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

This is a special musical performance of On Eagles Wings from the Faith Bells at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

This is a special musical performance of Do Lord from the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Today is Stewardship Sunday and so it is fitting that we are given a gospel reading that speaks about wealth, money and all the “stuff” we think we must possess.  Now, I realize money isn’t going away anytime soon. However, Jesus offers us the possibility to see past it, especially when it comes to the things that matter most in life.  As we meet up with Jesus today, we find him telling a young land owner there is freedom in leaving possessions and “stuff” behind. Today, a rich young man kneels before Jesus and asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” This man’s mindset is totally in contradiction to Jesus’ teaching.  He is a man of privilege and his mindset is one of entitlement.  Rather than receiving the kingdom in complete dependence as a little child, something Jesus just shared with us last week, this rich man wants to know what he can do to inherit eternal life.  The words “do” and “inherit” are of prime importance in this reading.  Just think about it – one can rarely do anything to receive an

This is a special musical performance of Awake, Awake, To Love and Work by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Today’s gospel reading is difficult because it has often become an oppressive passage when taken out of context.   I also find it difficult because I come to this scripture passage as a once divorced woman with an awareness of the depth of my own brokenness.  Yet, I believe it is very important that we faithfully wrestle with hard, difficult passages in scripture and not avoid them. Today, we hear Jesus teaching about relationships, marriage and divorce.  However, in order for us to understand what this reading says about divorce, we must first understand what marriage meant in ancient culture.  Biblical scholar, Bruce Melina, tells us: Under normal circumstances in the world of Jesus, individuals really did not get married.  Families did.  One family offered a male, the other a female.  Their wedding stood for the wedding of the larger extended families and symbolized the fusion of the honor of both families involved.  It would be undertaken with a focus on political and/or economic concerns.  Marriage was n

This is a special musical performance by the Chancel Choir of Thy Will Be Done with soloist Chris Lewis today at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

One of the things I just love about scripture is that the stories we read and hear are our stories.  They are truly about us and tell us so much about our identity as human beings.  And, today’s readings do not disappoint.  Today’s stories are so very enlightening because they again tell us something about who we are as people. In our first reading from Numbers, we find that Moses is truly overwhelmed and weary as he tries to lead this throng of Israelites through the desert.  And, as he complains to God about his heavy workload, we find that God is sympathetic to Moses.  God graciously responds with a proposal that will take some of the burden off Moses by having others share the load.  Well, this is a great idea but when God takes some of Moses’ spirit and places it on seventy chosen elders, some of that spirit spills over on two other men, Eldad and Medad.  And, when they begin to prophesy – oh my.  Envy, self-ambition and jealousy break out among the seventy because these other two men were not part of th

This is a special musical performance of Servant Song by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan with special flute accompanist Gwynne Kadrofske.

Sermon based on Mark 9:30-37 St. Thomas Aquinas once said, “Fear is such a powerful emotion for humans that when we allow it to take over within us, it drives compassion right out of our hearts.”  Change, transition, uncertainty, chaos and earth-shattering news all create within us a sense of fear.  So, it is fitting that today’s gospel reading helps us look at this very human emotion.  In today’s gospel passage, Jesus continues to teach discipleship to the twelve.   He again gives them earth-shattering, mind-blowing information, and they are bewildered and afraid!  Today, we hear Jesus again tell the disciples he is going to be killed.  It is the second time he tells them he will soon be betrayed, murdered, and after three days rise from the dead!  Jesus’ words are so explosive the disciples simply cannot wrap their minds around what he says.   Throughout the gospel of Mark, the disciples are portrayed as a motley group of knuckleheads who just don’t get it and, in today’s reading, they truly live up to thei

This is a special musical performance by the Faith Bells Handbell Choir of Be Thou My Vision at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

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

German Lutheran pastor and theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, wrote in his book, The Cost of Discipleship, “When Christ calls (someone) He bids (them) come and die.”  These words cut right down into the nitty gritty of what discipleship, what following Jesus is all about.  You see, the central question, the big defining question of Christianity, is “Who is willing to follow Jesus Christ?”  And, Jesus places that question before us today with a real sense of urgency.  Today, Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”  In response, impetuous, impulsive Peter gets all excited and professes that Jesus is indeed the long-promised Messiah.  Jesus then begins to explain things to his disciples saying, “It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the elders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and after three days rise up alive.”  As soon as Peter hears this, he immediately backs away and rebukes Jesus.  Jesus’ words shatter the glamor of fo

This is a special musical performance of Sing Out to God by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church of Okemos, Michigan.

As many of you know, I have done considerable work with system thinking, specifically looking at family systems and the way in which they deeply shape our lives.  Each person is born into multiple systems – a family system, a social system, a cultural system, a system of customs, etc. The way we live together in community, our social class, the language we speak, and even our religion are all shaped by these systems.   These multiple systems also shape us as we grow, mature and live our daily lives.  The characteristics of these systems affect how one learns to think and behave at home, school, work, and in various social settings.  The manner in which we have been shaped affects how we interact and communicate and with people at any level.  And, quite honestly, it is hard to break free of the way we react to circumstances and situations, simply because of the way we have been shaped by these systems.  In fact, my coach once explained it to me this way.  She said, “When you are born into a system, it is as th

This is a special musical performance of Every Time I Feel The Spirit by Emily Brown, Tammy Heilman and Deb Borton-McDonough at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

As I think back to the years when my kids were growing up, I remember late afternoons and evenings when they would sit at the kitchen table doing their homework.   I would frequently sit with them as they worked, attempting to encourage them and help as necessary.  I clearly remember times when they would be working on something rather challenging, when they would not quite understand how to do something, when they just seemed not to be getting it.  At those times, they would often get frustrated and exclaim, “This is soooo hard!”   They just wanted to give up.  Well, today, we find something similar in our gospel reading.  The people are gathered together, listening to Jesus as he teaches in the synagogue.  And, when he is done, a bunch of his followers come to him and say, “Jesus, this teaching is soooo hard!”  This is the last week of five in which we hear about Jesus as the bread of life.  Jesus has been telling the people this meal he offers them doesn’t come from the fields or the sea, but from his very

This is a special musical performance of I Want to be Like Jesus by Faith Lutheran Church members Diane Hill and Bob Nelson.

A national survey was done a few years ago by the Barna Group, and there was one simple question on the survey.  That question was, "What is the phrase you most long to hear?"  The overwhelming answer was not at all surprising: "I love you." In a solid second place was the phrase "I forgive you."  And, the third most longed to hear phrase was, "Dinner is ready!"  I find it fascinating that these three answers articulate the deepest longings and needs of every human being. Well, the Jesus we meet this morning in John's Gospel, understood these deepest longings that exist in peoples’ lives, longings for love, forgiveness and, yes, sustenance.  And, in the 6th chapter of John, we repeatedly hear Jesus address these three areas of human need.  In this lectionary year, for five Sundays in a row, we hear Jesus address these deep human desires as he claims, "The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh-and-blood self."   As we enter today’s reading we see the crowds becomin

This is a special flute musical performance by of Two Menuets by Jean-Jacques Naudot performed by Gwynne Kadrofske

As many of you know, we were blessed to have time with our grandson, William, over the past month.  I love playing singing games with him, and one of the games he loves is Eensy Weensy Spider.  He would be enthralled as I would sing this song with him while doing the motions.  And, as soon as I would finish, even though he only says a few words, through his body language and actions he would always indicate he wanted me to do it again and again.  It was as though he was saying, “Do it again, Grandma, do it again!”  This is a very human trait for us as people.  After experiencing something that is pleasing and entertainingly astonishing, we frequently want to experience it again and again.  To paraphrase what Kim O’Brien said in our Tuesday Bible study, when we see a shiny object, we want to see it again and again. In last week’s gospel reading from John, the 5,000+ people who had come to see Jesus had, in a manner of speaking, experienced seeing that shiny object when Jesus performed an astonishing miracle!