I am sure many of you are familiar with the movie Forrest Gump.  If you know the story, you will remember the part where Forrest begins running.  As he runs and runs and runs, a crowd begins to follow him, and the people cannot seem to get enough of what they see as they watch him continue to run.  Then, at one point, Forrest simply decides he is done running and it is time to stop and go home.  When that happens, one person in the perplexed crowd asks, “What will we do?  What will we do?” What will we do?  This is the question we find in today’s gospel reading.  Today’s gospel passage, the feeding of the 5,000, is the only miracle story found in all four of the gospels.  And, it is found twice in two of the gospels.  So. that means it is quite important and this question is significant.  In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, when faced with the perplexing problem of feeding so many people, the disciples are the ones to ask Jesus the question, “What will we do?”  But, as we read John’s version of this story, we discover there is a major twist in the tale.  In John’s gospel we hear Jesus asking Philip, “What will we do?”  Jesus has been continually moving through Galilee doing the work of ministry – teaching, speaking words of hope, and healing people.  The crowds begin to follow him around because of the miraculous healings they have seen.  And, in today’s story, 5,000+ people follow him up a mountain wanting to see more of his astonishing healing power.  Jesus surveys the crowd and, already knowing what he is going to do, he is the one who asks Philip this test question, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?  They are hungry.  So, what are we going to do?”  Jesus is the one who asks the disciples and, by extension, asks the likes of each one of us, “What are we going to do?  How are we going to deal with this problem of hunger?” Hunger is a universal experience.  From the moment we enter this world we are faced with hunger.  Hunger is something we all know and understand.  We all feel it when our bellies are empty.  We all know what that incessant feeling is like when hunger always returns, and our bodies need nourishment.  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn once said, “The belly is an ungrateful wretch, it never remembers past favors, it always wants more tomorrow.”  Hunger propels us to that which gives us life, that which we quite literally cannot live without. Well, when Jesus asks Phillip this question, Philip responds quite logically and rationally.  He begins to calculate how much money they would need to buy supper for all five thousand plus people.  He replies, “Half a year’s paychecks won’t do the trick.  Our budget just is not big enough.  Our resources are just too few.”  However, Jesus knows that conventional, logical answers are not what is needed and called for in this situation. Then, Andrew looks around, and he does a practical survey of the situation to figure out what is available.  He comes to Jesus saying, “Well, there is someone here, a kid with five barley loaves and a couple of fish.”  The very sensible Andrew tells Jesus that what is available is the lunch of a boy, someone who is not a power broker, someone who has no social rank or standing.  We know this because barley flour is the flour that poor folks used to make their loaves of bread.  The rich did not use barley.  In Andrew’s words we get the sense that real needs are not necessarily filled by the folks to whom we often look for help, those who have much.  And, as John continues to tell this story, it becomes very clear that Jesus himself is the only One who can end real hunger – hunger of every kind, not just the sort of hunger that makes for growling stomachs at lunchtime.  John makes this very clear because in his telling of this story, this miracle takes place near the time of Passover and Jesus, himself, becomes the host of the meal.  Jesus is the one who distributes the food.  In the other gospels, it is the disciples who take up the work of distributing the food, but in John, something else is going on.  Jesus, himself, is the one who feeds the 5,000 plus people.  And, in John’s telling of this story, after Jesus feeds the crowd he tells the disciples, “Gather up the fragments so that nothing is lost.”  This is important.  The Greek word used for lost really means perishing.  Jesus’ real purpose is to keep people from getting lost, from perishing, and to provide nourishment that lasts and keeps us truly alive.  John’s placement of this story near the time of Passover where Jesus serves as host is very intentional because it is Jesus himself who will become the real food.  In fact, in just a few verses, the verses we will hear in next week’s gospel, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.  Those who come to me will never hunger.”  Jesus is saying, “I am the real food, the most important food.  Don’t spend your lives on food that spoils.  Don’t stock the shelves of your life with perishables.  Put me there instead.  Make me your staple, the food that is going to last.  When you are hungry, reach first for me.”  I have no doubt that you will experience some form of hunger today.  And, I have no doubt that many of us have a gnawing hunger within that food alone will not fill.  We try to fill that void by shopping and buying more stuff.  We try to fill that hunger through travel.  We try to fill that hunger by striving for success.  We even try to fill that hunger by pushing our kids to achieve extreme success so they can then push their kids to do the same thing – and the cycle spirals on and continues through generations.  We try to fill the emptiness within through a whole variety of addictions, whether it be alcohol, drugs, video games, food, sex, gambling, or whatever. Even those who have more money than anyone else in the world and seem to have everything they could possibly need have this deep hunger.  So, they try to fill that hunger by doing absurd things like compete with the other richest people in the world to fly into space, all for their own personal pleasure.  However, everything we human beings do in our attempts to fill that void within is always, always, always going to leave us empty and starving again. It really is all futile and will never fill the emptiness we feel. So, I ask each of you, what are you really hungry for?  How are you hungry?  And, how are you trying to fill the emptiness within?  God really cares about your answers to these questions.  God cares about your hunger and God is calling you to Jesus’ table of life where you can feast on this bread called Jesus, a food that is very strange indeed.  It is strange because we consume this Jesus food and take it into ourselves as ordinary bread.  We digest this Jesus food, and it becomes part of us.  But this bread, this life of Jesus, does something that ordinary bread does not do.  You see, when we consume this bread, Jesus begins to consume us.  When we consume the bread at this table, the broken body of Jesus makes us a part of himself.  And, when we consume this bread, we become food for a broken world – we become broken, living loaves of bread.  People of God, Jesus, the one who became broken and went to the cross out of love for this world, stands before us and he is saying to each one of us, “What are you gonna do?  Feed on me, feed on my very life.  I am the real food that matters, and I am the one who will truly satisfy your hungry heart.  I am more than enough and there is abundance as I give you my very life.  Come and feast on my banquet of life!” 

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

Sermon - 7/25/21

In June of 1990, I had the privilege of traveling throughout Europe while performing in several countries.  I accompanied the Mona Shores Choir, directed the Handbell Choir, and gave organ recitals in St. Petersburg, in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and The Netherlands.  It was a remarkable experience for which I am deeply grateful. At one point during that tour, we took the ferry from Denmark to what was then East Germany. It was just days before the borders came down. We made our way to Berlin and, while we were in Berlin, the borders that had divided East from West did come down.  During our stay in Berlin, we were also able to chop down our own piece of the infamous Berlin Wall.  My own little chunk of that memorable, insidious, dividing wall now sits on a bookshelf in my kitchen as a reminder of that trip and our historic experience.  When I look at my piece of the Berlin Wall, it reminds me that walls of hostility, whether concrete or metaphoric, are created because of fear and they ultimately divide families, communities, and nations as the Berlin Wall did for so many years.          When the Berlin Wall came down and when the borders between East and West Germany dissolved, I had so hoped we as a people were entering a new place and time in the history of the world.  However, when we look at the past few years, it seems we cannot learn from history because we now live in a time of epoch wall-building – walls that are seen, unseen, figurative and literal.  And, it seems we always develop such absurd arguments as we attempt to justify our wall building efforts.  We say we build walls because they will keep us safe.  Because we are afraid or in danger.  Because we feel threatened.  Because we have been hurt by others.  Because we are protecting what is ours or what we have.  But guess what, all these justification projects and arguments show no grace, no attempt to understand those considered “other,” and they serve to create divisions and hostility between people.  To move beyond this, to learn to live as builders of the household of God and not builders of dividing walls, we must change the way we look at those we consider “other.”  And, we can learn something about this in all of today’s scripture readings. In our reading from Jeremiah, the prophet gives us a window into his world, one that can enable us to look out upon our world with clearer insight.  In a nutshell, things are not good in Jeremiah’s world.  The shepherds, the rulers of the land, those in charge of leadership at every level throughout the land, are not shepherding.  The sheep, the people, are scattered and, when the people are scattered, fear and walls of hostility develop.  Shepherds are called to care for and tend the sheep.  However, the rulers, those charged with leading justly and caring for the people, those charged with making sure that no one gets lost, those charged with helping the flock find the green pastures and still waters, those charged with helping the sheep revive their soul and find the right pathway are NOT attending to the sheep.  In fact, they are destroying the sheep. Through the prophet, Jeremiah, God is addressing not just individuals.  God is addressing the whole nation, most especially those who hold power of any kind at any level.  God is not happy with the state of civic affairs in Israel or Judah.  So, the God of Jeremiah proclaims these words of judgement and hope: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, oh you shepherds who have not shepherded, I will attend to your evil doings.  Then I, myself, will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.  I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing says the Lord.”  You see, the people were like sheep in need of a loving, caring, justice creating shepherd. After pronouncing words of judgement regarding the evil doings of the leaders, Jeremiah speaks of the righteous Branch who will be raised up, the one who will reign as king and deal wisely and execute justice and righteousness in the land so that Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell in safety.  I think we can all look at the past few years of our lives and gain some insight from Jeremiah’s words. There is just so much in today’s readings and, as always, these readings speak to us and tell us about ourselves.  In Ephesians, we hear words addressing two groups engulfed in hostility, the Jewish people and the Gentiles.  The Gentiles are getting a little too puffed up and the writer of Ephesians reminds them that they were once outsiders looking in.  They were once strangers to the promises of God.  The Greek word used here for outsiders is xenos, as in xenophobia, as in fear of the stranger.  You see, they were once considered aliens, those literally alienated, estranged, from the commonwealth of Israel.  And the Greek word used for this sense of commonwealth is politeia, which is about the administration of civic affairs. (Think back to the administration of civic affairs Jeremiah addresses.)  This word used in Ephesians describes how we structure our society together as people, and it is the same root that gives us the world “politics.”  These stories and our stories are so connected!!  You see, the writer of Ephesians says the Gentiles, who held a lot of power in that society, were once “without hope, without God in the world.”  And, there was hostility, animosity, and enmity between those who were called “the circumcision” and those who were called “the uncircumcision.” With these words we find a little biblical name calling – “the uncircumcision” – the ultimate “not us!”  Now, just think about this. Who are the “not us” today?  Who are the groups in opposition?  Who are the groups engulfed in hostility?  Where are the binary groupings of us vs. them? When we look back at our reading from Jeremiah, there are the sheep and the shepherds. Then and now, we find those at the economic top of the ladder and those who cannot even get on the first rung. There’s management and worker.  Citizen and undocumented.  Black and white.  Men and women.  Gay and straight.  Politician and constituent.  Republican and Democrat. Liberal and Conservative. Urban and rural.  Advocates of gun control and advocates of gun rights.  There are the socially elite and those who do not know what silverware to use when you get past a fork, knife, and spoon. There are Christian, Jew, and Muslim.  There are people of faith and professed atheists.  Quite honestly, we could go on and on.  Doesn’t it kind of make you long for just two – “the circumcision” and “the uncircumcision?”  We can find so many ways to slice and dice the world into “the us” and “the not us,” the us vs. them, and, when we do this, we always continue building dividing walls!  It really can be despairing.  However, we can only build walls between us and others if that is all we see – someone who is “other.”  That which is not us.  Not-me.  Not-us.  Not-one-of-us.  As long as we define everything and everyone else in the world as not-ours and not-us, we will continue to build dividing walls, create supposed enemies, and throw bombs, both metaphorically and literally.  But, if we can see others as Jesus the Good Shepherd sees all others, if we see with compassion, if our stomachs literally turn over with love for those we see as the Greek word describes Jesus’ compassion in today’s gospel reading, we will not be able to build walls that divide.  If we see the names, the hearts, the lives that struggle as we do, and if we see God’s face in all others, then we cannot make the “other” less than us, less than God’s precious children. You see, they too are God’s precious children! People of God, yes, we do need to build.  But, instead of building walls that divide, we can build together.  We can build to strengthen lives, build to serve, and build to love others.  The writer of Ephesians tells us, “You are no longer strangers and aliens, you are citizens… and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.”  People of God, Christ is our peace. Christ has broken down the dividing walls of hostility between us. Live into this truth.

Sermon - July 18, 2021

This is special music from the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran church as they sing "I've Got Peace Like a River."

Special Music - I've Got Peace Like a River

This is a special presentation of Down to the river to pray by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir. 

Special Music - Down to the River to Pray

I was ordained on the evening of Thursday, August 30, 2012, at St. Ansgar Lutheran Church in Portland, ME.  In that same service, I was installed to serve as Associate Pastor to the people of St. Ansgar.  I vividly remember my ordination, and I vividly remember the weight of the questions Bishop Margaret Paine asked me during that service.  When pastors are ordained and then installed to serve in a congregation, they are asked to promise to teach and to preach according to the scriptures and the theological tradition of the Church.  I remember feeling the awesome responsibility communicated in those questions and the gravity of the promises I made.  The congregation is also asked to hold the pastor to those promises and to question the pastor when it is not clear he or she is doing that.  When talking to the congregation about their roll in receiving a newly installed pastor, I like the comments one Assistant to the Bishop often makes.  He says, “At the same time, the congregation is also to remember that it is not the preacher’s calling to tickle our ears with pleasant things we want to hear; it is his or her calling from God, to rightly preach the word of truth – AND to challenge us to grow in our faith and godly actions.” His words are fitting as we look at today’s readings.  Today, I am not called to tickle your ears with pleasant things you want to hear, but I am called to speak the truth.  And, the truth often calls us to turn around and be open to change that enables us to grow more deeply in our understanding of faith, to be open to being changed and being made new.   In our Old Testament reading, the prophet Amos was not thinking about changing the world, let alone changing himself, when his life was suddenly changed. God called Amos to leave his family and friends, leave behind his occupation of caring for sycamore trees, and even leave his country, to prophesy to the people of the Northern Kingdom.  Amos was called to speak truth to power, speak against idolatry and social injustice, and call people to live justly and return to a faithful relationship with God.  He was called to warn the people of Israel that they had not met the standards – the plumb line – God had set for them, and consequently they were going to be invaded and destroyed. Now, war and conflict were not something new to the Israelites – but to lose a war, and their country, and independence, was unthinkable. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, did not like what Amos said, so he created a conspiracy theory and told King Jeroboam that Amos had conspired against the king and the very center of the house of Israel.  Wow!  Isn’t it interesting the way these Bible stories are our stories, even to this day?  Anyway, Amaziah then told Amos to go away and return to his own country.  Amos answered that he was not prophesying because he WANTED TO – he was prophesying because of God’s call, and he was doing what God had asked of him. God called Amos to address the social injustice in the northern kingdom and call the people to change their ways.  And, in today’s gruesome, grotesque story from Mark’s gospel, we find that God also called John the Baptist to address the injustice present in people’s lives and in the life of King Herod, the reigning Jewish monarch. Through the prophet John, God was calling Herod to turn around, change his ways, and live into a life of faithfulness.  You see, Herod had taken his brother’s wife, Herodias, while she was still married to his own brother, and Herod married her himself. John had been warning Herod that he must change the way he was living – that he must repent and seek forgiveness from God.  Well, this made Herodias livid! She was shocked that Herod would allow someone to say such bad things about him and especially HER – and she wanted John to be killed. Herod on the other hand, was puzzled by John – he did not like what he was told but, at the same time, he was intrigued and wanted to know more. The more he heard, the more Herod was drawn to John and his teachings. However, Herodias ultimately conspired with Herod to have John killed.  Here we have another conspiracy that developed in reaction to truth that was spoken, reaction to John’s words when he had spoken truth to power and privilege.  It is interesting that, when Herod finally had John the Baptist beheaded, “The king was deeply grieved.” It is also interesting that Herod was someone who was truly seeking to know all that John had to say, believing just enough to keep him up at night, but NOT enough to change his way of living. Both stories today have something in common.  In our story about Amos, we discover nobody wanted to hear him. The priest threw him out of Bethel. The priest threw Amos out of the house of God because the priest did not want to hear the words of truth Amos spoke.  The priest did not want to hear what God had to say, and he did not want to change his way of thinking or his way of living.  And, like the priest of Bethel, Herod and Herodias did not like what John the Baptist said about them either. In what was probably a drunken stupor and rash oath by Herod, with Herodias conspiring and working in the background, John was beheaded because Herod and his wife did not like what they heard, and they were not ABOUT to change. In fact, the very THOUGHT that they might need to change made Herodias extremely angry. Sometimes WE are not totally happy with ourselves.  We realize that we have “weaknesses” but, for various reasons, do not really make the effort to change. Yet, the truth is that God, out of God’s overwhelming love for us, is always calling us to change, to turn around and turn back to God, to grow more deeply in faith, and to be made new. There was once a missionary in China whose name was Ellenita Zimmerman.   Ellenita once defined the Gospel this way.  She said, “God loves you just the way you are. AND God loves you too much to let you stay that way.”  Yes, God loves you just the way you are. AND God loves you too much to let you stay that way. As I remember my ordination and the promises I made and, as I remember the service in which I was installed to be your pastor here at Faith Lutheran Church, I also remember that I am not called to tickle your ears and always simply speak words that make you feel good.  Sometimes, like today, the Bible readings call us to speak and proclaim hard truths. Today’s readings, especially the gospel reading, are difficult to hear. However, they call us to turn back to God. They call us as people to let go of defensive, relationship breaking conspiracy thinking. They call us to hard truth, to be truthful with one another, to share our concerns and to call people to live lives of justice in which we truly love the Lord God with all of our hearts and minds and souls, and we love our NEIGHBORS as ourselves.  That means we are always called to make decisions that always show love and care of neighbor over our own self-interest.  Decisions like getting the Covid vaccine so our neighbor can be protected.  Decisions like probably again wearing a mask as the Delta variant grows and becomes more prevalent. As we begin to regather, I know we are called to have hearts and minds open to being changed and made new.  And, I am reminded that the Bible, the pastor, and each of us as members of the body of Christ, remind each other of these two basic truths – God loves you all just the way you are, AND, God loves you all too much to let you stay that way!  It is when we open ourselves, when we listen with our hearts as well as our ears, when we want and ALLOW ourselves to change, that we are ultimately transformed into the image of Christ.  And, God loves us so much that God does with us that which is impossible for us to do by ourselves. God makes us NEW creatures - changed and transformed from within. God loves us so much that God will never, ever let us go.  Yes, God loves us that much! Thanks be to God!

Sermon - 7-11-21

I mentioned in last week’s sermon that, while I feel joy as we regather, I am also feeling a certain kind of grief and sadness.  I grieve because I know the church is not going to be what it was pre-Covid. This is proving true across the board for churches of all denominations, not just us. As we begin the process of regathering, I am fully aware that the post-Covid church is going to be different.  And, quite frankly, this change can be seen as a bad thing or a good thing.  This can be seen as a real opportunity for the church.  Just maybe, all the challenges the church now faces present a real opportunity for the church to be reborn, reshaped and made new.  Just maybe, God is calling for faith communities to become truly prophetic, to proclaim and live the gospel good news in fresh and innovative ways!  If that is the case, we need to be open to the change, and ready and willing to face the same challenges all prophets throughout time have faced.  And, as always, today’s readings are life-giving for us in this present moment because they speak of three “prophets” – Ezekiel, Paul, and Jesus.  All three of these men were called to stand up on their feet, prophetically call the people to faithfulness, speak truth to power and privilege, speak a word of warning, speak a word of comfort, and proclaim the good news that God’s life-giving power is breaking in and present in this world.  And, as has happened to all prophets throughout time, all three of these figures faced elements of significant rejection. In today’s first reading, we hear Ezekiel’s call story. God literally picks Ezekiel up off the ground where he has fallen prostrate because he knows his own unworthiness before God. God then prepares him to speak God’s message to the people of Israel.  That preparation includes warning Ezekiel about rejection as God says, “I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.” One commentator summarizes the Ezekiel reading this way:    Perhaps the people will listen, but perhaps they will not. Ezekiel has the task of speaking the truth without regard to the response…. Authentic ministry speaks the truth regardless of response. God calls us to faithfulness and obedience, not success.   Yes, faithfulness and obedience, not success.  These are simple guidelines, but…they are so counter-cultural for us because we live in a highly success driven culture. Success is our society’s proof of value, and failure is only forgiven after the fact, that is if we can turn it into a life lesson that empowers our eventual success. Every system in which we function elevates winners, and judges everyone else.  We judge people caught in poverty, we judge the uneducated, those struggling with disabilities or addictions, the unpretty, the unloved.  Our success-addicted culture tells us that, if we cannot rise above and find a way from rags to riches, we are not worth much.  And, friends, it’s not just secular culture that communicates this message. The church has also bought into this idolatry of success and power. Ever since the 4th Century, when Emperor Constantine decided to use Christianity as a unifying tool in his empire-building, the golden calf of Christendom has seduced the religion of Christ-followers with the offer and prospect of power. Over 1600 years have taught us to see power, success, influence, and large gatherings of people as the marks of blessing on our ministries, and – conversely – to see any diminishment of Christianity’s central place of privilege as persecution.  However, friends, followers of Christ, disciples of Jesus, were never promised power! We were never promised favored treatment. We were never promised success. No, we were told that God chooses to be known in weakness. That what we need is NOT success, but rather grace. Because, as Paul tells us today in our second reading, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) This is the weakness of sometimes having our witness rejected. This is the weakness of the one we follow, this Jesus, the one who hung on a cross.  But, it is in that place of supposed weakness where we truly find the GRACE of God.  Friends, God is not interested in our success because chasing success is the opposite of grace. Success is depending on ourselves to prove our own worth. Grace is about knowing that our worth comes always and only from God.  Grace is not about power, or acclaim, or increasing numbers of people, or “winning” in any of the ways we are taught to think about success. Grace is about knowing the One to whom we belong and receiving the gift of faith that makes God our only benchmark. This message comes through loud and clear in our gospel reading for today.  The second part of our gospel reading tells us about Jesus sending the disciples out on their first mission assignment to spread the good news. His instructions are very unusual: Don’t take anything with you – not extra clothes, not food, not money… just a walking stick (because you’ll be doing a lot of walking). You will have to depend on the hospitality of strangers. But don’t take anything that’s not freely given. Some people are going to reject you. They will refuse to take you in or to listen to what you have to say. When that happens, just shake the dust from your feet and move on.   These instructions are NOT very encouraging for beginning disciples!  And, they sound even worse when you consider that they have just witnessed Jesus’ first “failure.”  They sound even worse because the first half of our reading tells us how Jesus, after all the crowd-drawing success in his travels around Galilee, is rejected in his hometown. The people there admit to his amazing deeds of power and his authoritative words of wisdom… but none of this really matters. They know Jesus’ humble beginnings and they get offended by his claims to power and authority. And because their hearts are hard, Jesus cannot do much there. Except for a few healings, he faces major rejection.  And it is after THIS rejection that Jesus decides to send his disciples on a mission to experience some rejection for themselves. I must ask, do any of us who are so focused on success and numbers, see this as a prescription for success and growing the church?  Do we see this as making any sense?  Probably not. When Jesus sent the disciples on their mission, they were to proclaim a message of repentance. The Greek word for repent in this passage is metanoeo, which literally means “to change one’s mind, to turn around.” This was the message Jesus proclaimed as well. He called the people to repent and believe – to change their minds and trust in the gospel of love and grace – the good news of God’s forgiveness and love. And, with that message in mind, it makes PERFECT sense that Jesus would tell the disciples to go without provision and expect some rejection. You see, they could not preach repentance if they didn’t change their minds first – change their minds about what success looks like. They needed to know the grace that is not about power, or acclaim, growth in numbers, or “winning” in any of the ways we are used to thinking about success. Grace is about knowing the One to whom we belong. Grace is about receiving the faith that is all gift, the grace that makes God the only criterion we need.  The disciples’ mission is not about success. It’s all about grace. It’s about understanding and knowing our true identity as a beloved child of God. As we begin to regather while facing challenge, we are not competing in this world’s system for measuring success. That’s not our frame of reference. Our identity and our values are grounded in God’s grace. We are loved, and we are called. That’s what it means to be a Christian – a disciple of Christ.  We are loved by a God who does not require us to be successful according to worldly standards, because our worth has never been about what WE do – it has always been about God’s choice to show us grace.  It is about God’s decision to love us while we still were sinners, and to call us to be part of God’s work in this world, with full knowledge that we will sometimes fail. What we are called to do is share God’s GRACE.  Like prophets of old, we are called to stand up on our feet, call the people to faithfulness, speak truth to power and privilege, speak a word of warning, speak a word of comfort, and proclaim the good news that God’s life-giving love is breaking in and present in this world and in people’s lives.  And, yes, we might face rejection. It happened to Jesus, so chances are it will happen to us.  But, that also makes us faithful disciples.

Sermon - Mark 6:1-13 - 7/3/21

As we adapt to a new normal, while hopefully coming to the end of Covid-19, we are facing yet another challenge, a new form of social anxiety. Over the past year and a half, we were forced to physically distance from family and friends, and many of us spent most of that time in our homes, with video calls and Zoom events becoming the primary means of socializing.  Consequently, many now feel anxious and have a degree of social unease after living through this global pandemic.  Therapist, Leslie Adams, writes, “Dealing with long periods of isolation can increase social anxiety. Even those who would consider themselves naturally more extroverted could be struggling. Being outside our bubble will feel overwhelming because it is a drastic change.  We will notice all the subtle things that we don’t see or hear on video calls. We will feel like we are struggling, like our senses are on overdrive, because they are.”  As my friend, Bill Uetricht, says, “This pandemic has been one of the most anxious times in recent memory for all of us, and anxiety has a way of lingering, affecting our behavior and our interactions with others.  This happens even if it is not fully rational.”  You see, throughout this pandemic, we have placed boundaries around ourselves and around the way we function.  We have imposed artificial boundaries with the intent purpose of staying away from others. The anxiety some people now face is very real, and it is rooted in a newly developed fear of being with or encountering others.  Anxieties over crossing boundaries and encountering others are nothing new in human history.  In fact, such anxiety was very real in Jesus’ lifetime.  In Biblical times, the Sea of Galilee was a well-defined geographical boundary.  The Jewish people were on one side of the sea, and on the other side you would find those despicable, contemptable Gentiles in the country of the Gerasenes, those vile “others” with whom the Jewish people did not want to connect.  As we move through Mark’s gospel, we find many of the recorded events that begin in chapter four take place on alternate sides of the Sea of Galilee.  And, the most direct route from one side to the other was across the sea.  In today’s reading, when we hear Jesus say to the disciples, “Let us go across to the other side of the Sea of Galilee,” he is indicating more than just a change of venue.  This is Jesus’ first venture in Mark’s gospel to what would be considered a dangerous, even inappropriate, destination because that is where the Gentiles resided.  Good Jewish people did not go there.  The rabbis did not go there.  Remember, the people on the other side were considered “other.”  Yet, today, early on in Mark’s gospel, we see Jesus deliberately demonstrate his claim that his mission extends beyond the Jews.  And, by carrying his ministry into Gentile territory, Jesus reaches out to strangers, those despised “others,” those who were considered enemies of the house of Israel. On the way to the “other side,” a place and experience which created great anxiety within them because they would have to encounter those considered “other,” their boat struggles with a great windstorm.  Now, the storm itself is not an unusual occurrence on the Sea of Galilee.  And, the disciples who are accompanying Jesus in the boat, are accustomed to the unpredictable nature of the sea.  After all, several of them were experienced fishermen.  But, the disciples become afraid and, in their fear and desperation, they wake Jesus and cry out, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”  Jesus then speaks saying, “Peace!  Be still!” as he rebukes the wind and the waves.  God’s Word, embodied in Jesus, speaks to the chaos and the storm is stilled.  The very Lord who, in our first lesson, told Job that God is the one who conquers the power of the sea, is the same One Jesus embodies as he speaks, and the storm is stilled. Friends, for the past several years we have been experiencing a raging storm in our culture and, over the past year and a half, a raging storm throughout the world because of this pandemic.  There have been times when it has felt as though we are in a small boat on a stormy sea.  We have seen acts of violence and oppression in this country – political violence, racial violence, and rising gun violence in our communities as the number of mass shootings just seems to escalate.  The evils of systemic racism and white supremacy are plaguing our country. These challenges, in addition to the global pandemic, have at times left us feeling helpless as we attempt to navigate this storm. Yes, we have experienced and are experiencing an intense storm.  And, quite frankly, this storm will intensify as we face mounting threats from climate change. There has been and is much chaos, and I believe many of us have been and are scared.  And, in the depth of the storms we face, the pain and suffering we see causes us to cry out, “God, do you not care that we are perishing?”  I say this honestly – there is a feeling of betrayal as we cry out amid these experiences in the face of what often seems to be the silence of God. When looking at this gospel story, it is important to note that Jesus never says, “There is nothing to be afraid of.”  He asks, “Why are you afraid?” Jesus’ question is very different from simply saying, “There is nothing to be afraid of.” The storm the disciples faced was fierce, as are the wind and the waves of chaos that threaten us. Jesus’ question does not deny the chaos that is present.  Instead, Jesus asks, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”  And, it is interesting that time and time again, we hear the words of scripture say to us, “Do not be afraid.”  You see, the hard truth is that fearsome things are very real, things like pain, illness, rejection, failure, violence, meaninglessness, losing one’s job, money problems, and death.  As we grow in faith and name such fearsome things as real, we also discover they do not have the last word.  They do not have ultimate power over us, because reigning over this world of fearsome things is a God who is mightier than they.  Time and again in scripture, the word given us is, “Do not be afraid.”  In fact, you might say it is the first and last word of the gospel.  It is the word spoken to a young girl named Mary, it is the word spoken to Joseph, it is spoken to the shepherds, and it is the word spoken to the women when they discover an empty tomb.  “Do not be afraid.”  Not because there are no fearsome things on the sea of our day and our lives, not because there are no storms, fierce winds, or waves, but rather because God is with us!  Like a mother comforting her child, God speaks to us and says, “Don’t be afraid, because you are not alone.  I am with you.” In times like these, it is easy to forget that God’s all-powerful Word is still spoken amid the noise and chaos of our lives and world.  Like the disciples and like Paul in our second reading, we articulate and list the challenges we face as we look to rediscover our faith in the promise of God’s powerful Word.  And, like Jesus’ word of peace spoken over the raging storm, God’s word still can calm our deepest fears.  As Martin Luther wrote in his great hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” one little word above all earthly powers can fell whatever darkness threatens to undo us.  Friends, we cannot navigate the storm alone, but that living Word is with us and in us and God is calling us to live that incarnated Word in our present context.  We may feel fear, but the incarnational Word of God is present in the Body of Christ.  And, the Church – the Body of Christ in this world – is also called to rebuke the storm. Friends, the deepest truth in life as we live these days – as we again encounter others, as we encounter all those we consider “other,” as we regather, and as we face the storms of life – is a truth that only faith in a God who raised Jesus from the grave can teach us.  It is this:  even though there are real and fearsome things in this life, they need not paralyze us; they need not have dominion over us; they need not own us; they need not have the last word, because we are not alone in the boat!  Present to us in the boat is the One who, with gentle authority, speaks and rebukes that which threatens life. And, that Word gifts us with what we need the most, with what is called for – peace that passes all understanding.

Sermon: June 19, 2021

This is a special musical presentation of Didn't My Lord by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir.

Special Music - Didn't My Lord

I do not know the origin of this phrase, but it has been said that “Jesus told so many parables he became one.” Jesus truly embodied everything he taught.  And, those parables, the stories he told, are continually breaking open our understanding of the reign of God.  In his use of parables, Jesus seeks a shift in our imaginations, a shift in the way we see ourselves, see God, and see others. I think far too often we misunderstand what Jesus’ parables are meant to do because we are people who like to solve problems. And, as we look at the parables of Jesus, we often find interpretations of these stories presented as problems to be solved – problems that once solved can offer us “instructions for living.”  However, as Pastor Nadia Bolz Weber suggests, “Parables are not neat little moralisms dressed in narrative. They are meant to be swallowed whole. Parables are living things meant to mess with our assumptions and subvert things we never even thought to question.”  And, as I have mentioned to you before, theologian, Eugene Peterson says, “Jesus’ parables are like explosive, narrative time bombs.”  We hear Jesus’ stories, and they are designed to tick away in our minds as we wonder about their meaning.  We may think we finally understand it, yet it stubbornly continues to tick away and make us ask more questions.  We walk away, but over the course of the next day or so it just continues to tick, tick, tick away.  And then, suddenly, the truth Jesus meant to convey strikes home and kaboom, it explodes in our mind!   The parable explodes, opening new pathways of understanding as we are surprised and almost overwhelmed with its implications. Well, in today’s gospel reading Jesus is again teaching, using the storytelling device of parable.  Jesus is describing the reality of the kingdom of God, the reign of God, God’s dream for this world, that is unexpectedly breaking into our lives and bursting in upon us.  Friends, God’s dream for this world is very counter to the reality we live as we go about our daily lives within the context of present culture.  And, Jesus knows we cannot really understand what the kingdom is like all at once.  Such understanding takes time.  So, Jesus begins teaching about the inbreaking reign of God by using parables that are meant to be explosive.   His stories challenge the comfortable status-quo, and they challenge our thinking as they turn our thinking inside out and upside down. Today’s first parable tells of this unusual, weird, bizarre farmer who indiscriminately sows seed upon the ground, throwing it out anywhere.  This action does not really make sense from a rational point of view.  This crazy farmer does not prepare the soil or tend it with fertilizer.  He does not even water the seeds or pull out the weeds.  He just indiscriminately throws out the seed and waits to see what happens.  The emphasis in this parable seems to be placed upon who or what causes the growth to occur after the seed hits the soil because the farmer simply goes about his life of regularly sleeping and rising, night and day.  So, what is this really about?  Well, it might possibly be about the wonder of faith or the need to be ready to bring in the harvest.  Or, just maybe, it is about our complete inability to control or dictate the coming reign of God that unexpectedly breaks in upon us in various ways whether we or others believe or not.  I have to say this possibility leaves us unsettled and uncomfortable because it leaves us in a place where we are not in control.  It leaves us vulnerable, and we don’t like it.  We don’t like it when we see decline in the church, something that is happening throughout the country.  We do not like it when we see only a handful of people attend our new Saturday in-person service, and so our anxieties mount.  We want to build the church, build God’s kingdom, and restore it to what we remember of days gone by, maybe some thirty years ago.  And now, we want the church to be what it was before Covid-19.  We want things to be like they were in February of 2020!  Friends, the truth is, God’s kingdom will come and does come regardless of our efforts and our mounting anxieties. God’s kingdom cannot be manipulated by our attempts to control because God’s kingdom can only be received.  It is all gift!  In a very real sense, the kingdom or reign of God is something that comes from outside of ourselves and grabs hold of us whether we want it to or not.  It is all gift and not dependent upon us or anything we do.  It is God who builds the kingdom, and it is Christ who builds the church. This is a difficult lesson for those of us in the church who are doers and problem solvers.  It is difficult for those of us who have such a hard time with letting go, for those of us with type A personalities who want to be in control and in charge of what is happening.  Yet, we are not responsible for making the church grow.  That is God’s work.  We are not responsible for making sure everybody “gets saved.”  That is God’s work and, quite frankly, God has already done that!  We are not responsible for making God’s kingdom a smashing success.  No.  Our job, our calling, is to simply plant the seeds and trust God to do the work of growing the kingdom.  Yes, we live in a world where people are so very afraid of losing control.  We have been taught and continue to teach others that, in order to succeed, we must have a plan with well-defined outcomes and strategies for achieving those outcomes, and we so desperately want to be able to measure our success.  And, quite honestly, our understanding of success always seems to be measured in numbers.  However, this is so very contrary to God’s kingdom of grace.  The work of grace, mercy, compassion, peace, and justice is the work that truly matters in life, and it follows a totally different outline than the plans and strategies we try to impose.  All we are called to do is live God’s grace, live the gospel, and live and share the good news of God’s love for this broken, needy world. The next parable Jesus tells is about the mustard seed.  Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”  Now, if we really look at what Jesus is saying, we need to think about the mustard he is talking about.  You see, the thing about mustard seeds is that while some varieties were used as spice and others medicinally, in general they were considered at the very least pesky and often somewhat dangerous. Why?  Because wild mustard is incredibly hard to control, and once it takes root it can take over a whole planting area. That's why mustard would only occasionally be found in a garden in the ancient world; more likely you would find it taking over the side of an open hill or abandoned field. So, knowing this, pick your favorite garden-variety weed – crabgrass, dandelion, wild onion, or those obnoxious thistles that Ken and I are trying to get rid of.  That is pretty much what Jesus is comparing the kingdom of God to – obnoxious thistles!  Oh, and that part about the birds seeking refuge. Maybe it's meant as a comforting image – birds finding shelter from the elements. Or maybe, it suggests that once mustard shrubs take root, all kinds of things happen including the sudden presence of "undesirables." If we understand this, Jesus' parable is a little darker, even ominous. As John Dominic Crossan puts it: The point, in other words, is not just that the mustard plant starts as a proverbial small seed and grows into a shrub of three or four feet, or even higher, it is that it tends to take over where it is not wanted, that it tends to get out of control, and that it tends to attract birds within cultivated areas where they are not particularly desired. And that, said Jesus, was what the Kingdom was like: not like the mighty cedar of Lebanon and not quite like a common weed, [more] like a pungent shrub with dangerous takeover properties. Something you would want in only small and carefully controlled doses – if you could control it (The Historical Jesus, pp. 278-279). Friends, Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like…..”  May these parables mess with your assumptions and subvert things you never even thought to question.  It is my prayer that these parables stick in our minds like ticking time bombs. And, when they surprisingly explode, I pray they continually work to change us and make us ever new, so that we too may embody the inbreaking reign of God in our everyday lives.  o

Sermon - June 13, 2021

When my three boys were young children, the middle one seemed to always be getting himself into trouble.  He tended to cross boundaries and do naughty things more frequently than the other two boys.  And, when he did something wrong, he would often hide, or he would inevitably blame his brothers for what happened, for what he had done.  Thankfully, he outgrew these behaviors.  However, I will always remember that if he was blaming his brothers for something that happened, he usually was the one who was responsible for the incident and, if he was hiding, he had probably done something he should not have done.  In fact, I vividly remember calling out to him on multiple occasions, “Chris, where are you?”  Well, today as we hear this reading from Genesis, we hear the words, “Where are you?”  And, these words echo right down through the centuries into our very lives.  The Genesis story we hear in our first reading is part of the second creation story we find in the Bible.  Yes, there are two very different creation stories in this first book of the Bible.  Today’s reading comes from what is known as the Yahwist narrative.  It is just one among many of the early story threads gathered from multiple traditions that became sewn together to compile the book we now call Genesis.  And, as with many familiar Bible stories we think we understand, we often read into this passage and deduce ideas that really are not there.  You see, this whole slithering, deceptive snake portion of the story likely was originally told to explain the animosity that exists between humans and serpents.  Furthermore, as scholars have studied these writings, theologians now agree that the snake insertion into this story was also likely meant to provide an explanation for the Israelite rejection of the Canaanite goddess Asherah, who was imaged as a snake in a tree.  Asherah was the great Canaanite fertility goddess, so one can detect here a not too subtle polemic against Canaanite pagan religion.  And, yet another aspect that we usually do not grasp is that this serpent who appears in the story is never even identified in scripture as Satan.  As today’s story begins in verse eight, the serpent has already deceived Adam and Eve into disobeying God’s command, and these two human beings are now engaged in a hiding activity of their own, and the stakes are very high.  As they hunker down in the garden like children attempting to hide while fleeing the implications of their own actions, God seeks them out, fully aware that something has gone wrong.  God goes walking in the garden like the whimsical pursuer.  And, we get to listen as God calls out to them saying, “Where are you?”  Now, it is fascinating that this is the first question God asks in Scripture.  And, what makes this question so important is that, as in every great story, this question is asked not just of the characters on the page and in this scene, it is a question that is asked of each one of us.  You see, the stories of the Bible are our stories!  The Bible itself is such a great story because it is not so much a story of what happened to our ancestors in faith, but of what happens to each one of us.  This story is no exception. Notice that God does not accusingly ask, “Now just what have you done?”  No.  God simply and graciously asks, “Where are you?”  This question, a question God is always asking of us, exposes our futile attempt to hide from God.  And, at once, that question assumes an answer, an answer that reminds us we often are not where we should be.  In fact, it causes us to think about asking ourselves, “Where should we be?”  It is also important to notice that when they answer, God just lets the excuses flow on until all the characters of the story have fully implicated themselves and each other.  And, only then does God announce the sanctions. Friends, this story is a tale about the human predicament - sin.  Something has gone wrong.  We are not where we should be.  You see, we sense that there is an estrangement from our essential, created selves that is rooted in alienation from our Maker, and it gets expressed in behaviors that alienate us from one another.  That is what sin is, alienation from God, from one another and from our very selves.  This story in Genesis is not a literal story of what happened to our first ancestors but the story of what happens to each one of us.  This is a story that addresses our loss of innocence as we grow up and become more aware of the world around us.  It is about our alienation from our fellow humans, from creation itself, about our yearning for independence, and our fear of alienation from God.  This story helps us understand the way in which sin alienates us from God and from one another because the hard truth is that we are sinners.  That does not mean we are rotten to the core.  Sin is the human predicament.  And, even though we try to hide while fleeing the implications of our predicament, God knows where we are.  The truth is that we cannot hide from God.  God knows us through and through and the most amazing thing is this – if grace meets us anywhere, it meets us in our sin! Notice in this story from Genesis we miss the fact that grace permeates this entire story.   When suddenly, these two earth creatures find themselves exposed, they are worried about not having clothes, and God graciously says, “Well, let me take care of that; I’ll give you clothes, even though I made you to be naked.”  That action of God in this story, just one of many other actions, is a clear statement of grace.  Yes, it is in the places of deepest struggle, pain, and alienation where grace meets us and where we discover the Good News that God loves us no matter what and that God works through our weakness.  We do not have to hide from God for any reason.  When grace meets us, we learn that God considers us to be a treasure, just as we are, and God works in our lives, even in our deep brokenness.  That is the good news of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul understood this so well.  He had experienced this grace and God’s power in his own life.  Grace met him in the place of deepest sin and transformed his life.  Paul understood that the destructiveness of human sin is resolved finally and only by acknowledging our human limitations, and by placing our total dependence upon the love and grace of God.  In his second letter to the Christians who lived in Corinth, Paul says to his fellow disciples, “What we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive.  Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory:  more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!  So, we’re not giving up.  How could we!  Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.”  (The Message; 2 Corinthians 4:14-16) In our gospel reading for today, Jesus also addresses the destructiveness of human sin.  The writer of Mark’s version of the Jesus story asks us to take with utter seriousness the power of evil in this world and in life and then, along with all those who do the will of God, trust in the power of God that Jesus so fully embodies.  And, the power of God is always, always shown through inclusive, healing love and unfathomable grace, often at those times when we think we least deserve it. The Good News is that ours is a God who, no matter where we wander or try and hide, already sees us, and lovingly pursues us.  And, God will take every detail in our life and work through it, using it to our advantage for our good.  We do not have to hide because of who we are or what we have done.  God loves us, and God has already found us. So, while we tend to be so like my middle son and try to hide if we have done something wrong, God will always pursue us to shower us with grace.  While we may think we are hiding, our gracious God already knows where we are while lovingly calling out to us asking, “Where are you?”  And, this God of grace upon grace, this God of grace and more grace, is always inviting us back to God’s very self.  May we eagerly listen to God’s call and joyfully respond because, the truth is, in Jesus we have already been found by this God of grace.

Sermon - June 6, 2021

I vividly remember one specific clergy meeting during my internship days in Richland Hills, Texas.  Area clergy would regularly gather to discuss scripture readings for future Sundays.  On the day of this memorable meeting, we were discussing scripture passages for the Sundays of Pentecost and Holy Trinity.  Everyone was excited about preaching on Pentecost Sunday, but hardly anyone looked forward to preaching on Trinity Sunday.  You see, the doctrine of the Trinity is one clergy would often rather avoid. Anyway, Pastor Phil, my supervisor, joked that the Intern is always given Trinity Sunday as a preaching Sunday.  And, later that day, he jestingly told the Calvary Café crew that this is a test to see if the intern is heretical or not!            Talking about the Trinity is not easy!  Have you ever really tried to explain the Trinity?  We say God is one, and yet we have these three, what?  Persons?  Spirits?  Beings?  What is God?  Who is God?  A triangle, a whole, but with three sides?  We say we believe in One God, and then we sing, “God in three persons, blessed Trinity.”  How do we make sense of this and what does it mean? Quite honestly, Jesus did not talk about the Trinity; neither did Paul.  We find what appears to be an early form of developing theology on the Trinity in Paul’s writings as well as in the gospel of John, but it was not until the fourth century, 300 years after Jesus, that Christian leaders formalized the theological doctrine of the Trinity.  They did it at the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE and the result was The Nicene Creed.  Then, in the fifth century, Christian leaders wrote another creed trying once again to clarify the Trinity for folks, particularly the Jesus part.  That Council resulted in the Apostles’ Creed.  Over the years, there has been much adversarial, bitter fighting over the concept of the Trinity and throughout history, the church has split because of controversy surrounding this doctrine.  Yes, the idea of the Trinity is hard to understand and nearly impossible to explain.  So, I am not going to try to explain the Trinity, because it truly is all mystery.  However, I am going to attempt to take you deeper into the mystery and the wonder of this One in Three.   I like to dance, and I love to watch people dance.  Dance is made up of many different components.  Motion, emotion, resonance, rhythm, beat; all of these relate to each other and they come together as one to create a whole when we see people dance. There is something about dance that is like the nature of God. When we look at the idea of the Holy Trinity, we stand on the edge of mystery, and the model of the Trinity is one of interactive and open relationship.  God’s nature can be thought of as a three-way dance, a dance of relationship and incomprehensible love.  Through the metaphor of dance, we see three distinct movements of Parent, Son, and Holy Spirit, and these movements exchange life-giving energy.  These movements create unity, a perfect unity and oneness.  This dance is one of mutual devotion and shared love, a love that is expansive and generous, a love that cannot be self contained.  It overflows from Parent to Child to Spirit and back again. The love of God, the love that IS God, is like a divine Dance, a dynamic, graceful, and deeply intimate movement.  In this movement, the God who is "I AM" is never alone because the very nature of God is relationship. In the Trinity we see a love that is always selfless, void of ego, and always pointing to the other.  In the Trinity we see a oneness where the three are one in mission.  When we consider the Trinity, we see a God who is all about relationship, community, and unconditional love – pure, untainted, unreserved love. In this interactive dance of the divine three in one, we also see a coming together of power and majesty, love and tenderness, oneness and movement, joining with the raw and everyday reality of life, the life of the cosmos and our very lives.  In our gospel reading for today, the writer of John’s gospel connects this dance to our lives as we hear that God so loves this world!  And, the word John uses for “world” refers to the cosmos – to everything!  The dance of love God shares is so overwhelming that God’s love spills out on to everything, encompassing everything – the entire cosmos, the entire creation, this little, miniscule planet that is hardly a speck in the vastness of space, all the people, the land, the animals, the bugs, the world’s goodness and even its evil because God’s love is a transforming, redeeming love for all of creation.  You see, God’s love is just that encompassing, immense, audacious, unexpected, and even scandalous.  In this coming together of God’s love for the cosmos, God gives life, enters our very lives, lives among us, and invites us to participate in the dance of agape love.  And, what is so mysterious and remarkable is that while God, who in this Dance needs no other, chooses to create and redeem a people.  Frankly, this is a love that disturbs us, gnaws at our hearts, creates a hunger for God, unsettles us, grasps us, and draws us into the dance, into the very arms of God’s love, and we become forever changed and transformed.  Dear friends, God chose to create and redeem you, me, and every individual we encounter so that we might join in this Dance. The invitations to this dance have been sent, and there are to be no spectators, no outcasts, no outsiders.  Friends, we are called by God to see ourselves as God sees each one of us, and thus discover ourselves to be, like the Persons of the Trinity, truly beloved.   Do you remember the words spoken to Jesus when he was baptized?  The Father, Son and Spirit danced as the Father spoke saying, “You are my beloved, with you I am well pleased.”  Those pulsating, life-giving, creating words danced through creation as a message of divine love.  That creative word danced through life, healing the sick, freeing the oppressed, feeding the hungry, breaking the chains of slavery, and transforming chaos into wholeness.  When we consider the Trinity, we see a God who has entered the deepest darkness of our lives and walks with us in the places where we think God is most absent.  We see a God who is with us at those times of deepest suffering when we ask, “Why?” and there simply are no answers.  We see God with us because that God, that three in one, danced to the very hill of Calvary, to the deepest place of darkness.  And then, the life-giving, creative dance of love burst forth from a sealed tomb because it could not be contained! This is the love that invites us to participate in the dance.  God speaks to each one of us saying, “You are my beloved, with you I am well pleased.  Deb, Bruce, Harold, Virginia, Hugh, Marge, every one of you, children of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever, come and join the dance!”    Friends, the Divine dance continues in us and through us. And, what does the Trinity dance look like in our lives?  We dance with our God when we feed the hungry through our food pantry projects.  We dance with our God when we walk with those who are mourning and grieving.  We dance with our God when we, ourselves, are grieving.  We dance with our God when we take in young refugees and house and care for them in our Parish House. We dance with our God when we participate in the work of our Caring Committee.  We dance with our God when we work for justice and peace.  We dance with our God when we gather to worship.  Created to live in relationship, we move to the beat of divine, incomprehensible love as we dance with God’s very self and with each other.  So, come, dance on the edge of mystery, live into the kingdom of God and join the dance of Trinity!

Sermon - 5/30/21

We have the first fruits of the Spirit The days are getting longer, the sun rises early with birds chirping, singing a sweet melody into a new day The powerful energy of the sun warms the earth, opening the leaves of the trees and the petals of the flowers, bringing forth abundant new life and growth When we step outside we feel the strength of the ultraviolet rays on our cheeks and bare arms as warmth spreads across our skin Warmth that cannot be manufactured by heating systems, sweaters or down blankets Warmth that is only available from the sun The sunlight remains in the sky for hours and hours, until well past 9 PM, offering us many opportunities to see, feel and enjoy its beauty. These long days and warm sun are bringing forth the first fruits of the year.  I look forward to my first fresh strawberry I imagine going to the strawberry farm with my baskets early in the morning Bending and crouching my body to kneel in the neat rows, Smelling the straw laid on the ground Feeling the early sun warm my back, neck and shoulders As I peel back the large green leaves of the plant, and pluck my first fresh, bright red strawberry of the season.  The first fruit of the year, the first fresh strawberry lands in my mouth warmed from the late spring sun and plucked straight from the new growth of the plant It feels a bit gritty and rough on my tongue at first  My mouth begins to water as I anticipate this sweet, juicy first fruit of the year. And I take a bite We have the first fruits of the Spirit The first, warm, sweet strawberry is resting in our mouth Waiting for us to bite down and release its juicy goodness But it sometimes seems like we don't recognize it Do we know it's there? We have the first fruits of the Spirit And yet we're groaning in labor pains Groaning inwardly and outwardly Our attention and energy consumed by what we see around us Waiting Waiting for adoption, waiting for redemption Waiting for something Something to distract us and shift our attention elsewhere Perhaps waiting for hope We're told that the Spirit, the Advocate, will help and guide us The Spirit helps us in our weakness The Spirit intercedes and advocates for us The Spirit connects us to God Like the warmth of the sun, the Spirit cannot be manufactured The Spirit is the answer we're given today We have the first fruit of the Spirit And yet we're groaning in labor pains We have so much to groan about Lost work Racism Exhaustion Injustice Grief Isolation Competition Uncertainty We have so much to groan about And yet we have the first fruits of the Spirit We're holding this warm, fresh, first strawberry on our tongues Waiting to take a bite We have generations and generations of ancestors who have bitten into the strawberry and released the juice of the first fruit. Moses, a man who begged God to send someone else, bit the strawberry when he led the slaves from Egypt Sarah, who laughed at God's promise, bit the strawberry when she gave birth to Issac Jacob, who wrestled with God and limped for the rest of his life, bit the strawberry when he was renamed Israel Mary, young and unwed, bit the strawberry when she said "Here am I, the servant of the LORD" Martin Luther bit the strawberry when he uncovered God's promise of grace throughout scripture and nailed his 95 theses to the door Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a self-proclaimed pacifist, bit the strawberry when he plotted against Hitler Rosa parks bit the strawberry when she refused to give up her seat Faith Lutheran Church bit the strawberry when they expanded their ministry to include essential workers during this pandemic We have the first fruits of the Spirit! We hope for what is not seen We wait We continue to groan meanwhile the Spirit knows us to our core Meanwhile the Spirit calls our unique gifts out into this world Meanwhile the Spirit advocates on our behalf Meanwhile the Spirit gives us courage we didn't realize we had  /          / It's hard to recognize the first fruit of the Spirit The first fruit of the Spirit doesn't mean life will be easy It doesn't mean things will go our way Sometimes the first fruit feels gritty and rough Recognizing the first fruit of the Spirit takes intentionality, and practice Recognizing the first fruit of the Spirit requires us to pause To pause and look into the eyes of the person on the street corner, and see their humanity  before skipping to the filthy clothes, body odor and dirty hands The Spirit is in our humanity To pause and listen intently to a friend who asks for advice, before skipping to your ideas and solutions The Spirit is in our presence with one another To pause and wonder when a family member says something you disagree with, before skipping to prove your position The Spirit is in our curiosity To pause, and breathe when our anger rises up, before skipping to self justification The Spirit is in our breath To pause, and rest in the discomfort of uncertainty, before skipping to controlling and solutions The Spirit is in the unknown The Spirit is within each individual person And the Spirit is collective within communities Both individual and communal Unable to be manufactured Or Contained We have the first fruits of the Spirit We are adopted and redeemed by God We are baptized into the Spirit We are called by God into this world To co-create with God Here, in our time, in our place Bite the strawberry Amen

Sermon - 5-23-21

Most of you know one of our sons, his wife, and our grandson, William, live on Grand Cayman Island.  We have gone there to visit them several times and it is such a wonderful escape each time we go.  On various occasions while there, we have done things like watch the annual Batabano parade as people from the island dress in colorful, outlandish costumes, and dance in procession through the streets for a festive carnival celebrating turtles!   We have been there for Pirate Week as people parade through town dressed like pirates.  We have taken boat rides out to Stingray City which is an area of ocean surrounding a sand bar where we were able to get out of the boat to pet and feed dozens of stingrays circling around us.  We have gone on a submarine excursion to view the gorgeous colors of the coral reef.  And, we have had multiple delicious meals as we enjoyed time with our kids.  These times have provided a memorable respite from normal, ordinary, everyday life.  I so miss being able to see them during this pandemic and I realize how such vacation time provides an often necessary, welcome escape from routine everyday experience.  However, not all forms of escape from the real world are beneficial, helpful, or even healthy. This human desire to seek escape from the real world is as ancient as human history, and this desire is as old as Christian faith.  In fact, religious faith may intensify this desire.  For people of faith, once we experience and begin to understand what is holy, set apart and good about life together within the context of Christian community, we tend to want to avoid the clamor and conflict of the greater world.  We tend to want to escape and often cocoon ourselves within the safe confines of Christian community while staying away from the major issues that face so many around the globe.  For centuries, monasteries, convents, and different types of communal living all testify to this desire to live unencumbered by the world while simply focusing on a faithful, set apart life. This was the kind of desire John’s community was facing as the gospel writer penned the words of the Bible passage we read today.  Written at the end of the first century, John’s community was facing increasing persecution and conflict with authorities who opposed the gospel message. Many thought that if they could simply stay together and remain in supportive fellowship with each other they would not have to defend their beliefs.  Many felt that by living together in such a community where they would remember Jesus’ stories and sense his presence in fellowship, in the communal meals they called the agape feast, and in bread and wine, they would experience a safer way of life as they faced a growing, hostile world.  In today’s gospel reading, the disciples, John’s faith community, and each one of us get to overhear Jesus’ prayer for all his followers as he is about to face his own death.  On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus speaks words of prayer and promise for all his disciples, including each one of us.  As he faces his own death, as he faces what John calls his “hour of glory” or his whole purpose for being here, we hear Jesus praying for all who follow him.  And what does Jesus pray for?  He prays that his followers may find God’s support, encouragement, strength, and courage to face the challenges that come from living in the world and bearing witness to the gospel of grace and love that comes from him.  And he prays that his followers may be one in fellowship with each other and with God. The world was a hostile place for early Christians and, as we have seen so clearly over the past few years as well as throughout this pandemic, the world can be a very difficult, challenging place for us today.  The words we hear from Jesus on this day do not sugarcoat the challenges his followers face.  Jesus speaks words of truth about the world in which we live.  This is a world where war seems to be a constant.  This pandemic has taken so many lives.  Climate change is looming large on the horizon and is already bringing enormous change to our world.  Conspiracy theories abound and far too many people want to believe falsehoods, not acknowledge known truths, and trust their own uninformed opinions instead of trusting in science and proven scientific fact. Terrorism is an increasing threat right here in our own country.  Poverty is very real and present in our own community, throughout this country, and around the globe.  Thirteen million children are food insecure right here in America, one of the richest countries in the world.  Hunger is a monumental challenge around the world.  We have seen through our pantry projects how hunger is a challenge right here in our own Okemos community.  Over the past few years, our culture has become increasingly dysfunctional as we have experienced extreme polarization in thinking and beliefs.  Racism is present in almost every system and structure.  The rage and anger people feel is palpable.  Yes, the world is a difficult place and Jesus does not deny that.  In today’s reading, we hear him speak words of truth about what the disciples will face.  And, as we move out of this pandemic, begin to again gather, and move into a different kind of normal, we who call ourselves Christian also need to speak words of truth about what we face in 2021. Jesus’ words provide his followers with no escape from life’s difficulties.  His words to the Father are, “I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.”  He asks for God’s protection and support against all the evils of the world for all his followers.  Jesus does not promise us exemption from the struggles of life, but he does promise and assure us that we are not alone in the struggle.  And, instead of retreating from the world, Christ offers us an alternative model that can empower us to live in the world without succumbing to its values and pressures.  We are to live amid all the knotted complexities without getting ourselves entangled.  Friends, we are enabled to live this way as we immerse ourselves in God’s word, in God’s action through the living Word, and as we are fed with the nourishment of Jesus’ very life through weekly Word and Sacrament.  When we do this, we live into the gift of unity that is God-given!  And, as we live this way, God reorients our yearnings for escape from the world as the truth of God’s word is revealed in and through the very real stuff of the world, the needs of the world.  As Jesus’ prayer continues, we then hear a great crescendo as he says, “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”  This is a very powerful phrase because the words “sent into the world” are the exact opposite of escaping from or “getting out” of the world.  This verse in today’s gospel is patterned on Jesus’ own life and calls the church to follow his example by becoming engaged with the world in all its distorted powers and pressures. Yes, we do live in a difficult and often painful world.  And, we can at times become exhausted, even feel despair as we view and experience people’s pain and watch ceaseless violence and corruption both here and around the world.  This feeling can cause us to want to stay cocooned within our own homes and our own safe community, not addressing the needs of the world.  However, Jesus’ words today tell us we have been sent to bear witness to the truth that God loves this whole world, broken as it is.  We have been promised Christ’s presence with us and to us as we vitally and faithfully become fully engaged with the needs and wounds of this world, and as we bear Christ’s creative, redeeming Word and God’s healing love to this world.  As we begin to again gather in person and come together as a community of Faith, we come to be made one, to receive God’s gift of unity, and to be energized and fed by the truth of God’s redeeming Word.  And, we are called not to escape but to do the necessary work so that all people might have a more abundant life, a life that truly matters, right here and right now.

Sermon - 5/16/21

As we move into a time when more people are getting vaccinated and we can again begin to gather in-person, one of the things I am truly looking forward to is baptizing the children who have been born in our midst during this pandemic.  Walter and Brenda Kopf’s grandson, Garrett, will be baptized in two weeks, and Mark and Molly DeHate’s son, Luca, will soon be baptized.  As many of you know, I find baptisms to be one of the most meaningful things I do as I live into this call to ministry because in baptism we are shown how deeply and unconditionally we are loved by God, something that is communicated in all our scripture readings on this day. In today’s reading from Acts, Peter is astonished to discover the Holy Spirit falls even on those who are Gentiles, those considered “other.” He then understands Gentiles cannot be denied the cleansing waters of baptism, new life, and God’s unconditional love.  And, in our second reading, the writer of 1 John tells us the unconditional love that comes from our Creator Parent, expressed through the person of Jesus and through the Spirit, is born in us as we obey God’s commandment to love.  Then, in today’s reading from John’s gospel, we find a continuation of the words we heard Jesus speaking last Sunday, and he again speaks about abiding in the love that is splashed all over us, love that will make our joy complete.  This whole section of John’s gospel is known as Jesus’ Farewell Discourse because he is preparing the disciples for his death.  He knows he is going to die, and he knows he will be leaving them.  In John’s gospel, these words are some of the last words Jesus speaks during his earthly life, and his last words are all about love.  Jesus speaks of his love for the disciples as he calls them friends.  And, by extension, he speaks these words to each one of us saying, “As the Father has loved me, so I love you, and so you should love one another.” In our culture, the word “love” is highly ambiguous.  However, in Greek, there are many different words for different types of love.  The big challenge for us is that these multiple words become translated into English as just one word, simply the word love.  In today’s passage, the word that has been translated as love comes from the Greek word agape.  Agape love describes the excellence of character that is God’s very nature.  It is all about relationship and it is the kind of love we find characterizing the relationship of the three persons of the Trinity.  It is the kind of love in which we participate through sheer grace.  Agape describes the Father’s love for the Son and it describes God’s love for us.  Agape is all gift – a gift from God.  Agape is not a feeling or inclination.  It is the kind of love that responds as obedience to God’s commandment to choose to love others as God has chosen to love us.  Agape love is always primarily interested in the good of the other person, rather than one’s own self.  It is never a love that attempts to possess or dominate others.  The concern is always for others and agape is never domineering, manipulative, possessive, or subordinating.  Agape love always allows authentic, genuine space for others to be and become and grow.  And, it is always offered without reserve.   We live in a culture that is extremely individualistic, self-focused and self-serving, a culture in which love takes on possessive characteristics.  In fact, there is frequently a tendency to view love as a commodity, even something that becomes a scarcity as some people begin to think others are receiving more love than they are.  This is never what love is about. We as a people have become very selfish, and far too often self-interest is placed at the top of any list of priorities.  In fact, we have become a nation that has increasingly exemplified the characteristics of narcissism, as in America first, something that I pray is beginning to turn around. We tend to be people who talk about love as this warm, euphoric feeling inside, a feeling one has when one is with some special person.  We talk about “making love.”  We throw the word love around and use it in cheap ways as we talk about loving objects like our house or our car, or something we want to get or possess.  Quite honestly, what we claim to love is often borne out of a consumer driven culture.  But, when it comes to people and relationships with others, we can be rather stingy and self-serving about our love.  So, today it is fitting that Jesus’ words break into our lives with a message of love, the love God has for this world and for all people. The love God calls us to live into every day is a very different kind of love.  The nature of this love is giving.  In fact, one might even say giving until it hurts.  That is the love Jesus was talking about and that is the love he lived.  Jesus not only gave until it hurt, he gave himself over unto death on a cross, all for the sake of love.  When we live into this kind of love, it is a choice.  We choose to love, and it becomes a way of life through which we become changed.  To love in this manner means obeying Jesus’ command to love.  Agape love is a disciplined habit of care and concern, one that we work on perfecting over a lifetime as the living Word changes us, continually challenges us, takes us to new places, and continually makes us new.  The love God shows toward Jesus is a demanding love, but it is also full of presence, promise and immeasurable joy.  It is a love that prunes, cleanses, challenges, molds, and forms us.  It is that kind of love that carried Jesus throughout his ministry. And, guess what, my friends, it is that kind of love that carries us and holds us, and it is that kind of love we are called to live.   The love of God that we are invited into is a love without limits.  It is a wasteful love.  It is love that is selfless and thus produces and enhances life.  In fact, this love we see in the person of Jesus Christ is a love that invites us into a whole new dimension of what it means to be human, a love through which we become more fully human and whole.  When we live this kind of love, all those boundaries that establish status and power are reversed. When we live this kind of love, the boundaries that have been created to separate us from those considered “others” are obliterated.  This love is a servant love that truly cares for all others.  Friends, God is defined as love.  The love of God, the love we are called to live, is not an entity so much as it is an all-pervading, penetrating experience.  It is experienced when we discover that God’s love embraces us as we are, and God’s love embraces all people as they are.  We discover that we cannot create this kind of love, we can only receive it and then share it. This is the love that binds us to God and one another.  And, this love is the very meaning of Jesus.  There is a story about Karl Barth, one of the great theologians of the twentieth century. Toward the end of his life, Barth made a tour of the United States, where he had the opportunity to speak at several of our nation’s top universities.  During a question/answer time following one of his lectures, a student posed what seemed to be an impossible question to answer.  The student asked, “Dr. Barth, you have written extensively on every aspect of theology and church history.  I’m wondering if you could sum it all up in a short sentence or two.”  The room fell silent.  Dr. Barth just stood there for a moment, carefully considering how to respond.  Some of the professors and students who were there clearly began to feel awkward that such a minor question would be asked of such a brilliant scholar.  Finally, Karl Barth turned toward the student and succinctly replied, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Today, Jesus’ last words to the disciples and each one of us are, “I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me.  Make yourselves at home in my love.  If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love.  That’s what I’ve done – kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.  I’ve told you these things for a purpose:  that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature.  This is my command:  Love one another the way I loved you.  This is the best way to love.  Put your life on the line for your friends.”

Sermon - 5/9/21

Americans are known for having a fierce sense of independence, freedom, and self-identity, and we have taken pride in promoting freedom for people, not only here but also around the world.  However, as we have seen throughout this Covid-19 pandemic, there is in this country a growing interpretation of individual freedom that has morphed into something that is unhealthy, toxic, and malignant as we now see people who feel their individual freedom is more important than their responsibility to and for the care of neighbor. This growing vein of thought has become a cancer in our culture, and it is also something that runs completely contrary to Jesus’ teaching.  If you claim to be a Christian, and if you claim to follow the way of Jesus, such thinking is the antithesis of the way you are called to live.  Today, our scripture readings teach us just how contrary such thinking is to what Jesus actually teaches.     I love what Nadia Bolz-Weber says as she reflects upon people’s sense and perception of individual independence, and the challenge we find in today’s gospel reading.  She writes: I’m nothing if not independent.  Reportedly my first sentence was “Do it self!”  Yes, I will do it myself, thank you.  See I want choices.  And I want independence….What I wish Jesus said is: “I am whatever you want me to be.  And you can be whatever you want to be: vine, pruner, branch, soil….knock yourself out.”  What Jesus actually said is: “I am the vine.  My Father is the vine grower.  You are the branches.”  Dang.  The casting has already been finalized.  Vines, and branches off of vines, are all tangled and messy and it’s just too hard to know what is what…Not only are we dependent on Jesus, but our lives are uncomfortably tangled up together.  The Christian life is a vine-y, branch-y, jumbled mess of us and Jesus and others.  Christianity is a lousy religion for the “do it self!” set.   Yes, Christianity is a lousy religion for the “do it self” set.  And, nowhere does Jesus teach more clearly that we are not independent do-it-yourselfers than here in today’s gospel reading.  You see, nowhere does Jesus demonstrate more clearly that we cannot go it alone, that we cannot pull ourselves up by our bootstraps when life puts us down, and that it is completely unreasonable to expect anyone else to either.  Today’s gospel reading is all about being connected to the vine, remaining connected and staying connected throughout this life journey we all are traveling together.  It is not about individual, personal independence.  It is not about doing it alone, thinking “me do it myself,” or I can do anything I darn well please. As we enter today’s gospel, we find ourselves back on that evening of Maundy Thursday in John’s account of the Jesus story.  Jesus knows he is about to die and leave the disciples behind.  So, he urges them to remain in him, stay connected to him, and remain in fellowship with each other.  Jesus is clearly saying to the disciples and to each one of us, “Stay connected.  Live in relationship to me.  And, stay connected and live in relationship to each other.  Make your home in me just as I do in you.  Continue on in my teaching and example and remain in fellowship with each other.”  And, he gives us this wonderful image of the vine and branches. Now, if we think about wild grapevines, or any vine for that matter, one thing we soon realize is that vines and branches are tangled and messy.  They are invasive, they can take over trees and even pull branches of trees down.  They can become a very tangled, destructive mess when in the wild and untended.  Yet, when we look at a cultivated grapevine, we can see that the vine grower has put an anchor to the main vine.  The branches are sorted out, trained and even disciplined.  There is a wire structure that supports the vine from below and from above.  All the dead branches have been removed.  And, the vines and branches that are cultivated end up producing large quantities of grapes. With this image Jesus shares, he shows us that Christ is the source of all life.  Our very existence is dependent on God, who nurtures and cultivates us.  We are not and cannot be the vine that gives life to all.  Neither are we the vine grower, the one who cultivates, stakes, supports and yes, prunes the branches, though sometimes we try to claim this authority.  We are the branches and, if we are to flourish, we need to stay connected to the vine, abide, and remain dependent on the vine. To abide is all about remaining, staying, taking up residence, and making one’s own self at home.  It is about living in the community of Christ, participating in the life of that community, and staying connected to that community.  When we abide in Christ, God’s love is perfected in our lives.  When we abide in Christ, love grows in us, casting out fear and hatred, and empowering us to act boldly. Abiding in Christ means admitting that we are not independent, do-it-yourselfers who can boast saying, “Me do it myself,” or “I did it my way,” or “Having freedom means I can do whatever I want, regardless of how it affects my neighbor.”  Abiding in Christ means accepting that we are dependent on Christ and on each other.  It means graciously receiving the support Christ offers us, most often through the caring of our brothers and sisters.  It also means consenting to be pruned.  It means letting go of the things that hinder our growth in love, things like fear, hatred, greed, jealousy, grudges, resentment, shame, guilt, and all the other invasive, vine-like, tangled things that mess us all up.  And, abiding in Christ is always about belonging, belonging to the One who gives us life, life that truly matters.  You see, this abiding in Christ is all about relationship. The relational connectedness Jesus is speaking of is a connectedness that is only found through experiencing life together within the context of a faith community.  And, yes, living in this kind of relationship, abiding in Christ, and staying connected to Christ the true vine, means it is not always going to be comfortable or easy.  It can be difficult.  Living in relationship with others requires give and take.  Such living requires us to be vulnerable.  Living in relationship with others means there will be ups and downs as we travel this journey together.  You see, living life together in community means we have to put up with real people, some who are nice and some who are not, some who want things their way and others who don’t want to challenge the status quo.  Quite frankly, life together means having to put up with people who are sometimes jerks.  And, we must be very honest about something – it also means recognizing and having to admit that sometimes we are the ones who are being the jerks.  The truth is, real, authentic community is something we often would rather shy away from because it can be uncomfortable, and it goes against our malignant perception of independence and individual freedom.  And, because we do not like to be uncomfortable, we are sometimes like a little child who says, “Me do it myself, I don’t need anyone else.”  However, today Jesus invites us to be real, to be deeply connected, to be planted in the very life of God and live in intimate relationship with him and with each other.  Jesus invites us to be honest about who we are and what we are.  Jesus invites us to come together and confess our hopes and fears, to share our dreams and disappointments, to be honest about our accomplishments and our failures, to be open about our blessings and our sin, and to be dependent on Him.  In Jesus, we are invited into deep, authentic relationship with one another so that we can discover we are accepted, loved, and forgiven by God who loves this whole world enough to send God’s own Son.  It is by being connected, being planted in God, and participating in Christian community, that we learn what real love is all about.  When we stay connected to the vine and live together in authentic Christian community, the love that happens and is born enables us to then love all others – not just some, and to love our neighbor as we ourselves have been loved.  It is that kind of love that brings others in and grafts them to the vine.  And, it is that kind of love that sends us out to make a difference in people’s lives both here and around the world as love and life that truly matters become the fruit of living in relationship to God and all others.

Sermon - May 2, 2021

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.

Your Faith Journey - Finding God Through Words, Song and Pra...