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

The crowds are following Jesus, but Jesus is throwing them for a loop again. Jesus is saying he is the bread of life that has come down from heaven. This can’t be as he is the son of Joseph, and they know his father and mother. Now he is claiming to be God? The Judeans say that they know the truth. They seem to be so closed minded. This idea that this Jesus who they knew as a child and knew his family could not be God. This was contrary to scripture. It was blowing their mind. They had been following him to eat physical and spiritual food, but this was too much. Jesus doesn’t argue with them, he tells them that God drew them to him. I would think that really confounded them. When their ancestors ate manna in the wilderness they died. God had sent the manna day by day to meet their needs, and still they complained. Now Jesus is saying that he himself is the bread from heaven and connecting with him will give them eternal life. Jesus says that he will give his life for the world and his flesh is the work he did

This is a special musical presentation of Thee We Adore, O Savior  with Elaine Harrison, Kay Hillberg, Brenda Kopf and Ann Mayer on handbells at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

This is a special musical presentation of Fairest Lord Jesus by Megan Nyquist and Addie Thompson on handbells at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

It has been an exciting time here at the Son Games 2024 VBS program. We have had a great group of kids, a wonderful staff, and we not only partnered with St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, but had people from other churches, too. This is what church is about. You heard our mottos, Join In, Team Up, Get Strong, Keep On, and Celebrate. This is all in the back drop of the Olympics. When we think of Olympics, they are competitions made up of diversity. This is from every country. All colors, cultures, orientations, almost everyone is represented. Paul talks about this in his letter to the Ephesians. He tells us that unity consists of one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God. It is not about everyone looking the same or thinking the same or doing things the same way. I believe unity happens when we can celebrate diversity. It is not necessarily how something gets done. Each one of us may do something different. The challenge is to affirm the person regardless of how it gets done. Celebrating di

This is a special musical presentation of The Lord is My Shepherd by soloist Ryan Thompson and Addie Thompson on Flute at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Our culture teaches us to always want to know and have more. I believe that sometimes that this is important. In our political world today, it is important to discover the truth to the best of our ability. Media slants information as well as candidates. Thus, before we comment or share things on Facebook, it is good to check it out, because if we don’t someone else will. There are other times in conversation that sometimes wondering if we really need to know what is being shared. Most of us know the letters TMI, too much information. As human beings we can only handle so much at one time. The same with food. Our bodies can only accommodate a certain amount of food. For our own health, we often need to tell ourselves that we don’t need any more and be satisfied. In our Gospel lesson we hear that when the crowd was satisfied, Jesus told his disciples to gather up the fragments of the five barely loaves and two fish. They filled five baskets. But was it only their physical hunger that was satisfied? The crowd

Last week I spoke about us being called as prophets.  Now this week in our second lesson, Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he talks about coming together. Paul is addressing his letter to Jewish and Gentile Christians. Each of them have their own idea about each other’s conduct. Paul is suggesting, well maybe telling them that they are called to reconcile with each other and create peace. Neither being a prophet nor being called to reconcile are easy things. It takes willing people. Does this sound like the Christian church today? Through issues and politics, we do not all see things in the same way. We do not interpret the bible in the same way. Thus, how can we reconcile and bring peace to our different views on scripture and how it informs our lives as to how to live as God’s people? I believe the first conclusion to come to is we will not agree on all things. As human beings we each process differently, have come from different places, have had different experiences and are at different places in our lives

This is a special musical presentation of Holy Thy Name at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

This is a special musical presentation of Acquaint Now Thyself withsoloist Bruce Thorsen Piano at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan

This past week in our Bible study we looked at the First lesson from Amos and the Gospel lesson from Mark. It took some processing to find some good news in these passages. The people of Israel were not listening to God, not measuring up and they were going into exile. Then we hear what happened to John the Baptist after he had been arrested. He was beheaded. Would it have been better for me to have chosen other lessons? People are headed into exile and beheading is pretty gruesome. The other interesting thing in our Gospel lesson is that Jesus doesn’t say a word. Mark is finishing a story that he started in his first chapter. We don’t always like to hear these stories. Many of you may choose not to read or watch stories like this. Unfortunately, it is reality. How many times do we read about the Israelites going into exile? As human beings we have continued this cycle of connecting with God in Jesus Christ and then human nature takes over and God’s definition of mercy and justice begins to fade. From my poin

This is a special musical presentation of Kingsfold with Elaine Harrison, Brenda Kopf, Matt Schnizlein and Addie Thompson on Handbells and Kathy Richardson on Piano at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan

After one of our pastors left back home, I tried to fill in some of the gaps. I was home from college and had a great deal of energy. The council president sat me down and said that sometimes when you are from the church, it can be difficult for people to see where you are now as they may only remember you as you were growing up. Thus, maybe I should back off. So, I can relate at least a little bit to where Jesus was coming from. Jesus and his disciples had come back to Nazareth where Jesus had grown up. On the sabbath, Jesus began to teach in the synagogue. Many who were there were astounded. They were wondering where and when did he learn all of this. What deeds of power were being done by his hands! Then they began to think, now wait a minute, is this not the carpenter’s son, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas and Simon. His sisters are here too. This is the only places that Jesus’ brothers were named and that there is a mention of sisters. The person who is not mentioned is Joseph, his ear

The last time I was here, 2 weeks ago, I announced that I would not be putting my name in as a candidate for your next pastor. Pam is no longer working here, and Connie finished her time with us. Everyone take a deep breath. This is a lot to process all at one time. We hear in the Bible that God never gives us more than we can handle, but really? People leaving involves grief and so often we choose not to talk about it. Yet, in order to move forward eventually as human beings, in order to bring health and stability back into balance, we do need to at least acknowledge it. Grief is real and yet slippery as everyone experiences it differently and this includes groups. I am wondering if part of the struggle of grief is that it involves change. When we acknowledge it, it means we have to do something different to fill the holes that need to be filled and then a new plan developed in order to move forward. Our leadership has been working on this. To fill the Administrative Assistant/Secretary position we began pos

This is a special musical presentation of When Peace like a River at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan

This is a special musical presentation of Nearer, My God to Thee by Bob Borcherding on fiddle at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan

This is a special musical presentation of Amazing Grace by Bob Borcherding on fiddle at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan

This is a special musical presentation of Sing Out To God by the Summer Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan

Sometimes I don’t like the way that the kingdom of God grows. But what is the kingdom of God? It is the place where God reigns or is in charge. I appreciate how Luther it explains it as heavenly and earthly. As people of God, we have one foot in each. Here on earth, we try and practice how we will live in the heavenly kingdom. Growth in the kingdom of God doesn’t happen the way that I would like it to. I often get angry and feel uncomfortable as it grows. It doesn’t happen fast enough and then when it does, it is not always what I expected. In Mark the kingdom of God is described as something mysterious. It is often described as something that does not make sense. It also takes our control out of the mix. Now it is really frustrating. I have found that I can have everything planned out in my head and then when I try and put it together it doesn’t always work. Then when one piece falls into place it is time to move full speed ahead. I have often said to God, Hey what were you thinking? We can experience t

This is a special musical presentation of Rain Dance by Calvin Kadrofske on Marimba at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan