3-6-2026

Good Morning!

         Genesis 32:30; “So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”

    Have you ever met someone who is famous face to face?  Have you ever shaken the hand of a US senator or congressman? Perhaps it was an entertainer.  It usually leaves us a little befuddled and confused.  “I thought he was taller” “He looks younger on TV.”  We usually come away with a sense of awe and excitement.  It can make our day or even week somewhat more enjoyable.

    In our verse, Jacob speaks of seeing God face to face.  That would be awe inspiring.  It would leave us fearful, amazed, and completely.  How would you react?  Would it be fearsome, awesome or something else? 

    The reason Jacob is amazed is because only those who were holy could see God and live and since no man was holy; well, there wasn’t much to discuss.  Yet Jacob saw God; how?  Jacob saw God for one simple reason because of God’s grace.  God’s love for Jacob allowed him to see God.  God’s love for us does the same.

     We get to see God.  We see him through the wondrous sacrifice that Jesus did for us.  We get to see God’s face in the Word in which we hear him speak those tender words of mercy.  We see God’s face in the bread and the wine as our soul and faith are fed and nourished.  But where we truly see God’s face is when we look at our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  We see God face to face in the love and compassion that we receive.  They see God face to face when we are loving and compassionate. 

    God is, by his nature, a loving God.  He loves us and wants us to see it.  He gives us his love; through the Word, living, spoken and eaten.  He shows us his love by having others be his face, his hands, and his beating heart.  When we show compassion for people, they see God face to face.  When we share God’s mercy and try to comfort those who are afflicted in some way, we show them God face to face and it is an awesome event.  It is an awesome event because showing people God face to face brings hope.  When people see God face to face, they can have comfort and peace; a comfort and peace they receive by looking into your face.

   The God of all comfort uses us to provide that face-to-face meeting.  Martin Luther called Christians the “masks of God.”  God is the real agent of love he just uses us to deliver that comfort, that compassion.  So, as we go about our day; look for chances to show others God face to face.  Share the love of Christ with them.  Help them in need and want.  Pray for them, comfort them, console them, rejoice with them but give them God’s love as he has given to you.

Father of mercy, we see you face to face because of your grace.  Protect us by your power, comfort us with your peace.  Let us see you face to face that we may have comfort in this life.  Give to us the peace that the world cannot give. Direct me to those who need to see your face. Protect our service men and women.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s peace,

Pastor Bret

3-5-2026

Good Morning!

           Luke 22: 31-32a; “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.”

    “Sift you like wheat.”  This is a reference to how farmers at the time of Jesus would finish the harvest of wheat.  First the farmer would go out into the fields and with a scythe cut down the wheat and stack it into bundles which were then carried up to the thrashing floor.  Here the farmer would take the bundles and then beat them against the floor in order to loosen the kernels of wheat.  After they did this, they would then take a winnowing fork and throw the wheat, chaff, broken straw mixture into the air.  The wheat would fall to the floor as the chaff would blow away in the wind. 

    This was a rigorous process.  Yet, in the end, all you have is kernels of wheat but it can be a very, very stressful event, especially on the wheat.  It gets thrown up into the air and then crashes to the floor only to be tossed up into the air again.  It is a trying and tumultuous event for the wheat but it is necessary to separate the wheat (the necessary part) from the chaff (the waste).  This also happens in our life, sometimes very painfully.

    Many of you have experienced being sifted.  There are times in our lives when our faith is shaken to the very core.  The death of a child will rock you like an earthquake.  Sometimes, the stress from our everyday life shakes us.  Health issues in our family, especially big ones, can really shake you.  Placing a parent or a spouse in a nursing home can make you shudder.  Having your job disappear can be devastating.  Having the company that you worked for all your life suddenly go bankrupt and take your retirement with them can really hurt.  Put two or three of these together and you are sifted.

    When being sifted our confidence can be shaken.  One thing that it does is that it can cause us to seek our god.  Luther defines a god as “That from which we seek our ultimate source of security, that which we cling to with all our heart.”  So, what is your god?  Is it your money, your intellect, your spouse, your parents, your government, just plain you?  What is your god?  Because when we get sifted, the chaff all the false gods, blow away in the wind.  Finally, we are left with only the kernels.  Only the true God, Yahweh the triune God, is left and that is all we can cling to.

    So, we cling to the God who died for us, we cling to the God that redeemed us and we cling to the God that loves us and promises to never forget us.  So, if you are being sifted, pray for God’s grace, talk to your brothers and sisters in Christ and remember who your only source of hope and security is and that is Christ.  You will be sifted, maybe many times, but through them all God holds you close and protects you from the devil and his attacks.

Father, we often feel sifted.  Protect us from all that the devil throws at us and keep us safe.  Give us the certainty of your hope, the certainty of your grace and the wonder of your comforting Spirit.  Be with those who are currently being sifted.  Give them the consolation they need and the comfort of your saving grace.  In Jesus precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

3-4-2026

Good Morning!

        2 Corinthians 1: 3-4; “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

    When I was a youngster, we used to trade baseball cards.  We would trade for our favorite team or our favorite player.  A Mickey Mantle card could get you two or three other cards.  A Harmon Killebrew could get you four or five cards.  I liked Tony Oliva and Jim Grant.  We would trade at what we thought were “equal” values.  There was nothing in writing or long studied manuals, just kids trading dreams.  That is really what it was; we would trade for the player we wanted to be like.  We were all friends so we helped each other out.  If I had someone else’s favorite player, I would trade him for mine or else a group of cards so I had something to trade later.

     Maybe you have this type of relationship with your friends and neighbors now.  We do with some of our garden produce.  We might trade some dill for some pickles later.  We usually trade pretty freely with our vegetables and tomatoes.  We are pretty willing to let them go.  Some of our neighbors are pretty quick to share asparagus so it works out.  We give and take; it is on the ebb and flow.  Sometimes we have lots to give and sometimes we get a lot.  It is neat because we all win.  We get the stuff we want and don’t have to throw away our “extra” stuff.

     We do the same with our faith life.  God comforts us so we can comfort others.  The amount of grace that God pours out upon us is beyond our measure but sometimes, our heart misses some.  Sometimes our pain and sorrow are so great that we lose our trust and we fail to see God’s love around us.  Sometimes we need a little boost.  Sometimes, things are going pretty well and we meet someone who needs a little boost.  I like to think of this as the “grace exchange” program.

     I experience it often.  Sometimes when life feels a little rough and I need a boost; someone will come along and offer God’s grace.  They will tell me that they are praying for me or that they really appreciated the visit or whatever.  I can’t begin to count how many times I have come away from a shut-in visit where I felt uplifted from my visit.  I often feel I get more out of these than those I visit. 

    So, as you go about today, try to give a little grace to those who need a boost.  Share God’s love by listening to them or by offering a comforting hand or just stop and pray with them.   Someday you will need the boost.  If today is your day to need, ask for it someone will offer it.  God’s grace is sufficient; his delivery is through our brothers and sisters in Christ who God places in our life to be a comfort and a help.  So be one and use one.

Father, your grace is poured out upon us with tremendous love.  Often, we miss it but you continue to send it our way.  Be with us when we need it and help us to find those who are struggling at this time and in need of your mercy.  Guide us to them and help us to pour out your grace to all.  In Jesus name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret         

3-3-2026

Good Morning!

            Micah 6:8; “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”   

      We have all heard the old saying “give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”  It is a way to view life and a way to live out a Christian, faithful lifestyle.  Yet it sort of misses the point.  It sounds good but it assumes that you can actually fix the problem by yourself.

    There is a difference between mercy and justice.  Mercy is what you and I do to relieve pain and suffering.  Mercy is giving the man a fish because he is hungry and needs to eat today.  Mercy is meeting the needs of now, right now.  It is one of the most important things that we, as Christians, show one another.  It should be an automatic response from each of us.  The desire to come to the aid of someone in need should be in every Christian’s heart.

    Justice is a little different thing.  Justice is teaching the man to fish.  Justice is about fixing a problem that exists.  Mercy is giving someone the food they need to eat for today.  Justice is getting them better jobs or better pay so that they can afford to buy their own food.  There is a difference in that justice usually takes a large effort by a lot of people for a long time.  It can be daunting.  Yet we seek justice because God tells us to.  We are to do justice.  We should not take advantage of anyone.  We should not stand by as someone else takes advantage either.  God calls upon us to seek and to do justice.

    Yet it is a sinful world and justice can take years to accomplish.  Years to right the wrongs of cruelty and exploitation.  It can take years to get people to recognize the problem.  Yet the person needs to eat today.  He needs shelter and protection now.  So, he needs our mercy right now.  He needs justice, that is for sure, but he needs mercy now.

    This is where we as Christians need to respond.  Sometimes, we look at a situation and see that justice is a long way off and we are almost paralyzed by inaction.  There is no way we can aid everyone.  There is no way to continually try and use only mercy; we need to accomplish justice.  Yet for today, have mercy; have mercy for one person.  Feed one man, one fish for today.  Sometimes that is all we can do.  If that is all we can do, then we do all we can; just that one fish to that one man.

    So, calls upon us to do justice; yet mercy must flow like a river because I can be merciful and you can be merciful; one person aiding one person, as best as we can.  We can work toward justice; we can strive for justice but we must live in mercy.  Every day we need to show mercy to our fellow man because every day God shows you mercy.

Father of all mercy, lead us to be merciful and to seek justice in this world.  Break our hearts as we see pain and suffering.  Move us to action for those who are in need of your holy compassion.  Use us as your instruments to brig healing to the world.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

3-2-2026

Good Morning!

       Mark 4:2; “He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:”

     Everybody loves a story.  Telling stories is one of the easiest and one of the most reliable ways to convey a message or a teaching.  Jesus loved to tell stories.  We call them parables but they are common everyday events with meaning.  The story of the sower, or the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son and all the others were gleaned from everyday life events of the people who were listening to Jesus speak.

    One of the reasons we like stories is because we all have stories.  Stories put together the individual events of our life and bring them to life in a kaleidoscope.  We all have a story about us; the events that shape and mold us into who we are.  It might have been a childhood illness, or the death of our parents when we were young, it might have been military service or any of a number of events that make up your story.  The really amazing thing is that all of our stories are connected together with the stories of people who lived before us, combine to make up human history.

   That history was very bleak.  It is filled with corruption, with pain and brokenness, with loneliness and sorrow.  That was the human story, so bleak that its gloom and pall are incredible.  So, God stepped in and completely altered the story of mankind.  With Jesus, the kingdom of God changed the course of our lives.  As the redeemed children of God, our stories changed and we are now part of God’s story.  Instead of traveling down the road of despair and destruction, God has placed us into his story of redemption and salvation.  God has taken us from the emptiness and the hollowness that was our sinful existence and made us redeemed children, loved by the Father, and kept by the Holy Spirit.

    Our old story is one we should leave.  We should not see it as a chance to bring God into our story but rather that we are moved into his story.  We can leave our story behind.  The failures and the pains of the past are just that, the past.  Our present is in God’s story and our future is in God’s story; so why go back?  God’s story is one of hope and eternal life in the restored creation.  God’s story is one of peace.  God’s story is the complete opposite of the story we were in.  So, grab onto God’s story, one of hope and salvation, make it your story by his grace.  Live with joy in the kingdom of God as it moves forward to the day of the Lord when all is perfected and restored.

Gracious Father, you gather us up and bring us into your marvelous kingdom of grace and mercy.  Keep us in your precious arms.  Guide us and guard us as we continue on the journey which you have laid out for us.  Be with those who are struggling and in pain and seem to have lost their way.  Send them your Spirit of healing to each.  Guard and protect our families.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

3-1-2026

 Good Morning!

    Song of Solomon 2:15; “Catch us the foxes, the little foxes; that ruin the vineyards— for our vineyards are in blossom.”

     If any of you have every dealt with any kind of equipment that has moving parts, you know what a bearing is.  A bearing holds a shaft in place while it turns.  There are bearings in everything.  There are wheel bearings in your car, there are tiny bearings in electric motors, there are big bearings in tractors and planters and combines.  Bearings truly hold the world together in many aspects.

    The amazing thing about bearings is that it takes so little to wreck them.  It only takes a few grains of sand that gets in the bearing; that can cause the bearing to literally explode.  When this happens, the wheel can fall off of your car or the electric motor will just stop, or the tractor or combine or planter will stop.  There may even end up being more damage to the car or the motor or the tractor as it suddenly and often times violently stops.  Huge and expensive equipment can be reduced to not much more than scrap metal by a few grains of sand.  Cars can be involved in accidents that take lives because of a few grains of sand.

    In many ways, our relationships can be like those bearing.  It only takes a little bit of trouble to escalate into calamity.  How many times have siblings refused to speak to each other for years but not really remember why?  How many times have friendships been broken over minor misunderstandings that were not healed before they became a malignant growth in the friendship? 

    God gives us the pleasure of friendship, of loving families, of marriage but it takes work from us as well.  There is always something trying to destroy those relationships.  It is sin and the devil trying to be the “sand in the bearing” in your life.  It can take the form of jealousy, or greed or envy.  It can show itself as hurt feelings and pride that refuses to let go or to reach out to heal.  It can start with something as simple as a forgotten date and mushroom into a broken relationship.

    So, we have to keep the sand out or catch the little foxes like our verse tells us.  We have to pay attention to the relationships in our lives in order to keep them healthy.  We need to communicate with each other; clearly speaking but more importantly, listening to what is said and meant.  We need to value and respect these relationships so that they can strengthen and grow.  If we ignore them or take them for granted, little foxes can dig them up and ruin them.  Little grains of sand can destroy the bearing and leave us with nothing of value and difficult to restore.  So, take care of your friendships and your other relationships, they are a gift from God to be cared for.

Gracious Father, help me to value the many relationships that you have given to me.  Guide me to see the blessings that they are.  Help me to make them stronger.  Be with those who are suffering from broken and wounded relationships.  Help them to heal; help them to reconcile.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

2-28-2026

Good Morning!

    Philippians 3:13; “Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead”

     “It is hard to drive forward if you are always looking backwards.”  I have heard that said once in a while.  I tend to look in the rearview mirrors quite frequently.  I am not sure why; I look for things coming up behind, I look at what I just went past.  The only thing I know for sure is that if I look in the rearview mirror too much, I tend to be veering all over and I miss what there is to see that is ahead of me.

    This is what Paul is telling us in our verse; to look ahead and not behind.  This is a very common theme for Paul.  Paul continually tells his readers, and us, “You are better than that because you are different.”  “Stop going back to the old sinful ways that Christ has taken you away from.”  Essentially, Paul is saying don’t look back.  Stop looking back at what you were.  Stop letting what you were hold you down.  Focus on who you are, a redeemed child of God.  Focus on who you will be; part of the perfected creation celebrating with Christ when he returns to conquer the final enemy which is death.

    Stop looking back at what you were.  Stop looking back at the sins that were there.  Repent and receive God’s mercy to go forward; to strain forward to the restored creation.  If you know of someone who you hurt through your sin, repent, apologize, rectify, if possible, but then move forward.  Strain forward to be the redeemed child that God wants you to be.  Stop looking and going back.  Stop longing for the “old days;” they were only filled with pain and self-destruction. 

    The devil really wants you to focus on the past, to focus on what is in the rearview mirror.  He wants you to see your failures and he wants you to think that is where you belong.  Yet God, through Jesus, released us from the past and he gives us something to focus on and that is the perfect eternal life which we are now a part of.  Because of Jesus’ resurrection, death has been defeated, it does not own us anymore.  Because of Christ, we only have to look forward to the final redemption when all will bow down before Jesus and we will live in eternity with him. 

    So, as you go on your journey of life, don’t look back.  Keep focused on what is ahead.  For ahead of us is more and more of God’s blessings.  What is ahead are the plans that God has to prosper us.  What lies ahead is God’s loving arms.  We sure don’t want to miss this and we don’t want to look away from this.  Our future, our hope is secured.  Keep straining ahead for the wonderful prize, eternal life.  Don’t look back, there is nothing to see there.

Gracious Lord, in you we find our destiny.  In you we find our hope for all the blessings which you bestow upon us.  Guide us with your mighty hand.  Keep us secure in the knowledge of your saving mercy.  Be with those who seem lost in the past.  Send your Spirit to bring them safely home, in the precious name of Jesus our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret