Your Faith Journey

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

Special Music - Blessed Be Your Name 08/10/2026

When God’s Love Won’t Let Go 08/10/2026

When God’s Love Won’t Let Go Year A – Pentecost 11; Lectionary 19 – August 9, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Romans 10:5-15 Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, from the Holy Spirit, our Sustainer, and from Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen. *** There is something in this passage from Romans that has always troubled me. You may have heard these words used as a kind of spiritual ultimatum: “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom 10:9) I’ve heard those words used to frighten people: Have you said the right words? Do you really believe? What if your faith isn't strong enough? What if you haven't confessed properly? But that way of hearing this passage makes salvation sound like something we accomplish. Something we have to get right. And I do not believe that is the gospel. We do not have agency over our own salvation. We don't save ourselves by believing hard enough… And we don't save ourselves by saying the right words. Salvation is God's work… as are grace and mercy… And thanks be to God for that! …because that means our salvation does not depend upon our ability to get God to love us, for God has already acted. In Jesus Christ, God has already come among us... Christ has already died and risen… and God's grace is already being poured out. And that is where Paul takes us in this passage: “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart.” Not far away or hidden behind some spiritual achievement… or locked behind a gate that we have to figure out how to open. The Word is near us… Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is near us… because Christ is near us. Always. And I think the great spiritual challenge of our lives is not figuring out how to make God come closer… but rather… learning to recognize that God is already here. God’s closeness comforts me, but it has been especially comforting over this past week of turmoil. Many of us are carrying sadness and anger because Meschac, a young man this congregation helped after he came to our country… was taken into custody by ICE last Sunday morning. He is kind and generous, and exactly the sort of person we want beside us in our neighborhoods and communities. And yet… he has been caught up in a system that treats human beings as problems to be removed… rather than neighbors to be loved. It is hard, in moments like this, to see the kingdom of God, and to believe that Christ is near when humanity’s cruelty is so very present. But… this is why Paul's words matter. The Word is near… Christ is near. And Christ is especially near to our friend and neighbor whose dignity is being denied. Our calling is not to manufacture the kingdom of heaven. It is to wake up to it. Jesus spent his ministry opening people's eyes. He showed them that the kingdom of God was not merely some distant destination after death. God's reign was breaking into the world already—in healing, forgiveness, mercy, radical welcome and reconciliation, and of course… through love for our neighbor. And when Jesus says, “Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself,” he is showing us what it looks like to live with our eyes open. This is where our confession of faith comes into play… Yes, we want to confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord, and yes, we want to believe it in our hearts. But not because those words are a password that gets us into heaven. We confess Christ because saying it opens our hearts to the reality that is already here. We confess Christ because faith gives us eyes to recognize what God is already doing. We confess Christ because when Christ becomes close to our hearts, our lives begin to change. Our obedience to God’s will does not purchase God's grace… it is how we respond to God's grace. Lois Neeves recently gave me a book called Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus, and the authors put this beautifully: “Disobedience [to the way of Christ] is a problem, but it can also be an opportunity. If half-heartedness has been stunting your growth, you can reverse its downward pull by repenting and asking God to help you respond to him with renewed trust and obedience. As you do, you may find yourself enjoying unprecedented spiritual growth as God opens up new channels for grace to flow into your life. The way we understand Jesus' words about the kingdom is critical to the kind of life we will live. If we think that the ‘kingdom of heaven’ is simply about Christ's second coming or about going to heaven when we die, we'll be tempted to become passive and complacent. But if Jesus' kingdom is a living, dynamic reality—a reality that is right now steadily advancing against the kingdom of darkness—that's a different story. As followers of Christ, our obedience is vital because it is a catalyst for the Spirit's work, making us more like Jesus so that his reign can spread across the whole earth.” Let me summarize that: our obedience does not make God's kingdom come. God is already at work in our lives. But our obedience to God’s will and God’s ways can help us see it… and our lives can become a way through which God's love can reach someone else. When we refuse to look away from our neighbor's suffering, when we welcome the stranger and the immigrant, when we stand with someone who is afraid, when we speak up against cruelty, when we forgive, when we feed, when we shelter, when we love—we are not earning our place in God's kingdom. We are living as people who have discovered that the kingdom is already here. This is the freedom of the gospel. We don't have to control God. We can’t, actually. Nor do we have to secure our salvation. We can’t do that either. And we don't have to be afraid that we haven't done enough… because God has already done what we could never do. And because we are freed from having to save ourselves… we are free to love... Free to serve… Free to stand beside our neighbor who is being harmed and offer protection. We are free to let God's Word become as close to us as our own hearts and as natural to us as the words we speak. So… the question for us this morning is not, “Have I done enough to get into heaven?” But rather, “Where is Christ already here, and am I awake enough to see him?” Because, my friends, Christ is here. Christ is near to you, always. And the kingdom of heaven is not merely something waiting for us at the end of our lives. It is God's living presence among us now. And every time we love God by loving our neighbor… every time mercy becomes visible through our lives… every time we choose compassion over cruelty… we discover that God's love is not only around us, but moving through us. God is already here… already loving us… and already redeeming all of creation. And our calling is simply—and profoundly—to wake up, to recognize that holy grace, and to let it flow through our lives and out into the world. It will be challenging at times… but we don’t have to do this alone… because… p God is with us. Amen. /episode/index/show/faithlutheran/id/42373050

Special Music - Come to the Water 08/02/2026

Sermon - 8-2-26 08/02/2026

Sermon - 8-2-26 Year A – Pentecost 10; Lectionary 18 – August 2, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Romans 9:1-5 Grace and peace to you from God, who is faithful and trustworthy, from the Holy Spirit, who is with us always, and from Jesus Christ, the source of our salvation. Amen. *** In that passage from Romans that Tabitha just read… could you hear the heartbreak in Paul's words? Could you hear his anguish over his Jewish siblings who had not come to follow Christ? He muses on the possibility of giving up his own place with Jesus… if only it meant they would not be forgotten. Just as Moses tried to offer himself up as a sacrifice for his people after the regrettable golden calf incident… Paul offers himself. Except… God's gifts are not ours to trade, and his sacrifice is not needed, for our God is full of compassion, and God's promises are grounded in mercy. This brief passage from Romans marks the beginning of Paul's lengthy theological wrestling with how God's covenant with Israel remains trustworthy even as he has been called to proclaim the risen Christ to the Gentiles. It comes immediately after one of the most beloved passages in all of Scripture—that triumphant declaration that nothing in all of creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. And then… almost without warning, Paul is overcome with sorrow. He doesn't launch the next theological point with an argument… He begins with tears. This past Thursday evening, the book study group spent some time talking about Abraham Lincoln, which got me thinking. History reminds us that Lincoln's views on slavery developed over time. Early in the Civil War, he often spoke of preserving the Union as his highest constitutional duty. Yet after years of unimaginable suffering, after hundreds of thousands of lives had been lost, he stood before the nation at his Second Inaugural Address and called the country not to vengeance, but to healing: "With malice toward none; with charity for all." Winning the war was one thing, but… healing the nation was another. There is an enormous difference between winning an argument and loving people. Paul could have begun Romans 9 by praising himself for being on the right team… but instead, he says, "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart." That is what the love of Christ looks like. …Paul's anguish is not rooted in judgment. It is rooted in love. He is a Jewish man whose heart is breaking because the people he loves most have not come to know Christ as he has… He has not stopped loving them. He has not written them off… He has not declared them beyond God's reach. His heart aches because they are still his family… and isn't that a feeling we know? Perhaps your heart aches for a child who no longer comes to church. A spouse who once believed but no longer does. …A sibling who walked away after being hurt. A dear friend whose faith quietly faded. Maybe you have sat in worship and instinctively looked toward the place where someone used to sit. There is grief in those empty places. Sometimes people leave because life pulls them in different directions. Sometimes they leave because they no longer recognize Christ in the church. And sometimes… and we must confess this honestly… sometimes they leave because the church has pushed them away. Our LGBTQIA+ siblings. People living with disabilities whose gifts were overlooked. People who asked hard questions. …People who never quite fit the mold. We print "All Are Welcome" on our signs... We proclaim it from our pulpits. But sometimes… unintentionally… our actions tell another story. However a person leaves… it hurts. …Paul understands that pain. But beneath Paul's grief is an even deeper question. Can God be trusted? If God's chosen people have not all embraced Christ, have God's promises somehow failed? That is the question Paul spends the next three chapters wrestling with. Truthfully, it is our question too. Can I trust God? …Can I trust grace? Can I trust forgiveness? …Can I trust that God's promises really are for me… or do I still have to prove myself? We live in a world that teaches us every blessing must be earned. Work harder. …Do better. …Be more successful. Even in the church, we quietly slip back into believing that if we pray enough, serve enough, forgive enough, then maybe God will be pleased with us. We do this… even as we know better. We preach grace… and yet we keep trying to earn what has always been God's gift. This is what drove Martin Luther nearly mad until he followed Paul’s writing through the theological working out that finally led him… to grace. (…and a complete, unintended reformation of the Catholic church) Paul wrote, "I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people." It is a breathtaking statement… but Paul cannot save them any more than we save the people we love. Because Christ already has. Paul says, "I wish I could offer myself." …and Jesus says, "I already have." That is the Gospel… right there in a nutshell. Christ has already carried the burden we cannot carry. Christ has already accomplished the salvation we could never accomplish. Which means the fate of those we love does not rest on our shoulders. It rests in the hands of the God whose mercy is deeper than our understanding and whose faithfulness is greater than our fears. As theologian Mary Beth Anton reminds us, Paul ultimately must place his beloved people into God's hands… and so must we. Perhaps that is why I love what happens every time we share the meal of holy communion. The bread is broken, the wine is poured… Christ gathers us together. And yet… I suspect… every one of us can think of someone we wish were here with us. Someone whose voice used to join ours in singing. …Someone who drifted away. Maybe someone who was wounded by the church… or someone who is angry with God. Every Communion table has empty places we wish were filled. …Paul knows exactly what that feels like. But this table also reminds us of something else. This table does not belong to us. It belongs to Christ, and it is Christ who invites us… who welcomes us… and it is Christ who feeds us. Jesus Christ… who gives himself for the life of the world. The promises made here do not depend upon our worthiness. …They depend upon God's faithfulness. That is why Paul continues his wrestling all the way through Romans 11 before arriving at one of the most beautiful conclusions: "The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." (Rom 11:29) Not temporary or conditional. They are irrevocable. And then he goes even further: "For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that God may be merciful to all." (Rom 11:32) Paul does not say God is merciful only to those who have earned it… He says God's mercy is for all… because every one of us stands in need of it. Our Jewish ancestors were the first recipients of God's covenants, God's promises, God's steadfast love. Through Christ, we have been graciously grafted into that same family tree. We have not replaced them; we have been welcomed alongside them into God's unfolding story of salvation. And the God who was faithful to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah is the same faithful God who remains true to every promise made in Christ. That is why theology should never become detached from compassion. If our understanding of God does not make us love more deeply, then we have misunderstood God. (x2) Every page of Scripture tells the story of our God whose mercy continually reaches farther than we imagined. It tells of our God in Christ who feeds the hungry because he has compassion for them… stories of our God who refuses to abandon God's people. Story after story of our God whose love is stronger than our failures… whose promises are trustworthy even when we cannot yet see how they will be fulfilled. So today, we come to this table with gratitude, carrying the names of people we love. We bring our grief and our questions… and even our doubts. We come wondering how God is still at work in lives we cannot control. And Christ places bread into our hands and says, "This is my body, given for you." Not because we earned it, or because we understood everything. …But because mercy is who God is. And when we leave this place, we’ll go… trusting what Paul finally came to trust: that the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable… and that nothing will ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. And because that promise is true, we can live with hope instead of despair, and with hearts that are continually shaped by the mercy we ourselves have received. Amen. /episode/index/show/faithlutheran/id/42289800

Special Music - Michi 07/26/2026

Sermon - 7/26/26 07/26/2026

Sermon - 7/26/26 Year A – Pentecost 9; Lectionary 17 – July 26, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Romans 8:26-39 Matthew 13:31-33,44-52 Grace and peace to you from God, who calls us beloved, from the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us, and from Jesus Christ, who guides us ever closer to the kingdom of heaven. Amen. *** The kingdom of heaven is like a Little Free Library. It sits quietly on an ordinary neighborhood street, right in front of Kathy and Carl Richardson’s house… right across the street from mine. It isn't grand or flashy... it’s not the sort of thing that attracts headlines. And yet, almost every day, I see people stop. Some open the little door just to see what is there. Some leave with a novel tucked under their arm. Others arrive carrying books they have already loved, hoping someone else will discover them. I overheard one of my neighbors say the other day, "I love stopping here," …They didn’t know I could hear them. They simply delight in this small gift that is quietly part of the life of our neighborhood. Kathy and Carl didn't build a whole library system. They built a little box. And somehow, that little box has become a place of generosity, curiosity, connection, and delight. The kingdom of heaven is like that… a Little Free Library. Jesus says, "The kingdom of heaven is like..." and then he tells stories that must have disappointed almost everyone listening. No kings… No armies… No great battles between good and evil, or glorious temples. Instead... He tells of… a mustard seed… a woman baking bread… a farmer in a field… a merchant searching for a pearl… and fishermen sorting through their catch. It is almost as if Jesus is saying, "If you're looking for God's kingdom in the places where the world expects to find power, you're looking in the wrong direction." Because that was certainly true in his own day. The Roman Empire wanted everyone to believe that power lived in marble palaces, military parades, and the emperor's throne. Rome announced its greatness from monuments that reached toward the sky. And yet… Jesus pointed toward weeds. Rome celebrated conquest… while Jesus talked about yeast. Rome believed greatness was measured by how many people you ruled. And Jesus said… the kingdom comes quietly, patiently, almost unnoticed, until one day you realize everything has changed. The kingdom of heaven is not what we expect… but perhaps that is because God is not where we expect. As one commentator beautifully observes, Jesus transforms human life not by helping us escape this world, but by helping us see heaven close at hand. That has always been difficult for us to believe. It was difficult then… and it is still difficult now... because we have been shaped by kingdoms that tell us a different story. Our world tells us that what matters is what is impressive, and successful… what is profitable… what can be measured… and what can be earned. And if we're honest, we often begin to believe that God must work the same way. Surely God's grace belongs to those who have somehow earned it. But Paul writes to the Romans as though he knows every one of those fears before we can even speak them aloud. "What will separate us from the love of Christ?" Will it be hardship… or distress? …Persecution or famine? …Danger or death? Paul’s answer is breathtakingly simple. Nothing. Nothing in your past or in your present… Nothing waiting for you tomorrow. Nothing in all of creation. …Nothing. …Not because life is easy… Paul knows life isn't easy. …He names suffering honestly. But suffering is never stronger than God's love. The kingdom has come near because God has come near… and God remains near. …Always. That is harder to receive than we often admit. Many of us have spent our lives believing that love must be earned… That acceptance has conditions… That belonging has requirements. Our culture teaches us this every day. It says… Produce more… Achieve more… Be more… Prove yourself… Only then perhaps you will be enough. And when we have lived inside that story long enough, we begin telling it to ourselves. We even imagine that… God must be telling the same story. But Jesus… tells another story. The kingdom of heaven is like a micro food pantry standing quietly beside our church… and at the public library. There are no office hours… no applications… no identification cards… no interview. No one stands at the door asking whether you've earned the right to have food. No one asks whether your need is great enough… no one asks whether your generosity is large enough. If you need something, you take it… If you have something to share, you leave it. Sometimes the shelves are filled by someone whose name no one knows. Sometimes they are emptied by someone carrying burdens no one else can see. And then, quietly… without fanfare… they are filled again. Every single day. Yeah. The kingdom of heaven is like that. Grace flows in… and grace flows out. No one owns it… Everyone receives it… Everyone is invited to participate. That, I think, is what Jesus wants us to see. God's grace is not found by escaping the ordinary but by discovering that the ordinary has become the dwelling place of the extraordinary. Not somewhere else… but here. Not someday… but today. Not after we've finally become the people we think God wants us to be… but now. Because the kingdom of heaven has already come near, and that is good news not only for us as individuals, but for the whole Church. The Church is not called to manufacture God's kingdom. We are called to notice it. …To join it! …and to participate in what God is already doing! Every can of tuna shared… and every hungry neighbor fed… every book that finds its way into the Little Free Library… and every conversation shared across it… these are the little things that build the connection between our neighbors. Every prayer whispered beside a hospital bed… every act of forgiveness. Every quiet act of kindness that no one else notices… these are the signs that the kingdom of heaven has come near. Sometimes we imagine that changing the world requires extraordinary people doing extraordinary things. Jesus seems to think otherwise. …He speaks of tiny seeds… a handful of yeast… a hidden treasure… a simple fishing net. Little things… ordinary things. Things that hardly seem important until, somehow, they become places where God's abundance begins overflowing into the lives of others. Perhaps that is why Paul can say with such confidence that nothing can separate us from God's love. Because God's love is already closer than we imagined… Closer than our successes and our failures. Closer than our doubts… and our fears. …Closer than our next breath. The kingdom is not waiting somewhere beyond the horizon. It is already breaking into the ordinary places of our lives. Into neighborhood sidewalks… Into little wooden libraries. …Into food pantries… and kitchen tables… Into conversations. The kingdom of heaven is breaking into this table, where ordinary bread and ordinary wine become for us the extraordinary gift of Christ's presence. I believe that has been God's way all along. …Choosing what the world overlooks… offering blessing to what the world dismisses. Drawing near where no one expects heaven to appear. And so, this week, I wonder what parables Jesus might tell if he were walking through our neighborhoods. I think he would point to Kathy and Carl’s house and say, "The kingdom of heaven is like a Little Free Library." And I think perhaps he would point toward our food pantries and say, "The kingdom of heaven is like this." And then perhaps he would look at us—not because we are impressive, or because we have earned anything special, but simply because we are beloved—and he would remind us that the kingdom of heaven has already come near. Near enough to feed us… near enough to forgive us… near enough to transform us. Near enough that nothing—not hardship or grief, not failure or fear, not life or death, nor anything else in all creation—will ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Thanks be to God. Amen. /episode/index/show/faithlutheran/id/42217540

Special Music - PSALM 139 07/19/2026

Sermon - 7-19-26 07/19/2026

Sermon - 7-19-26 Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Faith Lutheran, Okemos July 19, 2026 Isaiah 44:6-8, Psalm 86:11-17, Romans 8:12-25, Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 [Hear Matthew 13:24-30: the parable of the darnel and vss. 36-43: the parable explained… from The Jerusalem Bible ] Grace to you and peace… Last Sunday afternoon I walked the sidewalks on Artisan St. and Provincial House Drive in south Lansing, urging folks to vote for one of the congressional candidates, a friend and longtime ardent advocate addressing the growing climate crisis. My first visit was with a devout Christian who wasn’t sure she’d vote at all. She was done with so much corruption and broken promises she experienced in politicians of all stripes. She believed we are in the “end times,” and longed for the soon return of her Lord, her only hope. Though not her words, I’m sure she could relate to words of this parable of Jesus, the wheat and the weeds. In some translations these weeds are called “tares” or “darnel”, poisonous plants that until fully matured look very much like wheat. If inadvertently mixed in with wheat flour to make bread, these seeds can cause dizziness, trembling, and vomiting and in extreme cases unconsciousness or death… At another home on my walk that afternoon, I met a young couple. One told me he had chosen to remain neutral, chosen not to get involved in politics. But his partner said she’d already voted and was passionately involved in trying to make things better, more just, more caring, more honest: “I want to do everything I can to help.” Both visits were very moving for me, a microcosm of the landscape where many of us may find ourselves, especially as the primaries and mid-terms draw near, and especially as the climate crisis deepens, most notably for us on Thursday and Friday with the pervasive and hazardous smoke caused by increasingly frequent and rampant wildfires, this time more than 800 in Canada and Minnesota. These visits last Sunday spoke to me of resignation, withdrawal, maybe indifference, and yes, hope; hope, for the person in my first visit, that will only be realized when Jesus (in our text, the Son of Man) returns, she fervently hopes soon in both judgment and glory. And in another “I want to do everything I can” person an implicit hope that Jesus is already here, inviting us, through and with the Holy Spirit, to commit our lives to work and struggle and suffer with others to make things better for the most fragile and vulnerable of all our kin, people, animals, and, yes, plants. The wheat and the weeds. In our Bible Study on Tuesday, we talked about the reality of the “wheat and weeds.” Both are in every community, perhaps in every congregation, and more broadly these days in every political party. Weeds are people we don’t trust, people who “bother” us, people we find very hard to love. We may wish we could “uproot” them, and in our darkest moments, just dispose of them. And yes, perhaps at times they are the noxious weeds in our own souls. But alas, Jesus says “no.” God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, revealed in all of our texts today, the God of mercy and steadfast love, including for sure the God Incarnate, our Lord and Savior, Jesus, says “no!” No, because until we die, the Holy Spirit continues to work in ways only she can do in all people “good” and “bad”, both life-giving and loving folks and death-dealing, oppressive, and hateful souls. Do not move with haste, says Jesus, to uproot and cast away anyone, both the “righteous” and the “unrighteous,” all for whom Jesus died and rose again. As we confess in the Apostles’ Creed, Jesus will come to judge the living and the dead. In the bolder and more severe words of our text today, Jesus, the Son of Man, will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom, all causes of sin and all evil doers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire… Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. It is so important to remember, to take seriously this parable and its meaning, as disturbing and as reassuring as it can be. But we also need to remember it in context, what can we do while we wait for Jesus to come in glory. In Matthew 18:15-18 Jesus gives us a step-by-step process whereby chronically unrepentant, very needy, self-centered trouble-makers can be excluded from the fellowship of the church. But nowhere are we to condemn these controlling, hate-filled trouble-makers to hell. Our Lord alone is their judge. It may be that given the very essence of God, the mercy and love of Christ Jesus, of the Holy Trinity, we may well imagine that after a time in the furnace of fire, all the dross, all the unrepented, arrogant, narcissistic sin will be burned away and the newly cleansed persons will be welcomed into the gracious embrace of God, seated with all the saints at God’s table of love. And, while this a bit of a leap, in our life as citizens of our 250-year-old country, in our government, both state and federal, with due process, we too have the right to exclude from leadership those whose behaviors are abhorrent, hateful, and unjust. That is why it is so important that we, whether young adult and old, take seriously our responsibility to vote. Still, even if in rare situations like for my new friend on Artisan St., our faith in people is so deeply shattered, leading some like her to not vote at all, we all must pray for our leaders, knowing that God steadfastly loves even the worst and most toxic of our sisters and brothers. Please listen now to these words from The Message, a contemporary rendering of a portion of Romans 8: But if God has taken residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. (Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells – even though you still experience all the limitations of sin – you yourself experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself?) When God lives and breaths in you, you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s! So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. The best thing to do is to give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And, we know we are going to get what’s coming to us – an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him! That’s why I [Paul] don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead… All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re feeling the birth pangs… That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy. Let us pray. Lord Jesus, dwelling in our hearts and minds and hands and feet, help us to wait. Help us to wait patiently even as we ourselves, with you and with all of creation, groan and suffer so deeply. Help us to wait expectantly for that glorious day when all will be made new, when peace and honesty and compassion will reign. God, our Papa, dwelling in our pregnant souls, lift us up when we are down, when so much is getting too hard to bear. Indwelling Holy Spirit, empower us to overflow with love for each other, and perhaps especially, dear Lord, for those so hard to love, those “weeds” whom we perceive so wrong-headed, some so full of evil. Holy Trinity, we praise you, we bless you, we thank you for your abiding and steadfast love. Amen. JDS /episode/index/show/faithlutheran/id/42144635

Special Music - He's Always Been Faithful 07/12/2026

Sermon - 7/12/26 07/12/2026

Sermon - 7/12/26 GOSPEL: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 In Matthew’s gospel, both Jesus and his disciples “sow the seed” of God’s word by proclaiming the good news that “the kingdom of heaven is near.” Now, in a memorable parable, Jesus explains why this good news produces different results in those who hear. Pastor: The holy gospel according to Matthew. All: Glory to you, O Lord. 1.That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. 7. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9. If you have ears, hear!” 18. “Hear, then, the parable of the sower. 19. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21. yet such a person has no root but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. 22. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” Pastor: The gospel of the Lord. All: Praise to you, O Christ. The assembly may be seated. Scenes from the Parable of the Sower by Peter Vasilenko Edited by Pastor Megan Floyd Jesus: Owen Thompson First Seed: Louisa Fawcett Second Seed: Oliver Thompson Third Seed: Louisa Fawcett Fourth Seeds: Edison Robinson, Andrew Herek & Tabitha Richardson Additional Fourth Seeds: Rosie Brown, Penny Fawcett & Charlie Herek Audience: Megan Floyd /episode/index/show/faithlutheran/id/42047665

Special Music - Holy God, We Praise Your Name 07/05/2026

Sermon - 7/5/26 07/05/2026

Sermon - 7/5/26 Year A – Pentecost 6; Lectionary 14 – July 5, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, from the Holy Spirit, our Sustainer, and from Jesus Christ, who invites all who are weary to come to him, and he will give you rest. *** “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” That is the question hanging over our Gospel today. John the Baptist sends his disciples to Jesus with that question because uncertainty has crept in. John had announced a Messiah who would bring justice with fire and power. He had imagined the great turning point of history arriving with unmistakable force. And now John sits in prison while Jesus spends his days eating with, connecting with, and healing the kind of people everyone else avoids… and offering mercy in ordinary places. Are you really the one? I think John and others expected something bigger… and perhaps… sometimes… we do, as well. We live in a world obsessed with the big and the dramatic. We look for the movement that changes everything overnight. We want the speech that fixes society or the election that solves all our problems. Even around this holiday weekend, with freedom in the air and national stories all around us, we are reminded how much we love grand narratives. We love decisive moments. We love fireworks. And yet Jesus answers John’s question in a very different way. Theologian and Luther Seminary professor, Dr. Matt Skinner, writes that Jesus answers by showing how he is changing the world… “not in an immediate broadscale manner, but through one act of mercy at a time.” One act of mercy at a time. The blind see. The lame walk… The sick are healed… The poor receive good news… Not one giant spectacle, or one dramatic takeover. Just… mercy. Mercy upon mercy upon mercy. And that seems almost too small, doesn’t it? Jesus himself sounds frustrated in today’s text because people keep missing what God is doing. John comes fasting and preaching judgment, and people reject him. …Jesus comes eating and celebrating and extending welcome, and people reject him too. Nothing satisfies them… Because they are looking for the wrong things. They are waiting for a Messiah who conquers through power and force… while God is sending liberation through compassion… and relationship. They are looking for grandness… while God keeps showing up in small acts of mercy. And perhaps that is still our temptation. We tend to believe that justice comes only through massive effort and enormous change… We can think that if we are not changing everything, then we are changing nothing. Except… God’s work has always begun among those the world overlooks. God acts among the poor, the excluded, the burdened, the people whose lives society tries to render invisible. And God often shows up exactly where dominant voices would have us believe that nothing important is happening there… God shows up in bodies and in stories and in communities that others dismiss. God keeps revealing holy truth from the margins. Because God has this habit of beginning with what appears small. A manger… A handful of disciples… Bread and wine… Water poured over a child's head… A cross that looked like defeat. Small things that become life for the world. I was reminded of this a few days ago while talking with Rich. He shared a story from when he was in high school. One of his classmates became pregnant. And as you might imagine, people talked. There was gossip and judgment, and unfair assumptions. But Rich looked at the situation differently. He thought, regardless of everything else, a baby is coming, and a baby deserves a gift. So… he crocheted her a pair of baby booties. That was it… No grand speech… No dramatic intervention. Just a pair of baby booties. He said that, decades later… she told him that she had never forgotten that small act of kindness… Never forgotten it. And… I have been thinking about that story all week. Because that is exactly how Jesus seems to work. One small act of mercy… One person seeing another person's humanity. One interruption in the cycle of shame… One reminder that love still exists, and that a person is still deserving of dignity, even when everyone else says they do not. One pair of baby booties. We often underestimate what mercy does. Mercy changes the person receiving it, yes… but… mercy also changes the person giving it because mercy begins reshaping our hearts. Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.” Now, a yoke is not exactly an inspiring image. It sounds heavy and restrictive. And it is true… that the way of Christ is not always easy because carrying this yoke guides us to keep choosing mercy in a world that often rewards cruelty. Carrying the yoke of Christ guides us to stand beside burdened people and help them bear the weight. Carrying the yoke of Christ guides us to love people others have decided are unlovable… and… to keep showing up for our neighbors, especially those who have been excluded. That can be hard… Sometimes it is easier to stay distant… and keep our heads down. Sometimes it is easier to let systems keep grinding people down because confronting those systems will cost us something. The yoke of Christ is not freedom from responsibility. But strangely, Jesus says that this yoke is easy and this burden is light. And you may wonder, how can that be? …it is because the yoke of Christ is carried together. You see, a yoke is designed for two… Jesus is not handing us a burden and sending us off alone… Jesus is carrying it with us. He says, “Learn from me” …walk beside me… stay near me… watch where I go. And where does Jesus go? …He goes toward burdened people… toward weary people… hurting people… toward those who have been pushed aside. And this is where freedom becomes important… not the freedom that we celebrated as a country this weekend, but our freedom in Christ… because our freedom in Christ is not the freedom to separate ourselves from one another. Christian freedom has never meant, “I can do whatever I want.” Christian freedom means being set free for love… set free for relationship… set free for one another. Liberation through Christ… is always communal. Because if my neighbor is still carrying crushing burdens, if they remain chained by poverty or prejudice or fear or loneliness, then Christ will keep calling me toward them. Our freedom in Christ frees us to help the one still in chains. And that is where the joy is… not in standing apart, but in joining Christ where Christ already is. Because Jesus says: Come to me… Come to me weary… come to me burdened… come to me while you are still uncertain and carrying... everything. And Christ will receive you with mercy, and give you rest. Jesus says, “Come to me,” and he places his yoke upon us—not the crushing yoke of shame or fear or impossible expectations—but the yoke of shared love. And then Christ teaches us to walk. One small act of mercy at a time. One kind word… One meal shared… One hand extended… One pair of baby booties. And slowly, mysteriously, the kingdom of God keeps breaking in. Not with fireworks… but with love. Not with domination… but with mercy. Not through power over people… but through liberation with people. And one day we look back and realize that Christ was the one who was foretold all along… the one who was to come. Because wherever burdens are lifted, wherever dignity is restored, wherever mercy reaches someone who thought they had been forgotten, Christ is there. Still changing the world… one small act of mercy at a time. Amen. /episode/index/show/faithlutheran/id/41968615

