”  The Saturdays of our lives represent those desperate places in life between the crucifixion of Good Friday and the resurrection of Sunday.  They represent the stench of death we have experienced and felt over the past few weeks.  They represent the wilderness of despair.  They represent those places in life where what is crystal clear is the suffering and the pain and the agony and the chaos, and where Sunday, the resurrection and the promise of new life, seems like a fantasy or fairytale that is certainly nowhere in sight.  Living in the Saturdays of our lives is a difficult place to live.  And, that desperate place of despair – that is the context for our reading from Isaiah on this day.  It was the 8th century BCE and the people were in a dark place.  The Assyrians had swept in.  They had captured the Israelites and forced them to scatter throughout the empire.  It was, in essence, yet ano

This is a special musical presentation of Freedom is Coming by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan with percussionist Ian Levine.

As we approach yet another election day, issues of truth-telling and freedom are in the forefront of our minds.   So, I find it interesting that, on this day, Jesus is speaking to us about truth and freedom.  However, Jesus’ words to us regarding truth and freedom could not be more different from the way these concepts are discussed in the news and in present culture. Today’s passage from John takes place within the context of a dialogue between Jesus and his opponents.  Jesus’ opponents are trapped in their sin, trapped in a dead-end life, and they do not believe in him.  They do not believe he is the new revelation of God, the truth.  The focus of the dialogue is all about Jesus’ identity, it is all about who Jesus is.  It is a dialogue of faith that centers around two words – truth and freedom.  Jesus says, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”  The truth Jesus is talking about is himself.  This truth is not just some concep

This is a special musical performance of Better is One Day by the Joyful Noise Childrens' Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

This is a special musical performance of Heart of Nations by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Who Is My Neighbor in a Climate Threatened World?   Pastor Ellen:  Today, we think about creation and ask the question, “Who is my neighbor in a climate threatened world?”  The concept of environmental stewardship originates with the first of the creation stories, in which God gives humans dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the animals of the land (Gen 1:1–2:4). Traditionally, Christians have distorted the mandate of “exercising dominion” to mean that creation was made for human beings and that we have a right to dominate and exploit creation for our own wants and needs. This has led to incalculable abuses of nature.  But, what we now know is that the Hebrew word for dominion does not mean “to dominate” or “to exploit.” Rather, it means “to take responsibility for,” as a ruler would be responsible to assure the well-being of those in the realm. Natalie Dingledine:  In the first creation story in Genesis, human beings were created last, not as the so-called “crown of creation,” but in