Daniel LeCouteur

Pastor Daniel LeCouteur is the presiding pastor of the Family of Faith Lutheran Church. 1646 Maple Ridge Way Traverse City, MI 49686 Mailing address: PO Box 7061 Traverse City, Michigan 49696 If you wish to contribute to Family of Faith, please use this link here

Philosophy

Sunday Sermon – Magic in the Faucet

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Matthew 17:14-21

Thomas Edward Lawrence was born on August 16, 1888 in Wales. Popularly known as Lawrence of Arabia, Lawrence became famous for his exploits as a British Military liaison to the Arab Revolt during the First World War.

The desert raids of British officer Lawrence and his Arab rebels tied down many Turkish troops who could have been fighting the main British armies in the Middle East. Lawrence of Arabia’s struggle against the Turks during World War I was classic guerrilla warfare, and his personal account has become a classic of world literature. And, of course, many of you have seen the movie about the life of Lawrence of Arabia.

Lawrence wrote about his Arabian adventures in The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. During the war, Lawrence formed close friendships with many of the Sheiks of Arabia. After the war, he brought some of these Sheiks back to England to show his appreciation for their support against the Turkish domination.

They had a wonderful visit, appeared before the Joint House of Commons and Parliament and had an audience with the Queen. On the last night of their visit, Lawrence offered them just about anything they wanted to take back with them to their desert homes. They led him up to the hotel room, into the bathroom, and pointed to the faucets in the bathtub and said that they wanted to take faucets with them so that they would magically provide them with running water in the deserts.

They didn’t realize that the faucets were superficial. Behind them was plumbing, a hot water heater, an energy source that heated the water, a city main that supplied the water, and from the city main went a line to an outside source of water!

The magic was not in the faucet! It was what was behind the faucet that gave the water!

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All the Other Stuff, Opinion, Philosophy

Sunday Sermon – A Defense Of Marriage

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Genesis 2:18-25

Traditional marriage is under attack like never before.

People not only in America but all over the world are debating and arguing over what a marriage is and what a marriage isn’t. As Christians it doesn’t really matter what our opinions of marriage are or whether or not we think that it should be re-defined. What should matter to believers like us is what the Bible and God says about marriage.

The Bible clearly defines marriage and anyone who cares to read it for themselves will find there really are no gray areas even though some people will attempt to say that there are. Marriage is biblically defined as a holy union ordained by God to be between one man and one woman. No human being, no act of congress, nor any society created marriage. Marriage goes all the way back to Genesis. In Genesis 1:27-28 we read this: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And in our first reading this morning we read this: So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

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Michigan, Michigan Politics, Opinion, Philosophy

Sunday Sermon – Faith and Freedom

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1 Peter 4:12-19

This week, America will pause for Memorial Day, a day when we honor those who have fallen in defense of our freedom. But Freedom is more threatened now than at any time since General Howe nearly defeated Washington’s army on the shores of Long Island in 1776. In an effort to protect us from a deadly virus, governors from all 50 states shut down their economies and issued stay at home orders to their citizenship.

Today, I want to illustrate the Christian faith as the foundation of our freedom. I will begin with two statements, followed by examples that explain and support those statements. The first statement is that America’s Freedom and Greatness is built upon a Christian Foundation. I understand that secularists decry this statement. They believe that our nation’s greatness is due to other factors such as geography, our laws, or our democracy. But other nations have all of those same elements.

Some might go so far as to say that religions contributed to our greatness. But again, look at other religious nations. In fact, look at the most religious nations in the world today, where Sharia Law is practiced, and you will not find greatness or freedom, you will only find oppression and poverty. Yet, here in America, greatness and supremacy in economics is powered and influenced, not by religions, but by its Christian foundation.

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Michigan, Philosophy

Sunday Sermon – Reformation Angel

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Revelation 14:6-7

Have you ever had a complete stranger come up to you in the mall or at the supermarket, look at your baby daughter or son, and say something like, “Oooh, isn’t he or she an angel?”

What do you suppose they mean when they say that? In what ways was your baby like an angel? Perhaps people have the notion that angels are pretty and cute, and that’s the impression that one gets when they see an angel picture in a Christian book store. So in that sense, a baby might remind them of an angel. Of course we might also refer to someone as an angel who is unusually kind to other people (“they are such an angel!”). But I doubt we have ever had someone come up to our baby and say, “Wow, what a…a…messenger!” And yet that’s what both the Hebrew and Greek words for “angel” really mean: a messenger.

The Book of Revelation, from where our first reading is taken, is the only book of prophecy in the New Testament. And in his vision of forthcoming events, John sees an angel coming in the future. Some have supposed that this angel is a prophecy of Martin Luther. In fact, when Luther died in 1546, his pastor used this very text to base his funeral sermon on – because Luther was an angel. He was a messenger of God.

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All the Other Stuff, Michigan, Philosophy

Sunday Sermon – Fearfully And Wonderfully Made

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Psalm 139:1-18

Most of you know that I am involved with Michigan’s Heartbeat initiative and in the ensuing weeks I will be encouraging all of us to participate in Life Chain Sunday. As such, the Holy Spirit has put it on my heart to reflect on the sacredness of human life. The child in the womb, the elderly, the weak, the mentally challenged, and those with physical limitations are all precious in God’s sight.

Our Heavenly Father is the giver of life. Genesis 1:26-27 reads: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Or as the psalmist put it, we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Human life is a gift that should be celebrated and protected. Unfortunately that is not always the case. The right to life is an issue that sparks heated and sometimes hostile debate. The issue of abortion is one that divides families and friends. Some people are pro-choice while others are pro-life and the argument as to when life begins rages on.

I believe, with all that is in me, that life begins at conception. Many disagree with me, but the reality is, my opinion does not matter and neither does theirs! In fact, it doesn’t matter what the congress says, it doesn’t matter what the President says, it doesn’t matter what Planned Parenthood says, it doesn’t even matter what the Supreme Court has to say on the subject… what really matters is what God has to say about the value of human life.

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Michigan, Philosophy

Sunday Sermon – Render Unto Caesar

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Who owns the vineyard.

Luke 20:1-24

One of the questions I get, as a pastor, is how I go about writing a sermon. For me, it begins with a review of the scriptures we have been given for the week. I think all of you know that we are a tradition that uses the common lectionary, which is a three year cycle of readings, that includes an Old Testament reading, a Psalm, a New Testament Reading and a Gospel reading. I start by searching for one of the readings that might have a relevant message within in it.

When I read through the Gospel lesson, however, which was only verses 9-20, I was a little confused because the parable by itself made no sense at all. So, I pulled out one of my bibles and began reading from the beginning of the chapter and continued on a few verses beyond the parable. This is what I just read to you, and when I had the context of the situation it made much more sense to me. It was then that I could see that Jesus was begging the question, “who owns the vineyard?”

The chief priests, the scribes and the elders knew they had been bested by this question so they plotted further to trip Jesus up. So they send spies who pose the question of taxes. I am going to actually begin with that question, because it offers us a little context of the day.

The Jews of Jesus’ day were vexed at living under a foreign, pagan government, whose rule was enforced by an army of occupation. The Jews paid a land tax, an income tax, a poll tax, an import tax, and a tax on grain, wine, and oil. We may think we are heavily taxed today, but things were far worse in first century Israel. Well that is unless, of course, our current governor gets her way.

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Michigan, Philosophy

Sunday Sermon – Why Christmas?

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Worrying about the actual date of Christmas may miss the point of it.

“Why Christmas?” Why does the entire world seem to at least acknowledge that the 25th of December is Christmas?

For just a moment I’d like us to ignore the obvious – that it is the celebration of Christ’s birth, because if we were totally honest with ourselves, that isn’t what it means to the vast majority of people who celebrate it. I mean, look around us. This is a very festive looking room, but what don’t you see? I’d like to take a few moments to examine the history that surrounds some of the traditions of Christmas.

Many people realize the date of Christmas was originally used by pagans to celebrate the passing of the winter solstice. They knew that by this time in December that the shortest day and longest night had passed, and with that came the promise of longer days, shorter nights and eventually spring.  The date of December 25th, as the celebration of Christ’s birth, however, was first seen in a Roman calendar dating from approximately 336 AD.

But it is very unlikely that Christ was born during the winter months. Why not? Good question. In Luke 2:8 we read: “And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night.” Now, the usual time for the sheep to be kept in the fields surrounding Bethlehem is after the last of the winter rains in April and before they start up again in November. So, if there were shepherds in the fields then the birth likely occurred between April and November.

But December wasn’t always the choice for celebrating Christ’s birthday. In the two hundred years after the death of Christ, Christians celebrated his birth on January 6, April 19, May 20 and several other dates. A few years ago a British physicist and astronomer, David Hughes, calculated that the date of Christ’s birth was September 17th, 7 BC.

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Michigan, Philosophy

Sunday Sermon – The Oft Forgotten Commandment

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Mark 12:28-37

Many years ago a shabbily dressed boy trudged several miles through the snowy streets of Chicago, determined to attend a Bible class conducted by D. L. Moody.

When he arrived, he was asked, “Why did you come to a Sunday school so far away? Why didn’t you go to one of the churches near your home?” He answered simply, “Because I find love here.”

As we think about that story, we need to ask ourselves whether others can say the same about our families and our church, and it is because we all struggle with loving God and loving others. But love is the greatest need of humans and it also the greatest obligation of humans. Let me repeat that: love is the greatest need of humans and it also the greatest obligation of humans.

If you can recall the last couple of Gospel readings – and don’t feel too badly if you don’t, because I find that a hard thing to do myself – but if you do you would recall that Jesus was continuously being opposed by the religious authorities. He was opposed by the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, and in last week’s gospel by a group of Jews.

He taught them; “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” But they didn’t understand, they didn’t believe. And in today’s gospel Jesus is tested by a scribe. Now, if you aren’t familiar with scribes, they were the persons who were responsible for copying the sacred texts so the next generation would have them available. Scribes were highly educated and were meticulous at their task.

Just to illustrate how meticulous they were: I am sure you have all heard of the Dead Sea scrolls.

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Michigan, Opinion, Philosophy

Sunday Sermon – God & Marriage

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Genesis 2:18-25

How does one define marriage?

  • Well, to some – it is “the quickest way to kill a good romance.”
  • To a live-in girlfriend, it might be a piece of paper that guarantees she will get some money for all the time she invested in a bad relationship.
  • To others it is the answer to most of their problems – and still others it is where most of the problems began.

Turning to our first reading, however, we find that God conducted the first wedding in the Garden of Eden. Hence, we find this possible definition: It is the union of one man and one woman by the will of God into a growing relationship of love for life.

Biblically speaking, marriage fulfills four purposes God has for mankind.

  • The first is to populate the earth. In Genesis 1:28 God tells Adam and Eve to “be fruitful and multiply.”
  • The second is to avoid loneliness. In our opening verse we find that for the first time in the creation account something is NOT good. God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.”
  • The third purpose is to satisfy sexual desires. In 1 Corinthians 7:9 Paul says, “. . .it is better to marry than to burn with passion.”
  • And the fourth is to build character so as to produce godly children. This is found in Malachi 2:15, “Has not the Lord made them one?” And why one? Because He was seeking godly offspring.”

Of course, one of the the most damaging situations for any relationship is one’s own demeanor. If one is content or happy with their own life, then they will most likely extend that contentment or happiness into the relationship.

And it is also true that most relationships benefit from both persons bringing this type of attitude into the relationship.

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Michigan, Philosophy

State Of Our Union

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Isaiah 32:1-8; Matthew 5:1-18

This Independence day message is from this last Sunday’s Sermon

Well, we celebrate Independence Day this week.

It is always a very patriotic time, at least for most of the nation. So, I have once again changed our readings around so that I might talk about the State of the Union. And I am going to start with the Pledge of Allegiance.

The first thing we should know about the pledge is that it was not composed by the Founding Fathers. It was written especially for children in the summer of 1892 to commemorate that year’s celebration of Columbus Day.

The pledge first appeared in print on September 8, in The Youth’s Companion, an educational publication. In its original form, it read: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which is stands — one nation indivisible– with liberty and justice for all.”

Its author was Francis Bellamy, an assistant editor of The Youth’s Companion, who intended it for a one-time recitation by public school children across the country. But its immediate popularity transformed it first into an annual Columbus Day tradition – and then into a daily classroom ritual. It became one of the earliest verses memorized by students.

Since its debut, Bellamy’s pledge has undergone two major alterations. In 1923, the National Flag Conference of the American Legion replaced the somewhat ambiguously personal “my Flag” wording with the more explicitly patriotic “the Flag of the United States of America.” And in 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill that added the words “Under God.”

The pledge of allegiance, then, comes to us in its present form after having been shaped and transformed over time. So too, ours is a nation which has had its character shaped by specific factors over time.

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