Special Music - This Is My Father's World 06/21/2026

Sermon - 6/21/26 06/21/2026

Sermon - 6/21/26 Year A – Pentecost 4; Lectionary 12 – June 21, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Matthew 10:24-39 Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, from the Holy Spirit, our Sustainer, and from Jesus Christ, to whom we belong. Amen. Year A – Pentecost 4; Lectionary 12 – June 21, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Matthew 10:24-39 Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, from the Holy Spirit, our Sustainer, and from Jesus Christ, to whom we belong. Amen. *** Happy Father’s Day! …this is not the text I would have chosen for this day, but that is the beauty and challenge of following the lectionary. …we don’t get to shy away from the hard texts. …and we trust that even the hard truths carry good news. So here we are… following Jesus will cause division, even among families. It is uncomfortable… but I think we all know that it is true… and perhaps, I am sure… some of us have experienced this in our own lives. Discipleship will cost us all something, but it never costs us God’s love. That is also true. Our text today is the very next lines from the same missionary discourse we began reading last week. Jesus is sending his disciples out to share the good news that the kingdom of heaven has come near… sending them out with compassion to bring peace and healing. And yet, Jesus is honest… he is sending them out like sheep among wolves. Not all will accept this invitation of love and light. This mission is not without tension. It wasn’t then… and it isn’t now. Jesus states it plainly… following him will create conflict in our lives. Even if you are blessed with a family that all follows the way of Christ together, you are still at odds with much of our culture today. Following the way of Christ means to honor and cherish the inherent value and worth of every living thing… while our culture teaches that greed and personal wants and needs supersede the needs of others, and that some people are disposable… unwanted… and unwelcome. Following the way of Christ and bringing close the kingdom of heaven means we are to be especially compassionate for those who are pushed down and exploited by our systems, while also working to break those systems… and yet… our culture celebrates systems of exploitation where one person can become a trillionaire while millions are starving. Remember what God said in Isaiah 58:6-7… “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them and not to hide yourself from your own kin?” …your own kin. This is the way of Christ… to recognize that the other person, no matter how different… is your own kin. This is the way that puts us at odds with our culture because it disrupts systems of power… …it can put us at odds with our families because it places God and love for others as our priority… Jesus isn’t glorifying division or the power of the sword… he is saying that sometimes faithfulness has consequences. This is the way of Christ… it is contrary to the powers of empire… contrary to the powers of domination… this is the way of living that landed Jesus on that cross. I think it’s pretty rational to look at Jesus on the cross and say… nope… no thank you. I understand… when some turn away in despair… and say it is too hard… it costs… too much. Going against the grain is not easy… it is not irrational to be afraid of the consequences, but Jesus names that fear out loud… and up front… Fear becomes powerful when it stays hidden, but Jesus names the cost of following him so that fear can lose some of its grip… so that the disciples can go… and share the good news that the kingdom of heaven has come near in the person of Jesus. But… it is Father’s Day… and this message does not wrap us in cozy familial images… so I want to say this clearly… Jesus is not attacking family. He is, however, reordering our lives… and our priorities. No family, however loving, can ultimately bear the weight of being our deepest source of identity. Our children do not complete us… our salvation does not come from our parents… and no earthly relationship can tell us what only God can tell us… who we are… and whose we are. Jesus has just laid out the hard truth, but in his compassion, he reminds them… he reminds us… that God has his eye on the sparrow, and yet, we are more valuable to God than many sparrows. In the ancient world, sparrows were nearly worthless in the marketplace. They were the cheapest meat the poor could buy. And yet, Jesus says that not one of them escapes God’s attention. So do not be afraid… you are a child of God, and loved beyond measure. After September 11, attorney Kenneth Feinberg led the fund that compensated victims’ families. Formulas were used – income, age, earning potential. Some lives were assigned values many times larger than others.” Later, he reflected that his legal training collided with something growing in him… the conviction that all lives carry equal worth. But our world still measures people that way… measures productivity and achievement… income and status… usefulness to others. Even on a day like today, we measure ourselves as parents… children… providers… Am I successful enough? …Did I do enough? …and I enough? But Jesus has an entirely different system of measurement. Simply put… we have value because we are creatures… just like sparrows… we belong to God. We matter because God made us… and loves us… and because we bear God’s image. Our value is not earned… it can never be earned… it simply… is. We are valuable and beloved to God. And because we have God’s attention, we will never be abandoned… for even the hairs of your head are all counted. Notice… however… that despite God’s attention, Jesus doesn’t promise safety… he doesn’t claim that discipleship will never come with pain. He is up front about the cost. He says, “Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Matt. 10:39) What Jesus promises… is holy attention… divine presence in our lives… he promises that, in a world where no one can ever possibly, fully know another person completely… that God does… God fully knows you better than you know yourself… right down to the number of hairs on your head. And Jesus promises that there is nothing in our lives that falls outside of the circle of God’s care… not our joys… not our grief… our failures or our fears. Not even the small, sparrow-sized things… God cares about it all. For God has spoken to us before we could speak ourselves… and claimed us as God’s beloved children. Before we could prove anything… earn anything… fail or succeed at anything… God said, “You are mine, and I love you.” So, when we know that our Creator holds us so closely in love, then we can venture out with courage into a difficult world. We can remain faithful disciples, even when it costs us something… we can carry crosses. We can lean into the way of Christ when the path would have us go another way… even if that causes strain on our relationships. Because discipleship will, indeed, cost us all something, but it never costs us God’s love… God’s love is assured. Sparrows and disciples alike – we know God watches us, and in God’s sight, there are no unimportant lives. Amen. /episode/index/show/faithlutheran/id/41717035

Special Music – Down To The River 06/14/2026

Sermon - 6-14-26 06/14/2026

Sermon - 6-14-26 Year A – Pentecost 3; Lectionary 11 – June 14, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Matthew 9:35 - - 10:23 Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, from the Holy Spirit, our Sustainer, and from Jesus Christ, who sends us out with compassion to welcome and serve. Amen. *** Last weekend was one of those weekends that reminds me why I love the church. On Saturday, many of us gathered with our neighbors to first worship, and then celebrate at the Pride Festival. We shared smiles, conversations, and reminders that God's love is for all people. Then, on Sunday, we worshiped together here in celebration of Pride Month, giving thanks for the beautiful diversity of God's creation and for the truth that every person bears the image of God. Then this past week, our congregation joined with three other churches for Vacation Bible School. Children filled the church with laughter… and a bit of chaos. Friendships were formed. Stories were shared. Meals were served. New faces became familiar faces. On the surface, Pride celebrations and Vacation Bible School might seem like very different events. But as I reflected on today's Gospel from Matthew, I realized they share something important. Both were acts of hospitality.Both were ways of saying, "There is a place for you here." …and both were opportunities to share the good news of God's love. And that is exactly what Jesus is talking about in today's Gospel. Matthew tells us that Jesus went throughout the cities and villages, teaching, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and sickness. Then comes one of the most moving descriptions in all of Scripture: "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." Everything that follows… flows from that compassion. Jesus does not look at the crowds and see problems to be solved. He does not see enemies to defeat. He does not see people to judge. He sees people who are hurting. …People who are exhausted. …He sees people who have been pushed aside and wounded by systems of power and oppression. And his heart breaks for them. Jesus was moved by his compassion… to act. And you see, that is where the mission of the church begins. Not with strategy or plans for growth. Nope. The mission of the church… begins with compassion. Except… this is often where we get things wrong. We hear Jesus sending the disciples out… and we immediately think of evangelism as persuasion or recruitment. We imagine that our job is to convince people to come to our church and be part of our community. And this isn’t a bad thing… I think our community is absolutely wonderful and I definitely think people should come check us out! But that is not what Jesus sends the disciples to do. In the Roman world, people would have immediately recognized the language of "proclaiming good news." When Rome conquered a territory, messengers would arrive announcing the "good news" that Caesar was now in charge. And… they came backed by military force… carrying the power of empire. …They came with the expectation that everyone would submit. Jesus… sends his followers out in exactly the opposite way. They carry no weapons, and they bring no wealth. …They travel with almost nothing so they must depend on the hospitality of strangers. They cannot force anyone to listen or compel anyone to receive them. They simply arrive… bearing peace… and offer healing. They proclaim that the kingdom of heaven has come near… And then they leave the response up to others. If people receive them, they stay, but if people reject them, they move on. This is such a radically different vision of God's kingdom. …The kingdom of God advances not through coercion but through compassion. Not through domination and force… but through love and hospitality. And perhaps that is why Jesus' words about shaking the dust from their feet can sound so startling. When a town refuses to receive the message, Jesus tells the disciples not to stay and argue. Not to keep fighting. Not to force the issue. Just move on. The good news must be shared. There are too many hurting people to spend all our energy trying to convince those who have already closed their hearts. And then Jesus invokes Sodom and Gomorrah. Now, those names carry a lot of baggage… but I think, especially so, during Pride Month. Many people immediately assume that Sodom and Gomorrah represent God's judgment against LGBTQ+ people. …But Scripture itself tells a different story. The prophet Ezekiel says in chapter 16:49, "This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, excess of food, and prosperous ease but did not aid the poor and needy." The sin of Sodom was not love… It was violence… and exploitation. It was the refusal of hospitality. It was the failure to welcome and care for strangers. It was the absence of compassion. In other words, it was the very opposite of the kingdom Jesus proclaims. Wherever people are dehumanized or rejected… wherever power is used to exclude rather than welcome… in those places… it is appropriate to invoke Sodom and Gomorrah. But wherever compassion, hospitality, and love flourish… in those places… the kingdom of God is drawing near. This week, as many of us celebrated the start of Pride Month, I saw glimpses of that kingdom. I saw people who felt safe and seen. …I saw people free to celebrate who God created them to be. I saw joy… and love and community… I saw reminders that every human being bears the Imago Dei—the image of God. And that matters. Especially in a week when the Southern Baptist Convention voted to further restrict women's leadership in ministry. Such actions stand in stark contrast to the expansive movement of God's Spirit throughout Scripture. After all, look at the people Jesus called. …Fishermen… Tax collectors… Political zealots… men AND women. Jesus called the powerful and the powerless… the respectable and the overlooked. Jesus gathered an astonishingly diverse community of disciples. It matters… not because diversity just is a modern value… but because God's kingdom has always been larger than our categories… and the church is at its best when it reflects the wideness of God's embrace. Because the good news is that God's grace is for ALL people, and that Christ's love is wider than our fears and our divisions. The good news is that every person is created in God's image and invited into God's beloved community. The good news is that wherever there is genuine love, God is already at work. That is the Gospel… and that is why it matters. Because there are still crowds all around us who are harassed and helpless. People longing for belonging… carrying wounds and wondering if they matter… wondering if they are loved… People searching for peace. And Jesus still sees them. …Jesus still has compassion… and Jesus still sends disciples to greet them… disciples of all colors, genders, and sexualities… Jesus still calls them… and sends them to greet the people that Jesus loves. My hope and prayer is that we become the kind of church that reflects the heart of Christ so clearly that people encounter that compassion through us. And honestly, I already see that here… I saw it at Pride… I saw it at Vacation Bible School… I saw it in the friendships that were formed… the meals shared… the laughter all around… and the welcome extended. Every act of hospitality becomes a witness to the kingdom… Every gesture of welcome becomes an act of evangelism… Every reminder that someone is beloved becomes a proclamation of the Gospel. Because evangelism is not primarily about getting people into church. It is about helping people encounter the love of God. And so… Jesus' invitation today is both simple and challenging. …Go… Go with compassion and humility… Go without needing to control the outcome. Go willing to offer hospitality and… and also… Go willing to receive it. Go… and be ready to recognize the image of God in every person you meet. Go beyond the boundaries of your comfort… beyond the limits of your assumptions. Go… trusting that the Holy Spirit is already at work ahead of you. The harvest is still plentiful. There are still people longing for good news. There are still opportunities to embody Christ's love. There are still communities waiting to experience the transforming power of hospitality. And so let us say yes to this mission… yes to compassion. Let us say yes to welcome… and yes to the delight God takes in the diversity of creation. Let us say yes to sharing the good news that God's love is for all people. For the kingdom of heaven has come near. Thanks be to God. Amen. /episode/index/show/faithlutheran/id/41638265

Special Music - Lord, I Need You 06/07/2026

Sermon - 6/7/26 06/07/2026

Sermon - 6/7/26 Matthew 9:9-13, 18-16; Pride Sunday; Pentecost 2 (Lectionary 10); June 7, 2026 Additional texts: Hosea 5:15-6:6; Psalm 50:7-15; Romans 4:13-25 Rich Weingartner Grace to you and peace from God our parent, Jesus our Savior, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Each year ReconcilingWorks, the organization that coordinates and provides resources for the RIC program, provides materials for both RIC Sunday and for a Pride Sunday service. The theme they picked this year for Pride Sunday is “Reframing our Resistance: Lament, Foundation, Joy, and Courage” On this theme they share: As faith communities in a society that is becoming less affirming and inclusive of anyone who is marginalized, for Pride in 2026 we step up as allies, collaborators, and co-conspirators in the proclamation of the Gospel of an inclusive love for all God’s beloveds. Our resistance can make time and space for lamenting, for reclaiming our foundation, for sharing our joy, and building up our courage. We need all of those pieces in our lives and worship during this season of our church’s life. So, first, let’s look at what we are resisting. When thinking of the word “resist” another word came to mind “renounce.” Exploring how they are connected, we find that “renounce” means to reject and stop using or doing something, while “resist” means to try to prevent by action or argument, or to struggle or fight back when pressured or attacked. In short, “renounce” is more about declaring what is acceptable and unacceptable, while “resist” is the action you carry out to defend and fight against what you have declared as unacceptable. If you are sitting there thinking “Hmmm - ‘renounce’ that word feels like I’ve heard it in church before as part of a service” you would be correct. In the typical liturgy for both baptism and affirmation of baptism, aka confirmation, three questions are asked before we share the Apostle’s Creed. These questions are: ● Do you renounce the devil and all the forces that defy God? ● Do you renounce the powers of this world that rebel against God? ● Do you renounce the ways of sin that draw you from God? So that is what we have renounced and thus what we are resisting. Anything that tries to separate us from God or separate any of God’s creation from God. That is part of what Pride month is - resisting homophobia, transphobia, queerphobia, and anything else that would separate our LGBTQIA+ and other marginalized siblings from being their true selves that God gave them and to deny or separate them from God’s love. This resistance isn’t just for this month, but for our entire lives, that is what we are called to be and do as Christians, which we proclaim in our baptismal vows. This resistance is for anything that denies people full access to be themselves, live their life how they want, and to experience God’s love. So now that we know what we are resisting, let’s go on a journey together. A journey through the four aspects that we can bring into this resistance - lament, foundation, joy, and courage. When thinking about these four aspects, another common structure to us that has four parts came to mind - the structure of our worship service: Gathering, Word, Meal, and Sending. Along this journey we’ll have time to reflect. I know silence can be uncomfortable, but also silence gives us time to reflect and think. After each stop on our journey, we’ll pause for a moment to give you time to reflect. I’ll give some questions to ponder during the silence. Feel free to just think about them, maybe jot some notes down if you like writing out your thoughts, or if you feel compelled to share out loud - that is fine too. Stop one on our journey - Lament, which can be a passionate expression of grief or sorrow. Lament comes in many different forms. We can lament by ourselves - and this lament can be for ourselves as well - for our sins we have done, ways we have failed to resist the things that separate us and the world from God. We can lament for others or the world either by ourselves or in community. Also, God can lament. This is what we find happening in the words of the prophet Hosea. In the reading today we find God lamenting that God’s people have turned from God. The focus here is that God wants the people of Israel to have steadfast love toward God, and toward each other, instead of focusing on sacrifice and burnt offerings. This theme is repeated again in Psalm 50 where God reminds us that God has everything they need, so burnt offerings and physical sacrifices aren’t what is needed, but instead we should offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and to keep our close connection with God. Turning to our worship structure, we start with the Gathering where the Holy Spirit calls us together as the people of God. When we use confession and forgiveness as part of the Gathering portion of our service, this can be a form of lament, we are lamenting all the things we have done wrong where we gave in to the forces that defy God and the powers of the world that rebel against God. In the Kyrie we are praying to our Lord for the world, our community, and for us, which can have tones of lament if we are asking for God’s presence to help us while we lament the things that are wrong in the world. Time to pause and reflect on our first stop on our journey of resistance - Lament. <silence> What do you lament? <silence> What do we ask marginalized people to sacrifice or change about themselves to fit in? <silence> How can we lament with them over the harms we have caused to bring them back into God’s fully inclusive love? <silence> Stop number two - Foundation - an underlying basis or principle. For us as Christians, our foundation in one word is “God”. Our reading from Romans is a good reminder that we are called to God through faith, not through following laws. In the story of Abraham we are reminded of his great faith and that through God all things are possible. God often calls the unexpected to accomplish God’s work. As Lutherans another underlying principle is that we are saved by grace through faith, and this is a gift given freely to us from God. Another core foundation is to love your neighbor as yourself. All these are about building a true connection with God - through relationships, love, and mercy; not through sacrifices and following strict laws. The next portion of our worship service that helps us build our foundation is the Word section where God speaks to us in scripture reading, preaching, and song. This is a core part of our service where we receive God’s word through the various readings, learn more about it and how it can apply to our lives, and then help cement that message through song. This portion of the service also includes the creed and prayers of intercession. These also help us cement our foundation in our core beliefs that give us the basis and reminder for what we are resisting. Time to pause and reflect on our second stop on our journey of resistance - Foundation. <silence> What are your core beliefs as part of your foundation? <silence> Do we stray from our foundation and focus instead on cultural, institutional, or false religious laws and rules, that separate us and others from God’s love? <silence> How can we help each other in keeping a firm foundation? <silence> Stop number three - Joy - a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. In the first part of our reading from Matthew today we find Jesus having dinner with Matthew, a tax collector, and other sinners. The commentary for the Lutheran Study Bible says this about the “sinners”: “Social and moral outcasts, many of whom would have been enslaved in this part of the Roman Empire. By eating with such people, Jesus bestows honor upon them, in keeping with the blessings he bestowed on the unfortunate in the beatitudes” So they were sinners as viewed by others and not because of who they were. Jesus saw them as fellow humans and people that deserve to be treated as any other person and not as some social outcast simply because that is what society says. Imagine the joy they have when Jesus resists societal norms and joyfully eats with them. Jesus does not diminish this joy when questioned by the Pharisees. He lets the joy continue and says this meal and being with the societal outcasts is what God wants - followed by a reminder, tying back to our previous readings, that God desires this mercy and kindness, not sacrifice. This brings us to the third part of our worship service - the Meal where God feeds us with the presence of Jesus Christ. This part of the service starts with the offering - where, with joy, we can offer back to God what we have to allow the work of God to be accomplished. We don’t do this because we are called to sacrifice, instead we are joyful in what God has provided to us, so we want to return a portion so that we can spread that joy. We then share a meal together, holy communion, just as Jesus shared a meal with the societal outcasts of his day - we are all invited, regardless of how society views us, as children of God to have a meal where we receive Christ. What joy we receive in this meal. Time to pause and reflect on our third stop on our journey of resistance - Joy. <silence> What brings you joy? <silence> How can we bring joy to those society wants to take joy away from? <silence> Our final stop - stop number four - Courage - mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. In the second part of today’s Gospel reading, we find two examples of courage. First for the person to come in, interrupt the gathering, and basically demand that Jesus come and lay his hand on the daughter so that she will live. Then for the woman, which society would have deemed unclean and an outcast, to come up in public to dare to touch Jesus’s cloak, which would have also made Jesus unclean. Then, in an act of resistance to society norms, Jesus doesn’t ignore these people and tell them to go away, he responds out of compassion and love and lets them know they are healed and made alive. These two people took great courage, based on their faith, to take action for what they believed in. The final part of our worship service is the Sending where God blesses us and sends us in mission to the world. In this section we receive the blessing, sing a sending song, and have the dismissal. All of these are designed to give us courage to know God is with us always. Through this courage we are called to go out into the world to proclaim God’s message of radical love and continue our resistance to everything in the world that draws us and others away from God. We aren’t called to simply renounce them for our own personal beliefs, but actively resist the powers of the world that rebel against God for ourselves and others. We are called to actively resist anytime we find society or people causing pain and suffering to anyone, especially those marginalized in our society - our LGBTQIA+ siblings, our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color siblings, our siblings with differing abilities - either mental or physical, those who are hungry or lack adequate housing, and so many more. Time to pause and reflect on our final stop on our journey of resistance - Courage. <silence> What brings you courage? <silence> How can you help give others courage? <silence> Our journey in today's message has come to an end, but our journey of resistance continues on. May we all take these pieces, so that in our own lives, in our church’s work, and in our worship make time and space for lamenting, for reclaiming our foundation, for sharing our joy, and building up our courage. So that together we may renounce and resist all the ways of this world that draw us away from God and prevent God’s message of radical love for all and unconditional forgiveness, from being fully realized. Amen. /episode/index/show/faithlutheran/id/41562280

Special Music - Softly and Tenderly 05/31/2026

Sermon - 5/31/26 05/31/2026

Sermon - 5/31/26 Year A – Holy Trinity – May 31, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Matthew 28:16-20 Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, from Jesus Christ our Redeemer, and from the Holy Spirit our Sustainer; one God in three persons, the blessed Trinity. Amen. *** I’m sure you’re well aware… but this coming Independence Day… 4th of July… well… it’s a big one… 250 years… that’s big! But… I have to say… the preparations underway for these unprecedented celebrations in our nation’s capital… and all the conversations and news coverage surrounding them… have given me pause. I find it all… unsettling… and not just because I’m not a fan of fighting for sport. To each their own. But I think that… it is because the new backdrop for our lives is this intense nationalism …and it’s because of this intensity… that I think I could not tear my heart away from the words of the Great Commission from our gospel reading today. These are words that I’ve heard and read countless times… I’ve taken them to heart as inspiration and instruction in my life of following Christ… and yet… they sit differently with me now. Jesus tells his disciples… “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” And we hear this text on this day in particular because it is Holy Trinity Sunday, and it is here where Jesus names the three persons of the Trinity. So today, we are supposed to celebrate and wrestle with how our God shows up for us in these three expressions… but I’d rather save that kind of wrestling for another day. Now… if you’re disappointed about that, I’d love to meet for a beverage and geek out over trinitarian theology. That is fun… but… for today… I want to address… I need to address… this Great Commission, because it’s so very relevant for the age we are living in. “…make disciples of all nations…” is a command from Jesus that has been taken in dramatically harmful ways across the years, from the Crusades 1,000 years ago, to the current rise of Christian Nationalism. Jesus tells us to go make disciples… and that he is with us to the end of the age… and then, pumped up on this mission with Jesus in our corner… [big breath] …we forget what discipleship is all about… we forget… and go straight for coercion and violence. …in the name of Jesus, of course. But no one can force love… and coercion has no place in a life shaped by mercy and grace. And yet, these are the basic tenets of the Way of Christ… these attributes of love, mercy, and grace… are what shape a life of discipleship. To be a disciple is to be in relationship with God… and with Jesus… and with the Holy Spirit, and to celebrate the enduring and borderless love that our God-in-three has for all people in every nation. And yes, Jesus calls upon us to go… and share this life of discipleship with everyone in every nation, multiplying ourselves and creating more followers of Christ… but our translation does us a disservice by choosing to say, “…make disciples OF all nations…” because a “nation” cannot be a disciple. A nation isn’t a person… we cannot be a Christian nation… and even to proclaim that this is, or hope for this to be a “Christian nation,” is wrong… it would dissolve… because it puts patriotic nationalism into the ring with devotion to God… and the patriotic nationalism would have to stand down… …because a disciple’s primary allegiance will always be to God… and so a disciple should therefore obey God’s primary commandment, which is above all commandments… and that primary command is to love God, and love others as we love ourselves. This kind of love has no borders… and no national identity. … and we cannot force another into a relationship shaped by love. …Love can only invite. Furthermore, proponents of Christian Nationalism, and those who desire to rebrand and reform the United States into a Christian nation, seem overwhelmingly drawn to models that would eliminate people they find unworthy… eliminate those who don’t look like them and whose lives don’t conform to their own. Except none of us are truly worthy of God’s forgiveness… we are all of us in need of a savior… all in need of grace and mercy, and therefore… redeemed by Christ’s love, we are sent forth to be gracious and merciful in the name of the one who loves us beyond measure. And despite all this, these Christian Nationalists believe that Christ is on their side in this endeavor to force conversion to discipleship, or at least compliance… because Christ promised to be with them to the end of the age… And while, yes, I do not dispute that Christ is with us always, as Christ promised to be… this does not mean that Jesus fully supports all our actions taken in his name… Jesus states that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him… but too many skew this into a conquering Christ… a version of the Messiah which doesn’t appear in scripture, except as the previously hoped-for Messiah that would overthrow Rome. That is not the person of Jesus who was born to a humble family surrounded by livestock, who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. And yet… Jesus DOES have all authority in heaven and on earth… and what did he do with it? He did not force or coerce… but instead, he embraced non-violent love and vulnerability… even unto death on a cross… then he defeated that death, because he is God… and instead of retribution, he offered forgiveness and a continual invitation to come and see… come and experience a different way… a way of love… of mercy… grace and compassion. This is how the God of love chose to exercise his total authority in heaven and on earth. …not to annihilate those who don’t follow the way… or force them into compliance… but to offer grace and mercy… and to never shut the door on the invitation to come and experience God’s love. Jesus invited us into his mission of sharing the love and light of God in all places and for all people… and this is an important mission… making disciples in all nations. We are co-collaborators with Christ on this mission of sharing the good news… of sharing this life-changing Way of Christ. But making disciples is not actually about converting others… or saving their souls… only God saves souls… Making disciples is about converting our own lives… every single day… it’s about choosing every single day to live according to the love and grace that we have first received… it’s about letting our lives be a testimony for others… witnessing to God’s love and grace. And when that love and light shine out from our lives, which it most certainly does, it will reshape communities and the people in them around the Way of Christ. As disciples… as part of the body of Christ… our part of this mission is to shine and invite others to come and experience this light… to witness what God’s love does for us and for the whole world. That is how we make disciples… by being one ourselves. We can only demonstrate how we ourselves are changed by this love and communion with the full body of Christ, and trust in the Holy Spirit… to do the Holy Spirit’s thing of encountering us and moving us always toward love for others. So yes, we will go and make disciples in all nations… we will participate in this Great Commission… and we will do so, by starting first with ourselves… trusting that Christ is with us in this mission, always, to the end of the age. Amen. /episode/index/show/faithlutheran/id/41483785

Sermon - 5/24/26 05/24/2026

Sermon - 5/24/26 Year A – Pentecost – May 24, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Acts 2:1-21 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 John 20:19-23 Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, and from Jesus Christ, our redeemer, who poured out their Spirit upon all flesh, blessing us to the end of days. Amen. *** Yes, Pentecost …is the birthday of the Church! Happy Birthday, Church! For our Jewish ancestors and siblings, Pentecost was part of the Festival of Weeks, or Shavuot… it was celebrated 50 days after Passover. This is why there were so many pilgrims in Jerusalem on that day… the day the Spirit blew through town. These pilgrims were there for this harvest festival, and it was during this time that they celebrated God’s gift of the Torah to Moses at Mount Sinai. It’s not the whole Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament… It’s just the first five books, also called the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Torah contains the historical narrative of what God had done for God’s people… it holds the stories of creation… and the stories of the matriarchs and patriarchs, and of the Exodus from Egypt. The Torah also contains the law… the holy teaching… 613 commandments given by God at Mount Sinai… the divine instructions for how to live according to God’s will for humanity. And so then… on this festival day celebrating God’s gift of the law to God’s people, God gave another gift of blessing… God poured out God’s Spirit upon them, inaugurating a new era! On this day, the same Spirit that rested on Jesus at the Jordan River was poured out on them… and that same Spirit… has been poured out upon you. Yes, this is the Church’s birthday! It is OUR birthday! And in thinking about this celebration today, it is worth considering what it means to be the Church… and what it means to be the Church together. In what ways are we still shaped by that first community of believers… and how have we grown in the Spirit since then? Because Pentecost was only the beginning… a great reversal of the ancient story of the Tower of Babel… when humanity, in their arrogance, wanted to reach God, and so they began building a tower so great that they might ascend to heaven from earth. And God scattered them by diversifying their language. …but on this day, God’s Spirit graciously descended to the earth, to us… to swirl through and around God’s people… bringing them together… not by reintegrating the language, but by preserving that diversity and instead giving each the ability to share the good news of Jesus in as many different languages and cultures as there are. The Holy Spirit blew through and moved those frightened disciples out of the locked, upper room… moved them outside and into the crowd… into their community. The Spirit gathers people… gathers us… across difference and across fear… it does not gather us into sameness, but rather… into beloved community… into the living body of Christ. The Spirit gathers us in… and… the Spirit also sends us out… out to continue Jesus’ mission and ministry… out into the world… to be church together… to be the whole body of Christ. And this is where we are today… a diverse and beautiful tapestry of humanity. We don’t all worship the same… or sing and pray the same… and we may disagree on theological points, but… if we are following Jesus’s mission and ministry, and loving the way Christ taught us to love, then… we are still… one body. I was blessed this week with the perfect example of this diversity in the body of Christ… Mike Nussdofer introduced me to Shari Montgomery, the founder of The House of Promise in Lansing, which helps women escape trafficking and rebuild their lives. I had a lovely morning with her as she showed me around the campus… it was beautiful and peaceful… and I couldn’t imagine a more loving way to care for these women who have been so brutally harmed. And yet, throughout the morning, I gathered from our conversation that she and I likely have some pronounced theological differences. And yet, as I took in the larger context of her work… the fruits of her labor… I saw that it was good… and full of love… and there was no doubt in my mind that the fire of this woman’s passion to serve others came from the Holy Spirit. And so, I give thanks for her… for her passion and her ministry to care for the most broken and abused among us … and for being part of this body that is… the Church. And I give thanks for the Holy Spirit for giving us each different passions… different gifts and abilities, so that together, we can address the needs of all. And I give thanks that God continues to guide us… continues to show up for us, sometimes as a rushing wind, or a fire that burns and does not consume… or sometimes… as still, small voice… God’s Holy Spirit is still with us. And because we still have God’s Holy Spirit… we still have the Church… a community of believers who come together to discern what this voice of God is calling us to do… …and how this Spirit is calling us to move and act in the world… guiding us to those who need us and our particular gifts, the most. I give thanks that the Holy Spirit still strengthens weary hearts… still illuminates difficult decisions… and still gives courage when faith feels costly. I give thanks… thanks for God’s Holy Spirit… and how it called me into pastoral ministry… and brought me to you! Pentecost is not merely the story of what happened long ago in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit is still blowing through this place… still gathering us in… still creating faith… and still ushering in new life out of death. The Holy Spirit is still breathing peace into troubled hearts... and I for that I give thanks. And so, on this day of Pentecost… we celebrate with our Jewish ancestors that God’s law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai… But God does not discard the first gift in order to give the second. God who gave the Torah at Sinai is the same God who pours out the Spirit at Pentecost. Just as Jesus did not abolish God’s law, neither does the Holy Spirit… but instead… the Spirit writes God’s love upon human hearts and empowers us to live it. So, we now also celebrate our Advocate in the Holy Spirit, who guides us always in the way of love and grace and gives us the power and strength to share the good news of God’s forgiveness and salvation through Jesus… This is a celebration, indeed! Therefore, on this day, I pray… may the Spirit transform the way we love across difference… transform the way we forgive those who have hurt us… and guide us to seek reconciliation when we have caused the hurt. May the Spirit light a fire in us that sends us to serve and live according to the will of Christ. …and may we carry this fire of Pentecost into our homes… into our workplaces, our families, and into our communities… so that the world may encounter, through us, the living and enduring presence of God. This day, and always. Amen. /episode/index/show/faithlutheran/id/41407465

Special Music - Shout Amen!! 05/17/2026

Sermon - 5-17-26 05/17/2026

Sermon - 5-17-26 Year A – Seventh Sunday of Easter and Ascension Sunday – May 17, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Acts 1:1-11 Luke 24:44-53 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, who ascended to the Father, and has therefore blessed us to go into the world, for the love of the world. Amen. *** Allow me to set the scene… We have been in the Easter season, called Eastertide, now for seven weeks… which is poetically… one more week than Lent. And Bethany was a village about two miles east of Jerusalem, on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives. It is the same place from which Jesus began his Palm Sunday procession into Jerusalem. …and, the Mount of Olives was the place where, according to the prophets, God was expected to appear to reign in love and mercy over all the earth. The place… it carries weight… and expectation. On the day of his ascension… a day that the disciples would not have known was different from the day before… the resurrected Jesus opened their minds to understand the scriptures… telling them once again that while God’s mercy originates in Jerusalem, it is destined for the whole world. Then he led his disciples out of Jerusalem, toward Bethany… toward the Mount of Olives. They have heard… but still… do not know what to expect. And that is where we find ourselves today… I’d like to share a poem with you from Pr. Steve Garnaas-Holmes… it’s called: Ascension As we walk out of the city (why are we leaving?) the day feels fresh and open, green blades springing up (the sower knows not how), songs of birds we hear but can't see. Thomas stops to blow dandelion seeds into the breeze. To our questions, the rabbi frames his answers in more silence than usual. The wind wraps its soft baby arms around our necks, whispering. We walk on grass; behind us it springs back up. Then words not of departure but of sending. Dispersal. Then he isn't there. Stunned, silent emptiness. (The wondergrief. The traumajoy. The un-knowing.) Our cherished certainties float away on the wind. A space between us so real, it seems full of something. No one speaks. On the way back it does not surprise me when Thomas, without asking, reaches out, takes my hand. I appreciate Pr. Garnaas-Holmes’ poetry… his imaging of what it must have been for them… to witness such a thing. A departure with echoes of Elijah… yet this time, there were no chariots or horses or fire, but instead… an enveloping cloud, and then…Jesus is gone. And then just as at the tomb… two figures in dazzling white call out to them… why do you stand looking up toward heaven? …he is not here… a new era has begun! Jesus, who has been taken up into heaven, now reigns over all of Creation… Just as all things came into being through him, Creation… all of Creation is his. And his disciples obey his word and go back to Jerusalem… and there they wait… they wait and pray… and grow in their understanding that they are to be a community that responds to God’s action. Elijah passed his mantle to his disciple, Elisha… but Jesus passes his mantle to all of us. We… are to carry out the mission that Jesus began. You see, the world was waiting for a Messiah who would save them from oppression and trouble, but Jesus… in typical Jesus fashion, flips that all around. We can almost hear him say… “you may have heard it said ‘wait for a Messiah,’ …but I say to you, take up my mantle, for you too, have a role to play in God’s story of redemption.” “You are witnesses of these things, and so you shall proclaim the good news with your words… and especially with your lives!” There’s a learning model that’s rooted in medical training… it goes, ‘See one, do one, teach one.” And I see that model demonstrated in grand scale with Jesus and the disciples… and ultimately… us. Jesus came, and showed us the way… showed us what it truly meant to live in a way that brings close God’s kingdom… a way that brings abundant life to all… Then Jesus guided them to do this themselves… to experience the joy as they worked together to follow this new way. And then… Jesus told them… it’s time for you… for us to teach this way to others, as we ourselves continue to learn more each day. But even though Jesus ascended, we are not alone… for in his ascension is the promise of another Advocate… the Spirit of truth… the Spirit of God… to be connected to us for all time, and our ever-present guide in this holy mission. We are still… very much connected to our Christ. This is work we do together… beautifully demonstrated in our synod assembly this past weekend… we are connected, and because we nurture that connection, we will continue to grow and thrive as those who are sent into the world… for the love of the world. I’ll leave you with the words from Dr. Rick Mixon: “Jesus gathered them as a community, taught them as a community, and left from the midst of their little community. The Spirit was promised to them in community. Of course, individuals can and do have experiences of the Spirit, but Jesus makes it clear that it is the Spirit, working in the community, that will spread the good news around the world and bring in the reign of God. That reality has not changed in two millennia. It still takes a community of faith, Spirit-filled, to spread the good news and bring in the reign of God. That is our challenge and our commission as the body of Christ, followers of the Way.” And to that, I would add… that is our joy… and our blessing… as a body of Christ that is connected and willing to nurture those connections into a love that can grow until the end of time. Amen. /episode/index/show/faithlutheran/id/41320245

Special Music - Wade in the Living Water 05/10/2026

Sermon - 5/10/26 05/10/2026

Sermon - 5/10/26 Year A – Sixth Sunday of Easter – May 10, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Acts 17:22-31 John 14:15-21 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, who, together with Jesus Christ, abides with us, and in us, and we in them. Amen. *** Just a year ago, Robert Francis Prevost became Leo XIV and… the first American Pope. Now, I do have great respect for the Pope in general, but… as a Lutheran, I don’t subscribe to the idea of Popes. However, as an American who started life in Chicago, I have been rather delighted by Leo’s election. I kinda love that the pope is one of us, and in more ways than I could have predicted. Just this past week, a story came out about Pope Leo… and I promise, this is not a set up for a joke… It seems that Leo was doing some household financial oversight, and he realized he needed to update his address and phone number… new job and everything… it’s natural to get behind on those things. So Leo called the customer service line for his bank, gave his name, Robert Francis Prevost, and answered all the security questions. It might have been one thing if he were just moving his address from one side of Chicago to the other, but… to Vatican City?? The bank representative said that she couldn’t help over the phone… “Even though I gave you all the right passwords?” the pope asked. “No,” she said, “you’ll have to come in.” “That’s just not possible” he replied… “Why?” she asked. “Well… because I’m the pope.” Leo said. …And she hung up on him. It turns out that once again, the pope is just like us… he also needs an Advocate! And as it happens, our Holy Advocate… is just what we’re talking about this week… Our Gospel text today continues from last week… we are still in Jesus’ “farewell discourse,” …his lengthy ‘goodbye’ to his disciples… his friends… on the evening of their last supper. He is consoling and encouraging them… they are understandably distraught. But Jesus assures them that his departure is not abandonment… they will still be together as long as they keep going along the Way … the Way that they’ve all been traveling… They will still be together, since Jesus IS “the Way.” …and even though he must leave, in his place, God will send them “another Advocate” who will be with us forever. Indeed… our God knows… we all need an Advocate… even the pope! …We all need a guide, a teacher, a helper… an intercessor, a companion, and a comforter. However we translate the word… Paracletos… it means, ‘one who comes alongside.’ And so, Jesus promises his followers that we will never be abandoned… never left to figure this all out ourselves… never left to navigate the Way alone. And as we know… Jesus is the Way... the truth… and the life… and as we follow that Way, we have the Holy Spirit alongside us to sustain us… counsel us… and guide us along right pathways for the sake of the one who created us in love. Jesus is the Way… and the Way of Jesus is always and ever… love. And so the Holy Spirit is with us to guide us in the ways of love… love for God, love for our neighbor… and love for ourselves. For everything, Jesus said, can be summed up by love. And yet, as I shared last week… love is not always easy to feel. Sometimes, it’s about the last emotion we might be able to produce, despite God’s holy command. And again this week, we are reminded that love is not a passive emotion… love is an action. Love is how we live, and move and have our being… in God, and for our neighbors. And that is why Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” If you love me, it will show through in how you treat the least among you… If you love me, it will be evident in how you work to break the chains of injustice… If you love me, it will be clear in how you are… in this world. Not by how often you claim to love me… but in how often it shows through your actions. Jesus says… “If you love me… you will keep my commandments.” “If you love me…” It’s also an open-ended phrase that really invites us to think about how our lives of faith intersect with a world that doesn’t always recognize God. Like Paul, in our reading from Acts… challenged to proclaim the gospel to Greeks who knew nothing about Jewish or Christian traditions. He was willing to meet them where they were… not offering condescension or judgment for their ways, but rather… invitation. Paul fully encapsulated their spirituality by expressing that God, who made the whole world, is the same God who made them… and that God lives in them, and they in God, and through God, we all have our very being. God is present… everywhere… even in places that do not call upon God’s holy name… even in places that take God’s holy name in vain. God… is still there. And so Jesus’ words to us… “If you love me...” leaves us with the very real question… how do we show our love by keeping Jesus’ commandments when we are faced with people and policies that cause harm, or promote injustice and inequality? How do we embody Jesus’ love in places that are decidedly antithetical to the Way of Christ? Are we really called to love all people, regardless of whether they value the Way of Christ that we strive to follow? I’m sorry to be the bearer of difficult news, but… yes. Yes, we are called to love them… love them as a piece of God’s good Creation that bears both the image of God, and the same promise of ultimate redemption that we ourselves carry. For God promised that ultimately all of Creation would be redeemed… and all things would be made new. And I trust… I trust God’s promise. So yes, we are called to love them… but we do not have to manufacture that love on our own. For as Jesus promised, we have our Advocate… the Holy Spirit… the one who intercedes for us… the presence of God who comes alongside us to give us strength, instruction, and courage to follow the Way of love… the Way of Christ. This is the Spirit of truth who continuously reveals to us God and God’s ways… and holds fast to us in that mutual abiding… of Christ in us and us in Christ, and together we are in and with God and the Spirit. Mutual abiding… held together with love. And so, we are called to show our love for Jesus by loving others in active ways… by following Jesus’ commandments… with the help of our Advocate. We show that love by finding ways to show hospitality to all, but especially the marginalized, just as Jesus did… and loving others by speaking up for those who are being mistreated… those who are being harmed, just as Jesus did. Because even though we are called to love those who act in ways that are adversarial to God’s Way… causing harm to others… truly loving someone often means that we do what we can to interrupt that which drives them to cause harm… Truly loving another can look like interrupting patterns that drive them away from God’s desire for abundant life for all… and showing them that there is another way to live… a way of life that transforms the whole world, and brings us just a little closer to the kingdom of God. Only love can that. And with each interaction, if we succeed, then not only does the harm cease, but the one who was causing that harm is moved closer to the Way of Christ… the Way of love. Both oppressor and oppressed can be returned to the center of community, and closer to the wholeness that God desires for us all. And so when we stand with those who are cast out… and also when we disrupt sinful ways that cause harm and restore people to life… that is the holy work of the Spirit who lives in us… The Spirit who calls us to travel alongside others… image bearers for God… disciples, who are following the Way of Jesus… which is always the Way of love. These actions of love, though… they don’t always have to be grand gestures. The Holy Spirit, our intercessor, is also very present in the daily, simple ways that we show up for others… small ways that reinforce that we all belong to each other… and that life is better when we look out for each other. As I mentioned in the beginning… even the pope needed an Advocate. After hearing about his customer service troubles with the bank, a priest on the South Side of Chicago, who had the bank’s president as a member of his parish, called him up …and vouched for Pope Leo. Problem solved! A small, simple gesture that reinforced our shared need for each other… a mutuality that is reflected in the Divine that is both in us, and all around us. So may we all lean into our call to follow the Way of Christ… to recognize the presence of our Advocate, God’s Holy Spirit, guiding us always… down paths of love for all people… for in all people… is the presence of God. Amen. /episode/index/show/faithlutheran/id/41236500

Special Music - Standin’ In the Need of Prayer 05/03/2026

Sermon - 5-3-26 05/03/2026

Sermon - 5-3-26 Year A – Fourth Sunday of Easter – April 26, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd John 14:1-14 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. Amen. *** Several years ago, I was at my parents’ home, and we were excitedly awaiting my aunt and uncle, who were coming to visit. My dad was talking to my uncle on the phone, who had called for the address so he could plug it into his GPS and be on his way. My dad, however, being more comfortable giving directions than trusting an app on the phone, was instead directing my uncle using landmarks and compass directions… I’ll never forget overhearing him tell my uncle to… just feel your way around the airport. Feel your way around the airport. If you are ever curious about something that might make me lose my mind… it would be to give me driving directions to a place without giving me the address, and instead, instruct me to… feel my way there. Stressful! … fortunately, I was not the one driving, and my aunt and uncle eventually arrived, so perhaps he is more in tune than I am with his …emotional sense of direction. I prefer the straightforward approach. Just tell me where we’re going… I’ll use GPS or a map… I don’t want to feel my way to a place… I like to be prepared, and I do not like to be lost. Feel my way there… how does one do that? So… I deeply empathize with the disciple, Thomas, when he says, “Lord, we do not know where you are going… how can we know the way?” I might be projecting… but when I read that, I can hear the strain and tension in his voice… maybe even a hint of panic. Our gospel takes us back again to the night of their last supper. Jesus has just washed their feet and commanded them to love… and he told them to remember him when they gather around bread and wine… and he promised he would be with them whenever they do. But then… they just watched Judas abandon their group… and they just heard Jesus tell Peter that he would betray him… not once, but three times! And Jesus has been telling them he must die. The world as they know it is falling apart… and into their stress and anxiety… Jesus assures them… Do not let your hearts be troubled… do not be afraid. These are words for us, too… Our world is in an upheaval… and Jesus assures us, as well… Do not let your hearts be troubled. (x2) Jesus has prepared us to live in this world… Jesus has already given us our directions… a way of living that is God’s will for us… a way life that brings close the kingdom of God. A way of living that transforms our hearts and turns us back to God, again and again. Jesus… is that way… and the truth… and the life. And the way of Jesus is always… love. The way of Christ… is love. A way that… actually does require us to feel our way to our destination. But also… a way that has concrete, and written directions for when we can’t muster up that feeling. It’s love… Love God… and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Love. And when you don’t know how to feel your way to loving your neighbor… or loving the stranger in your country… or how to feel your way to loving the needy person who is pleading for you to help them… when maybe… you’d rather judge them… When our own baggage gets in the way, and we can’t seem to recognize the light of Christ in this other person… we can get there another way. When we can’t envision what the final destination looks like, or the vagueness of the emotional sense of direction is just too stressful… You can start with the turn-by-turn directions that Jesus gave us… Just start by feeding the hungry. Then clothe the naked. And then… welcome the immigrant and the stranger. Care for the sick and any among you who have need. Look for those whom our society has pushed to the edges… those who are marginalized… those who are suffering under oppression… those who are treated with contempt… and warmly invite them into the fold. And when it is our own selves whom we are struggling to love, try wrapping your heart with grace… and let it work its way through you. That is how we find our way through Jesus. For the least among us are the ones Jesus directed us to love first… and the way, truth, and life of Jesus is always the way of love. So we can feel our way there… and when that is just too abstract, or when we are legitimately struggling to manifest love for our neighbor… or… love for God… yes, there are those days… days when we are more angry at God than loving… Or days when we are struggling to manifest love for ourselves… yes, total honesty here… there are those days, too… Because yes, we are human, and even though love is a divine command from our God… that doesn’t mean we can just force ourselves to feel it. I’m being real with you… and Jesus knows this about our humanness… knows that we can’t always feel our way there. So even though we are commanded to love… commanded to feel our way… Jesus also showed us how to follow the turn-by-turn directions to get there… showed us how to follow our way through the way of Jesus. We follow the way Jesus taught us, and little by little, this way of love will transform our own hearts into ones more capable of loving… and then, little by little, our loving hearts will transform the world around us. Love is a way of life… it is a daily discipline… a habit we form… a guiding light. Love doesn’t have to be sporadic, grand, and glorious gestures… in fact, I think love is better expressed in the daily, reliable series of little things that shape our whole lives… around love. Because ultimately, for love – the kind of love that transforms – for this kind of love to become action, it must first begin with relationship… and it begins with abiding in the source of all love. For we cannot give what we have not received… and so we must return again and again to the love of Jesus. Because Jesus… is the way, and the truth, and the life… “and all things came into being through him, and without him, not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life… and the life was the light of the world. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. (John 1:3-5) Jesus… is the source of abiding love… of love that transforms… love that liberates… love that makes all things new. And so Jesus tells his disciples that if they cannot believe that he and the Father are one, then believe because you see how the way of love transforms the world… He tells them that those who follow the way of light and love will do greater works than he did… because he is going to the Father, but we are still here. Jesus fed the five thousand… how many people have his disciples fed since then? Jesus cared for the sick… how many people have his disciples cared for since then? Jesus welcomed the stranger… how many people have his disciples welcomed since then? Indeed, across millennia, the works of love in the name of Jesus… have done so much more. And the light of the world continues to shape us… and to guide us… through love… and that way of love, draws us all back to Jesus. So we do know the way… we know the way by how love feels… and we know the way by following the directions. We do know the way… and the truth… and the life… we know that it is Jesus, who is the light of the world… and the way of Jesus is always… love. Amen. /episode/index/show/faithlutheran/id/41129155

Special Music - The King of Love My Shepherd Is 04/27/2026

Sermon - 4/27/26 04/27/2026

Sermon - 4/27/26 Year A – Fourth Sunday of Easter – April 26, 2026 Pastor Megan Floyd Acts 2:42-47 Psalm 23 1 Peter 2:18-25 John 10:1-10 Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, who came so that we may have life, and have it abundantly. Amen. *** The Common English Bible translation of John 10:10 reads, “I came so that they could have life - indeed, so that they could live life to the fullest.” I share that… because I’ve often heard this verse misconstrued as promoting the acquisition of wealth and power. …choosing instead to understand Jesus to mean a “life of abundance” rather than… “abundant life.” The abundance that Jesus has in mind… the fullness of life… isn’t a life of material wealth, but rather, it is a life that is full of love and intimacy with God, and with Creation… like that of the trusted companionship of sheep and their shepherd. But this comparison of sheep and shepherds… and of Jesus being the gate to the protective enclosure of the fold… it doesn’t come out of nowhere… Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees, who have accused him of being against God after he healed the man who was born blind… A man who proclaimed Jesus to be from God… and that Jesus must be the Messiah. He came to this conclusion after having worked out the only possible explanation of his miraculous healing… and for his proclamation, the Pharisees cast him out of their community. And Jesus, ever the Good Shepherd, finds that man again… and returns him to the safety of the fold among his disciples. Jesus protects him from those who would do him harm on account of his being a follower of Jesus. Jesus is the shepherd who protects his flock, not for the sake of harvesting wool or mutton, but rather for the sake of the sheep themselves… So the sheep may have lives that are flourishing… thriving… abundant… so we may have the very fullness of life. And by identifying himself as the gate, Jesus proclaims that through him, the sheep will find protection from the dangers of the night, and in the morning, it is through him that they will go out to green pastures to find nourishment. And we, who are the sheep, know and follow the sound of our shepherd’s voice… not because we are mindless, but because we recognize that our shepherd has our best interests at heart, and also, we rejoice and glorify God …and so we live in a relationship of mutuality with our shepherd. The abundant life that Jesus longs for us to have… the fullness of life… is one that is full of love… full of grace and mercy… full of community that genuinely cares for one another and ensures that all are provided for and all are safe from harm. The abundant life that Jesus longs for us to have is built on faith, which manifests itself as experiential love and trust, and shapes the way we live. Yes, that…. That is abundant life… It looks a lot like the community described in our reading from Acts 2… which gives the four marks of a faithful community: they are devoted to the teachings of the apostles, to fellowship, to sharing meals with each other, and to prayer. And equally so, an abundant life looks like the trust proclaimed in Psalm 23… of being led to green pastures where no one goes hungry… of a cup that overflows so there is plenty to share. An abundant life looks like pausing long enough to appreciate all God has done for us, and trusting that God’s goodness and mercy pursue us always. Yes, that is abundant life… life lived to the fullest. It’s a glimpse of what the full kindom of heaven looks like… a glimpse of what we are building as we live together as children of God, grounded in our faith… in our trust in God’s promise and provision. I appreciate this glimpse of abundant life in our reading from Acts and the Psalms… but you might be wondering how the suffering that Peter writes about comes into play. This one is difficult for our modern ears to hear, and we really should not hear it without also acknowledging the immense harm that has been done at the knife’s edge of these words. This passage seems to glorify suffering and has led many to seek suffering. But moreover, it takes an even more chilling tone when we include the verse immediately before our selection… a verse our reading left off… Verse 18… which is… “Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh.” …the text goes on, then, to talk about suffering for Christ. I knew this woman who got married young and then found herself in an abusive and oppressive marriage. She had two kids and was torn between her drive to protect herself and her children… and her marriage vows, which she had taken seriously. She consulted the pastor of her non-denominational church and was told… her suffering was for the Lord, and she needed to endure it. She was told her husband was her Lord and she needed to submit to him. She was cast aside as less valuable in God’s eyes and in the eyes of the faith community… she was alone and full of shame. She tried to endure it for years… But the violence was harming her children, and so she eventually left her husband… and the church… never having heard the promise that our Good Shepherd desires to protect us from harm… never having heard the promise from her faith community that her life mattered. This is one of those passages that oppressive powers have used to justify their oppression… to keep themselves in power and to dismiss and even glorify the harm they perpetrate on others… all in the name of being a “faithful Christian.” The woman I knew was one of countless wives across centuries, who have been abused and worse, and told they must endure. …and I’m willing to wager that many of you also know someone who was shamed into enduring harm, with scripture as the threat that kept them there. This is one of those passages also wielded like a whip by people who kept other humans enslaved… they used these words to try and break the wills and spirits of those they kept in shackles… refusing to consider the one they held in bondage was, in truth, their brother… or sister… in Christ. The twisting of these teachings, and the incredible harm that has been caused, and is still caused today… is heartbreaking. But it can only be achieved by taking these passages out of context… and by not considering the population to which these letters were addressed. You see, most of the early followers of Jesus were already enslaved… already living in servitude… marginalized and oppressed… and already enduring pain and suffering at the hands of those who held power over them. It was NOT oppression in the name of being a “faithful Christian.” It was oppression in the name of Empire… in the name of attaining and retaining power, wealth, and privilege… something that can only be achieved if you keep entire groups of people as a permanent underclass. And so, these words… they were never intended to be a prescription to seek suffering… or to justify gross abuses of power… no… These words were meant to be a lifeline… a message of hope that the harm you are already suffering is not all there is in life… that the Christ who suffered with you has defeated death and the grave… and offers you salvation. The encouragement to endure is shared to strengthen the wills of those who are being harmed on account of their faith in Christ… And so that they can make it to the next gathering of their faith community, where they are welcomed as equals… sharing together in the fullness of the life their community offers. It is important to name all this “Because any interpretation of the Gospel which supports, justifies, or remains silent in the face of slavery and oppression… is not the Good News… and it is not the way of Jesus.” (Pulpit Fiction podcast) So, for us to understand this text from 1 Peter, we must hear it in the fuller context of God’s promise of abundant life for us. We must hear it alongside the promise of Jesus as our Good Shepherd, who leads us to green pastures… And alongside the celebration of faith communities that share all in common, and are devoted to the teachings of the apostles, to community, to fellowship, and to prayer. And we must hear it alongside Jesus’ promise that we will know the sound of his voice… and trust in his provision. For Jesus Christ came so that we may have life… and have it abundantly. Amen. /episode/index/show/faithlutheran/id/41038390

Praise My Soul, The King of Heaven 04/19/2026

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