Episode Archive - Page 5 of 41 - Faith Lutheran Church

Baptism of our Lord

Written by Faith2014 on January 13, 2025.

The gospel this Sunday is about Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist. A voice speaks from heaven, and the Spirit descends like a dove. This story is also about us: we too have been baptized, we have heard God’s loving call, and we have received the Holy Spirit. What is God’s voice like? Psalm 29 says that God’s voice can break the cedars and strip the trees bare, but also give a blessing of peace.

Accompanying Scripture:
Isaiah 43:1-7, Psalm 26, Luke 3:15-22

FLC Sermons

Baptism of our Lord

00:00 / 15:22

Epiphany of our Lord

Written by Faith2014 on January 6, 2025.

The feast of Epiphany (“manifestation”) concludes the Christmas season with a celebration of God’s glory revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. In Isaiah that glory is proclaimed for all nations and people. Like the light of the star that guided the magi to Jesus, the light of Christ reveals who we are: children of God. We are sent out to be beacons of the light of Christ, sharing the good news of God’s love to all people.

Accompanying Scripture:
Isaiah 60:1-6, Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14, Matthew 2:1-12

FLC Sermons

Epiphany of our Lord

00:00 / 11:25

Christmas Eve

Written by Faith2014 on December 30, 2024.

In winter’s deepest night, we welcome the light of the Christ child. Isaiah declares that the light of the long-promised king will illumine the world and bring endless peace and justice. The angels declare that Jesus’ birth is good and joyful news for everyone, including lowly shepherds. Filled with the light that shines in our lives, we go forth to share the light of Christ with the whole world.

Accompanying Scripture:
Isaiah 9:2-7, Psalm 96, Luke 2:1-20

FLC Sermons

Christmas Eve

00:00 / 12:08

Love

Written by Faith2014 on December 23, 2024.

Love magnifies the beloved. It notices the unnoticed. It heralds the unheralded. It calls down blessings on what has been ignored and overlooked. Love is a cherishing attention that requires our whole hearts and our whole selves. (More Than Words: Weekly Theme Overview. © 2024 Barn Geese Worship. Used by permission.)

Accompanying Scripture:
Corinthians 13:1-14 , Luke 1:39-55

FLC Sermons

Love

00:00 / 13:55

Joy

Written by Faith2014 on December 16, 2024.

Joy is a time traveler: it catches God’s future vision for justice, peace, and restoration and superimposes it on the present landscape. Joy celebrates the future as if it’s already happening while getting down to work to make it a reality. It can coexist alongside other experiences, even sorrow and pain. Joy ebbs and flows, sometimes flooding our lives with intensity, sometimes much harder to find. Joy comes hand-in-hand with God’s liberation as God sets God’s people free. (Barn Geese)

Accompanying Scripture:
Philippians 4:4-7, Isaiah 12:2-6, Luke 3:7-18

FLC Sermons

Joy

00:00 / 14:22

Peace

Written by Faith2014 on December 9, 2024.

Sometimes we settle for peace as an absence of violence or tension. John the Baptist and other prophets call us to a more robust peace: one that brings safety, refuge, and rest to the vulnerable. Peace enacts justice, and it requires the hard work of constructing new roads through the wilderness. (Barne Geese)

Accompanying Scripture:
Malachi 3:1-4 , Luke 1:68-79, Luke 3:1-6

FLC Sermons

Peace

00:00 / 12:05

Hope

Written by Faith2014 on December 2, 2024.

Our culture often speaks of hope as either a Pollyannaish positivism or a measured optimism. Viewed through the lens of the cross, hope becomes an agent of empowering transformation instead. It does not deny suffering. Hope acknowledges that the present conditions are desperate, and it depends on God, with whom nothing is impossible. Hope is honest about suffering and urgent about God’s future. (From Barn Geese)

Accompanying Scripture:
Jeremiah 33:14-16, Psalm 25:1-10, Luke 21:25-36

FLC Sermons

Hope

00:00 / 11:36

Justice

Written by Faith2014 on November 25, 2024.

We often define justice as people getting what they deserve, but Jesus shows us a kind of justice that is more interested in what is necessary and loving than in what is fair. Jesus’ justice is ridiculously unbalanced: the Human One takes all of the hits, and humanity gets all of the benefits. Once we’ve experienced the liberation this kind of justice brings, it calls us to lives of even greater responsibility.

Accompanying Scripture:
Daniel 7:9-10,13-14, Psalm 93, John 18:33-38

FLC Sermons

Justice

00:00 / 14:36

Faith

Written by Faith2014 on November 18, 2024.

“Great is thy faithfulness!” sings a favorite hymn. We encounter God’s faithfulness whenever God meets us in baptismal waters, in bread and cup, in the word proclaimed, and in sins forgiven. On the other hand, our culture often frames faith as something we force into existence by sheer willpower: “Just have a little faith!” If our faith is a manifestation of God’s own faithfulness instead, then it is communal. It is tied to regular practices, and it asks us to show ourselves to God, just like God shows Godself to us.

Accompanying Scripture:
1 Samuel 1:4-20 , 1 Samuel 2:1-10, Mark 13:1-8

FLC Sermons

Faith

00:00 / 15:50

25th Sunday after Pentecost

Written by Faith2014 on November 12, 2024.

Widows are visible everywhere in today’s readings. Jesus denounces those scribes who pray impressive prayers but devour widows’ houses. He commends the poor widow who in his view gave far more than the major donors. Jesus doesn’t see her simply as an object of compassion or charity. She, like the widow of Zarephath who shares her last bit of food with Elijah, does something of great importance. Today we are invited to reflect on what we have to offer, what God can do with what we bring and how do we lift up those on the margins?

Accompanying Scripture:
1 King 17:8-16, Psalm 146, Mark 12:38-44

FLC Sermons

25th Sunday after Pentecost

00:00 / 18:31

Archives: Episode

Faith Lutheran Church

Worship