4-14-2026

Good Morning!

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

     Are you one who practices multi-tasking?  It is a word that means we are doing more than one task at a time.  Many equate this with using the phone, the computer and maybe carrying on a conversation at the same time.  It is supposed to be a sign of a harried yet skilled management of time.  According to many psychologists, it cannot happen.  You cannot multi-task.

    The reason for this statement is that our attention is singular; you pay attention to one thing at a time.  If you are using the phone, using the computer, and carrying on a conversation, psychologists will tell you that you do one of these and ignore the other two while you perform that task.  You may have all three (or more) activities on in front of you but you focus on one at a time.  Your focus may be short, as little as a few seconds, but that focus is one at a time.  You focus on one activity and then the next and then back but it is one at a time.

     Why is this a question?  Because as Christians we need to be focused on moving forward and we need to forget the past.  We cannot keep looking back at our past sins and past pains and keep moving forward.  When you look back, you stop going forward.  When you look back, the devil and the world have you looking back at the pain.  You focus on the pain and the devil tries to convince you that you should stay focused on the pain.  The devil wants you to stay in the past, in the pain and sorrow.

    This is why the Apostle Paul tells us to forget what is behind us.  We need to forget the past and move forward by God’s grace.  When we focus on the past, all of our past failures and shortcomings remain the focus.  The devil wants you to remember the pain you caused to your neighbor or your friend or to your family member.  He wants you to remember the pain you experienced.  He wants you in the past separated from God’s grace, alone in the pain and uncertainty.

    This is why Jesus came to forgive your sins, in order to put the past behind us forever.  The past that is full of sorrow and disappointment is to be left behind.  Jesus came to give you forgiveness and to give you the certainty and the hope for tomorrow.  Jesus gives us the reason to look forward; the certainty of life everlasting is waiting for us.  Our promised life in eternal joy and bliss waits.  So, look forward and forget the past; this is the secret to our joy.

Gracious Father, in you we have our hope for tomorrow.  Help us to leave the past behind and to go forward in the certainty of our salvation.  Be with those who are always looking back and suffering in the past.  Guide them by your Spirit to find the comfort in looking forward to the certainty of their salvation.  Help all your children to live in the joy of your wonderful, bountiful grace.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

4-13-2026

Good Morning!

      Galatians 3:1; “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.”

     Who has bewitched you?  It is something that happens; something like a moth is attracted to a flame or a light bulb.  It is hard for those who are bewitched to pull away, even when we know better.  That is what Paul was telling the Galatians when he wrote them this letter.  Who has bewitched you that you have strayed from the true Gospel of Jesus.

    The Galatians had fallen and followed a twisted view of the Gospel.  The Galatians had become legalistic Christians.  They added some requirements to their faith.  Some were the reintroduction of Jewish traditions and the requirements of “Thou shalt do this;” failure meant that you were somewhat less of a Christian.

    It is fascinating that the struggles of Christians in the 1^st century aren’t a whole lot different that Christians in the 21^st century.  Both generations live in a society that is predominated by unbelief and paganism.  It is easier; the decisions are far simpler but the path is very slippery.  To constantly say, “you have to do this” or “you can’t do that” makes the freedom that Christ gave us unattainable.

    Often times, legalistic Christians suffer.  We suffer because we swing from a self-centered, self-induced pride in our actions.  We thank God we are not like those sinners and then expect God to “deliver” on the list of goods we determine we deserve.  Then we suffer from a painful realization that we have failed to live the perfect life and we suffer in despair because we see our shortcomings as a cause for God to “zap” us with trials, troubles, and difficulties.

    We are often bewitched by the thought that everything is earned instead of it being a truly free gift.  We are bewitched by the thought “nothing is free” and “there has to be a catch.”  These worldly bewitching thoughts are the flame that draws us to the fire of pain and sadness.  This is just another way for the devil to beset us with his yoke of slavery.

    Jesus freed us from this yoke; don’t put it back on.  Don’t let “have to” and “can’t” rule your life.  Rather let God’s love lead you.  Do you have to attend church? Not to be saved.  Do you have to attend communion? Not to be saved.  Do you have to do a set number of “righteous works” in order to please God?  Our works fall far short of being pleasing to God.  What pleases God is love; love for Him by placing our trust in him and his promise over everything and in loving one another.  This occurs when the love that God shows to us flows through us because of his Spirit living in us.

    We don’t “have to” but we should “want to” do things that show God our love and gratitude for his amazing grace and love.  If we fall short, we are still redeemed children of God washed by the blood of the Lamb.  If we do show love, God’s love will prevail.

Father, help me to keep love for you as my guiding decision.  Lead me to act in love and not in judgment or anger.  Help those who struggle and despair when they fail to keep your law and see that it is by faith we are saved.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret     

4-12-2026

Good Morning!

              2 Samuel 22:36; “You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your gentleness made me great.”

     There is a story of a brave man who, as he was driving home from work, noticed some children playing in an old, abandoned building.  Just as he drove by, there was a huge explosion and he saw the building erupt in fire.  He stopped and ran inside to find the children.  By the time he found them the exit was blocked by the flames.  He remembered the old building had a huge furnace in the basement.  He herded the children into the walk-in furnace and pulled the huge iron door shut.  Inside that old furnace, they were safe from the inferno around them.  The man comforted the children telling them that they were safe and would soon be back with their families.  They were shielded from certain death and kept calm by the man’s gentle nature.

    This is what God does for us.  He shields us from certain destruction.  He saw our pain; he saw our danger and rescued us.  Jesus experienced our pain.  He walked among us to give us hope.  He gives us salvation.  His death on the cross paid for our sins.  His resurrection from the grave sealed the promise of our resurrection.  We are shielded from the fire that the devil hurls at us.  We are protected from the wickedness that the world tries to pour out upon us.

    Even in this salvation, God is gentle with us.  He calls us by his Word.  His Spirit continually guides us back into the safety of his shield of mercy.  It is here that we are kept safe from the fire of the devil.  Regardless of the many ways that the devil tries to attack us; we are under God’s shield.  The fears and uncertainty of this life and covered by God’s grace.  He calls you to listen to his Word of grace.  He calls us to be comforted by his tender words of forgiveness.  He shields us with his tender love and mercy.  Our hope is secure.  We can trust this shield.

    Because of God’s mercy, because of this shield, we can stand tall; we are great.  We can stand up to the devil and his attacks.  We can see his attacks for what they are; they are lies.  God loves you and wants you to be his child.  God desires that you live under him in his kingdom, safe and secure.  This is what God’s shield does for us; it gives us the comfort we need in the battles that the devil launches at us.  God shield protects you from all the devil throws at you.  Behind his shield, you are safe.

    We can hide be this shield, comforted by the gentleness of God’s loving mercy.  We can hide there safely until we are reunited with him in eternal paradise.  We can trust him to protect us from all that we face.  We can trust him to bring us the shield that is our salvation.

Gracious Father, your mercies are new to us every day.  Guard us by your shield of mercy that we may have salvation.  Be with those who are struggling with the battles of this life and feel that they are fighting this struggle on their own.  Save them by your mercy.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

4-11-2026

Good Morning!

     Hebrews 4:9; “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.”

     After a long day of work, we are often tired.  We lie down and sleep.  We rest but often times it is not a full or complete rest.  We wake the next day and sometimes let out a huge sigh as we think of the day ahead.  We are thinking of the project that we began a few days ago and now we are in the middle and we still have a few days left until the project is complete.  We sigh as we see the end no closer than the distance, we have already travelled.  We have rested some but not completely.  We only get the complete rest when the project is done.  Then we can rest the rest of completeness.

    This is the type of rest that God gives to us, the rest that he took on the Sabbath.  It was the rest of completion; it was the rest of perfection, of wholeness.  This is not the rest of the weary; this is better.  This is the rest received when a task is finished when the job is done.  It is the rest of satisfaction at a work completed and a task finished.  This is the rest that God had when he completed creation.  He wasn’t weary from the task; he was satisfied for all was “very good” and existing as he designed it.

    The good news of the Sabbath is that we are invited to participate in this rest.  To live in perfect equilibrium between the outgoings and incomings of the life; to a contented heart; to peace that passes all understanding; to the repose of the will in the will of God; and to the calm of the depths of the nature which are undisturbed by the hurricanes which sweep the surface, and urge forward the mighty waves. This rest is holding out both its hands to the weary souls of men throughout the ages, offering its shelter as a harbor from the storms of life. This is God’s will and invitation for us and to us.

    So, when life struggles are great, we look forward to God’s blessings.  We can look to him in complete confidence that we will have rest.  We have contentment far deeper than this world can grasp.  It is a peace that the world can never offer or understand.  It is God’s holy rest and we are partakers in it.  We are partakers because Christ went before us, completing our work of salvation, entering his rest so that we would also enter into our rest.

   No matter how great the task here on earth, no matter how grueling the job is; God’s rest waits for us.  No matter what the devil or the world tries to throw upon our backs, in an effort to cause us to work ourselves to exhaustion; God holy rest is there for you.  You can rest secure in the certainty that your victory is won and your salvation is secure.  You can rest in the contentment of the task completed.  We can recline in God’s loving arms, knowing that we are safe.

Gracious Father, in you we have rest.  Give us the comfort and the contentment of your loving arms.  Father, there are many who do not know your rest; they only know the rest that the world deceives them with.  It is not rest; it is a lie.  Bring them into your Sabbath Day’s rest.  Bring them to the knowledge and faith of their salvation.  This we ask in the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

4-10-2026

Good Morning!

             Matthew 6:20; “but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

    A few years ago, we took the high school kids to the Black Hills for a concert.  We stayed in a cabin in the Lead- Deadwood area; the place where gold is lore.  Men would pack up, sometimes with their families, and try and stake a claim and try to strike it rich.  This is the thing that many see as part of the American dream; man strikes it rich through good luck and hard work.  Even though these stories of men panning for gold are legendary and part of our lore; successes were few and far between.  Most of the time, this dream ended in total failure; sometimes catastrophically. 

    Most came with little more than the clothes that they wore.  As the small amount of money they had was spent, they would have to go to work for someone in order to fund their dream.  They often ended up as little more than serfs for the local supply stores.  Sometimes, if the husband was killed, his wife and family would have to try to go back to where they came from.  Sometimes, if the wife couldn’t afford to leave, she would often end up “working” in one of the local saloons.  The effect of “gold fever” was many times a destroyed life.

    We may not have “gold fever” but we many times place far too much emphasis on material items.  We measure our value by stuff.  What is always fascinating is that few ever have enough stuff.  No matter how much one has, there is someone who has more and we want to have more as well.  This “fever” can, and often does, cause pain in families and distress in relationships.  It may not end with the tragedies of the gold rush days but pain and sadness.  When we place our hope in stuff, when our treasures are here on earth; we are seldom satisfied or content.

    Jesus gives us a treasure that no amount of money can buy.  He makes us wealthy beyond any human measure.  He gives us eternal salvation; he gives the hope to face today because of the certainty of tomorrow.  He comforts us with his Holy Spirit.  His Word nourishes us and gives us the rest that we need.

   So, if you find yourself in the downward spiral of wanting “more, more, more;” remember you will never be fully satisfied, you will never be completely content.  You will always crave more and worry about what you have; you will have no rest and even less peace.  Realize that it is the world that tells you it is all about the toys you have.  God tells you it is about the relationships you have; first with Him and then your brothers and sisters.  That is the measure for which we should strive.  We should look at how much we love and not how much we have.  God’s gift to us is the certainty of our eternity.  God’s gift is the gift of life.  It is the answer to the “fever” that greed can cause.

Father, grant me the wisdom to trust in your promise.  Help me to see that the world’s fever is only an illness.  Show me that your healing grace is all that will satisfy life.  Be with those who are spiraling out of control.  Bring them safely home, in Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

4-9-2026

Good Morning!

     Psalm 103: 2 &4; “Bless the Lord… who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.”

       “The pit;” it conjures up images of despair.  In many of the old prisoner of war movies or in the old western prison movies, they had “the pit.”  It was a place of punishment, usually not big enough to stand in, usually an actual hole in the ground.  In the movies in the southwest United States or in the south Pacific, they are hot.  In the war movies in Europe, they are cold. Usually, at some point, the hero of the movies will rescue someone from the pit and save their life.  Of course, that is what heroes do.

     As sinful creatures, we live a life in the pit.  It is dirty, dark, dank, and very uncomfortable.  It is lonely and filled with despair.  We are in the pit and fear everything and we live with no hope.  This is the condition in which Jesus finds us. It is from the pit that we are rescued.  Jesus came to us and saved us just as we were.  We were dirty and despised; yet Jesus did not turn away from us.  We were and never are too dirty for Jesus to reach out to us and to save us.  We can take comfort in that; there is nothing about you that makes you unlovable to God.

    Now we see the next step, Jesus doesn’t leave us as he found us; we are cleaned up ad lifted from the pit.  We don’t have to live in the fear that the devil can keep dragging us back to the pit; we are free from him.  We are free to walk the journey that God has given to us. He does not want us to live in the pit; he frees us from the darkness and the hopelessness.  Jesus gives us hope and peace.

   So why is it that we so often return to the pit?  Why do we return to the pain and destruction?  Often it is because that is the only life we know.  We mistakenly think that we belong there.  We tend to see it as our “lot in life” and nothing is further from the truth.  Jesus frees us from that pit of despair, from that pit of hopelessness; so why go back?  Jesus lifts us from the pit and we never have to go back, we never to live in that despair. 

    Jesus came to us to give us hope; hope that can wash away our despair.  We can live knowing that our future is secure and that God goes with us on our journey to give us comfort and to hear our fears and to share in our life.  He goes with us to protect us and to guide us.  He goes with us to remind us of the loving promises that He has made to us.  We are his children and his desire is that we live in joy and contentment in his kingdom.  We are his people.  It is by his mercy that we are out of the pit.  It is by his grace that we have the peace that God grants to us.

Gracious Father, we give you thanks for freeing us from the pain of the pit of despair.  We give you thanks for the wonderful freedom that you give us.  Be with those who are still in the pit.  Give them the certainty of their hope in you.  Keep them safe in your arms and guide them by your Spirit. Protect our servicemen and women who are in harm’s way. In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

4-8-2026

Good Morning!

     Romans 14:19; “So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”

    I often sit back and watch people as they interact.  It is always fascinating to me to see what causes disturbances in relationships. Whether it is one on one or it is a group relationship, they seem to have different levels of disturbance.  It usually starts with a mumble, something said under your breath about something that was said or was heard.  It will grow into a grumble where the complainer’s comments are said loud enough to be heard but not really completely understood.  It will then rise to a kerfuffle where some extras are brought into the original debate either confusing the issue or making the beginning of picking sides.  It can rise to a conflagration where tempers flare which can lead to a full-fledged brouhaha which can lead you right into the much-dreaded donnybrook, so much for peace in the relationship.

    Relationships, from personal to group dynamics, are always a struggle.  This is the result of our sinful nature.  Relationships require giving, sinful nature only looks to take.  There will always be this tension; our sinful nature wrestling with the Spirit within us for control.  The Spirit usually wins but sometimes it doesn’t.  When sinful man wins the struggle, pain, and sorrow follow.  It started when Cain killed Abel and hasn’t gotten any better.  Our sinful nature causes all our problems.

     So, we fall into the temptation and we sin against our spouse, children, brothers, or sisters; or they sin against us; how do we get back on track?  What tools do we have that the Spirit gives to us to go forward?  The greatest tool we have is also the greatest gift we have and that is forgiveness.  If you want to move forward, if you want to have peace, you have to forgive.  If you never forgive you will never have peace.  This is not a punishment or a threat; it is how we work.  If we do not forgive, we do not let go of the past.  If we live in the past we are left to repeat it.  Thus, any pain which we experienced remains in vision and we repeat the pain over and over.  So, Scriptures tells us to pursue peace and for the mutual upbringing.

    In order to have peace, we must have a clear conscience and a clear heart.  We must confess our errors and give forgiveness to those who cause us pain.  Ratcheting the struggle upward may bring a hollow victory but it will never bring peace.  It will actually do the opposite.  Fighting never brings peace, only forgiveness brings about true peace.  That is why God’s peace is so great; it is built on love and forgiveness.  If we want true peace, we need to forgive and then try and build each other up.

Father, in your love for us we have forgiveness.  Help us to grow in peace; help us to forgive.  Show us the peace that is beyond this world’s understanding.  Show us your compassion that we may be compassionate to others.  Send your Spirit of healing to those who are struggling with one of their relationships.  We ask that you bring forgiveness and peace to those in pain.  All this we boldly ask because of Jesus our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret