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

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

This is a special musical presentation of the Jesus, What a Wonderful Child with soloists Tammy Heilman and Chris Lewis at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Christmas Eve 2024 Tonight, I would like to focus on angels. The first time that we hear about angels is back in Genesis. The angel announced to Hagar, after she ran away from Sarai, that she would bear many children. Her first child was Ishmael, Abram’s first son. Ishmael played a foundational role in the Islamic religion. Here we have an angel announcing the birth of someone who turned out to be an important prophet in the Islamic religion. It is important to remember that this was God’s messenger. Since Sarai didn’t know what to do with the fact that Abram and Hagar were going to have a child, Hagar had run away. The angel came with good news for Hagar, that she would bear a son that would produce many nations. As we gather here tonight, we can remember that the angels assisted in setting up our Christmas story. The angel Gabriel visited Mary and announced that she would be the mother of Jesus who would be the Messiah, the Savior of the world. Another angel came to visit Joseph to secure his place as

In our gospel lesson today, we have Mary’s song of praise and gratitude, which has been given the title, The Magnificat. My soul proclaims your greatness O God, and my spirit rejoices in you my Savior. The Message, a paraphrase of the Bible, puts it this way, Mary says “I’m bursting with good news; I’m dancing the song of my Savior, God took one look at me, and look what happened- I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!” Now really, she is not even technically a woman. She’s a pregnant teenager and unmarried. She has run off out into the country to her cousin Elizabeth’s. Elizabeth is much older and also pregnant. Where is the good news? Mary must have had some fear. An angel, Gabriel had come to visit her to tell her that she would be the mother of the Savior of the world, which as a Jewish woman, would mean the messiah. Who would believe her? What were people going to say when they saw her, a pregnant, unmarried teenager carrying a baby? That must have been the reason that she ran off into the country to

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

This is the Christmas Pageant presented by the youth of Faith Lutheran Church today. It is entitled 12 Symbols of Christmas!

This is a special musical presentation of the Angels Advent Carol by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.    

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

Sermon for Faith Lutheran Church-Okemos December 8, 2024; Advent 2 – Year C Megan Floyd Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, and from the Lord, Jesus Christ, our Savior… the one for whom we prepare.  Amen. I think we all know… babies tend to arrive without regard for whether the parents are fully ready for them… or not. In fact, I don’t know anyone who claims they were fully prepared and ready in every way for the arrival of their children. …and if they said they were, I wouldn’t have believed them. When my husband and I were awaiting the birth of our first child, we did all we believed we were supposed to do to prepare the way. We… made the soft colors bright… and the sharp edges round… we filled baskets with diapers and baby stuff… and we made the rough ways in our home smooth. And yet… we were not fully prepared. We were not prepared for how much the arrival of our child would change us…   We were not prepared for the shift in our relationship and… the love! Who knew you could love someone so much

This is a special musical presentation of Listen Here, Listen Here with a solo from Christopher Lewis at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Advent is a season that is counter cultural. We can get busier and busier as we approach Christmas. Yet when we gather together for worship we talk and sing about slowing down and waiting. We sing those Advent hymns in minor keys, that some people don’t like. We don’t even sing a Hymn of Praise and instead we sing only a Kyrie. The ceremony of the candle lighting is added in every Sunday service as well in our Christmas Eve services. This year we are using something new that I suggested. It is entitled – “God is Near”. This may be the message that we need to hear this Advent season. In order to hear that God is near, we may have to stop and wait, to be alert and pray. No matter whether you think something good will come out of the craziness in our country or not, it can become loud. Hearing God may become more difficult. The people that Luke was writing to were probably becoming confused as to what he was talking about also. Jesus said there will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars and on the earth d

Today is Christ the King Sunday or Reign of Christ Sunday. Pope Pius XI in 1925 began this festival which was around the time of World War I. He felt that the followers of Christ were being lured away by secularism. They were choosing to live in the kingdom of the world and focus on themselves and not the kingdom where God reigned where the focus is on others. Christ the King Sunday was declared to counter nationalism. People at that particular time were getting the 2 kingdoms blurred. Could this be what we are experiencing today? The worldly kingdom, nationalism, is about gaining power and control to benefit only a certain group of people. It is about making one race, gender and sexual orientation superior. Jesus’ kingdom is about making sure everyone is taken care of. It is about recognizing that every person is part of God’s creation, and are equal. Each person has gifts and abilities that the kingdom needs in order to function. Jesus’ kingdom is about loving our neighbor, which is the person living ne

This is a special musical presentation of Will Give You Thanks with the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

This is a special musical presentation of Leaning on the Everlasting Arms with the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

This is a special musical presentation of God Will Make a Way, a solo by Bob Nelson at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Jesus has called each one of here this morning and we have answered that call. He wants to speak to us today and give us a message of trust and hope. Through word, sacrament, and each other we are reminded of Jesus’ love for each one of us and then he calls us to share that love with others and then encourage them to share it. Through times of happiness and joy as well as times of disappointment, anxiety and anger we can come here to experience Jesus though word, sacrament and each other. Many of us are still trying to process the election. Each of us are at a different place. Wherever we are emotionally, we can bring it to Jesus. Here at Faith, even if we don’t always understand each other’s views, all our welcome. Our welcoming statement reads: We welcome you as God’s beloved child, “for in Christ Jesus… [we] are all children of God through faith.” (Galatians 3:26). No matter your age, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, marital status, neurodivergent status, faith backgrou

This is a special musical presentation of Days of Elijah with the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Have No Fear, Little Flock   Have no fear, little flock; have no fear little flock, for the Father has chosen to give you the kingdom; have no fear, little flock!   ELW 764   For many of us, though not all of us, this has been a very hard week.  For many of us, though not all of us, the path ahead looks frightening.  For many of us it looks especially frightening for the lives of the poor and marginalized.  In Jesus’ day, this included widows, orphans, strangers, lepers, and anyone else considered unclean.  In our day for those of us who are worried, it is hard not to believe that many, many people will experience greater suffering, except for those who like the rich man in the text from Luke 12 will do well, at least for a time…though the story is clear about a day of reckoning… Hear again the soliloquy of the rich man:  I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’   But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you.

Jesus Cries with Us, Jesus Cries Out for Us Last Sunday afternoon Jamie, Laurie, Phylis and I sitting at a large round table visited with Anna, Ashley, Alison (from Panama), Fatima (from Venezuela), three little people, and a faithful member of St. Christopher Episcopal Church.   St. Christopher is a sanctuary church in El Paso, Texas, a safe place for migrant people to live until they can travel on to a more permanent safe and caring community in which they could live and work and thrive.  Many take dangerous and often illegal risks.  Many are filled with great anxiety and uncertainty, exacerbated by antiquated immigration laws and processes that can mean months and even many years of waiting.  Many are filled with fear both of countries they have fled and of our country because they know we are a deeply divided nation given to fear and even hatred of these aliens, these sojourners, these strangers. But Sunday we all were in this safe and sacred place.  Except for the little ones we introduced ourselves, sha

This is a special musical presentation of Hine Ma Tov with the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.