9-21-2026

Good Morning!

      Ephesians 4:32; “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

     It is the call throughout the Bible; we are to forgive.  We are to forgive one another even as God has forgiven us.  This is our goal; we aim for it, we desire it, we seek it and yet we struggle with it more than almost anything else.  It is the sinful nature in us that we battle every day.  It is that sinful nature that we need to drown every day through repentance and absolution.

    Forgiveness must take place every day.  First, we need to come before God asking for the forgiveness of the sins we commit.  We need to do this in order to see our need for this forgiveness and for the fact that we are freely forgiven by God.  We are then to see that there are others who seek and need our forgiveness and this includes forgiving ourselves.  This forgiveness needs to occur each time the thought to “un-forgive” in our life.  Every time we recall the hurt and we think that forgiveness may not be what we want to give.  We may want to hold onto the anger and the pain.  Yet we need to struggle with this and ask God to continue to turn our heart so that we can forgive and release the pain and sin.

    In order to do this, we may have to leave a toxic or poisonous relationship.  If we find ourselves being dragged back down by the attitudes or actions of others, we may have to walk away, at least until we have healed some.  We may have to avoid those who want to keep us living in the pain and the sorrow.  We need to forgive but we may need to walk away, at least until we can leave the toxic portion behind us.

    We also need to remember that forgiveness can be more of a process than an event.  We may have to revisit it more than once.  We may even find that it occurs in increments.  For us, forgiveness may be a long and slow process but it is a process that we must choose if we are to be healed and healing is the goal.

    The thing we need to always remember is that forgiveness is about healing.  It is about healing the pain that we either experience or cause.  Forgiveness is not about giving or taking but it is about being healed.  It is about healing the brokenness in the relationships that we have.  Forgiveness from God heals our relationship with God.  Forgiveness heals the rupture inside of us.  Forgiveness heals the rupture in our relationships with others.  Forgiveness brings about the healing that can restore us to the life which God created us to live.  Forgiveness provides the balm for our wounded souls.

Father of mercy, lead us to forgive.  Lead us to follow the path of healing and restoration.  Lead us by your Spirit to seek out the love that you give to us.  Lead us to live in peace.  Lead us to live in the joy of your mercy.  Heal us that we may be yours.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret          

9-20-2026

Good Morning!

      Galatians 4:5; “to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

     There was a young man who was troubled about his past.  He had been adopted at a very young age and had no recollection about his “real” parents.  He loved his adoptive family but felt there was a hole in his life as part of it was missing.  All he knew was that his mother had given him up at a very young age because she was unable to care for the young man and his brother.  He knew he was loved but always wondered about his past.

    Yet one day while in a weekly Bible Study, they looked at Galatians and about receiving “adoptions as sons.”  Suddenly he saw his life and faith in a new light.  “I was adopted by my parents and given a new family.  In the same way, I have become a member of God’s family and given a new identity, God’s identity.”

    Adoption is a fascinating event.  It is, at one level, very personal and emotional.  Yet it is also very much a legal event.  Adoptions have to be formalized in a courtroom with a judge present.  So, while adoption is a very subjective event with all the warmth and emotional actions, it is also very objective in the way it works.  Adoption is bridge between the personal and the legal.  It takes a legal action and morphs into a very personal, new relationship between the parent and the child.

    All believers receive the adoption of sons.  We receive this in a very personal way; we receive it at Baptism.  Here we are received, one at a time by name, into God’s family and we receive this adoption because the only natural son, Jesus, gave up his life for us.  As a result, God makes us his sons, by adoption.  We are his beloved children in a very legal sense.  We have the full rights of sonship; we are co-heirs with Jesus in God’s kingdom.  We are co-heirs to eternal life and to the holy kingdom which will last forever.  We are the beloved sons and daughters in God’s family.

    Yet it is also very personal.  God chose you.  God chose you from before the foundations of creation were set.  God chose you to love and to declare a child of his own.  We not only have all the legal rights of a family member; we also have the familial rights.  We can come to our Father with our fears and our worries, our cries and our sorrows and God has promised to listen to us as a loving father listens to his dear children.  He has promised to comfort us and to hold us close in his loving arms.  We are safe in his protective care.  We are loved by our Father.

Gracious Father, you claim us as your children through the waters of Baptism.  We are marked as your dear children.  Our names are written in the palms of your hands.  Guard us by your Spirit as we are made part of your holy family.  Give us the certainty of your grace.  Lead us to live full and peaceful lives in your kingdom. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

9-18-2026

 

Good Morning!

      Luke 11:3; “Give us each day our daily bread.”

     Andy Warhol (1928 – 1987) is most known for his painting of “pop art” in the 1960s. He is known for paintings of Marilyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali, dollar bills, and many other iconic images. The Campbell’s Soup Can is one of those iconic images. For a movement of art that appeared to be anything but art, Warhol and pop art have remained influential.  It caused quite a stir in the art world.  Many questioned how something so mundane and “pedestrian” could be considered art.

     Yet this picture went on to be very famous.  This unassuming painting of a Campbell’s Soup Can blurs the line of art and the world. Warhol painted many soup cans from Tomato to Onion to a scene of 100 Campbell’s cans.  Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Can is one of the greatest and most famous pieces of art in the history of modern pop art.

     “Lord, teach us to pray,” the disciples ask. It is such a simple request and Jesus offers simplicity in his answer. The prayer he gives to his disciples is unassuming and straightforward. There is no question that this is a prayer indeed. But how did the disciples not know how to pray? Before we hear Jesus’ answer to the disciples, we might listen and hear overtones of other prayers.  We could overhear disciples praying like the Pharisees, we could consider the temple rituals of the Sadducees, or even the total ignorance of the pagan world may come to mind. In contrast to these people and these prayers, Jesus offers a simple act of prayer; we call it The Lord’s Prayer.

    This prayer is near and dear to the Christian community. Yet at times it seems too simple to be a real act of prayer. Praying for daily bread might seem trite to some.  Particularly in a world where our basic needs are typically met. Praying short petitions seems rote and disingenuous in contrast to long prayers and meditations of the heart. This prayer, however, calls us into a world where the simple has beauty, and where the mundane has divine significance. Jesus leaves little to wonder, but much to appreciate when he teaches his disciples about prayer.

    A simple soup can.  It reminds us not just to pray for our own daily food from the gracious hand of our heavenly Father but to recognize the fullness of the kingdom of God. We pray these words because God promises to hear our prayers. But we also live these words.  Our lives become this prayer in action as Jesus calls us into a sacrificial love for neighbor that is simple and unassuming.  Drive around the city.  Watch as this prayer reminds you that giving to the poor and needy is part of the kingdom.  Dismissing the simple things, or even not asking for them in prayer, is like dismissing Warhol’s simple artwork. There is more to the kingdom of God. For this reason, Jesus teaches us to pray, and by praying to seek his kingdom, this simple and unassuming kingdom present in our world.

Gracious God, lead us to always pray for our needs and for the needs of others.  Lead us to see your love in all of our life.  Guide us to see that nothing is too small for your care and love.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

9-17-2026

Good Morning!

      John 3:17; “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

    Most Christians are familiar with the 10 Commandments and how they speak of how we are to act or interact with each other, with our own body, even with respect to how we view and act toward God.  Many see these as a list of duties to perform and that, somehow, if and when we are able, God will see the way we keep these commands and reward us greatly.  We often hear these folks speak of their struggles and how God “convicts” them of their sin.  Others see the commandments and then amend the statements so that keeping them is easier.  If we re-interpret them so that they are in tune with modern ways, well then, I can keep them better.  Some think the commands are just suggestions or guidelines and not much more.

    Scriptures reveals why we have the 10 Commandments.  God gave us the law so we would know that we were sinners (Romans 3:20).  We can look at the law and clearly see one very stark and bold truth; I have failed to keep them and I continue to fail to keep them.  There is no way that I can possibly keep them well enough so that God is impressed; I can’t even keep them so my neighbor is impressed.  I definitely need someone to keep them for me or else I am sunk.

    God could have come into this world to condemn the world, but He didn’t.  He came to free this world from a law that we could never keep.  We are free, not because of anything we have done or attempted to do and certainly not because we’ve changed the law to make it easier.  We are released only because of what God has decided to do for us through the Word that became flesh, Jesus Christ.  Through the sacrifice of Jesus, God speaks a new Word to you.  He speaks forgiveness to you.  He speaks mercy to you.  He tells you that you are free, that He loves you, that He really does forgive what you have done in your life.  He forgives and releases you even if you have trouble releasing and forgiving yourself.

    God chose to love you.  God chose to forgive you.  We can hold onto this great truth.  I cannot keep the law; the 10 Commandments glare with my failures.  Yet the empty cross and the empty tomb show me God’s love has triumphed over my failures.  Because of his love, I cling to him for my salvation and go out and try to live the loving, serving life that God has laid out for me.  My goal is to love others just as I am loved by God.  I will never achieve this level but every step helps bring healing into this world.

Father, your love for me is overwhelming.  Your love overcomes all my failures and you lift me up to be your child.  Strengthen my desire to serve you.  Guide me on the path so that I may share the love that you give to me with others.  Lead me in joyful celebration of your incredible mercy.  In the precious name of Jesus, our Risen Savior, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

 

9-16-2026

Good Morning!

      Luke 18:13; “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

     When you preach a sermon, you include and incorporate two parts of church doctrine: the Law and the Gospel.  We use the law to show the fact that we are sinners and in need of a Savior.  We use the Gospel to offer the comfort that God gives to us because of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension.  The goal is to afflict the comfortable and give comfort to the afflicted.  The goal is to make the person who feels he has no sin; thus, no need for a Savior to realize that he definitely needs to be redeemed and saved from sin.  The person who feels totally weighed down and despondent because of their sin; they need the Gospel.  They need to know that God has forgiven them.

    The interesting thing is that when one thinks he has no sin; it can be tough to get them to see they truly are sinners.  Many will simply think, “I am not that bad” or “I am not as bad as the other guy” or “It isn’t a sin anymore; it is different now.”  It can take a lot to convince someone of their sin; the world and the devil will tell them that everything is fine and dandy.  We preach and preach; we witness and witness but sometimes they just don’t listen.

    The ones that you really aim for are those who are afflicted.  Like our verse, this person feels the entire weight of the law on their shoulders.  These are the people who will tell you that the reason they don’t go to church is because they are beyond help.  They may speak in a joking manner but you can see it in their eyes and you can hear it in their voice; you can even hear it in their breathing, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”  The sad thing is that the devil is telling them the exact opposite of what he tells the proud sinner.  To the one who feels the weight on his back the devil tells them how bad they are; how hopeless life is; how no one will ever want them around when the full story comes out.  The devil adds guilt and misery with a dose of pain and sorrow.

    There are many parts of the job of being a pastor that are really amazing to experience but for me the absolute best part is when you can look into the eye and tell them these simple words, “In the stead and by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ; I forgive you all of your sins.”  There are no better words to speak; there is no greater truth to share.  God is merciful; God is loving; God has heard your cry of pain even before you sighed that first sigh or cried that first tear.  God forgives your sins and in doing so has given you the power to tell the devil to go away and leave me alone.  The devil cannot harm you; he cannot control you.  You are God’s beloved and redeemed child and you are safe.

    There is no sin too bad, too horrible, too heinous that God does not forgive.  God frees you from the past so that you will have a glorious future.  God is merciful to me, a sinner.

Father, your mercies are new every day.  Renew in me the knowledge of your grace and favor.  Keep safe from the devil’s lies ad free me from the guilt of sin.  Help those who are especially burdened at this time.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

9-15-2026

Good Morning!

      Ephesians 2:14; “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.”

     For many people, working with or spending time with someone who is different than you are, can be difficult.  We see it when immigrants try to settle into a neighborhood.  Our first reaction is often “there goes the neighborhood.”  In the sporting news this past week, there has been a lot of talk about a professional basketball player who was fined for criticizing a referee.  The referee is one of the very few women to referee professional basketball.  They are trying to decide if it is a sexist comment, a racist comment or if it is just a ballplayer complaining about a foul that was called. 

    We look for lots of ways to place people into categories.  We use age, sex, skin color, wealth, height, weight, level of education, national origin, and religion, just to name a few.  We can pigeonhole and divide a whole roomful of people into a whole lot of groups, sub- groups, and sub-sub-groups.  We can have balding, overweight, myopic, left handers in this corner.  We can have poor, skinny, old men who worship trees in that corner.  We tend to look for the differences that we can use to divide and separate us.  Even if we have nothing in our history that causes us to think we are right.

    But God has intervened in Christ.  He has reconciled us to Himself, breaking down “the dividing wall of hostility.”  He has opened the path to rapprochement.  He has taught us and shows us the beauty of atonement of being “at-one-ment” with God.  God is at one with us because of Christ.  Our alienation is removed.  We are at one with our heavenly Father; we are united with God.  This is what Jesus brought about by his death and resurrection; we have unity with God.  We are one with God through faith in Christ.  We are no longer separated; the division is healed.  We are reconciled.  Our God, Immanuel, comes to be with us, to dwell with us, to make his home with us and in us.

    Now that we are reconciled with God, the path is clear for us to be reconciled with one another.  Paul points this out in the next verse after ours, in verse 15 Paul writes, “His purpose was to create in Himself one man out of the two (Jew and Gentile), thus making peace.  There is no distinction in God’s eye, we are all the same.  Through faith in Christ, we are one.

   So those differences should be celebrated as part of the joy of diversity.  They are ways to bring new thoughts and ideas to old problems.  We are reconciled to God so we can be reconciled to one another.  We are free to see our diversity not as a source of division but rather as a source of delight.

Heavenly Father, you reconciled us to you so that we would have the path to reconcile with one another.  Give us the strength to heal the wounds between our brothers.  Help us to provide the balm to the wounds that exist.  Guide us by your Spirit to bring about hope in this broken world.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret              

9-14-2026

Good Morning!

      Luke 24: 5-6a; “And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but has risen.”

    While the battle of Waterloo was fought between Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington in 1815, the people of England waited for news of the outcome. Messages were sent by means of flag signals. One of the stations was the tower of the Winchester Cathedral. Late in the day, a signal was flashed from the tower that spelled out “Wellington defeated . . .” and then a thick fog covered the tower so that nothing else was seen. The message spread throughout the city that Wellington had lost the battle. There was gloom and despair. Suddenly the cloud of fog lifted and the remainder of the message could be read— “Wellington defeated the enemy!” Sorrow immediately turned to joy, defeat to victory, despair to rejoicing.

     What a difference the whole message gives.  When you stop halfway through it, we see only sorrow and pain.  The same is true of our faith life.  Too often, we stop at half of the message.  Too often we focus on “Jesus died.”  We see it all over, “Jesus died for you.”  That is our message.  We use it to comfort those who are hurting.  We tell them that Jesus died for you and then we wonder why they don’t get a lot of comfort from that fact; Jesus died for you.  Perhaps it is a sense of guilt.  We spend a lot of time looking at the suffering, the pain, and the death of Jesus.  It is hard to be a joyful Christian when you focus on “Jesus died.”

    But just like the story of Wellington, don’t stop in the middle.  Use the whole message.  “Jesus died and rose for you.”   Yes, it is true that Jesus died but that was only the beginning of the event in which death, the devil and sin was defeated.  Jesus died; his body ceased to function but it knew no decay or corruption; it was waiting for the final step.  It was waiting for Christ to rise up victorious.  In his victory over death, he gives us victory as well.  Our enemies of sin, death and the devil are defeated as well.  We have the victory; we have begun the healing.  We have God’s incredible love giving us all that we need.

    The devil and sin will continue to snarl and attack.  They will continue to cause us guilt and pain but they will not be victorious.  We know that we are more than conquerors!  We have God’s promise of life eternal.  We have his promise of comfort.  We have his promise for reconciliation and we can use this to reach out to our brothers and sisters.  God gives us the chance to heal the splits and chasms that exist between our neighbors and us.  It is his total message of good news; “Jesus died and rose again” that gives us the victory.

Father, we give you thanks for the victory that we have through Jesus.  We give you thanks that we can live a life full of joy because of your great love and mercy.  Guide us to share this message with those around us especially those who are in most need of your freeing message of grace.  Lead us to be shining lights in this world.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret