7-30-2026

Good Morning!

       Mark 16:6; “And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.”

    There was a small group gathered at one of the local assisted living centers. The “birthday boy” had turned 101 years-old and they were celebrating. He was still very active and enjoyed playing cards with anyone who would play. (I didn’t, he played for blood!). Everyone was asking him about all the changes that he had witnessed in his lifetime. He witnessed many events and changes. He witnessed a world war (served in it, Thank you sir!) many “conflicts. He grew up during the Great Depression.

    He experienced 18 presidents, and 24 South Dakota governors. He witnessed the TVA, the CCC, and the growth of Social Security. The rural electrification and the coming of the telephone, the computer, international flights, the space program with a man walking on the moon and the birth of 5 children, 18 grandchildren, 45 great grandchildren, and 7 great, great grandchildren. So, some of the staff were trying to get him to tell them about the greatest event. He said that is easy, “the greatest event that I have ever experienced was the Resurrection of Jesus! That changed me forever!”

    I have to confess, I didn’t see that coming; but after he said it, I should have known. He is a man of unshakable faith. The real amazement came from some of the staff. To them, church was something “you did.” You checked off the box that said, “I went to church, I am good for this week.” He lives it, every day. He clings to his faith; he breathes his faith, and his faith lives and breathes in him. He will interact with the staff and the other residents, and his faith will show. He is fully confident that Jesus is risen from the dead and now lives and reigns to all eternity.

    Christ is risen!! He is risen indeed!! Does that cry speak of a whole new world to you? It should!! Jesus conquered sin, death, and the devil. He paid for our sins so that we would not have to pay. He opened the door of heaven to all believers. We no longer need to fear death. It is now only a door, or a good nap. One day, God will awaken everyone from this nap, and we will enter into his eternal perfect creation to live with Him for eternity. Our whole way of looking at the world should be completely different because of this phrase. The collusion of the sinfulness of this world, our own sinfulness, our own guilt, and fears do not need to dry us to despair. In all things, Christ is the victor, and we are more than conquerors through Him. Jesus came to give us life; let us go forth in the peace of the Lord!

Gracious Lord and Savior, on this day you opened the door of your most gracious kingdom to all believers. Give us the joy of your salvation. Lead us to proclaim your saving name to all the world that all may know your love. Defend us, protect us, and keep us under your sheltering wings until the day of your glorious return and our entry into your eternal kingdom. Through Jesus, our risen and reigning KING, AMEN!

God’s Peace!!

Pastor Bret

7-29-2026

Good Morning!

               Isaiah 40:8; “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”

       I admit it. At a very certain and basic level I am a cynical, skeptical pessimist.  This is especially true with almost any guarantee that comes with a product that I purchase.  I feel a little sorry for the poor salesperson who tries to sell me the “extended warranty.”  If they ask me if I want it, I say “no, thank you.”  If the salesperson is smart enough to let it go everything will be fine but it never takes long if they keep trying to sell me the “you simply can’t live without this warranty;” I start to get a little growly.  One time, I didn’t buy the product I took up to the sales counter because the gal won’t take no for an answer when asking about the warranty.

    I didn’t used to be such a cynical, skeptical pessimist.  I used to follow the rules.  I kept the sales receipt.  I kept the original box.  I sent in the paperwork.  Yet after a few fails, I could never remember where I put the box or where the sales receipt.  A couple of times, the company went out of business.  A couple of times, the store where I bought it went out of business and there was no way to return it to the “point of purchase.” A couple of times, the salesman never stopped again to make sure everything was working right.  It took a few times of the “lifetime warranty” to fall through that I stop believing in guarantees.

    This is part of what our verse is telling us.  The verse before this tells us that people are like the grass.  People fade away.  The promises, the guarantees, the “absolute certainties” that many a man claims to speak or possess tend to fade away.  We see that all around us.  Are eggs healthy or unhealthy this week?  Is coffee healthy or unhealthy this time around?  When I was in high school in the mid 1970’s, scientists told us we were entering the next ice age; we were experiencing global cooling; now we have global warming.  They may be right or they may be wrong but I am not going to get too excited because they will certainly change.

    Man’s thoughts may be correct or incorrect but God’s Word stands the firm forever.  God’s Word never fails.  Through His Word, God promises and delivers to us eternal life.  He promises and delivers to come into our life and to bring to us healing.  He promises and delivers to bring about the restoration of his creation to perfect completion.  We are his people; we are safe within his loving embrace.  God’s Word is forever; we can trust that to be true.  God has always kept his promises and he always will.

Father of all mercy, you alone stand forever.  You alone are the only truth as all others wither away.  Your Word stands forever.  In it we have hope.  We ask that you guard and protect those who are listening to the false promises of this world and are confused and lost.  Bring them safely back into your loving kingdom.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

7-28-2026

Good Morning!

  1 John 4:18; “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”

       I remember as a kid I would stay up late on Friday nights and watch the old movies that used to come on after the 10:00 local news.  They were usually from the 1950’s and earlier; a lot of times they were black and white.  Once in a while they would be foreign.  This was my first experience with the mouths moving but not matching the words.  There were a variety of movie types.

    One that I vividly remember starred Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, and Peter Cushing.  It was entitled “Scream and Scream Again.”  I sat there and watched the whole thing and then sat in my bedroom with the light on all night.  That was one of the scariest movies that I have ever watched.  I still think the old movies are scarier than the new ones.  The old ones relied on camera angles, careful editing, and solid acting.  Today it relies on computer graphics and effects.  Yet as I watched that old Vincent Price movie; I was very afraid.

     There may be different times when you were very afraid and did not have anything to do with a movie.  Sometimes the most fearful events occur in real life; events that can cause us to leave a light on all night and to sit in fear.  It might be a sudden illness or a sudden death.  It might be a prolonged illness.  It might be a loss of a job.  For some it is actually a stretch of time where their life is going fairly smoothly.  These folks are just waiting for life to turn against them.  We live in fear and we live in fear because we fear punishment.  We fear punishment for sins we have committed.  We know these sins and the devil knows these sins and he reminds us of them any chance he gets.  We live in fear.

    Yet Jesus came to remove the fear.  Jesus came as God’s perfect love faced all the challenges that we face, even facing down the devil and death itself with God’s perfect love.  In that perfect love, whole and complete, God displayed that perfect love by giving the victory that Jesus earned over death and the devil to us.  He gives us the victory and along with that he gives us love and peace.

    Yet since we are not yet perfect, we still experience bouts of fear.  We still fear even when we know that we have nothing to fear.  When this fear occurs, we can only look to God, clinging solely and totally to his grace.  When we cling to God, through faith, we trust his perfect love to conquer our fears.  It is what we have and it is all we need.  Our imperfect love will fail but thanks be to God that he gives to us the victory.

Father, when my fears arise, lead me to look only unto you.  Guide me by your Spirit to rely on you.  Be with those who are in fear right now.  Calm their fears, give them peace.  Lead them into your wondrous light.  This we ask in the precious name of Jesus our risen Lord, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

7-27-2026

Good Morning!

             Luke 17:5; “The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

           A number of years ago, I coached kid baseball.  I really enjoyed working with the kids and trying to get them to have some level of success when they played the game.  When they were quite young, the 5- and 6-year-olds, they were easily encouraged.  I remember one young guy who tried to catch a pop fly.  He ran in about 5 steps and the ball landed about 15 feet behind where he started from.  He had a dejected look and I told him he made a good try and he would catch the next one.  He smiled and said he would.  Yet as the players got older, it got tougher to convince them.  One of the greatest principles that I coached with was the idea that you have to have faith in yourself.  If you believe you will fail then you probably will.  You need to believe in your skill to have a chance.  Most of the players came to understand this but some never believed in themselves.  In some ways, our faith life works the same way.

    Doubt attacks us in many ways.  One way is that doubt can feed our own selfishness.  Faith requires that we trust others, in this case we must trust God, by doubting, we make ourselves the only one we trust even when we know we are too weak.  This is part of the devil’s deception and part of our sinful nature causing us to look inward and not outward.

    Doubting becomes easy especially if we neglect listening to God and his Word.  Even a few days away can allow the devil to ask, “did God really say?” and we are left wondering, doubting what we know to be true.  These doubts continue to feed our inward-looking curve; and our doubt grows and our faith weakens.

