Episodios

  • Special Music - Peace Is Our Prayer

    Special Music - Peace Is Our Prayer
    Oct 26 2025

    Today, we had a special musical performance of Peace Is Our Prayer by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

    Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
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    4 m
  • Sermon - 10/26/25

    Sermon - 10/26/25
    Oct 26 2025
    Year C – Reformation Sunday – October 26, 2025 John 8:31-36 Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, and from our Savior, Jesus Christ, who sets us free. Amen. *** “…the truth will make you free.” On the surface, this seems like a simple thing to say. It’s really inspirational, yes? The truth will make you free… I’ve seen this verse printed on coffee mugs and tote bags, and I’ve heard it quoted in shows and movies. The truth will make you free… My truth is that when I hear this, I hear it stated by Marilla Cuthbert from Anne of Green Gables… not the Netflix remake, but the old 1985 version with Megan Follows that I watched on repeat until the VHS tape wore out. For some reason, when she said it, it felt very important. The truth will make you free… This statement seems straightforward, and yet, for me, there are these nagging questions that follow… Like what is truth? And what… is freedom? The more I consider these questions, the more abstract the concepts become… truth and freedom. Since these are Jesus’ words, we can infer he is speaking to something beyond our human, earthly experience… but that insight doesn’t make it clearer. Full understanding feels just beyond my grasp… and you know, that’s okay. Jesus isn’t known for giving clear answers. Asking questions, yes, but not so much on giving answers. Jesus wants us to sit with his words… to roll them around in our minds. He said, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Jesus’ words are an invitation. His words are an invitation to a group of people who are there… because they believe in him. Like us here today, they believe Jesus has something worth teaching. But rather than giving up a clear answer, Jesus calls them… like he calls us, to a journey of discovery. Belief is only the first step. There is so much more to discover. There is a destination on this journey, but this destination isn’t a place… it’s a person… it is the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, if you continue in my word… it’s important to note here that the word translated as “continue” is the Greek word meno… it means to abide… and it shows up 41 times in the Gospel of John… that’s a lot… It gets translated into many different words like continue, stay, dwell, remain… but the word is always meno… abide… and its meaning is so much deeper than any of those English words. To abide is more like… occupying the same physical space. It is to give our whole identity and person over to the identity and person of Jesus Christ… so much so… that we are entirely different from what we were before. “…if you abide in my word…” And abiding with Jesus Christ isn’t necessarily the final destination either… abiding with Jesus Christ isn’t the promised reward that is only available to us after we die. Jesus is calling us to abide with him now, to dwell with him today, to continue in his word from this moment on… and when we accept his invitation to abide… to dwell… to let our very self… become one with the person of Christ, THEN we will become his disciples. “…and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Becoming a disciple means accepting Jesus’ invitation to journey toward understanding truth and freedom. Jesus’ invitation is to journey toward the understanding that Jesus IS truth, the truth that makes known the eternal God… because Jesus IS the eternal God. Becoming a disciple means embracing the journey toward a truth… that sets us free… It is a truth that sets all people free, the freedom to recognize that Jesus is God, here with us, offering love, provision, and protection. This truth… and this freedom… they take a lifetime and beyond to understand because God is not restricted by our human perceptions… and our limited interpretations. And this truth that sets us free is for all people because God so loves the whole world. Jesus is truth, and this truth is freedom, but fully understanding it is just beyond our grasp, imploring us to keep learning and keep growing. Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Jesus is inviting us to dwell with him, to abide in his words. What Jesus calls us to is a serious commitment of continual growth and learning …of being changed by this mutually abiding relationship. Jesus calls us to allow ourselves to be formed and RE-formed by his Word… to embrace a continual state of being made new. *** Now… I want to pause here a moment… because we follow the lectionary… the three-year cycle of scripture readings… which means we have been on a steady march through the Gospel of Luke… traveling with Jesus toward Jerusalem… and the cross. Like all authors, ...
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    21 m
  • Special Music - The Gift of Love

    Special Music - The Gift of Love
    Oct 19 2025

    Today, we had a special musical performance of The Gift of Love by the Faith Lutheran Faith Bells Bell Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

    Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
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    3 m
  • Special Music - I Lift Up Mine Eyes

    Special Music - I Lift Up Mine Eyes
    Oct 19 2025

    Today, we had a special musical performance of I Lift Up Mine Eyes by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir with a flute solo from Gwynne Kadrofske at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

    Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
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    4 m
  • Sermon - 10/19/25

    Sermon - 10/19/25
    Oct 19 2025
    LUKE 18:1-8 This is the holy gospel according to Luke. Glory to you, O Lord. Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and to not lose heart. He said, in a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, grant me justice for my accuser. For a while he refused, but later he said to himself, though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice so she may not wear me out by continually coming. And the Lord said, listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth? This is the gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Jesse. I am the program innovator for Living Water Ministries. I've been working year round for Living Water for three years. Actually, last week I just celebrated my three year anniversary. So I've been on staff for three years, but camp has long been a part of my life. I was a camper through my whole childhood. I worked on summer staff. And now I am so blessed to be able to be part of the work that we do all year round. Before I talk about the gospel, I want to extend my gratitude to all of you. Faith and the people here have long been a part of camp and our programs. You have kids who come to camp, volunteers who can't come to camp and work with U.S. donors. Your pastor comes to camp every year. Camp is a really big part of this faith community. I also want to share with you a little bit about Living Water. For those of you who don't know us, the first thing that we do is summer camp. That's our main thing that we do. And during our typical weeks of camp, we have campers who are grades one through 12. And we do worship in the morning and we sing songs and we create this really, really special community for kids of all these ages. We have a couple of specialized programs. We have a week of camp for adults with developmental disabilities. We have a week of camp called Bridge Builders for high schoolers. And this is anti racism and leadership training. And new this year, we are launching a new program called In God's Image, which is a week of camp for LGBTQ high school youth. And coming up next Month we have Charge. Charge is a youth gathering for middle school and high schoolers, and this is at the Great Wolf Lodge. And Charge is an event that provides a powerful faith community where students get to develop leadership skills and grow in faith, all while having fun at the water park at Great Wolf Lodge. And because the love of Christ is abundant and freely given, Living Water believes that money should never be a barrier that stops a child from having a camp experience. So during COVID camp was closed for two summers, but this gave us the ability to give camp away for free in the summer of 2022. So every kid who came to camp in 2022 did so at no cost. And so since then, we have offered a tier pricing system to keep this equity going. So when families register their camper, they have the choice of paying full price, half price, or no price, no questions asked. It's just something that they get to select when they are registering their camper. So this and all of our ministry is made possible through generous individuals and congregations sharing their gifts with campers. Every year we hold our Run the Race campaign where runners and non runners alike come together and everybody commits to raising $2,000 and running a 200 mile relay race from Traverse City to Muskegon. So last month, we held our Run the Race event, and. And we raised over $131,000, which is so cool. And all of that gets to go to making camp the best place that it can be. And so why all this matters to you, why I'm telling this to you, is because of the people sitting in the pews with you. You have kids who come to camp. You have people who volunteer. Those campers become summer staffers. And your pastor is part of camp. The people at Faith sitting with you are super involved in the work that God does at camp. And we do all this because of the gospel. We do all of this work because of Jesus. So in the parable today, Jesus asks, asks us that if the people cry out to God, will he delay long in helping them? So if we cry out, will God help us? And honestly, sometimes it seems like God's not like he is delaying, like we've been crying out for quite some time and not hearing anything back. Because how long must we cry out until we finally see justice? How long must we cry out until we see an end of genocide? How long must we cry out until our black and brown siblings stop being kidnapped and murdered? How long until our children are safe in their schools? How long? Because sometimes it ...
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    13 m
  • Special Service - An evening of prayer and songs for love, justice, and peace

    Special Service - An evening of prayer and songs for love, justice, and peace
    Oct 13 2025

    Join us for a special service - An evening of prayer and songs for love, justice, and peace. This is a fantastic way to come together to talk to and support each other through turbulent times.

    An evening of prayer and songs for love, justice, and peace

    Acknowledgments: Copyright 2025 Augsburg Fortress. All Rights Reserved. CCLI: Streaming License #CSPL141616 Size B. CCLI Church Copyright License #720217 Size B. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #SAS000803. Podcast/Streaming and Music printed by permission under OneLicense #A-708005. Scripture is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.
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    45 m
  • Special Music - Shine A Little Light

    Special Music - Shine A Little Light
    Oct 12 2025

    Today, we had a special musical performance of Shine a Little Light by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir with solos from Ray Herek and Paula Pulter at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

    Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC
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    3 m
  • Sermon - 10-12-25

    Sermon - 10-12-25
    Oct 12 2025
    Year C – 18th Sunday after Pentecost; Lectionary 28 – October 12, 2025 Pastor Megan Floyd 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c Psalm 111 Luke 17:11-19 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, to whom we give thanks and praise for all our Creator has done for us. Amen. *** Some days ago, while going through the motions of the morning… I felt overcome by such a profound sense of sadness. Sadness for the world… for our country… for our siblings in Chicago who are under attack… for our transgender siblings who are being vilified… and for our children who don’t know that this isn’t normal. I felt sadness… mixed with pain and anger, and maybe even dipping a toe into despair. That’s not an emotional place I generally go… but… it’s been hard. I have shaped my life around Christ… my values… my dreams… they are shaped around how Jesus Christ calls us to be and live… how Jesus calls us to love… and what I see in this world right now… the hate and fear of immigrants… driving people to carry out violence against their neighbors… whom they are called to love… hate and fear carried out in the name of Jesus... I know… that this is not what Christ wants for us. God has shown us that we are made for community… that we need community… and we know that we are better and stronger when we… not just include, but fully embrace… the full diversity of God’s people. We know we are stronger and closer to God’s vision for our world when we do as Christ did… and go to our neighbors who have been pushed to the margins, and witness to their worth and value. We know we are following God’s will when we go to our neighbors on the edges of our community and witness to their belovedness… when we call them our siblings, and mean it… …and when we help them find their place back in the center of our communal life together. We know this is God’s will for us because Jesus demonstrated this action… over and over again… Jesus showed us how to welcome those who have been rejected… and Jesus showed us how to love. And yet… so much in our country today is pushing us all away from each other. It is costing lives… so you can understand my sadness… and my anger. So, on that morning… I was deep in my own thoughts… until at some point, I wasn’t thinking so much as I was listening… and I had a moment of clarity. One of those moments where the Spirit reaches out and drapes you in peace… the kind of peace that we long for… the kind of peace that we pray for. I had a moment of clarity when I remembered… that gratitude is medicine. Gratitude is medicine… and thankfulness to Jesus Christ is resistance… and praise to our Creator for all that God continues to do for us… and through us… in these crazy times we are living in… That praise… is joy! And in that moment of gratitude and joy, blanketed by God’s peace… I found myself again… I remembered who I was… and whose I was… and I felt whole again. I felt my joy return… the joy that comes from feeling true gratitude to my God! And… I wonder… I wonder if that was a little bit how Naaman felt… after being made clean and returning to Elisha to give praise to God. I wonder… if this was how the psalmist felt… the pure joy of giving praise and thanksgiving to the Lord with their whole heart… Declaring… that the works of the Lord’s hands are faithfulness and justice; and that all the Lord’s precepts stand forever and ever because they are done in truth… and equity. I wonder… if this was… just a little bit… how the Samaritan felt… when he turned back to give praise and thanksgiving to God, because through Jesus… he was restored. Through Jesus, he was healed of the disease that forced him to the edges… healed of the disease that prevented him from taking part in communal life. Jesus healed him of the disease that made him untouchable… Jesus healed all ten of the men… of the disease that made them untouchable. And I am sure… that the other nine who were also healed… I’m sure they were glad for their healing… I am sure they were thrilled to rejoin their community. Of course they would be… it was a miracle. But it was only… the outcast among outcasts… who turned back to offer praise and thanksgiving… it was only the foreigner… who turned back to give praise… only the Samaritan… connected his miraculous healing to God’s doing, through Jesus. Only the one who would still be an outcast in that society, even when healed of this disease… only him… gave praise and thanksgiving for all to hear. Now… recall that the Samaritans and Jews shared the same ancestry, but when Assyria invaded the northern kingdom, they exiled many of the Jews. Those who remained intermarried with the Assyrians and built new lives. But when those who were exiled were allowed to return, they considered the Samaritans to be religiously and ethnically ...
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    19 m