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

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

By Faith Lutheran Church, Okemos, MIReligion & SpiritualityChristianity
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Your Faith Journey - Finding God Through Words, Song and Praise episodes

  • Special Music - Precious Jesus

    Today, we had a special musical performance of Precious Jesus by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

    Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC

    4 min
  • Sermon - 1/17/26

    Year A – Second Sunday after Epiphany– January 18, 2026

    Pastor Megan Floyd

    Isaiah 49:1-7

    John 1:29-42

    Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, whose light and love we follow. Amen.

    ***

    Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Look here! Here is the Lamb of God!

    We hear this story now… today… in the season of Epiphany because Epiphany is a time to illuminate God's revelation to us through Jesus.

    And God is being revealed to us… here… and now… as God was revealed to John the Baptist when he saw Jesus rise from the waters of baptism.

    John the Baptist, who heard the voice of God tell him to watch for the one on whom the Holy Spirit would descend as a dove… that he would be the one who baptizes with fire and the Holy Spirit… watch for this one… he is the Son of God.

    Behold… the Lamb of God who has come to lift away the barriers between you and God… Behold… the Lamb of God who has come to stand between you and evil… Behold… the Lamb of God who has come to liberate you from the sin of the world.

    Yes! Behold… Jesus has come to liberate the oppressed… to free them from the sin of the world that has held them in shackles…

    Behold… Jesus has come to liberate the hungry… to free them from the sin of systems that uphold inequality and imprison people in their poverty.

    Behold… Jesus has come to liberate those who are wounded and hurting… to free them from the violence that harms.

    Behold… Jesus has come to liberate us from our brokenness… to bring healing to our hearts and to our land… to rebuild the nations and bring peace.

    Behold! God is revealed to you… through this man, Jesus, who has come to liberate you from your sin and from the sin of the world… so come and see… follow him… and abide with him.

    How does it feel in your body… in your heart… to hear this call from John to behold Jesus… and to hear the call from Jesus to come and see… to follow… to abide with him?

    How must it have felt for those who were there… those being crushed by Empire… trapped in poverty… bound to systems of discrimination and oppression.

    To hear this good news as one who is being crushed… it's a lifeline… a ray of hope and a cause for rejoicing! Yes, I do want to come and see… I do want to follow… and I do want to abide with Christ!

    And yet, when we look out at the world today… I sometimes wonder how much has really changed. Jesus calls us to join him in the mission and ministry of liberation, but …Lord, there is still so much suffering.

    It's not lost on me that we hear this call to us… this call to join in the work of liberation… on the eve of Martin Luther King Day… a disciple of Jesus and a prophet who gave his life for the work of liberation.

    Like all prophets, Martin Luther King held up a mirror to his country… he showed us the sin of our society and challenged us to confess… to repent… to change our hearts and minds… and to rejoin Jesus in the work of liberation from the oppression of our sin.

    Martin Luther King held up that mirror… and he was killed for it.

    He was killed because facing our sin is painful… and liberating the oppressed means disrupting systems of wealth and power and privilege… it means disrupting systems of Empire.

    …and when you strike at the Empire, the Empire strikes back.

    Jesus calls us to come and see, but what we find might make us uncomfortable. And in the face of discomfort, far too many run and hide.

    In the face of discomfort, they turn away from the liberating message of Jesus… they focus solely on the individual salvation they hope to receive, and they challenge the prophets and preachers that hold up those mirrors.

    Unable to sit in the discomfort of the good news of the Gospel's liberating message for the poor and oppressed, they turn away, and they cry out that politics has no place in the pulpit!

    …as if it were truly possible to separate Jesus' call to welcome the stranger and love your neighbor… from the salvation that comes from abiding in and with Christ.

    You cannot… you cannot abide with Christ… while ignoring what he came to do, and how he calls to us to join him.

    Truly following and abiding with Jesus… true discipleship leads to liberation for ourselves and others… but it does not always lead to comfort and material blessings.

    It cannot… because truly following Jesus and abiding in him means standing with him in his mission and disrupting systems of sin.

    Behold! The Lamb of God who has come to take away the sin of the world! …but my friends, Jesus didn't come to wave a magic wand.

    No, in fact… Jesus came preaching this good news and calling us to join him.

    Jesus came to invite us into God's grand mission of love… for loving others is the only path toward liberation for us all from our sin. This is the path on which we follow Jesus.

    Dr. King preached this for us when he said… "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate… only love can do that."

    To abide in Jesus… is to abide in love.

    Every generation has these crisis moments…moments when our sin against others… our sin against our neighbors… is illuminated to a point where it can no longer be ignored.

    These are moments when it becomes so blindingly clear that the harm being done to the least among us… the harm perpetuated against the very people Jesus called us to love and care for… is also causing incredible harm to our entire society.

    Our sin is harming everyone around… and it is this kind of sin of hatred and fear and abuse that holds us apart from God …apart from our Creator who loves us beyond measure.

    I do believe we are living in our crisis moment right now.

    Witnessing the terror and the atrocities being committed is enough to drive good people into despair. …but we must not despair.

    We must not despair because God is still being revealed to us through Jesus, and Jesus is still calling us to abide in his love… to disrupt systems that perpetuate sin and to show up for those in need wherever we can, and however we can.

    Showing up… won't look the same for everyone… and that is good and right, because God calls us all, across the full diversity of Creation… to show love in as many different ways as there are people.

    And Jesus does not call us for our sake alone… Jesus calls us to abide in his love for the sake of others… and ultimately for the sake of creation. If we focus only on ourselves, we miss the point.

    Through the prophet Isaiah, God says, "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

    God's liberation… is like ripples of water on a pond… expanding outward beyond ourselves… reaching to the ends of the earth.

    And God is faithful and true and will not abandon Jesus' mission of abiding love.

    So behold, the Lamb of God, who comes to take away the sin of the world… to lift away the barrier that keeps us apart from God, and invites us into abiding love.

    But also… hear this now… this is important… your salvation does not depend on you getting this right. We will all mess it up… none of us are perfect, and God knows it.

    However, you are already claimed, redeemed, and beloved by Christ, in all the messy ways we do life.

    Jesus knows you fully… knows all of your joys and sorrows… all of your virtues and your flaws… and loves you as you are… and still calls you… as you are to join him in his mission of love and liberation.

    However, faith and discipleship are not meant to be passive… because the joy of this life of discipleship is found in seeing how the way of Christ brings light to the world and heals others through love.

    The way of Christ has the power to transform the darkest corners and flood them with light and love… so we cannot keep this way of Christ to ourselves.

    This is the good news… it must be shared, especially… in times of such darkness. We need Christ's light for the sake of the world.

    We need disciples who respond to hate and fear by drawing on the strength and love of Christ, and flood the darkness with light and love. That is the only way forward for us. This is the way of Jesus.

    We don't join with Christ to earn our salvation or become worthy of God's love… but we answer Jesus' call to abide with him… because we are already loved.

    And because we are already loved, we can look upon our neighbor with love… and we can see clearly that our liberation is bound up with theirs… and only together can we work to break the chains that bind, and set the captives free.

    Jesus, the Lamb of God, calls us in love to come and see… come and see this work of liberation… come and see how our lives are connected to all others… come and see… and follow… and then abide with him in his love… for the sake of the whole world.

    Amen.

    22 min
  • Special Music - Make Me A Servant

    Today, we had a special musical performance of Make Me A Servant by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

    Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC

    3 min
  • Sermon - 1/11/26

    Year A – Baptism of our Lord – January 11, 2026

    Pastor Megan Floyd

    Matthew 3:13-17

    Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, the beloved, whose light and love we follow. Amen.

    ***

    I knew this boy many years ago… he was kind of a goofball, and no one took him very seriously. He struggled in school, and he blamed his low grades on not being very smart.

    I don't think his family, his teachers, or even he himself… expected much from his life. He was entering his teenage years when I first met him, and he was already getting into trouble… apparently, no one was surprised.

    His family had a lot going on… health problems, which caused money problems, and so it goes on down the line. There was a lot of instability… and I think this boy was just falling through the cracks.

    He was living into the story he was told about himself… that he was a screw-up and not much more… so why expect more?

    We have several educators in this congregation, and so I suspect that many of you are familiar with both the Pygmalion and the Golem Effects.

    These opposite effects describe how either positive or negative expectations and words affect our self-image… our confidence… and the standards we hold ourselves to.

    As much as we would like to believe we build our self-image independently, the truth is… how we see ourselves is a story that is written in collaboration with others.

    That's just human…

    And so, I think it matters greatly that Jesus begins his ministry on earth with an act of solidarity with humanity… by entering into our human need for repentance and renewal by entering into John's baptism… and that we then hear God's voice from the heavens…

    "This is my son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

    He is called… the beloved. That's a powerful word.

    Jesus came alongside us… alongside humanity… in his choice to share in our baptism. I think we all agree that, as the son of God… Word of God incarnate… he didn't need to experience a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of personal sins.

    And yet, Jesus insists… he must do this… this was not an action he needed for his own forgiveness, but rather, to be in solidarity with us, who do need it.

    And to acknowledge that our sins are not only personal, but also communal. John the Baptist was calling Israel to repentance… to repent of the sins of the community… that we are all, either directly or indirectly, complicit.

    Jesus entered the waters of baptism to be what he is… God with us… and to show us that, motivated by grace and mercy, God chooses us.

    And so, we also enter the waters of baptism to receive this beautiful gift of renewal and adoption into God's family… a gift freely given by God.

    This is a gift given without qualifications, conditions, or demands… It's not a reward for our actions… it is not given because we are good… but it is given only because God is good.

    And it is a gift given in love… because God is love.

    We are always on the receiving end of God's mercy and promise… and that through water and the words of God's promise… we, too, are called beloved… and we, too, are claimed as God's children.

    Through the water and God's holy words of our baptism, we enter into life with Christ… and in Christ… we are made new through grace.

    Jesus is a teacher who leads by example… Jesus shows us the way of love, humility, and solidarity… and then invites us to accompany him on that way.

    People become… we become… what we are called. God called us into existence with God's words… God spoke and breathed life… and so we became living, breathing humans…

    And now… through water… and God's word… we are washed clean, and claimed as children of the most high… and we are called… beloved.

    God calls you… beloved… so you are… beloved.

    This is an important and beautiful description of who you are… it's why I remind you every week… to become aware of God's gaze of love upon you.

    And yet, even as we know this word… defines us… we understand that it also invites us to live up to… and live into our belovedness. It sets love as the standard by which we live.

    We know that being claimed and loved by God, and holding that in the forefront of our minds… always… helps us to live, and act, and love our neighbors in a way that is befitting of one who is themselves… beloved.

    The words of God's promise… the words of God's love… go to work on us… these words and this promise give us the strength and courage to confess and repent of that which holds us apart from God…

    they help us to change our hearts and minds daily and to turn back toward Jesus… and toward love.

    Jesus' powerful act of solidarity with us… his choice to enter into our baptism as one of us… calls us to live as beloved members of the full body of Christ… and it means we can rise to the expectations of one who lives their life for Christ… and in Christ.

    To live into our belovedness means that each day, we work to live lives, not of presumption or arrogance, but of humility… and solidarity… and companionship…

    lives of unassuming generosity, not looking down on others, but seeing them as Jesus would see them… as siblings in Christ… who are also beloved.

    That boy I knew all those years ago… I was fortunate to watch him connect with an incredible mentor who refused to let the story he had heard before be the only story that boy ever heard.

    This mentor made certain that a better, more positive, and loving story became louder than the old one, and I saw this boy start to believe in himself.

    I saw him start living like one who was loved… like one who belonged, who was valuable, and who was worthy of love… and I saw how it shaped his interactions with others.

    I saw his kindness and humor shine through, his patience while helping others, and his compassion for those who were suffering.

    His life was reset and renewed… he was reminded that he was a child of God… and that he was beloved.

    God calls us all beloved… and so… we become beloved. It's a powerful word.

    My hope and prayer for you today is that you remember your baptism… as often as you can… remember the words of love and promise that God spoke to you…

    The promise that you are a beloved child of God.

    And if you aren't baptized, then know that God's invitation is always open… God's arms are always open wide, longing to receive you in love.

    Because our baptism… is not a transaction with God… it is an acknowledgment of what God is already doing in and through you.

    Remember that through the water and word of God's promise, you are part of the full body of Christ, and that you will never look upon another whom God does not love.

    Remember that you are so loved… and let that go to work in you this day and all days… let it be what you live into each day, for yourself and those around you.