    Yet what is almost the most devastating thing is that doubting can be contagious.  As those around us doubt, we begin to question as well.  If the person beside us has doubts, it can cause us to think that we may be wrong and cause us to lose confidence.  It can cause us to lose faith.  Doubt is easily one of the devil’s favorite tools.  It is equal to envy and greed.  It feeds our selfishness and weakens our trust in God’s promises.

    This is why we need to cry to our Lord, “Increase my faith!”  We need to constantly renew our listening to his promises.  We need to constantly recharge our faith by reading his Words pf grace, hearing his Word spoken to us and through the regular reception of his sacrament.  God gives us the tools to strengthen the faith he gives us and we must use them.  Doubt is a powerful tool that the devil loves to use but it cannot overcome the wonders of God’s incredible grace.  Even as we doubt God’s mercy is actively seeking us to come back to him and trust his promise to protect us and to never abandon us.  Our faith will strengthen as long as we always remember that God is greater than any battle and stronger than any doubt we may have.  Just keep praying for an increase in faith.

Father, build our faith.  Strengthen us by your Spirit and remove our doubt.  Guard us with your mercy.  Send your Spirit of hope to those who struggle with doubt and fear.  Bring them home to your loving arms where they may be safe and at peace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret         

7-26-2026

Good Morning!

   Isaiah 41:9; “you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off.”

       “Mr. Irrelevant.” This is the title they give to the very last person selected in the NFL draft.  The 256^th player drafted to play in the NFL.  You get the impression that the janitor is sweeping the floor; the lights are being shut off; they are taking down the signs; the reporters are gone except for the one who fell asleep in the back; the draft is over except for this last pick.  This guy rarely lasts more than a couple of weeks and then he is cut from the team.  He only gets picked because this is the number of picks that are made.  The first 100 or so picks will all get a good opportunity to play professional football but this guy usually goes home to his normal job.  He will always have a little memory of the chance to play but the reality is that he is not good enough to play.

    That is how the devil wants you to think of yourself; as “Mr. Irrelevant.”  First, he wants you to think that you are not even close to being good enough for salvation and, if you have a shot at all, it won’t last.  As soon as God knows you, he will cut you from the team.  The devil wants you to always think of past mistakes and past failures.  The devil wants you to think “if God knows how bad I really am; he’ll kick me out tomorrow.”  The devil wants you to think that your only chance is to hide from God and be left alone.  The devil wants to lead or drive you to the ends of the earth, to get away from God.  The devil wants you to run and to never stop running, looking for some place to hide.

    Yet God does not view you as “Mr. Irrelevant.”  God chose you and he will not cast you off. 

He sent Jesus, born as a man to live the life of a man.  He ate, he drank, he slept, he felt sadness, he knew pain and sorrow.  Jesus knows every fear, pain, sorrow, disappointment, or rejection that you have ever experienced.  He knows your life but more importantly he knows your heart.  He places his Spirit in you so that you may desire Him; that you may desire to follow God’s will.  He forgives your sin and forgets your past so that you may live in his holy and loving presence.

    You will never be irrelevant to God.  You are the one who Jesus came to earth to redeem from sin, death, and the tyranny of the devil.  God chose you; it was no accident or mistake; God chose you because he loves you.  He chose you and because of his constant grace, he will never abandon you.  He will never leave you to face the devil by yourself.  You never need to face your fears, your sorrows, your pain by yourself.  You are important to God.  Trust his love and mercy; it is always there for you to give you hope.

Gracious Father, your mercies are new every day.  You lift me up from the pit to live with you in your loving arms.  Protect me from the devil and his assaults.  Keep me safe in the shadow of your wings.  We ask that you defend all those who are under attack at this time.  Keep them secure in the certainty of your grace.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

7-25-2026

Good Morning!

   Matthew 7:3; “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”

    I remember a time in college when my roommate and I were not getting along very well.  I didn’t really know what was going on.  All of a sudden, he was really grumpy.  Every morning, I would get up and get ready for class.  Now it was an 8:00 am class but I would roll out of bed and down the hall to the showers.  I would take my clothes and dress there and only return to the room to get my books and coat and leave my towel.  I had done the same thing the semester before and it didn’t faze him but now, he was grumpy.  I remember going to class and wondering what his problem was.  I thought maybe he was spending too much time downtown at the local establishments, getting in too late and maybe this was his problem.

    I kept wondering how I would deal with this issue.  I liked the guy I had for a roommate.  He was funny and friendly.  He didn’t demand anything; he was a “live and let live” kind of guy.  All of a sudden, he wasn’t.  Maybe he had some disease or was going through some traumatic life altering event.  Whatever the problem was, it had to be his; I couldn’t think of anything that was different this semester from the last semester.  I can remember praying that God would fix him so everything would be right.

   One day, I was doing some reading so I decided to make some coffee.  I filled and plugged in my percolator.  It soon started doing its thing.  GURGLE, GURGLE, SWOOSH!!  GURGLE, GURGLE, SWOOSH!  My roommate walked in just as it was going.  I said, “Man that thing is sure noisy.”  He said, “yeah, every morning.”  I then realized I would often start the coffee maker, go to the shower, and then come back and take a cup of coffee to class.  It perked while I was gone but he was trying to sleep.  He didn’t need to change; I did. 

    There are many times when we seem to be at odds with our spouse, family, friends, or co-workers.  We are quick to ask God to “change them and fix their mistakes so things can get back to normal.”  We may even think that they may be beyond hope.  Yet how often do we try and see it from their point of view?  We are quick to place the blame on someone, anyone, but on our own actions.   Yet deep down, we know that we are all sinful and that we probably play a part in the friction.

  So, God invites us to pray and to repent.  He then calls us to go to our brother and to fix the problem.  Even before we worship him at his holy altar, God calls us to reconcile with our brother.  To God, healing this relationship is that important; that God would have us wait in our worship until we have healed the rupture. 

Father of grace, lead me to see that failures in relationships can only be healed by your love and grace.  Guide me to apply your grace to those around me, especially to those whom I have offended and hurt.  Lead us to forgive those hurts and to let them go.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

7-24-2026

Good Morning!

               1Timothy 2:1; “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.”

      I remember visiting with one of the area school superintendents a few years back and offering my empathy to him for one of the toughest tasks that he has; deciding whether to cancel school because of the weather, start school late because of the weather or just go as scheduled.  This is one of the “no-win” situations.  Someone will always think the decision you made was wrong.  Of course, some of this “wisdom” gets offered after the fact.  They may see that the forecast was wrong and that, later in the afternoon, the decision to call off school, made at 6:00 am, was premature.  I would not want that job.

   I started to think of other jobs that I am not sure I would want.  I remember a local fire chief who said how much he hated accident calls at 8:00 am.  “It is highly possible to be a school kid driving to school and that I will know them.”  He didn’t like those prospects and I don’t know that I would either.  I thought of the young nurses’ aides who work long and thankless hours in our nursing homes and hospitals; I don’t know if I could do that job.  I thought of someone who answers suicide prevention hotlines and the pressure on them to have the right answer at the spur of a moment.

    There are a lot of jobs out there that I don’t think I could handle.  There are some very stressful jobs; jobs that require decisions that can, and often do, impact hundreds to thousands to millions of people.  I don’t think I would enjoy that job.  There are jobs that are very dangerous but very necessary for the general safety of society; we need them but I am thankful I don’t have to do them.  That is what I was thinking when I opened my bible and found this verse.

   “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.” When you think of those jobs and tasks that need to be done but that you just don’t think you could ever do them; pray for those individuals who do them.  Pray for those people to whom God has given the vocations that you and I would not like to do.  Some are dangerous, some are stressful, some are emotional draining and taxing but all are jobs that I am thankful that I do not have to perform.  I am thankful that God enables someone to do these tasks and we should all pray for them.  We should pray that God will send his Spirit to help them withstand the stress and the strain that these jobs can exert on someone’s life, relationships, health, and general wellbeing. 

   I remember was wag saying that he prays for our elected leaders; twice as hard for those he didn’t vote for.  Perhaps, when we see a job or task being performed that we are thankful we aren’t performing; we should say an extra prayer of thanks for the ones who do.

Father, thank you for all those people who do the tasks that I cannot.  Keep them safe, keep them strong under the stress, keep them in your loving arms as they serve as your hands in this world.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret