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

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

This is a special musical presentation of A Mighty Fortress Is Our God with the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Since I will be on vacation beginning Wednesday, this will be my last sermon before the election. This does not mean that I am going to tell you who to vote for. I will be voting tomorrow. Many of you have voted by mail, others will take advantage of early voting and others will wait until election day. The important thing is to vote.

Leading up to this election the political ads have gotten to be very tedious and I mute most of them. I believe it is best not to listen to them as there are so many half-truths in them that it is not good to base your vote on ads. We all desire people to see the same truth that we do, but unfortunately that is not the case.

Thus, today on this Reformation Sunday, our texts point us to the truth that has kept the church moving forward since it began. We are pointed today to the person who represents truth and that is Jesus Christ. It is in John that we hear him say that he is the way, the truth, and the life and we can only get to God through him. This is a different kind of truth than what may be considered true or false in regards to our upcoming election.

Jesus came to give us freedom from sin, death and the power of the devil. I will not try and decipher truth or fiction from political ads, but I will tell you that I believe in Jesus, the truth who frees us. The truth that we hear about today on this Reformation Sunday, is one of relationship with Jesus, the truth.

Every day Jesus invites us into relationship with him. In our Gospel lesson we hear Jesus telling the Jews who had believed, if you continue in my word, if you abide in my word, if you stay connected to me, then you will be my disciples. Then his disciples will know the truth as they will know him and this is what and who frees us from sin, death and the power of the devil.

Jesus says today that anyone who commits sin is a slave to sin, and they will not have a permanent place in the household. In the Gospel of John sin is defined as not being connected to Jesus. Jesus invites everyone to be connected to him, to be in relationship with him. Jesus has told us that it is only through him that we can get to God.

Thus, it is only Jesus who frees us from sin, death and the power of the devil. Jesus has done the work for us and now he is asking us to be in relationship with him, to be connected to him. Jesus is God's grace revealed to us. Jesus is truth revealed.

Even though there is no way to really verify any of this, we are asked to have faith and believe. We have been given God's Word to help us know the story of God's people. We are then invited into that story.

Paul lays out for us in our second lesson what we stand on as Lutheran theology, justification by grace through faith. This is what I have already been explaining. God sends Jesus to earth to die on the cross to forgive our sin. We are asked to believe this to be true.

Jesus' death justifies us before God out of love, God's grace. We are then asked to believe and receive. There is nothing that we can do to justify ourselves before God for our sin.

It sounds easy, but often as human beings we want to earn it, we want to do something, and this is where the law comes in. The law can point out to us the need for God's grace, but it cannot justify us. Instead, the law is what we live out in love as a response to our justification by grace.

Paul wrote this letter to the house churches in Rome to prepare them for his visit. He was attempting to address the polarization between the Jews and Gentiles. Paul was trying to reconcile the two groups. Does this polarization sound familiar?

I'm sure the Jews were saying the law is what leads to salvation and the Gentiles may have been saying, no there is nothing that we can do, thus we don't have to keep the law. Paul is trying to say please be quiet and listen because he is saying that they are both wrong.

There is a place for law and Gospel. Through the law comes the knowledge of sin, thus law is important but does not save us. We are justified by grace as a gift. This does not leave us off the hook as we are called to believe this, and God in Jesus Christ asks us for a response which we can model through the way that we live out our lives.

In the end, Paul is trying to say that, all our welcome, as all are justified by grace through faith. This all does not exclude anyone. The exclusions we see today are decided by human beings. How does this help their polarization, let alone our own? I believe Paul is saying that just by pointing fingers and saying someone is wrong does not change the fact that all are welcome in God's kingdom.

We are all in the same boat, but not all will ever realize that. The only thing that we can do is live out our faith as justified by grace children of God. It seems throughout history we have been trying to learn how to love our neighbor, to welcome our neighbor. It becomes such a fearful thing that instead of welcoming we try to gain control over them.

Jesus continually calls us to stick with him as he is the truth revealed. He is the one who justifies us before God because no human being can. We continually repeat history, and I wonder if it is happening faster with media and technology.

We pray that our vote will continue democracy and continue to welcome all people. The freedoms we have as citizens of the United States of America are gifts from God are supposed to be for the betterment of the community and not any one group of people. Our vote is the only control that we have over these freedoms. The freedom we have through Jesus work on the cross is an absolute free gift.

As justified children of God we are not called to change people's minds, but we are called to stick with Jesus and continue responding to his call to love God and neighbor. We don't know what the future holds, but we do know who holds it. This is where are focus needs to be.

Let us pray: God of freedom, we thank you for the freedoms in our country, but above all for the freedom paid for by your Son, Jesus Christ. May your Holy Spirit help us to focus on you and living as justified by grace as your children. No matter what happens in the election, you continue to call us to connect with Jesus, the truth and thus to continue to love you and our neighbor. In Jesus' name, Amen

This is a special musical presentation of I Know The Lord Laid His Hands on Me with the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

How many of us have said that we really don't understand some people's way of thinking? Our culture today has many conflicts and/or paradoxes. It hasn't changed since the time of our Gospel lesson today. Only today it seems to be more polarized.

History continues to repeat itself and only we can be responsible for ourselves. The last verse of our Gospel lesson last week was "but many who are first will be last, and the last first". Then in between last week and this week's Gospel lesson Jesus forewarns of his pending death again.

So, when James and John ask Jesus to do for them what they want, you just want to say , "where did that come from?" Did they hear anything that Jesus had said? Following Jesus was about giving all that you had to help others. It wasn't that long ago that that we heard Jesus say to follow means that disciples need to deny themselves.

James and John were attempting to put themselves above others, let alone their friends. Jesus challenged them, Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They said, yes we can do that. Jesus has just once again predicted his death, were they really willing to say that they would be willing to die also?

Thus far, it didn't seem that they liked all of the negative attention from the church leaders. Here they were saying that they were willing to be leaders of the other disciples. Didn't they realize that leadership puts you in the hot seat more than you usually want to be?

Jesus thought, well I don't think they really understand what this means, but so be it. In the end, as God's Son, he doesn't make those decisions. Of course, once the other disciples had heard about their request, they were angry. Maybe because they hadn't thought of it or why do they think that they are better than us?

Jesus reminded them that the people who were not Jewish recognize as their rulers, men who lorded it over them. The greatest being those who were tyrants. We have those rulers in our world today where there is no democracy. Jesus once again defines what God is looking for, which is that the greatest rulers are servants.

Jesus says if you want to be on the top, then you must be a slave to all. He gave the ultimate model for this in dying on the cross. This ransom that we hear about in our Gospel lesson is not about any transaction as Jesus does the work for us. It is a liberating action for us. It frees us to be the servant that Jesus has modeled for us and calls us to be.

I like how the inclusive Bible states what God is not looking for, someone who is domineering and arrogant, those great ones know how to make themselves important. Often these leaders have low self-esteem. When one feels that they have to dominate someone, it is often because they feel less than others. It's very tricky because if you have to make yourself important, then you may not realize that you are already important in God's eyes.

Jesus continually brings us back to what God wants leadership to look like. First of all, it is important to realize that we are already important in God's eyes and that is the most important thing to recognize and accept. When we can recognize that God loves us is when we can begin to love ourselves in a healthy manner.

Jesus is describing leaders as a person who can listen and realize that they don't have all the answers. He is also looking for a leader who can be honest in a respectful way. It is not about telling people what they want to hear.

At times in our life, we can be domineering or feel dominated. We are all called to be leaders as we are all called to model what it means to follow Jesus, thus we are called to keep ourselves in check. In the end it is about power and control. Do we feel the need to have authority and exert power and control over others?

One of the red flags for us is whenever we feel defensive. If we feel that we have to justify ourselves, then we can easily become domineering. If we feel insecure enough we can also become arrogant.

Unfortunately, we have gotten to a place in our country where too many think it has to be one way. There are leaders who will say or do, or justify whatever they have to have it their way. Similar to James and John who felt that if they were in control they may be able to keep things more in their way of thinking.

Now of course we can't really relate to James and John, can we? At some time in our lives, each one of us has felt the need to control people and to have their approval. It is really part of being human, our brokenness.

As Christians, Jesus is reminding us today we need to check ourselves in how we relate to people. I believe that we are all leaders in faith and are reminded that in reality we don't have control over other people. When we try is when we are really telling Jesus that we know better. This is what James and John were doing.

Whether everything makes sense to us or not, Jesus tells us that God is in control. We are loved and valued by God and not all others will love and value us, but we do not need their approval. Through Jesus death and resurrection, we have seen modeled how to serve and that new life comes from it.

Let us pray: Gracious and loving God, thank you for loving and valuing us as your children. There are times that we do not recognize this and then try to go it on our own. This is when we may put ourselves over others. We are sorry for this. May your Holy Spirit help us to rest in you and give us the ability to see and hear how we relate to people that we may model that all of us are equal in your eyes. Also, to be able to discern future leaders in our country, according to what you are looking for in leaders. In Jesus Name, Amen

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

Jesus has been and continues to be very pointed in what he is trying to teach. He is trying to prepare his disciples for his pending death and resurrection. Everyone seems to have their own idea of what the kingdom of God is supposed to look like.

Jesus says it is very hard to enter the kingdom of God. He told them it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Most of us know what it is like to put a piece of thread through the eye of a needle.

The disciples were greatly astounded and said to one another then how do we get in, how can we be saved? Jesus basically said that they can't that only God can and will do this. For God, all things are possible.

The Gospel lesson began with a man running up to Jesus and kneeling before him and asking, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good, but God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'

The man then said, Teacher I have kept all of these since I was a child. Jesus looked at him with love and said. You lack one thing, go and sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, then come and follow me. The man was shocked by this response and went away very sad, for he had many possessions.

Human beings in the time of the Bible, had been continually getting off track of what God's kingdom was meant to be. The man's possessions were standing in the way of focusing on following Jesus. Jesus was on earth to once again define the kingdom of God. Yes God had given the ten commandments, but they were meant as guidelines.

As I have said before, the commandments were not given for people to have power and control over people. This man was rich in possessions and Jesus was telling him that they were obstacles for him in following Jesus. Above all, Jesus was working on creating a new community.

Anytime the word new comes into play, it does mean change. Something that is old will need to be let go of in order for new to occur. In systems, such as the church, it normally means that something in the system needs to change in order for newness or growth to happen.

This will create uncomfortableness because it is not how we have always done it. The first step is allowing ourselves to be open in honestly looking at things, in other words making an assessment. This is what the transition team did last year. They then made recommendations to the congregation council of things that need to be reorganized or addressed.

This will mean change. Some things will remain the same, other things will stop or look different. Room needs to be made for growth to happen. As soon as we say something needs to be a certain way, God often has a way of saying, we'll see. What happens is we allow our fears and uncomfortableness take over and this is when it is difficult to see what God wants.

Eventually there will be a new pastor here. I pray that you will be ready to listen and support their leadership. Remember if you catch yourself saying, "We've never done it that way before", it probably needs to change. I know some of our leadership does think this way.

God's kingdom, this new community that Jesus is trying to describe is one that is not about power and control, but mutuality. Last week and again in today's Gospel lesson we hear that we are to empower the vulnerable. It is what is best for the community of faith, not for individuals.

I want to tell you about how I see this new community being modeled here at Faith. Our Micro Food Pantry is a very important ministry. We had been filling the food boxes twice a day for some time, maybe even close to its inception. A crisis that has been building for a while become evident. We didn't have money to sustain it the way it had been running.

Thus, an assessment was done of the food and its cost. A group met and examined the assessment and 1) it was determined that there was still a real need for it in our community, 2) In order to keep it up and running, changes needed to be made.

For a week or two we had stopped buying food until we could have this meeting and develop a plan for right now, in order to keep filling the boxes. It was decided that the boxes would be filled once a day instead of twice. Before we met again, people were brainstorming and developing plans to fund this ministry.

We met again and we are working on different avenues of funding. In the next couple of months, you will be presented with different ways that you can help support this ministry. I do want to thank you all of you for already supporting this ministry, because in some way everyone here has supported this ministry. It is this kind of work that models the new community that Jesus is talking about.

One other sign of this new community that Jesus is talking about is when Raymond joined our Worship and Music committee meeting and presented the idea of Visitors Sunday. The committee listened to this excitement to invite others to worship with us and introduce them to our family.

Raymond had ideas for worship that the committee heard, and we are working at implementing them. This is building this new community that Jesus is talking about. Every community of faith needs new life as this is when people want to join and be part of it.

This new community that Jesus is talking about is seen here at Faith. The building of this new community will continue to take stepping back and being willing to be honest with what is working and what is not working. This is called assessment.

From here it will take openness to new ideas and letting go of some things. Without this openness, this new community that Jesus is asking you to build will not grow. What we have heard today in our Gospel lesson is that we are called to let go of those things that we are holding on to too tightly. Those are things that are holding us back from following Jesus.

Jesus wants our attention now! Sometime in the near future, there will be more changes here. Eventually I will move on, and you will have a new pastor. Jesus challenges you and I to stay focused on him and keep our eyes and ears open. Be ready to let go of things in order to follow him.

The good news in all of this letting go and struggling with it, is that Jesus loves us through all of it. We are not alone. Jesus walks beside us.

Let us pray, Gracious God, we struggle with change. We struggle with being honest about what is working and what is not working. May your Spirit help us to have open hearts and minds. We desire to do your work and grow your community. Help us to identify and let go of those things that are getting in the way of doing your will. Thank you for your grace as we strive to do your will.

We humbly acknowledge that this is your kingdom and not ours. In Jesus, name, Amen.

In my study groups this past week, it was a challenge to discuss what some call as the big "D" word, divorce. Jesus chooses to take on the difficult issues that people face. Some of you may have experienced divorce personally or most likely it has been in your family.

My grandfather divorced my grandmother in 1952 after finding work out of town and another woman. My grandmother was left to raise 5 kids on her own and that is not easy, let alone in that day. My mother then went to live with a family for her senior high in high school and be their nanny. She did not speak to her father for a number of years. When she got married, she felt it was time to welcome him back into her life.

All of us make mistakes. I have said that relationships are the most difficult thing in life. We are dealing with ourselves and then how we interact with another human being and some on an intimate level. Since we are broken people, when you put two broken people together, no matter the level of relationship, there will be unhealthy choices made.

In the end it is about navigating changes in our lives and then how that affects our relationships with others. Communication and trust are key in any relationship. We will never be perfect at these, but the more we practice them, the healthier our relationships will be.

When these are not working is when we often see divorce occurring. Relationships can be broken as I have already stated as we are already broken people. The minute we say it could never happen to me, is when we need to be concerned.

I believe we would all say that divorce should not be the first choice, but there are times that it can be the healthiest choice. Forced relationships do not work. Above all they are not healthy for the couple, let alone the people around them. Unhealthy relationships are not healthy models for children.

So, this is what we have learned. But what does Jesus have to say about. First of all, he was not teaching on it at first in our Gospel lesson for today, but was actually being tested by some Pharisees. They were always trying to test Jesus about the law. They had been finding out that Jesus felt the law was important, but it was not to be used as power and control over people. The law was given to help people live together in community.

When the law was given, it was in the time of the Old Testament. The law was quite patriarchal. Women and children were seen more as property. Basically, the men were in charge and could do almost anything they wanted.

The Pharisees asked Jesus whether it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife. Jesus turned it back on them and asked them what did Moses command you? They said a man could write a certificate of dismissal and divorce her. Jesus told them that Moses wrote this because of their hardness of heart.

Jesus reminded them that God made males and females and two of them could become one flesh. And that no one should separate them. Jesus went on quite bluntly and said that whoever divorces their wife and marries another has committed adultery. The same for whoever divorces a man and marries another has committed adultery. Jesus was radical again in saying a woman could divorce her husband. This was not the law the Pharisees knew.

Then Jesus uses a child again as an example for his teaching. Children and women were looked at as the least in society and were vulnerable. People were bringing children to Jesus in order that he might touch them. The disciples sternly told them that Jesus did not have time for this and to leave.

Jesus said no, bring them here to me. He said the kingdom of God belongs to the children. If you don't receive the weak and vulnerable then you will not enter the kingdom of God. Jesus took the children in his arms and blessed them.

His disciples were corrected, and I wonder if the Pharisees were still around to hear this proclamation. Jesus is saying that all are welcome in the kingdom of God. For people contemplating, going through or have been through a divorce, I can only imagine that it is not easy. It is a vulnerable position to be in. Any broken relationship is emotionally difficult and often takes a physical toll as well. One broken relationship can affect all of your other relationships in some way.

Over the years churches have pointed fingers and maybe even shunned people who have experienced divorce. This is not where Jesus is. I do not believe that Jesus likes to see broken relationships, but he knows that they are going to happen. God has given us guidelines to help us be in relationship with human beings and Jesus has tried to say over and over again that even though we don't always follow them, that we are still welcome in the kingdom of God.

This is the message that I believe needs to come from churches. We are called to support those who are experiencing brokenness in relationships and in a vulnerable situation. It is not our place to judge. The rhetoric that I am often hearing today is not supporting the vulnerable. It often only supports those that have more power.

As a church and followers of Jesus, we are called to listen to what people are saying and this includes those who are claiming to follow Jesus. This also means that we are called to listen to ourselves and observe what we do and who we hang out with. Jesus is challenging his followers even today to lift up the vulnerable, those who are experiencing brokenness in their relationships.

We can use words of love and concern and not judgement. We can model what it means to be people of support by listening and not taking sides. Jesus is asking us today to continue sharing his message of love and grace.

I believe that we have some in our country who want to go back to what the Pharisees were looking for. Which is a patriarchal household, where the man is the one in charge. I believe Jesus was trying to teach his disciples as well as us that all people are welcome, especially the vulnerable. Males and female are equal in God's eyes. In any relationship, it is about working together.

In Jesus day it was the women and children. But even the fact that Jesus said a woman could divorce her husband was probably not what the Pharisees or his disciples were expecting to hear. Because of the insecurity of some white men, many in leadership in Christian churches, want to go back to this Old Testament model of the family. This is what is being held up as what God wants.

I believe that Jesus in today's Gospel lesson is saying no that all are welcomed equally into the kingdom of God. He is even saying that men and women are equal. Jesus is calling us to left up the vulnerable. I believe when insecure white men want to have the power, it makes others such as women, children, and today many others vulnerable. We are called to lift them up and go against the old patriarchal system.

The D doesn't have to be big. It happens in our brokenness. The church is called to be a place that will welcome in love all who are broken, you and me.

This is how Jesus defines the kingdom of God as welcoming all people equally and especially the vulnerable. What are we going to do and say to lift up the vulnerable?

Let us pray, Gracious and loving God, you sent Jesus to clarify what it means to live in your kingdom. Our humanness always seems to get in the way. Jesus reminds us again today that all are welcome in your kingdom and especially the vulnerable. May your Holy Spirit help us to model this welcome through word and deed. Help us to live forward into your kingdom and not go back to the Old testament ways which Jesus has redefined.

In Jesus' name, Amen

— 451 — 2025 Presidential Transition Project Goal #3: Promoting Stable and Flourishing Married Families. Families comprised of a married mother, father, and their children are the foundation of a well-ordered nation and healthy society. Unfortunately, family policies and programs under President Biden's HHS are fraught with agenda items focusing on "LGBTQ+ equity," subsidizing single-motherhood, disincentivizing work, and penalizing marriage. These policies should be repealed and replaced by policies that support the formation of stable, married, nuclear families. Working fathers are essential to the well-being and development of their children, but the United States is experiencing a crisis of fatherlessness that is ruining our children's futures. In the overwhelming number of cases, fathers insulate children from physical and sexual abuse, financial difficulty or poverty, incarceration, teen pregnancy, poor educational outcomes, high school failure, and a host of behavioral and psychological problems. By contrast, homes with non-related "boyfriends" present are among the most dangerous place for a child to be. HHS should prioritize married father engagement in its messaging, health, and welfare policies. In the context of current and emerging reproductive technologies, HHS policies should never place the desires of adults over the right of children to be raised by the biological fathers and mothers who conceive them. In cases involving biolog- ical parents who are found by a court to be unfit because of abuse or neglect, the process of adoption should be speedy, certain, and supported generously by HHS.

This is a special musical presentation of Send Down The Rain with the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Today we are celebrating Michael and all Angels Sunday. This is a festival dedicated to the archangel Michael that started in the fifth Sunday in Rome. Michael is not a saint, but in Jewish angelology, he is one of the four arch angels who carry out the will of God. The stories about Michael center around war scenes which are battles between good and evil.

The second lesson from Revelation today finds Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon, which relates to the serpent in Genesis. The serpent and dragon are seen as the devil or satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth along with his angels.

The book of Revelation was written by John from the island of Patmos to Christians who were being persecuted by the Roman Empire. John received visions from an angel to comfort and challenge Christians.

Revelation is an apocalypse or unveiling of what soon must take place. Although this is not a book to predict the future. It's a message of hope for all Christians, for all ages. We find a great deal of symbolism based on the Old Testament.

As I have stated earlier, in our text from Revelation today we have a connection to the Old Testament the serpent and the dragon. In Genesis chapter 3 we have the serpent in the Garden of Eden enticing Adam and Eve, that if they eat the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden, they will be like God. This is after God said do not eat from the tree in the middle of the garden, for if you do, you will die.

The serpent appealed to them and twisted God's words and said God would not kill them as God knows that when one eats fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that their eyes would be opened, and they will then know the difference between good and evil. The woman ate one of the fruit and offered it to the man and he ate also.

Their eyes were opened, and they did not die. They did realize that they were naked. This was the first time that human being on earth had contact with evil, the serpent. The sin here was wanting to be like God and listening to the wrong person. This same issue continues to plague us as human beings. We want power and control.

According to our text from Revelation, the dragon, representing the serpent, the devil, satan, wanted to be in control and Michael and his angels said no and kicked him down to earth. Human beings have been dealing with evil, the devil, satan from the beginning of time, Adam and Eve.

What is going on here is that evil was defeated in heaven. Now, something we discussed in bible study on Tuesday was the fact that we thought heaven was devoid of evil. I believe the message here is that if evil was defeated in heaven, it has been defeated here on earth in the person of Jesus. Through Jesus' death and resurrection, sin, death and the power of the devil have been defeated.

We may ask, then why are we still dealing with evil in the world? Because we continue to try and do everything on our own and we have not defeated evil. Jesus has. Thus, we need God, Jesus and Holy Spirit to help us deal with evil in the world.

So often it seems to be so easy just to point a finger at a person and say they are evil. The person themselves are not evil, but evil may have more control over them. Evil can be in a person's actions and words.

In reality, as human beings, we can allow evil to influence our thoughts, words and actions. When we are tired, frustrated and/or scared, we are vulnerable and often rely more on ourselves. This is when evil can influence us. Our other option is to stay connected to Jesus and this is not easy as it takes work.

Staying connected to Jesus, means that we are called to examine what we hear and observe as well as what we think say or do and measure it against what we have learned and understand God's Word to say. When we are tired, frustrated and/or scared, we often just go with the flow.

I would like to define evil at this point as going against God's will in thoughts words and actions. We can hear and see it in others. But it is not our job to judge them, but we are called to challenge them, if we feel that we can have a healthy discussion.

Some things for us to listen to as followers of Jesus in our own and others words and actions: Do we hear and observe love or hate? Do we hear and observe that our world is full of enemies or neighbors to be loved? Do we hear and observe the ability to listen even though we may not agree? Do we hear and observe people taking responsibility for their words and actions and admitting if they are wrong?.

When we try and manage our lives on our own, it tells Jesus that we have chosen not to follow him. It means that we are trying to have power and control over our thoughts, words and actions and as a result we try and do the same thing over others. This is when we are vulnerable and will find it easier to listen to the serpent or dragon.

The serpent or dragon is alive and active here on earth. They are always trying to tell us that we don't need God's help, that we have the power and control within ourselves to know and understand everything. This does not mean that God hasn't given us abilities to understand many things and to be able to determine the truth. The serpent or dragon continues to spread evil with messages that are not in accordance with God's will. When we are vulnerable and don't search for the truth, we are allowing evil to come into our lives.

In our country today, many of us would like to point fingers at specific people and say that they are evil. I would challenge us not to do that. Their words and actions may be evil. The truth is becoming more difficult to determine in words and actions.

Today we are reminded that first of all our salvation is paid for by Jesus and we can rejoice. Also, that Jesus has defeated sin, death and the power of the devil. Unfortunately, this does not mean that we don't have any work to do in this arena. It does mean that we are not alone in this battle of good and evil in our own lives and the life of our country.

Evil lies in the shadows of our lives and our country. What is in the shadows needs to be revealed. This is where our work comes in, but not without asking the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom in trying to figure out truth from untruth. We have people and countries trying to keep the truth in the shadows. This is evil at work.

Michael and the angels defeated the dragon in heaven. We have been given the power through Jesus to do it here. It takes more work to love than hate, it takes more work to look at people as neighbors and not enemies, it takes more work to listen to people that we may not agree with, and it takes more work to take responsibility for our words and actions.

When we don't do the work is when the serpent or dragon spreads evil and we can be colluding with them.

With the power of Jesus, we can do the work to love our neighbors and discover the truth as we take responsibility for our words and actions and defeat evil as Michael and angels did.

Let us pray, Hi God, when it comes to determining good and evil, we need your help. We know that truth is good, but it becomes more and more difficult to discern it. During this time in our country, we continue to come back to you and admit that we cannot do this on our own. You have given us the tools, your Word and your Son, Jesus has defeated evil. Today we bring our vulnerability to you and seek to hear your voice over the serpent/dragon's voice that we may do your will.

In Jesus' name, Amen.