    Author Maria Popova wrote, "…love… is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other's light. Gentle work. Steadfast work. Life-saving work in those moments when life and shame and sorrow occlude our own light from our view, but there is still a clear-eyed loving person to beam it back. In our best moments, we are that person for another."

    Remember that you washed clean in the waters of baptism, and that you are beloved… and that to be one who is beloved… means to reflect love into the world.

    So let it be that we all might shine with this love. Amen.

    _______________________

    Maria Popova, The Marginalian, https://www.themarginalian.org/2022/01/31/james-baldwin-nothing-personal-love/

    19 min
  • Special Music - Still, Still, Still

    Today, we had a special musical performance of Still, Still, Still by a Handbell Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

    Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC

    3 min
  • Sermon - 1/4/26

    Year A – Epiphany – January 4, 2026

    Pastor Megan Floyd

    Isaiah 60:1-6

    Matthew 2:1-12

    Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, our savior, whose light and love we follow. Amen.

    ***

    The crazy beautiful thing about light… is that it shines on all it touches, without judgment or discrimination, and it can also be reflected to shine into places that would otherwise remain in darkness.

    There was a movie I saw many years ago… with a scene in a dark cave. There was a hole in the cave's roof where a bit of sunlight shone through… and by adjusting a few mirrors, they were able to illuminate the whole room.

    I thought that was a cool effect… even though I later learned that the abundance of light they were able to produce was not entirely logically possible. It still felt pretty magical.

    But then, more recently, I learned about a real-life Norwegian town called Rjukan (Roo-Khan), situated in a mountain valley that runs east to west.

    From about September to March, the sun doesn't rise high enough over the northern mountain range to shine on the town, and so for six months, the town is in shadow.

    About 100 years ago, when the town was founded, they dreamt about putting large mirrors on the southern mountain peak to reflect and shine the sun's rays down into the valley and onto the town below… but they didn't have the technology to pull it off.

    But then… 100 years later, in 2013… they built those mirrors! They have three large mirrors that follow the sun all day, powered by… solar energy. They illuminate and warm the town square in a bright pool of light that's about 80-90% as strong as direct sunlight.

    There were lots of people who were skeptical about these mirrors, but they have changed the town… warming the people along with the town's square… and bringing cheer back to their community during the dark winter days.

    It is amazing what light can do… even when it is only a reflection of the original source of that light.

    And today… as we celebrate Epiphany… we celebrate the light and love of Christ!

    Epiphany… is a celebration of illumination. It's a celebration of a holy light that guides us… a light that puts us on the path toward knowing our Savior… and invites us into the greatest story of love… that world has ever known.

    And on this celebratory day, we hear again… the story of the Magi… those exotic astrologers from the east who saw the great light rising over Bethlehem, and were so moved by its appearance, they set out on a long journey to find the source.

    We cannot see, today, the star that they followed… but the light from that holy star is reflected forward in time for us by their courage and curiosity… these magi have sent that brilliant light forward to us so that we, too, might be guided by its light as we seek our savior.

    Epiphany is also a celebration of illumination through reflection… for though we are not the original source of light and love, we know that by reflecting that light into the world around us, God's holy light continues to shine and sustain the spirits of our neighbors.

    We know… that the light of Christ guides us in our living and our loving, and draws us close to our Creator, the source of all love.

    And yet… we might wonder… how do we know we are on the right path? How do we know that the light we follow is the true light of Christ… and not the false glow of a tyrant king?

    After all… the Magi, who were considered wise… followed the star that rose over Bethlehem, but instead of making their journey directly there, they stopped in Jerusalem… that is where they assumed the king would be found.

    But instead of a savior, they found a tyrannical strongman who grasped at power that was not his for the taking… they found a selfish ruler who was more concerned with surrounding himself with gold and splendor than with caring for his people's needs.

    These Magi… were drawn in by what felt like strength, but what they found was an insecure and irrational leader that could be won over with bribes, and whose rantings would be comical if it weren't for his tendency to indiscriminately destroy those who stood in his way…

    They found a man who used flimsy excuses to capture and murder innocent people and caused those under his rule to live in terror, or to have to flee for fear of persecution or worse.

    You know the man… I'm talking, of course… about Herod.

    Herod consulted the scribes and learned the place where the Messiah was to be born, and sent the Magi there, to Bethlehem… he thought they could be used in his scheme to destroy the competition…

    But when the Magi found the child Jesus, they were overwhelmed with joy… basking in the true light of God, they knew… they knew that the light of the star had guided them true, and they were, indeed, in the presence of the only true King… they were in the presence of a savior.

    And so, still guided by God's Holy Spirit, they went home… by another road.

    How do we know we are on the right path… and that the light we follow is the true light of Christ… and not the false glow of a tyrant?

    How do we know that our good intentions aren't being used by the selfish whims of those guided by evil?

    How do we know that the light we choose to reflect out into the world around us… is the light and love of our Savior?

    It's an important question to ask… as there are plenty of false lights in the world that clamor to hold our attention and our loyalty, and many that do so with alarming success.

    How do we know? …Well, we know the light we seek, and the light we reflect, is from Christ… when we see how much love it shines onto our neighbors.

    We know that the light we are following is the true light of Christ… when we observe how it shines onto those who are hurting… those who are suffering… those who have been pushed aside…

    When we reflect the light of Christ onto those from whom others would turn away, and we see how that light warms them… warms them like the sunlit town center in Rjukan (Roo-Khan)… and we see how it cares for their humanity and restores their dignity…

    When we reflect that light onto our neighbors, both the ones we like… and the ones we don't… and we watch how that light draws us together as community… and how it heals… then we know that we are reflecting the true light of Christ.

    The false glow of tyrants like Herod will always draw people to their corrupt light… some are drawn because they prefer the darkness to cover their sin… and some are drawn in through misunderstanding, or false promises.

    But we know that light is not from Christ because the reflections of it cause so much pain and heartache… and celebrate selfish ambition and greed, with no consideration for those in need, or for the connections of community.

    But the true and pure light of Christ… brings joy… and love… and compassion… connection… and empathy… the true light of Christ brings healing to a hurting world… and oh… how much our world is hurting… and how much pain has been caused by our societal and systemic sins.

    So, in this season of Epiphany… when we celebrate Christ's light and how we reflect that light as best we can into our world, let us also be as wise as the Magi in discerning between a false, dim, imitation… and the true, bright glory of our God.

    And know that your discernment doesn't happen alone… for joyfully bearing Christ's light is the work of community, with Jesus himself as our guide.

    But still, these are challenging times… so now more than ever, we turn to our Savior to guide us… Let us pray…

    Lord, have mercy on us… how we need your light. Even if we are mere reflections of your pure, true light… we know that your light has the power to warm us… and to draw all people to your healing arms. Heal us, Lord, and help us to lift up our eyes so we might behold your glory!

    Help us to lift up our eyes, so that we might see you… in our neighbor… and that our neighbor might see you… in us… and that, together, we understand that we are divinely connected to each other through your love, regardless of race, nationality, or creed. Guide us always, O Lord, to your light. Amen.

    20 min
  • Sermon - 12-24-25

    Year A – Christmas Eve – December 24, 2025

    Pastor Megan Floyd

    Luke 2:1-20

    Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, our savior, who is born this day for us… who is God with us. Amen.

    ***

    Merry Christmas, friends… this is truly a night for wonder. Christ is born this day for you… for us! …What an incredible proclamation!

    Our Creator God has come to dwell with us… to share joy and laughter with us… and… to suffer and cry out in pain… with us… and for us.

    Through the newborn Jesus, God has revealed God-self to us … arriving in the form of pure love… for only true and perfect love is as vulnerable as a newborn child.

    To you… is born this day… a Savior… born into a world full of pain and sorrow… of war and greed and corruption… born into a world that is weeping… a world that is being crushed by Empire.

    To you… is born this day… a Savior. Amazing!

    It is no wonder… that Mary pondered all these things in her heart.

    Stories of babies always bring me around to remembering my own children when they were young… young enough for me to hold in my arms.

    And I think about those times when they were sick… when they were crying out in need… as parents, if we could have… we would have taken on their sickness just to ease their pain.

    Even when they were bigger… too big to carry… as parents, the most natural reaction to your child's sorrow is to draw close to them… wrap your arms around them… and remind them that they do not face their troubles alone.

    We draw close to our children when they are suffering, and we share the burden of their pain… and on this night… on Christmas night… God, our holy parent… does just that.

    Our God, who loves us beyond measure, cannot bear our sorrow from afar, and so our holy parent draws close… and takes on the pain and brokenness of the world… by being born among us… as a child… arriving to humble humans, surrounded by animals… and placed in a manger, for there was no bed.

    To you… is born this day a Savior…

    It's a birth story so humble and ordinary; it takes your breath away. …So ordinary… that we may overlook the incredible circumstances that brought Mary and Joseph so far from their home in Nazareth, so near to the time of her baby's arrival…

    It was the audacity of Empire, seeking to control the whole world… compelling all people to be registered for the purpose of exploitation… that's what brought them to that stable… to that manger, in the city of Bethlehem… the city of David.

    But what Empire forced for the purpose of control… God chose to use for the purpose of salvation.

    Control and conquest forced them into such a precarious situation… but from amid that brokenness, and from under the pressure of oppression, rises the green shoot from the stump of Jesse…

    …as the prophet Isaiah foretold, the savior would come from the royal line of Jesse, father of King David, whose lineage seemed to be cut off like a dead stump after the downfall of Israel…

    This impossible new life shines a great light in the darkness… bringing love so powerful that it can overcome cruelty… offering hope so secure that it drives out despair… and breaking the chains of oppression for the sake of justice and mercy.

    This is the power and promise of God, who comes to turn the world upside down, by drawing close to us… by arriving among us…

    God arrives, not amid wealth and power… not with military might or gold and grandeur… but in complete vulnerability, to those who are poor and lowly.

    Christ arrives on the margins… to those who are considered disposable… this is where our God… Word of the Father… is born. …this is where Christ is found… Christ arrives, always, where good news is most needed.

    It is… almost too wonderful to behold.

    And then, as if daring our God to be even more subversive to earthly powers… the angel of the Lord announces the arrival of our Savior… to shepherds, tending their flocks by night.

    It was to those who were even further in the margins of society… literally on the outskirts of the community… to them, the angel appears to proclaim the good news of great JOY…

    And those shepherds went to see the child, and saw that it was as the angel had told… and once they saw the promise of Love incarnate… they went on their way, glorifying and praising God…

    They proclaimed the good news for all to hear!

    TO YOU is born this day in the city of David… a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

    God has heard your cry… God feels your sorrow and longs to take your pain… and so in pure Love, your holy parent has drawn close to you to bring comfort… and peace.

    O Holy Night! …indeed… except Christ's arrival is so much more than one holy night… it is so much more than that first, humble Christmas… all those years ago.

    The arrival of Jesus Christ …the incarnation of our God… is not a one-time event… it is… eternal.

    Christ is arriving… every day… to the poor… the needy… the lonely… Christ is born every day for those who are marginalized and oppressed… to those for whom justice has been too long delayed and denied.

    Our world is still broken… and so our God is still arriving… still coming among us… choosing to show up for us and walk alongside us, ever faithful to the promise of Emmanuel that began on that first Christmas… God with us.

    To YOU… to US… a child is born, who is Christ the Lord… ever inviting us to take notice of those in need as if they were Christ himself… to embrace empathy, and act with compassion and love for our neighbor.

    Because Jesus Christ is born this day! …and therefore, we are born into the holy truth that God's love and grace and mercy are so much greater and deeper than we can ever understand.

    To us, a child is born… humble and lowly… so that we might understand that power is made perfect in weakness, and love is the greatest force of all.

    Jesus Christ has brought salvation to the world, but we still live amid brokenness… we live in the truth that the healing of the world… will not be achieved in a swift, dramatic movement.

    And so, the coming of our Lord teaches us… that Christ is born wherever love is shown and wherever light shines… Christ is born in humble acts of kindness… and born when we choose to live with integrity and seek justice and mercy.

    Christ is born when we honor and value those who are in the margins, and when we seek to heal the sin that pushed them there.

    Christ is born when we draw from the strength of God's love, and seek to heal our world.

    And so to us, a child is born, who is Christ our savior… inviting us to share the good news… and to keep the wonder that is the miracle of Christmas… that Christ is born in love… this day, and every day. Amen.

    29 min
  • Special Music - He Shall Be Called

    Today, we had a special musical performance of He Shall Be Called by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

    Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC

    4 min
  • Special Music - Some Children See Him

    Today, we had a special musical performance of Some Children See Him with a solo by Emily Brown and accompanied by Kathy Richardson at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

    Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC

    3 min

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

From the publisher's feed

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.