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

Sunday Sermon – Not My Fault

Genesis 3:8-15

The Word of God – through which the Holy Spirit will be guiding our hearts and minds today – is recorded in our reading from Genesis. (3:8-15)

It is a familiar story to all of us, as it speaks to the origin of mankind. In this story, the only fruit in the Garden of Eden that is forbidden is that which hangs from the tree in the midst of the garden, but Adam and Eve eat from it anyway. So, God first approaches man and asks if he has eaten the forbidden fruit and man responds, “well, the woman gave it to me.” In other words, “it’s not my fault.” God then turns to the woman and asks, “what have you done?” And woman responds, “well, the serpent deceived me.” And again she was saying, “it’s not my fault.”

King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes “There is nothing new under the sun,” but many in the modern world may disagree. They consider the modern world more advanced, more sophisticated. We have devices and technology un-imagined years ago. But has the world – or the people in it – really changed? Are people innately different now than years ago? Has human nature fundamentally changed because we have cars and space shuttles, televisions and computers? Have we learned anything about ourselves from those who lived long ago?

Motivational speaker Travis Robertson writes: consider the statements below and see if any of them resonate with you:

  • It’s not my fault that I’m overweight. My parents were overweight and it runs in the family.
  • It’s not my fault that I have anger issues. My dad physically abused me when I was a kid.
  • It’s not my fault that I lie a lot. I had to in order to survive growing up.
  • It’s not my fault that I lost my job. My company was mismanaged and went out of business.
  • It’s not my fault that I’m addicted to pain pills. I am in constant pain after the accident.
  • It’s not my fault that I..

…well you get the idea.

He goes on to say that all of these things may in fact be true. Many things that happen to us may not be our fault. It’s unfortunate that we live in a world where things happen to us that are outside of our control. Kids are abused and abandoned. They grow up in terrible environments with terrible parents. People are permanently injured in accidents that weren’t their fault. Lives are altered sometimes through no fault of our own.

But here’s the reality: just because something isn’t our fault, that doesn’t mean it’s not our responsibility.

You Betcha! (4)Nuh Uh.(7)

Sunday Sermon – Memorial Day

Today's sermon

Hebrews 12:1-10

  • I’d like to share something I found on the internet:
  • It is the VETERAN, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.
  • It is the VETERAN, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
  • It is the VETERAN, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
  • It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer, who has given us the right to assemble.
  • It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
  • It is the VETERAN, not the politician, who has given us the right to vote.
  • It is the VETERAN who salutes the Flag,
  • It is the VETERAN who serves under the Flag.
  • It is the VETERAN who rests under the Flag.

Did you notice those last three refer to our flag? We talk about our flag and we talk about the colors of courage – but did you know that when the Stars and Stripes were officially adopted in 1777 that the red, white and blue used for the flag had no particular meaning? Those colors did, however, have specific meaning in the Great Seal of the United States.

Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, while reporting to congress on the seal, had this to say: “The colors of the pales – the vertical stripes – are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence; Red, hardiness and valor; and Blue, the color of the chief – the broad band above the stripes – signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice.”

You Betcha! (9)Nuh Uh.(0)

Sunday Sermon – Palm Sunday

Rejoice Over Your King - Zechariah 9:9

Today marks the opening of a very serious and yet enjoyable time of year for Christians.

It’s the week we call Holy Week. We have been planning events, making arrangements and preparing ourselves for this special season of worship. And we call it “Holy Week” because we celebrate the events which led up to the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

It is this series of events which point to the most significant time in human history – a point which all prior history had looked forward to with expectancy, and all history since has looked back upon with wonder.

Certainly the ministry of Jesus Christ spanned more than a week, but this one week in His life was filled with so much significance. Every moment was driving toward the culmination of His rising following His propitiatory work on the cross.

Holy Week begins today with the very memorable scene from Scripture.

You Betcha! (12)Nuh Uh.(0)

Sunday Sermon – The Adventure

Acts 2:42-47

On April 11, 1970, 3 men set off on an adventure. They were the Apollo 13 crew, and their adventure was to be the 3rd manned moon-landing. Their spacecraft looked like this drawing. The main module, the Odyssey, was designed to be their home for the journey to and from the moon, and attached to that was the lunar module Aquarius, that would allow two of them to land on and lift off the moon.

A little over two days into the flight, they contacted NASA with these now famous words: “Houston, we have a problem” Now, that that turned out be something of an understatement. What they’d had was an explosion. Exposed wires had set off an explosion that destroyed one oxygen tank and damaged a second.

They still had enough oxygen to breathe, but those oxygen tanks were also used to power the fuel cells in the main craft. With those tanks gone, the fuel cells would be increasingly depleted to the point where the crew would never be able to make reentry into earth’s atmosphere.

They realized that if they could power down the Odyssey and move into the landing module they just MIGHT make it home. But that created another problem. The landing module wasn’t designed to hold 3 men that long. So, CO2 remained the biggest issue.

You Betcha! (6)Nuh Uh.(1)

Sunday Sermon April 30, 2017

Hope: Lost and Found

Luke 24:13-35

Years ago, the producers of Sesame Street faced a dilemma. Will Lee, the actor who played Mr. Hooper, passed away, and the producers had to decide how to communicate the concept of death to the 10 million children who watched the show.

Child psychologists suggested they NOT say, “Mr. Hooper got sick and died,” because children get sick and they didn’t want them to think that they would automatically die. They also suggested NOT to say, “Mr. Hooper got old and died,” because little children think of their parents as being old.

The PBS execs wanted them to avoid religious issues and NOT say, “Mr. Hooper died and went to Heaven.”

So the show’s producers decided to say just a few basics: He’s gone, he won’t be back, and he’ll be missed. And they decided to use Big Bird to gently set the matter before the children. The show was aired on Thanksgiving Day so parents could watch it with their children.

Big Bird came out and said he had a picture for Mr. Hooper and he couldn’t wait to see him.

One of the cast said, “Big Bird, remember, we told you that Mr. Hooper died.”

You Betcha! (5)Nuh Uh.(0)