2-18-2026

Good Morning!

            1 Peter 2:10; “Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

     Do you remember the movie “The Bad News Bears”?  It was a movie from the mid 1970’s about a grizzled old man who turns a group of misfit little league baseball players into a real team.  It was made up of castoffs from other teams and a girl (unheard of in the 70’s).  Coach Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) takes a bunch of misfits and brings them to within one run of winning the championship.  Much of the movie is spent on the turning of these misfits into a baseball team and the tactics that he uses.  He makes them a team when at first, they were not a team.

    In some ways we can see ourselves in this movie.  We are the misfits.  We are the ones who have been cast off as miserable losers.  We are not a team; we could never be a team.  We could not hold the bat correctly or throw the ball properly or even know which way to run.  No one would want us on their team.

    This is how the devil uses our situations to drive us to despair.  He wants us to be losers.  He wants us to be lost and depressed.  He wants us to think that we have no team, no hope, and no future.  He wants us to see ourselves as completely alone and cut off from everyone, especially cut off from God.

     “But God had seen my wretched state.” God knew that we would never succeed on our own.  God knows we can never achieve this by our own skill, knowledge, or wealth.  So, God made us part of his team.  Through Jesus, he made us his people.  We receive mercy and God makes us his people.  By being his people, we are thus protected from danger and we are given the tools to survive in this world.  We are no longer alone but we are part of God’s team.  It is here where we find the comfort and consolation of being one of God’s redeemed children.

    This is how God works; he takes all those nobodies; those pathetic losers that no one wants on their team and makes them winners.  We are never left out again.  We are never alone again.  God is with us all the time.  He uses his creation to feed us, clothe us and provide for us.  He uses his creation connected with his Word to provide for our spiritual needs.  Through his grace he provides for us, his people.  He does this out of love for you.  He wants you on his team.  He puts you on his team and through this you are made a winner.  You are given eternal life with him.  You are his people.

Father of all wonders, your mercies roll over us like a river.  They are new to us each day.  You make us your people and in doing so you renew us and make us new creations.  Be with those who feel left off of the team.  Be with those who feel that no team would want them.  By your grace bring them home to live in peace and harmony with you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-17-2026

Good Morning!

           John 10: 27; “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me”.

         So, the poll question for today is how do you define church?  Some would say that it is the place where we gather to worship.  Some would say it is the people who go to this place to worship.  Some claim that the church is what’s left if the building burns down.  A structured Lutheran definition is that this is where the Gospel is rightly proclaimed and the Sacraments are properly administered.  These are all good answers and there are probably many more.  Yet Luther had another way of saying it.

    Martin Luther was a prolific writer.  At one time, almost 25% of all printed material was written by Martin Luther.  He was a man who took advantage of the current cutting-edge technology (the printing press) and used it to his advantage.  So, his writings had to appeal to the theologian but also to the laity who read his writing.  So, in doing so, Luther would use phrases or terminology that would resonate with the reader.  It still does today almost 500 years later.  So, in one of his writings, Luther wrote this “God be praised, a seven-year-old child knows what the church is: holy believers and ‘the little sheep who hear the voice of their shepherd.’”

     You are the sheep that hear the voice of the shepherd.  Shepherds had to be very patient with their sheep.  They would speak to them in calming tones.  Sheep could not be driven; they had to be led. So, the shepherd would go ahead and call them to follow him.  He would call each by name and they would follow him.  If a flock was so big that it had more than one shepherd; each shepherd would call his sheep out and they would separate from the other sheep and follow him.  The shepherd would call the sheep and then lead them to the lush green pastures.  He would call them to the still waters for them to drink.  The goal of the shepherd was to have calm and contented sheep.  They grew the best and were the least amount of trouble.

    This is what Jesus wants for us here on this earth.  He desires that we live a contented life.  He provides us with all that we need.  He wants us to hear his voice and we do this by gathering around his Word and Sacrament.  We do this best as being in the flock.  Flock as in plural not singular.  We are a part of the larger body and we receive the blessings of being in this larger flock.  It is in the flock (the Church) where we receive “the mutual conversation and the consolation that brothers and sisters offer each other” (more Luther).  So, the church, the place where we hear the Shepherd’s voice is felt and expressed by as little as one or two brothers or sisters in Christ offering us hope, comfort, peace, reconciliation or whatever we need.  That is how God reaches us, through the creation that he made.  It is for us and to be used to provide for our needs.  God calls you by name and leads you to safety.  Are you listening?

Savior of all, lead us to hear your voice. Help us to find comfort and hope in your gentle word.  Be with those who do not hear.  Be with those who struggle with listening to you who have the world drown out your voice.  Guide them by your Spirit to come home to your loving arms.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

2-16-2026

Good Morning!

   Psalm 1:2; “but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

        “Why do you make us learn this?”  Why do we have to memorize this?” “My mom says I need to practice my music lesson before I do my confirmation lesson.”  “You expect me to read the Bible every day; I don’t have time!” The list goes on.  It is always interesting teaching 12- and 13-year-olds confirmation.  They always seem to go to more work to get out of work then actually doing the work. Yet they ask a fairly good question, in your busy life, why take time for reading the Bible?

    Scriptures tells us to spend time in the study of the Bible.  In the verse that follows this one we are told that this man is like a tree that is planted by streams of water.  The image is that of a tree that never withers and is always healthy and always produces great fruit.  So, is that how you would view your life?  Don’t worry, I don’t think I would consider my life like that either.  Yet the groundwork is laid.  This can be our goal.

    Jesus told his disciples that the “Spirit would remind us of all that Jesus said.”  It does this by causing us to see the Bible as providing us with guidance, direction and the words of help and encouragement that we need.  Yet through study, both in depth study and devotional time, we will have those words come to mind at the time when we have need of them.  By focusing on God’s Word, when trouble strikes, they will be the first words that come to mind and that will give us comfort and hope.

    “Nothing is so powerfully effective against the devil, the world, the flesh, and all the evil thoughts as to occupy one’s thoughts and heart with God’s Word.  Without a doubt, you will offer up no more powerful incense or savor against the devil than to occupy yourself with God’s commandments and words.”  This is how we understand this teaching.  Only God’s Word s powerful enough to withstand the assaults of the devil. 

    So, God gives to us the power we need to withstand the devil’s attacks but we need to utilize them.  He gives us the tools to live our life in contentment until Christ returns but we need to use them.  He gives us his Word which gives us the comfort, his body and blood to nourish our spirit, prayer to speak from our heart to our Father.  He gives us the Holy Spirit to keep us in faith and to make us part of His holy family.  These wondrous gifts await us but we must use them and take advantage of them.  We are saved now and we have access to all the power we need but we must access.  We must use God’s gifts to the fullest.

Father of all mercies, you give us the tools to withstand the devil’s onslaught.  Lead us to use them fully.  Lead us to trust in your Spirit to guard and protect us.  That he may keep us in the true faith.  Be with those who are being attacked by the devil at this time.  Keep them safe and give them the sure victory.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret        

2-15-2026

Good Morning!

   Acts 2:42; “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

     In the olden days of VCR’s, we used to watch movies and every so often, push the pause button or even run it backwards.  When you did this, run it backwards, you could watch the guy fall on his horse instead of off his horse.  If you could push the pause button at just the right moment, you could see the water just start to touch the top of the head of the unsuspecting victim.  If you were watching a mystery, you could pause the movie and look to see if there were any clues sitting there that you might miss otherwise.

   Of course, the greatest use of this slowing down, pausing and then backing up is in watching sports today.  They take close plays, ones that at real and normal speed are almost impossible to see exactly what happened.  So, they slow it way down, they zoom in on the play, they run it backwards slowly to see exactly what happened.  They study it and look at it until they almost have memorized it.

    We scrutinize old VHS tapes and controversial sporting events yet our Bible often just gathers dust on the shelf.  We put it up there just in case, some time, we might want to look something up that we “know” is right but we heard it differently.  We use it to store the family documents in, maybe a pressed flower from a loved one’s funeral; that is about all that we have it for.  It is just there.

    Yet God gives us this book for a very special reason.  This is how he chooses to talk to us.  This is how he reveals himself to us.  As we read it, we see his nature unfold before us as his desire to love us and for us to love him is revealed over and over.  We see that God is by nature loving but can be provoked to anger but only for a short time.  We read about how, no matter how many times we fall short of his will; he keeps bringing us back and restoring us to our place in his kingdom.

    So, by reading God’s Word and listening to what he is saying to us, we can find comfort; we can find hope.  This is where God shows us his desire to save us and to make us his people and what that means to us.  Many try to accomplish this by guessing or postulating or simply making it up.  Yet God shows us what his plan for us is.  His plan is to prosper us by his grace and to give us comfort and hope as we face this life’s challenges and to give us the true peace that the world cannot give.  We get this through the prayerful study of God’s Word.  We get this by listening to what He speaks to us.

Wonderful and loving Father, in your mercy you took the time to record for us your message of salvation and to give it to us.  Guide us by your Spirit to love reading and studying it.  Teach us to savor the message of salvation which you speak to us.  Help us to share this message with those around us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

 

2-14-2026

Good Morning!

   1 Peter 4:8; “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

      Do you remember the Beatles song “All You need is Love”?  It was written, primarily by John Lennon, but credited to Lennon and McCartney.  It was first sung during the first ever live global link broadcast.  It was transmitted over satellite.  It was written specifically so that the message could be understood in any language.  Many criticized the simplistic view of life.  The rejoinder was “You need a whole lot more than love!”  That is true but at the same time love is the most important element.

    Love is that which we freely give.  It does not demand that the other person change rather it accepts the person for who he is.  Love thus becomes the basis for all of our relational events.  We can trust someone because we love them.  We commit to someone because we love them.  Love is acceptance at its greatest level.  Love is what God does to you.

    God shows his love for us by the fact that while we were sinners, while we were his enemies; He died for us.  In the process, he returned us back to our humanity.  Until Christ came to earth, to live, to preach, to die and to rise again; love was dying in the world.  Pagan teachings taught that love or mercy was something to be avoided.  The pagan gods only wanted to be fed and honored; there was no mention of loving others.  Yet this is exactly what Christ brought to us; he brought us love. 

    He returned us to our original created purpose and that is to love.  We are to love God, love each other and love God’s creation.  This was why we were created, yet sin takes us away from this.  Sin causes us to look inward in a selfish and self-centered method.  We are egotists with our only concern about what is in it for us.  Yet when Christ calls us into his kingdom, he restores our original humanity, our original purpose, the purpose for which we were created.  This is what God’s love does for us; it frees us to be the true us.

    Through this love which we share with those around us, we are able to live in his kingdom just as we were designed to.  We see each other as a fellow redeemed child of God; someone whom God has accepted and someone we should accept as well.  We may have to have those things which hurt our relationship with God pointed out but we do so in love.  So, we look at each other for what we truly are; we are God’s children. 

    So, God wants us to love each other and he gives us the desire to do so.  It is sin that holds us back and keeps us from truly doing this.  It is usually the fear that causes us to stand off and not show the love that we should. It is fear is that holds us back.  Yet God gives us the power to defeat that fear and to respond to his love with love, a desire to have compassion and mercy on our neighbors just like Christ had on us.

Gracious Father, teach us to love as you loved us.  Guide us by your Spirit to forgive as you have forgiven us.  Help us to show mercy as you have shown mercy.  Keep us in your loving arms.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

2-13-2026

Good Morning!

   Isaiah 32:18; “My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places”.     

      I often hear people tell me how they need to get away for a while.  They need a break and they need to rest and recharge.  I recently read that if you are having trouble sleeping, research seems to point to going camping for a week and to be sure and leave ALL your electronic devices at home.  This helps to reset our natural clock and the rhythm of normal sleep patterns.  As technologically connected as we are, it can, and often does, disrupt our life patterns and rhythms.  If your life patterns and rhythms are disrupted enough, it can have a detrimental impact on your health. 

    So, it is interesting that Isaiah picks up on this.  Notice in our verse he lists three events or places for us, as God’s children to be.  First, we will abide in peaceful habitation.  Here we can see the relationship that we have with God is no longer one where we are the adversary or enemy of God but that God has declared peace with us through Jesus.  We live in peace with God.  We no longer hide from God; he draws us into his loving arms.

    Since we are no longer an enemy of God, he surrounds us with his love.  This is what the psalmist meant about us “hiding in the shadow of your wings.”  Just like the young chick is kept safe and secure all nestled into the wings of the hen so to we are secure in our dwelling which finds its place in God’s grace.

    So, we have a peaceful and secure place to live.  We dwell (set up camp) in the safety of God’s mercy.  This is where we are always safe and at peace, living in God’s mercy.  Yet even then, we face struggles every day.  The devil attacks every moment of every day.  It takes many forms, pressure on our time, pressure on the views of the world, pressure about worries about health or wealth or personal relationships.  God helps us deal with this but, just like Jesus, sometimes we need a quiet place to go and pray and rest.

    So, we too need a place to go and pray and rest in the Lord.  As difficult as it is, we need to take some time and rest in God’s presence.  We need to take some time, find a quiet spot, read a little Scripture and then take time and pray.  This can help you rest just as much as the vaunted power nap, maybe even more.  It rests our bodies but it nourishes our souls.  It revitalizes our spirit to make us whole.

    So, find a spot, a favorite chair, a bench in the park (it might need to be warmer, but it will be), a seat on the deck; someplace where you can tune out the noise of the world, focus on God’s Word and rest in his mercy.  Take time to listen to God and to speak to God; it is here where we find our resting place.

Father of mercy, in a world that offers no place of safety or rest, you are our shield, our hope and our home.  Guide us to find rest in your arms.  Hide us in the shadow of your grace filled wings.  Be with those who have no peace.  Send your Holy Spirit to strengthen and comfort them.  Be with us gracious Lord.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

2-12-2026

Good Morning!

                Matthew 5:7; “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

       There was a man that I used to know many years ago, he has since died.  You would run into him at the local elevator or the local co-op.  You might see him at the local Memorial Day service in town.  He was just an average run of the mill guy.  There wasn’t anything special about him.  He wasn’t rich or poor.  He wasn’t particularly handsome or ugly; he was just a man.

    Yet he was the saddest and the bitterest person that I had ever met.  He remembered, vividly, every single slight that any neighbor or anyone who he knew had done to him.  He could remember the time someone didn’t say “hi” to him as he walked down the street.  He remembered the neighbor whose cows got out and into his newly plowed field.  He could remember the time the fuel delivery guy was a day late delivering fuel.  He could remember which neighbor did and did not come to help him when he had been hurt.  He remembered it all and he relived it every time he saw someone who would listen.  He lived his life as a sullen, unhappy man.  He never had a smile or a kind word.  Most people would go out of their way to avoid him.  It must have been an incredible disappointing life.

    This is what the Bible is telling us about forgiveness.  Sin refuses to give forgiveness.  Sin tells you to hold onto the grudge, to make sure you get even.  What sin doesn’t tell you is the unbelievable toll that this attitude causes you.  You have no contentment, you have no peace, you have no joy; you only have sorrow and pain.  Those who are not merciful reject God’s mercy.  Those who are not forgiving, hold onto the sins which God has forgiven but they haven’t.  So, by clutching to that sin; you reject God.  It is not that we earn mercy or have it by merit, rather it is that we reject God’s mercy.

    When we reject God, we reject the peace and contentment that he gives us; we simply try to walk away.  When we walk away from God, from his mercy, love, gentleness, and hope; we walk toward anger, hatred, jealousy, and an uneasy and unhappy life.  We live the life of that angry, bitter man and that is not the life that God intends for us.  The life he intends for us is one of contentment, peace, love, and hope.  “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you” is what God tells us.  It is the life we can grab hold of but we have to let go first.  We have to let go of our sin and then let go of our neighbor’s sin against us.  God invites you to let go of your anger, your pain, and your sorrow. 

    So be merciful, let the sins of others go.  They only cause you pain as you hold onto them.  They only let others control your happiness.  Give them up and enjoy God’s mercy in your life.

Gracious and tender Father, through your mercy you bring us back into your holy family.  Teach us to see that our contentment is about the mercy we show.  Guide us by your Spirit to see that our happiness comes from you and is best expressed by showing love to others.  Be with those who won’t let go of the pain.  Give the desire to seek your will and trust in your promise.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret