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

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by Faith Lutheran Church, Okemos, MI

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882 episodes

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Podcast Overview

All of us are on a journey of faith in our lives. At Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan we bring people one a journey of faith each week and share that journey with the world.

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2/8/2016

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Recent Episodes

July 5, 2026

Sermon - 7/5/26

Year A – Pentecost 6; Lectionary 14 – July 5, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, from the Holy Spirit, our Sustainer, and from Jesus Christ, who invites all who are weary to come to him, and he will give you rest. *** "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" That is the question hanging over our Gospel today. John the Baptist sends his disciples to Jesus with that question because uncertainty has crept in. John had announced a Messiah who would bring justice with fire and power. He had imagined the great turning point of history arriving with unmistakable force. And now John sits in prison while Jesus spends his days eating with, connecting with, and healing the kind of people everyone else avoids… and offering mercy in ordinary places. Are you really the one? I think John and others expected something bigger… and perhaps… sometimes… we do, as well. We live in a world obsessed with the big and the dramatic. We look for the movement that changes everything overnight. We want the speech that fixes society or the election that solves all our problems. Even around this holiday weekend, with freedom in the air and national stories all around us, we are reminded how much we love grand narratives. We love decisive moments. We love fireworks. And yet Jesus answers John's question in a very different way. Theologian and Luther Seminary professor, Dr. Matt Skinner, writes that Jesus answers by showing how he is changing the world… "not in an immediate broadscale manner, but through one act of mercy at a time." One act of mercy at a time. The blind see. The lame walk… The sick are healed… The poor receive good news… Not one giant spectacle, or one dramatic takeover. Just… mercy. Mercy upon mercy upon mercy. And that seems almost too small, doesn't it? Jesus himself sounds frustrated in today's text because people keep missing what God is doing. John comes fasting and preaching judgment, and people reject him. …Jesus comes eating and celebrating and extending welcome, and people reject him too. Nothing satisfies them… Because they are looking for the wrong things. They are waiting for a Messiah who conquers through power and force… while God is sending liberation through compassion… and relationship. They are looking for grandness… while God keeps showing up in small acts of mercy. And perhaps that is still our temptation. We tend to believe that justice comes only through massive effort and enormous change… We can think that if we are not changing everything, then we are changing nothing. Except… God's work has always begun among those the world overlooks. God acts among the poor, the excluded, the burdened, the people whose lives society tries to render invisible. And God often shows up exactly where dominant voices would have us believe that nothing important is happening there… God shows up in bodies and in stories and in communities that others dismiss. God keeps revealing holy truth from the margins. Because God has this habit of beginning with what appears small. A manger… A handful of disciples… Bread and wine… Water poured over a child's head… A cross that looked like defeat. Small things that become life for the world. I was reminded of this a few days ago while talking with Rich. He shared a story from when he was in high school. One of his classmates became pregnant. And as you might imagine, people talked. There was gossip and judgment, and unfair assumptions. But Rich looked at the situation differently. He thought, regardless of everything else, a baby is coming, and a baby deserves a gift. So… he crocheted her a pair of baby booties. That was it… No grand speech… No dramatic intervention. Just a pair of baby booties. He said that, decades later… she told him that she had never forgotten that small act of kindness… Never forgotten it. And… I have been thinking about that story all week. Because that is exactly how Jesus seems to work. One small act of mercy… One person seeing another person's humanity. One interruption in the cycle of shame… One reminder that love still exists, and that a person is still deserving of dignity, even when everyone else says they do not. One pair of baby booties. We often underestimate what mercy does. Mercy changes the person receiving it, yes… but… mercy also changes the person giving it because mercy begins reshaping our hearts. Jesus says, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me." Now, a yoke is not exactly an inspiring image. It sounds heavy and restrictive. And it is true… that the way of Christ is not always easy because carrying this yoke guides us to keep choosing mercy in a world that often rewards cruelty. Carrying the yoke of Christ guides us to stand beside burdened people and help them bear the weight. Carrying the yoke of Christ guides us to love people others have decided are unlovable… and… to keep showing up for our neighbors, especially those who have been excluded. That can be hard… Sometimes it is easier to stay distant… and keep our heads down. Sometimes it is easier to let systems keep grinding people down because confronting those systems will cost us something. The yoke of Christ is not freedom from responsibility. But strangely, Jesus says that this yoke is easy and this burden is light. And you may wonder, how can that be? …it is because the yoke of Christ is carried together. You see, a yoke is designed for two… Jesus is not handing us a burden and sending us off alone… Jesus is carrying it with us. He says, "Learn from me" …walk beside me… stay near me… watch where I go. And where does Jesus go? …He goes toward burdened people… toward weary people… hurting people… toward those who have been pushed aside. And this is where freedom becomes important… not the freedom that we celebrated as a country this weekend, but our freedom in Christ… because our freedom in Christ is not the freedom to separate ourselves from one another. Christian freedom has never meant, "I can do whatever I want." Christian freedom means being set free for love… set free for relationship… set free for one another. Liberation through Christ… is always communal. Because if my neighbor is still carrying crushing burdens, if they remain chained by poverty or prejudice or fear or loneliness, then Christ will keep calling me toward them. Our freedom in Christ frees us to help the one still in chains. And that is where the joy is… not in standing apart, but in joining Christ where Christ already is. Because Jesus says: Come to me… Come to me weary… come to me burdened… come to me while you are still uncertain and carrying... everything. And Christ will receive you with mercy, and give you rest. Jesus says, "Come to me," and he places his yoke upon us—not the crushing yoke of shame or fear or impossible expectations—but the yoke of shared love. And then Christ teaches us to walk. One small act of mercy at a time. One kind word… One meal shared… One hand extended… One pair of baby booties. And slowly, mysteriously, the kingdom of God keeps breaking in. Not with fireworks… but with love. Not with domination… but with mercy. Not through power over people… but through liberation with people. And one day we look back and realize that Christ was the one who was foretold all along… the one who was to come. Because wherever burdens are lifted, wherever dignity is restored, wherever mercy reaches someone who thought they had been forgotten, Christ is there. Still changing the world… one small act of mercy at a time. Amen.

June 21, 2026

Special Music - This Is My Father's World

Today, we had a special musical performance of This is My Father's World, a solo by Janie Durga at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC

June 21, 2026

Sermon - 6/21/26

Year A – Pentecost 4; Lectionary 12 – June 21, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Matthew 10:24-39  Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, from the Holy Spirit, our Sustainer, and from Jesus Christ, to whom we belong. Amen.  <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />  Year A – Pentecost 4; Lectionary 12 – June 21, 2026  Pastor Megan Floyd  Matthew 10:24-39  Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, from the Holy Spirit, our Sustainer, and from Jesus Christ, to whom we belong. Amen.  ***  Happy Father's Day! …this is not the text I would have chosen for this day, but that is the beauty and challenge of following the lectionary. …we don't get to shy away from the hard texts. …and we trust that even the hard truths carry good news.  So here we are… following Jesus will cause division, even among families. It is uncomfortable… but I think we all know that it is true… and perhaps, I am sure… some of us have experienced this in our own lives.  Discipleship will cost us all something, but it never costs us God's love. That is also true.  Our text today is the very next lines from the same missionary discourse we began reading last week. Jesus is sending his disciples out to share the good news that the kingdom of heaven has come near… sending them out with compassion to bring peace and healing.  And yet, Jesus is honest… he is sending them out like sheep among wolves. Not all will accept this invitation of love and light. This mission is not without tension. It wasn't then… and it isn't now.  Jesus states it plainly… following him will create conflict in our lives. Even if you are blessed with a family that all follows the way of Christ together, you are still at odds with much of our culture today.  Following the way of Christ means to honor and cherish the inherent value and worth of every living thing… while our culture teaches that greed and personal wants and needs supersede the needs of others, and that some people are disposable… unwanted… and unwelcome.  Following the way of Christ and bringing close the kingdom of heaven means we are to be especially compassionate for those who are pushed down and exploited by our systems, while also working to break those systems…  and yet… our culture celebrates systems of exploitation where one person can become a trillionaire while millions are starving.  Remember what God said in Isaiah 58:6-7… "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them and not to hide yourself from your own kin?"  …your own kin.  This is the way of Christ… to recognize that the other person, no matter how different… is your own kin.  This is the way that puts us at odds with our culture because it disrupts systems of power… …it can put us at odds with our families because it places God and love for others as our priority…  Jesus isn't glorifying division or the power of the sword… he is saying that sometimes faithfulness has consequences.  This is the way of Christ… it is contrary to the powers of empire… contrary to the powers of domination… this is the way of living that landed Jesus on that cross.  I think it's pretty rational to look at Jesus on the cross and say… nope… no thank you. I understand… when some turn away in despair… and say it is too hard… it costs… too much.  Going against the grain is not easy… it is not irrational to be afraid of the consequences, but Jesus names that fear out loud… and up front…  Fear becomes powerful when it stays hidden, but Jesus names the cost of following him so that fear can lose some of its grip… so that the disciples can go… and share the good news that the kingdom of heaven has come near in the person of Jesus.  But… it is Father's Day… and this message does not wrap us in cozy familial images… so I want to say this clearly… Jesus is not attacking family.  He is, however, reordering our lives… and our priorities. No family, however loving, can ultimately bear the weight of being our deepest source of identity.  Our children do not complete us… our salvation does not come from our parents… and no earthly relationship can tell us what only God can tell us… who we are… and whose we are.  Jesus has just laid out the hard truth, but in his compassion, he reminds them… he reminds us… that God has his eye on the sparrow, and yet, we are more valuable to God than many sparrows.  In the ancient world, sparrows were nearly worthless in the marketplace. They were the cheapest meat the poor could buy.  And yet, Jesus says that not one of them escapes God's attention.  So do not be afraid… you are a child of God, and loved beyond measure.  After September 11, attorney Kenneth Feinberg led the fund that compensated victims' families. Formulas were used – income, age, earning potential. Some lives were assigned values many times larger than others."  Later, he reflected that his legal training collided with something growing in him… the conviction that all lives carry equal worth.  But our world still measures people that way… measures productivity and achievement… income and status… usefulness to others.  Even on a day like today, we measure ourselves as parents… children… providers…  Am I successful enough? …Did I do enough? …and I enough?  But Jesus has an entirely different system of measurement.  Simply put… we have value because we are creatures… just like sparrows… we belong to God.  We matter because God made us… and loves us… and because we bear God's image.  Our value is not earned… it can never be earned… it simply… is. We are valuable and beloved to God.  And because we have God's attention, we will never be abandoned… for even the hairs of your head are all counted.  Notice… however… that despite God's attention, Jesus doesn't promise safety… he doesn't claim that discipleship will never come with pain. He is up front about the cost.  He says, "Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it." (Matt. 10:39)  What Jesus promises… is holy attention… divine presence in our lives… he promises that, in a world where no one can ever possibly, fully know another person completely… that God does… God fully knows you better than you know yourself… right down to the number of hairs on your head.  And Jesus promises that there is nothing in our lives that falls outside of the circle of God's care… not our joys… not our grief… our failures or our fears.  Not even the small, sparrow-sized things… God cares about it all.  For God has spoken to us before we could speak ourselves… and claimed us as God's beloved children.  Before we could prove anything… earn anything… fail or succeed at anything… God said, "You are mine, and I love you."  So, when we know that our Creator holds us so closely in love, then we can venture out with courage into a difficult world.  We can remain faithful disciples, even when it costs us something… we can carry crosses.  We can lean into the way of Christ when the path would have us go another way… even if that causes strain on our relationships.  Because discipleship will, indeed, cost us all something, but it never costs us God's love… God's love is assured.  Sparrows and disciples alike – we know God watches us, and in God's sight, there are no unimportant lives.  Amen.

882 total episodes available

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What is Your Faith Journey - Finding God Through Words, Song and Praise?: All of us are on a journey of faith in our lives. At Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan we bring people one a journey of faith each week and share that journey with the world.
How often does this podcast release new episodes?: This podcast updates daily.
Where can I listen to this podcast?: This podcast is available on 9 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
Does this podcast accept guests?: No, this podcast does not typically feature guests.

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