5-2-2026

Good Morning!

          Revelation 3:20; “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

       There is an old preacher’s joke that goes something like this.  A preacher was trying to visit one of his members.  He stood at the door and knocked and knocked but nobody answered.  So, he took out his pen and paper and wrote on the paper “Rev. 3:20” and left it on the door, thinking it was a clever way to get a member to read the Bible.  On Sunday, a note addressed to the preacher was found in the collection plate.  Below his writing of “Rev. 3:20” was a lady’s handwriting with the verse “Gen. 3:10.”  With his curiosity raised he quickly opened his Bible and read, “I heard your voice but I was afraid because I was naked so I hid.”  Sometimes it happens.

    Have you ever avoided answering the door to your home because you didn’t want the person to know that you were home?  Perhaps it was a salesman or a neighbor that you just didn’t want to deal with today.  Sometimes, pressures lead us to avoid answering the door because we fear a bill collector.  Sometimes in anger we avoid answering the door because we aren’t ready to speak to them just yet.  How long have you left the door unanswered?  For some it is years upon years.

    That is what happens when you refuse to forgive your brother or sister.  Oh, you may allow them a physical presence; you may even be “civil” towards them; but if you refuse to forgive then you have effectively shut the door on any true relationship.  You have decided not to answer them.  If it is a plea of repentance or a plea for mercy as long as you shut the door, you have locked that person out of your life.

    You are also locking Jesus out of your life.  When we refuse to forgive, we are blocking God’s forgiveness to us.  We are closing the door on our relationship with Jesus as well.  Jesus came to fix broken people.  He came to fix broken hearts, broken spirits, and broken relationships.  All the healing requires forgiveness.  All the healing requires open doors and when the doors are open; reconciliation can occur.

    The greatness of Christ’s reconciliation for us is that he continually knocks at the door of our heart wanting to be allowed in.  He wants to enter your heart and dwell in you with the peace of his fellowship.  He wants us to live content with the certainty of our salvation.  He wants us to take this God given reconciliation and then go out and heal our brokenness in the relationships that we have with our family, friends, neighbors and other brothers and sisters in Christ.  Jesus is standing at the door and knocking.  We should also stand at the door of those who we have hurt or hurt us so that we may be reconciled to them because of Christ’s great love for us.

Father, too often we let pride and ego destroy our relationships with those whom you have placed in our lives.  Forgive us and lead us to open the door to the healing that is needed in this world.  Guide us by your Spirit to be healers in this world.  In the precious name of Jesus our Lord, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret     

5-1-2026

Good Morning!

           Jeremiah 29:11; “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

   In 1915, a man by the name of Ernst Shackleton was going to attempt to be the first man to lead a party across the Antarctic continent via the pole.  It was about 1800 miles.  No one had attempted this because of the distance.  In order to accomplish this, the plan was to have a second group start from the opposite side and leave supplies for the expedition to use as it came across.  Shackleton figured they could carry enough supplies to go about 1200 miles.  The second group would head toward the pole and leave supplies until it went about 600 miles.  The theory was to meet the supplies as they needed them.  This was a bold adventure without a GPS and only a magnetic compass that they would have to trust.  Unfortunately, bad weather for both parties kept the journey from being attempted.

    It was a good plan to have the supplies ready for the expedition when it arrived.  They could pick up the needed supplies and continue on their planned journey to the opposite side.  If it hadn’t been for some really bad storms, it would have worked.  Everything was laid out just in time and just in the right place that they would need it.

    God does the same thing for us.  He lays out ahead of us the supplies that we need.  That can really be comforting for us as we think about our life.  As the struggles go ahead of us, God has laid out what we will need to go forth.  We can see how God does this as we look at creation.  God created everything we needed to support this body and life and he did this first.  The food, the shelter, the alignment of day and night was all in place before God created man.  All our needs were planned for.  Even the sending of Jesus as our Savior was planned out before the foundation of the world.

    We can truly find comfort in this.  As we face the struggles of life, as we face challenges that make us shake with fear, God has already placed the supplies that we need in place.  These supplies can include people, words of comfort and hope, his Spirit, and the fellowship of Communion, all of which are in place to give you the comfort and the consolation that you will need as we go through the battles of life. 

   So if you are facing some real challenges in your life; they could be health issues for you or a loved one, they could be end of life struggles, they could be financial upheaval, they could be relationship meltdowns, they could be any or all of these; we can face them with the certainty that God has laid the supplies in place for you.  So, while we may not always see how the path will go; we can rest assured that God knows the way and provides for us as we go.

Father of grace, you provide all that we need to support this body and life.  This is a great comfort for us. Help us to hold fast to this promise.  Help us to see your mercy active in our lives.  Be with those who are truly struggling at this time of their life.  Give them the assurance that you are there with them and that you have their needs provided for.  Help them to have peace in this journey.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

4-30-2026

Good Morning!

      2 Corinthians 3:5; “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.”

    Are you one of those people who question their ability once and a while?  Many do, in some areas of life.  Very, very few people are completely comfortable in all aspects of life and those that claim they are comfortable are usually kidding themselves.  We all have areas of our life that we are very self-conscious of.  I am not a dancer.  I would rather stand up in front of a huge crowd and give a 5-to-10-minute spur of the moment speech on any topic that someone chose rather than dance in public.  I feel awkward, clumsy, and totally unskilled.  It seems that the whole crowd of people is watching me and critiquing my very limited ability.  I know that this is an illogical thought but it is what I have.  Chances are you have something in your life that you feel that way about.

    One of the standing jokes that they tell at the seminary is that, as an ordained pastor, you need to be ready to get invited to a lot of dinners.  Most people would rather feed you than to pray before a meal.  This actually seems to be truer than it isn’t.  This is one area where some feel uncomfortable; they feel incompetent.  Most feel very uncomfortable speaking in public; add on a profession of faith and it can get tough in a hurry.

    One of the most freeing messages that I was taught was that “God does not call the qualified; he qualifies the called.”  God doesn’t call you to be a child of God because of your skills or abilities; he gives you the power, through his Spirit, to use those skills to give glory to God and to aid your neighbor.      

    The thing to remember is that we are God’s hands or arms or feet in this world.  Martin Luther calls this “the masks of God.”  It looks like you but it is God’s Spirit at work.  Basically, we just need to let it work.  We need to not stand in the way.  If we feel the urge or desire to help someone, we should allow it to occur.  Don’t suppress it for it is probably God’s Spirit at work.

    When the time comes to speak or act, trust God’s Spirit to be there with you and for you.  Trust him to lead you through it.  He has promised to always be with you; he has promised to never forsake you.  So, we can take comfort in the fact that God does not deliver us from the devil only to throw us to the world.  He stands with us and comforts us.  So, as we look at our faith, we know that it is entirely because of God and his mercy.  God has given it to us and has promised to sustain us by his grace.  Trust in him to give you the courage to go forward.

Father of all peace and goodness, you give us the things that are needed and necessary in our life.  Give us the courage to trust them to carry us through life’s journey.  Give us the wisdom to share your love with those around us.  Give us a willing heart to aid our brothers and sisters who are in need of comfort or peace.  Give us a willing heart to feed the hungry and to clothe the naked.  Lead us in your love.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret     

4-29-2026

Good Morning!

        Romans 12:12; “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

        A few years ago, there was a mix up in my health insurance and it needed my attention.  So, I called the toll-free number and was told that my call was important to them but that all available representatives were currently assisting other callers so would I please hold onto the line.  I heard that four times before I got a real person.  I told him this call was in response to a letter that I had received.  He asked me to hold while he found that letter.  A few minutes later he came back on and couldn’t find the letter so we started over.  I had to fill out an entire new form for him.  I told him what had happened.  He told me that he hadn’t heard of that so he needed to ask someone else and could I hold.

    My beautiful blushing bride got me a fresh cup of coffee as I sighed and sat down on my chair.  Then this very polite man came back on the line on said this is what we are going to do.  So, he began the process again.  I gave him my name, my address, my birth date, my social security number and then we agreed to the wording of the brief reason for the correspondence.  He then began this conversation; “Ok, Mr. Bierman, we are almost done all I have to do is send this and…NO, NO, NO, NO, Oh NO, please no.”  There were a few moments of silence and then he came back on the line and said, “I hit delete instead of send and lost all our data, WE have to start over again.”  I sighed; again, my patience in tribulation was being tested.

    I can do the first part; I can rejoice in hope.  I have that down but patient in tribulation; that one I struggle with.  And struggle I do, partly, because I am supposed to be the calming voice; partly because I need to learn patience.  Yet this is most difficult and not just for me for many that I minister to.  Often times, as we set in a hospital room, the phrase, “if they would only give me some explanation as to why this is happening, I could live with it.  It is not knowing that is hard.” 

    Even though it is hard, we don’t need to see the entire route of the journey that we travel.  Knowing may actually make the journey more difficult as we may travel it with sadness.  We know that God is leading us down the path.  He is providing for the needs that we will have as we go.  He places the people that we need to be there and, above all, we have his Word to give us the comforting words of hope and salvation that he gives us.  He gives us his Spirit to guide and protect us.  God promises us that the tribulation will not overtake us.  He is always there with us.

    Faith is trusting that God will never leave us.  Faith is knowing that God will see us through the trials of this life and give us victory in the end.  Faith is being patient in this life while we are waiting for Christ to return.  Faith is saying, “I trust God to care for me.”    

Gracious Father, help me to be patient.  Give me the ability to remain calm and faithful in the face of this world.  Send me your Spirit of peace so that I may live in peace.  Give me the strength to be patient in the face of tribulation.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

4-28-2026

Good Morning!

       Psalm 116: 1-2; “I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.  Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.”

       “Hello? is anybody out there?” This was a tag line from a “Twilight Zone.”  Like many of the episodes, it was predicated on a nuclear attack between the United States and the Soviet Union.  In this episode, Burgess Meredith was a man who hated people.  He never wanted to interact with people; his only passion was his books.  He loved books.  He was in his basement when he heard the civil defense sirens.  After the explosion, he waited a few weeks and then went out to look at the city.  As he wandered, he found that he was all alone; there was no sign of life anywhere.  He wandered until he found what he wanted to find; he found the library and he found most of the building and the books were intact.  He was ecstatic; he had all those books and no one to bother him.  As he sat down, he stumbled.  His glasses fell off and broke.  He could no longer read.  So, he set off, with a book in his hand, looking for someone to help him read his book. 

     Most of us never seek this kind of solitude.  There may be times when we seek a little alone time but we rarely want to be completely alone.  This is especially true when we are hurting or lost.  At times like that we usually look for someone to hear us and more importantly to listen to us.

    It is one of the devil’s greatest ploys.  He puffs us up when something seems to be going well.  He tells us that it is all because of our talent, our skill, and just the fact that we just deserve some good luck.  He tells us that we accomplished this on our own without any help from anyone.  He tells us we are self-made.  He tells us that we are invincible.  Then he leaves and we are left to strut on our own.  All is fine until trouble strikes.  Maybe it is an illness, maybe it is a job-related setback, or it may be a health issue; something happens and then we find that we are alone.

    We try to fix the problem on our own but it only gets worse.  We call out for help but the devil, who puffed us up, is long gone and laughing at our pain.  People, some we may have pushed away, are too far away to hear us.  We are left alone, lost and crying for help.  The pain and the sorrow become too great for us to bear.  The suffering weighs us down like a stone.  Soon we are completely defeated; all alone and suffering immensely.

    Yet God hears our cries and he rescues us from the suffering.  He listens to us and knows our pain.  He knows our fears and our deepest concerns.  He comes to us with his Spirit of comfort and he comes to us with his words of comfort and hope.  He brings into our lives the people whom he has to speak to us and to comfort us and to ease our pain.  God is always listening, inclining his ear to hear each whispered word; to hear each hushed sigh of pain.  God is always listening and offering us hope through his love and through his promise of salvation.  It is ours to hold.

Father, you hear us as we cry.  Give us the certainty that you listen and give us the peace that we so desperately need.  Cradle us in your loving arms.  In Jesus name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret               

4-27-2026

Good Morning!

       2 Corinthians 5:19; “That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

          One of the most popular genres in movies is the one where two people who been long apart from each other are reunited together again.  It is most common in the Christmas movies.  Someone, a long-lost daughter or a long-lost son, returns home.  It might be because a parent is sick or the family business is in trouble.  Sometimes it is that the long-lost soul has run out of options and has no choice but to come home.  Sometimes it gets the double and the long-lost soul also reconnects with the long-lost love interest.  So, we can have the reconciliation of child and parent, the renewed love interest and the first snow for Christmas.  It is an instant classic!

    Ok, that maybe was a little sarcastic but most of us like a story where people get back together.  One of the more popular MASH shows was when Hawkeye and Radar reconnect two Korean brothers, one North Korean and one South Korean, so they can talk to each other.  People loved the way that love of family trumped politics.  Most of us enjoy when people get back together.

    So, if you enjoy those types of stories, the Bible is the book for you.  The entire Bible is one long continuing story of God reconciling man to himself and to other men.  It starts with everything perfect; man in perfect harmony with God and each other.  Yet soon sin entered the world and man was soon split apart from God and from each other.  Then we read of all the pain and the problems that exist in this world because we do not care for our fellow man.  We read how greed, envy, jealousy, lust, and other selfish passions soon rule man and lead him even farther from God and his mercy.

    Yet God chooses to reconcile man, to bring man back into fellowship with him.  He does this by having Jesus come into this world and begin the healing process.  This process includes Jesus’ death and resurrection, as a payment and a guarantee that the reconciliation is under way.  Each day it gets closer to completion.  So, as we go along the journey, we have opportunities to reconcile with our fellow man and to tell them how they can be reconciled to Jesus.  This is part of our goal in this life to bring people back together; first with God and then with each other.

    This reconciliation is a major part of the Bible.  It is a major theme throughout Scriptures.  Think of the parables, the lost sheep, the lost coin, the Prodigal Son are all about reconciliation.   The man who fields the pearl is about God reconciling with you.  God wants us back together as a happy family.  So be part of God’s plan, rejoice in the reconciliation to God and seek to reconcile with your brothers and sisters.  It will bring contentment to your life.

Father, guide us as we reconnect with those in our lives with whom we are at odds.  Help us to restore one another to the peaceful and loving family which you first created.  Guide with your Spirit of peace and hope.  Be with those who are especially hurt by the estrangement of this world.  Give them your peace.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret        

4-26-2026

Good Morning!

       Matthew 6:6; “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

      When you were a child, did you ever play game “Truth or Dare”?  The premise of the game was that a group of friends would sit together and then each person would get a choice of being asked a “truth” or given a dare.  The questions are somewhat embarrassing; of course, the dares are as well.  It used to be popular at the first “boy/girl” party.  It has been known to send many a young lad or lass home crying with embarrassment.  Yet what do we expect; most people, young or old, have some things that they just want to keep quiet about.  

    This is what our verse for today is really about.  Too many read this and think that prayer is something that we need to hide or to keep away from others.  Some read it as something to be embarrassed about.  It actually is quite the opposite.  In this verse, we are told to be honest and truthful.  It is not a dare or a challenge; it is a chance to free yourself from pain and sadness.

    God knows all that is in your life; ha will never need to have you tell him what you fear, desire, or know.  God already knows.  The reason that we are to go into our room and close the door is to remove our inhibitions.  There are just some things in our life that we do not want many, if any, to know.  There are thoughts, desires and dreams that are too often beyond what we want others to know about.  These are the worst kinds.  They are the ones we try to hide or deny; yet deep down we know they are there.

    These are the ones that the devil loves to torment us with.  These are the little, yet persistent sinful desires that nag at us and keep getting in the way of our complete trust in God.  These are the doubts that the devil throws at us.  These are the things that open the door to hearing the devil whisper to you, “Did God really say?” or worse “when God finally sees what you really are, he will throw you out.”  So, we sit and wonder, sometimes all alone if that is true.  Sometimes, when we are facing a struggle or a challenge in life, those whispers get a little louder as the devil tries to tell you that God is “getting” you for something.

    These are lies pure and simple.  They are designed to draw us from God’s grace and into a place of despair and a place of hopelessness.  They are designed to leave us in fear.  Yet we don’t need to be there.  God wants us to be close to him.  God wants us to be near him so that we can rest safely in his arms.  God wants us near so that we can know and experience his peace.  This is why God invites us to close the door; he wants us to speak from the depths of our heart, in whispers of confidence that he has already wiped away those sins.  He wants us to speak truthfully from the heart so that we may free ourselves of the sins that the devil uses to taunt us with.  When you lose the sin, the devil loses his ammo.

Dearest Father, lead me to close the door and to speak to you with all my heart and all my focus.  Lead me to know the greatness of your love and the heights of your forgiveness.  Lead me to trust in your grace to always protect me.  Help those who struggle in the darkness of the devil’s lies.  Lead them to the light and warmth of your mercy.  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret