5-20-2026

Good Morning!

      1 John 2:1; “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

     My wife and I have been watching the new “Matlock,” the one with Kathy Bates. It is pretty good but I still like Perry Mason.  I still think this is a better lawyer show than any other on TV right now.  He could always seem to figure out what was going on in just the nick of time.  No matter how grim the situation would look, he could always get the judge to see that his client was innocent of all the charges.  The man on trial could have been found holding the gun over the dead person’s body and he would still be found innocent.  Someone else would always come forward in the end and take the punishment and Perry Mason’s client would always go free.  You sometimes wonder if the prosecuting attorney would walk in and see Perry Mason and think, “rats, gonna lose again.”

    If I were ever going to have to go to trial, I would want a lawyer like Perry Mason.  He is tenacious and never gives up.  He continues to dig and sift through the evidence until he can prove that his client is innocent.  He doesn’t use a lot of tricks just solid hard work that he then presents in a manner that gets his client declared innocent.  His client leaves the courtroom a free man and is able to either begin anew or return to the life that he had.

    When you and I stand before God, accused of the sins which we have committed, we have the greatest advocate, a lawyer if you will, to argue our case.  Jesus is our advocate.  He makes our case and defends us before God.    As sin after sin is listed, we are declared innocent because the penalty has already been paid.  Because of this, we walk away from the penalty of our sin.  Jesus, our advocate, is also the surrogate who takes our place and receives the punishment which we deserve.  Our punishment is paid for so we are free; we are free to be holy people; God’s people.

    Because we are God’s holy people, we have the free gift of eternal life.  Because we are God’s people, we have the blessings of his presence in our life giving to us the peace and comfort that this world denies us.  We have the blessing of being able to boldly stand before his throne and ask him to give us all that we need and want.  Because we are free, we are no longer the devil’s playthings.  Because we are free, we can live with the confidence that God will never abandon us.  We are always safe within his arms.

Father, your tender mercy is poured out upon us like the rain upon the land.  We give you thanks that because of Jesus we are free.  Lead us to use that freedom to aid and comfort our neighbors.  Help us to give them the direction to lead them back to you so that they too may be able to hear those loving words of forgiveness and hope.  Restore all those who are hurting to you loving flock.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-19-2026

Good Morning!

    Matthew 7:24; ^“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

       It is always interesting to me when I watch the news and the story is about sinkholes.  Sinkholes are usually naturally occurring places where there is a hollow spot in the ground and it collapses.  Most of the time they show up without a lot of warning; sometimes even swallowing a whole house at once.  There was even a time in Florida when the house sank over forty feet and killed a man who was sleeping in his bedroom.  They can occur just about anywhere but are most prevalent in Florida.

    Florida has had hundreds of sinkholes in the last decade and thousands in the last century.  Western Florida is especially prone because the soil lacks clay which normally binds soil together.  The holes can be anywhere from 1 to over 50 feet deep.  It is very difficult to know where they can occur so it is difficult to know where to build or where to not build your house. 

     This kind of reminds us of Jesus’ admonition at the end of the Sermon on the Mount.  We are to build our house upon the rock.  We are to build upon the sure foundation of God’s grace given to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus.  We trust that grace to be there for us no matter what has happened, is happening or will happen in our life.  When we look to God for our only source of salvation, trusting only in him for that truth; we are built on the rock.

     It is when we look to other sources that we are on the sand, or worse, on a sinkhole.  When we look to our own skill or strength, we are on a sinkhole.  When we turn to false teaching or other misleading beliefs, we are on a sinkhole.  When we turn to artificial supports like drugs or alcohol, we are on a sinkhole and when trouble occurs; everything will come crashing down.

    Yet we know that God is always faithful to his promises.  He has promised to be with us and to support us in all our times of need to comfort and to console us.  He is there to be our rock and fortress.  The psalmist calls him our rock and our shield.  It is in his arms that we are protected from the attacks of the devil.  It is in his arms that we can rest the holy sleep, in total peace, secure in the knowledge that we our safe.  Our house, our resting place, is on the solid rock and it will not fail.  Nothing will ever destroy this house.  Its foundation is securely built upon God and his grace.  God’s grace is the only solid foundation that we have; without it all the world is a sinkhole.  Only God’s love will prevail.

Gracious Father, your mercies are new to us every day.  They roll over us like a river.  Upon you alone do we build our hope and faith.  Keep us safely in your loving arms so that the devil will have no power over us.  Be with those who are hurting, struggling or lost in this life.  Bring them to your most gracious rock of safety.  Bring them home to your loving arms.  Guard and protect them as their journey continues.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret           

5-18-2026

Good Morning!

    1Timothy 1:15; “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” 

     I remember when I became one of them.  I am old enough that I can mutter, “What’s the matter with kids these days?”  I see it every time that I drive.  The worst are younger women between the ages of 14-30.  I think that they would have to have their cell phones surgically removed from their ear.  They are either talking/texting/ adjusting the radio, fixing their hair, checking their makeup or all of the above while “pretending” to drive.  They are oblivious to anything else.  I followed one young gal as she drove her Corolla down a two-lane county road.  She was about 2 feet into the oncoming lane and met a pickup and stock trailer loaded with cattle and she met a semi loaded with cattle.  They pulled over as far as they could; I doubt she even saw either of them.

   But, one day, while driving to town on the four-lane highway, I was trying to recall something that my wife wanted me to do.  So, I called her on the phone, as we were talking, I noticed that I was drifting into the left-hand lane which was already occupied by another vehicle.  I didn’t look the young woman who was driving the Enclave as she passed me by in the eye.  So, I became one of those drivers yesterday.

    Yet even more than that, I realized a sin that I held onto.  If you read the first two paragraphs closely, it still surfaces some.  I was just a tiny bit over the white line; she was practically in the other lane. I doubt the other driver even knew what I was doing; her other vehicles had to swerve to avoid her.  I recognized it; she probably still doesn’t know how close she came to a major accident.  Yet I noticed how easily I condemned her when I did the same thing. 

    Are you like me?  I make mistakes, have failures, and slip ups while others sin and have transgressions and iniquities.  It is at times like this that God’s law points out to me my sin and I understand why I am the greatest.  I am supposed to know better and yet I continue to judge and to keep the log in my eye while looking at the speck in others.  Perhaps, you can relate.

    The thing about recognizing our own sin is that we are often times quicker to offer forgiveness to others.  This is the point that Jesus was making in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant; the level of our sin against God is so great that the sins of others against us is minuscule.  So, I relish in the fact that my sins, as great as they are, are forgiven and I ask God to continue to keep me humble when dealing with others.  I ask God to lead me to give forgiveness to those around because I know that I am worse than they are.

Father, too often I judge rather than love, I dismiss rather than bless.  Forgive me and lead me to forgive as you so freely forgive me.  Lead me by your Spirit to reach out to others with the mercy that is poured out upon me.  Be with those who struggle with forgiving others.  Lead them to know the wonders of your mercy as it is revealed in their lives.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

5-17-2026

Good Morning!

       Ephesians 2: 8-9; “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a results of works, so that no one may boast.”

      In a small cemetery in Olney, England, there is a granite marker for a grave that states; “John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and Libertine, a servant of slavers, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Faith he had long labored to destroy.”  This is quite a story of a life. 

     John Newton spent much of his early life living in a fashion that was to prove that he was in need of no God and that there was no God that would ever be in his life.  He ended up captaining a slave ship.  It was during a return trip to England from Africa that his life began to change.

    While on this trip, a particularly stormy trip in which he expected the ship to sink, he began to read the book “Imitation of Christ’ by Thomas a Kempis.  The reading of this book, combined with the fierce storm, began to change young mister Newton.  For a while, he tried to calm his conscience by having worship services on his slave ship but he soon realized that those two identities, slave trader and Christian, could not exist side by side.  He returned to England, married his childhood sweetheart, and worked as a clerk in the Port of Liverpool.

   Yet God’s call continued until he became a preacher.  He drew great crowds because of his own personal story “Old Converted Sea Captain.”  It was out of the story of his life that he penned one of the most famous hymns ever written: “Amazing Grace.”

   His life was an example of God’s amazing grace; a man who ran from God, fought God, denied God and, ultimately, restored by God.  You may not have this dramatic of a story but you do have a story and more, importantly, God has an answer for you.  Your story may be more of benign neglect, or of ignoring God but God kept telling you, his story.  You may have not wanted to hear the story but you needed to hear it.  It may have played on your mind and in your head as you mulled it over, not sure of what it meant or how it worked.

   What you probably don’t realize is that as you “mulled it over” the Holy Spirit was working on your heart.  He kept telling you the story of God’s love for you and how Jesus died for you so that you would have life and salvation.  It is truly the most amazing story you will ever hear.  It is the one story that will completely change your life.  It takes some of us minutes to grasp it; it takes some of us years but God keeps talking to us with amazing patience and amazing love.  God’s amazing grace is being spoken to you from the first the moment you hear the story of Jesus told to you.  God’s amazing grace never gives up.

Gracious Father, your grace is truly amazing.  I never deserve or earn it yet it is always there for me.  When I need it the most, your grace pours upon me.  Your mercy restores me; your grace supplies me.  Be with those who are still struggling with your story of love and how it works for them.  Pour your amazing grace upon their heart so they may know your peace.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-16-2026

Good Morning!

Mark 4:36; “And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.”

        I was watching one of my favorite old movies the other day.  Late at night there was a showing of the movie “Jaws.”  For those of you who do not know, the basic premise is that a huge Great White shark is terrorizing a resort and eventually our three heroes go out and try to kill it.  The shark is supposed to be between 25 and 30 feet long.  On the boat is the old sea dog, a veteran of WWII, a young upstart marine biologist and the reluctant town sheriff.  The old sea dog and the young upstart spend much time sniping at each other while the sheriff gets all the “junk” jobs on the boat.

     One of his jobs is to throw bloody fish guts and pieces over the side of the boat trying to draw the shark.  As he is kneeling down over the edge of the boat, the shark jumps out of the water near the boat.  He stands with a look of terror in his eyes; he backs into the cabin where the sea dog and the young upstart are arguing.  He looks at both of them and says, “we’re gonna need a bigger boat.”  He saw the shark, saw his boat, and decided right away, “we’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

    In our verse, Jesus is crossing the Sea of Galilee when a storm hits.  He is asleep in his boat but the others, especially those on the little boats, are terrified.  They are convinced that they are going to drown.  They wanted a bigger boat.  There have been many times in my life when I wished that I had been in a bigger boat.  There are always times in our lives when the storms seem so huge and the waves gigantic; we may even see sharks in the water.  There are times I wish I had a bigger boat.  Yet, if I had a bigger boat, would I just have more room for the junk that life tells me I need?

     The truth is that what we need is faith in Jesus to be there to calm the storm.  We also need to remember that “calming the storm’ may not mean removing the event but it does mean to remove the fear and the anxiety that we experience.  We may still face job problems, relational issues, health issues and the like but these events do not define who we are.  These events do not represent “failures” in our life rather they are to show us the wonder of God.  No matter what we face, Jesus is there to calm it down.  It is never about the size of the storm or the size of the boat but about the size of God’s love for us. 

    God’s love for you will always prevail.  Even in the tiniest boat, God’s love for you will always prevail.  The challenge for us is to always look at the waves and the storm through the eyes of faith.  Holding onto the truth that God is always there to guard us and protect us.  We don’t need a bigger boat because we already have the greatness of God.

Father, the storms cause us to fear and we look at the size of our boat and we question.  Give us the faith to trust in you.  Give us the sureness of your wondrous grace in our lives.  Help us to know that you will always calm the storms for us and give us the peace that the world cannot give.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.           

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-15-2026

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.”

     In our Sunday School program, we encourage our students to ask any question they want about the Bible. They write it down and then once a month I meet with them and we talk about them. Sometimes it is about who God is, where He came from and things like that.  It is always interesting to watch how they think.  The way they process things is a little different and sometimes pretty insightful.  Our discussion the other day was about the “have tos.”  Kids this age just bristle when they think that they “have to” do something.  They are getting to the age where they feel that they are old enough and independent enough to make their own decisions.  They don’t want to “have to” do something.  They are concrete thinkers who want a pliable life; it gets interesting and I like to make them think once in a while.

    So once again, the questions began.  “Do we ‘have to’ go to church?”  “Do we ‘have to’ say the confession of sins?” “Or the Apostle’s Creed” “or the Lord’s Prayer?” “Or do we ‘have to’ sing the hymns?”  I love these questions; I long for these questions because my answer always throws them for a loop.  Do we ‘have to’….? The answer is “no.”  None of these things will get us into heaven.  None of these things impress God.  None of these things are required of us for salvation.  No, we don’t ‘have to’ come to church or say the Lord’s Prayer or the Creed or sing the hymns; we don’t have to do these things but because of God’s grace; we get to.

    Because God loves us so much, we get to do these things.  I ‘get to’ come to worship, at the invitation of Jesus, to hear his words of love, of forgiveness and of hope.  I get revitalization in my heart and in my soul from hearing those words of his love. I ‘get to’ confess my sins, release them from me, and lay them upon Christ’s throne.  They no longer burden me.  They no longer haunt and taunt me.   They are no longer the devil’s ammunition.  I ‘get to’ say the

Creed where I am reminded of all that God has/ is/ and will do for me.  From my creation, redemption, sustaining, fulfilling, encouraging, guiding, comforting; all my needs are met in God and the Creed helps to remind me of this.  I ‘get to’ speak the Lord’s Prayer, and all prayers, to God.  I ‘get to’ enjoy this holy conversation.  I am given the permission to speak to God, the creator of the entire universe, as I would speak to my dear father.  I ‘get to’ do all of this, and more, because Jesus came to pay for my sins.

    The confirmands always kind of shake their heads.  Many of us do.  We struggle trying to keep straight that God’s love for us precedes any action on our part.  Nothing we do will ever make God love us.  He chose to do that long before you and I ever existed and that love will continue long after you and I have returned to dust. We ‘get to’ live in God’s holy presence and remain in his loving arms.  Because of Jesus, we ‘get to’ have eternal life.  What a deal for us!!

Father, in your mercy you have brought me into your holy family and given me all the rights and privileges of being your child.  Guide me to know and to use these wonder blessings that I may grow in faith and serve you in your holy kingdom.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-14-2026

Good Morning!

    Matthew 9:36; “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

     Sheep are defenseless animals.  About all they can do is charge you.  They do not have sharp teeth to bite with.  They are easily attacked by any wild animal.  They are also very docile animals that need to be led, fed and cared for.  Left to their own ways, they get lost easily.  Without guidance and direction, they will wander aimlessly and soon be separated from each other.  They are easily spooked and will run in all different directions.  They will end up totally lost, totally disconnected, beaten down and completely helpless.

    In our verse Jesus looks out at the crowd of people and compares them to sheep.  These are sheep which had a bad shepherd.  He was careless and lazy.  He didn’t take care of them properly and then just ran off and left them.  They were left to be attacked by the wolves.  They were bloodied, bruised, and destroyed.  They were lost and completely helpless; sort of like we can be.

    Being described as sheep can be very accurate.  We are easily misled.  We are often told something that sounds too good to be true but we believe it anyway.  We see dozens of others doing it so we assume that it must be ok.  We don’t think for ourselves we just follow the crowd.  We are easily led astray and soon are far from the safety of the watchful eye of the shepherd.  We soon are beaten down by the ravages of the devil and this world.  We are tormented and attacked.  We are trampled on and depleted.  We follow the wrong shepherd and end up abandoned.

    This is why Jesus had to come to the world.  We were so hopelessly lost that we would never find our way and those who should lead us had abandoned their duties.  Nothing short of God’s intervening in our lives was going to change things, so he did.  God intervened and completely changed the way the sheep lived.  The sheep (us) got the true shepherd, the one that would lay down his life for the sheep.  Because of his great love for us, Jesus had compassion on us and did whatever was necessary to bring us back into the flock of his children.  He even gave his life so we could have ours.  He healed our wounds and defeated our enemies; all because he loves us. 

    So, no matter what the world throws at us, we know that Jesus, our true Shepherd, is there to guard and protect us.  He is there to comfort us and to apply the balm of forgiveness to our wounds of sin.  He is there to offer us hope and peace.  He gathers us up and leads us to the quiet still waters and lush pasture where we can live contented lives with him.

Gracious Lord, you are the shepherd who saves us.  You are the shepherd who provides for us and protects us.  Lord, there are so many of your children who are lost and harassed, like sheep without a shepherd.  Bring them safely into your loving embrace so that they too may know your boundless grace.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret