Risen Christ Lutheran Church, Plymouth MI

06/29/2026

SCAM WARNING

Someone is sending fraudulent emails pretending to be Rev. Rennie Kaufmann.

The fake email address currently being used is:

[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

This is NOT Pastor Rennie’s email address. This is NOT from Risen Christ Lutheran Church.

The scam message asks people to buy Sephora or Macy’s gift cards, scratch off the codes, take pictures of the cards, and send the pictures back. It also asks people to keep the request confidential.

This is a scam.

Pastor Rennie and Risen Christ Lutheran Church will never ask you by email or text to secretly purchase gift cards, scratch off codes, send pictures of gift cards, or keep a financial request confidential.

At this point, we do not have evidence that Pastor Rennie’s actual email account was hacked. The fraudulent messages appear to have been sent from a fake Gmail account using publicly available information to make the message look legitimate. We are continuing to check and take appropriate precautions.

If you receive one of these messages:

Do not reply.
Do not buy gift cards.
Do not send card numbers, photos, receipts, money, or personal information.
Mark the message as phishing or spam.
Contact Pastor Rennie or the church office only through a phone number or email address you already know is legitimate.

You may report the fake Gmail account here:
https://support.google.com/mail/contact/abuse

You may also report fraud here:
https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/

If you already purchased gift cards or sent card numbers, contact the gift card company immediately and keep the cards and receipts.

Please help us spread the word, especially to those who may not see this post right away.

Protect your community by reporting fraud, scams, and bad business practices

05/08/2026

Monday, May 11th at 7 pm is our annual “baby shower” to benefit The Luke Project 52 Clinic of Flint. Come have some fun making ultrasound blessing cards for expecting mothers. But more importantly, come learn about the work this amazing organization is doing in Flint. If you find yourself able to, attached to this post is their wishlist.

Join us in the welcome area of our church.
46250 Ann Arbor Road in Plymouth.

03/03/2026

THIS FRIDAY NIGHT! Come on out... Let us know you're coming and how many...

02/28/2026

WE ALL NEED HEART SURGERY - There was a boy in Ethiopia whose heart was failing. Not metaphorically. Literally. Rheumatic fever had eaten away at his valves. With every beat, his heart was losing the ability to push life through his body. Without surgery, he would die. But there were no surgeons in his village. No machines. No way forward. Until one day, mercy intervened.
After a heart surgery in Ethiopia that was failing due to infection, another heart surgeon opened his chest here in the United States. That heart surgeon ended up adopting the young boy. During that surgery, a heart-lung machine took over. Blood was rerouted. Skilled hands repaired what disease had destroyed and he lived. Years later, he would stand in an operating room operating the very machine that once kept him alive.

It’s a powerful story. But here is why I tell it: Scripture says every one of us has a failing heart. Not the muscle in your chest - the heart the Bible speaks about. “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick.” That is not exaggeration. That is diagnosis.
We are not spiritually bruised. We are not merely misdirected. We are not slightly off course. We are born spiritually dead to God... and through life, dealing with deadly, rebellious sin. Dead hearts do not cooperate. Dead hearts do not assist. Dead hearts do not improve.

And that is where the Gospel enters. Christ is not a therapist giving advice to the morally struggling. He is the Divine Surgeon.
On the cross, He entered the operating room of judgment. He allowed His own heart to be pierced. He took into Himself the infection of our sin. He let the wrath of God fall on Him.
And for three days, His heart lay still. But on the third day, it beat again. Resurrection. Not repair, but victory. And here is the miracle: That victory is delivered to you.

In Baptism, the old failing heart is drowned and a new one rises with Christ. In Absolution, the verdict is spoken: forgiven. In the Supper, Christ places His living body and blood into hearts that would otherwise collapse.

This is not religious symbolism. This is divine intervention.
You have been on the table. You have been cut open by grace. You have been given a heart that beats because Christ’s heart beats.
And now here is the question that presses on my soul as a pastor: How can we who have been raised from death be indifferent to the dying? How can we debate endlessly and never weep for every neighbor... every co-worker... every ideological opponent... every person posting something that makes your blood boil... every hard-to-love, EGR person ("Extra Grace Required")?

Behind the anger... behind the pride... behind the confusion... There is a failing heart... and only one Physician.

Church, may we never forget what it felt like when we received our fatal diagnosis under the Law, then to be under the knife of grace and mercy of the Gospel. May we never forget the stillness of our own spiritual death before our own surgery... when and where we were saved and made alive.

Oh, God give us holy urgency... to speak clearly, to love boldly, and to point relentlessly to the One who alone can make the heart new. Amen. - Pr. Rennie Kaufmann

02/24/2026

THIS SUNDAY: THE EVENING ENCOUNTER WITH NICODEMUS. Our congregation will be hearing a script (not a drama... just a different way with the sermon) Pr. Rennie wrote based on the Gospel... and what could have been going through his head that night... tied in with strong LAW-GOSPEL stuff from the other readings... And then, they'll hear something along these lines --- Nicodemus came at night, burdened by religion. You and I come burdened by different things... sin and its effects... guilt, pride, fear, fatigue, doubt. But we do not need another voice telling us what to do. We need the Son of Man lifted up for us. And He has been. For you. That whoever believes --- not whoever performs --- whoever believes --- shall not perish but have eternal life. ❤

02/22/2026

MY CONGREGATION WILL BASICALLY HEAR THIS TOMORROW...

His obedience counts as yours. His record replaces yours. His righteousness covers yours. His victory is credited to you.

And that means this: When the devil whispers, “Did God really say?” you answer, “Yes. And Christ has already answered for me.” - Pr. Rennie