5-8-2026

Good Morning!

      1 Samuel 16:7b; “God does not see as humans see.  Humans look at outward appearances, but the Lord looks into the heart.”

       Do you remember Eddie Haskell form the “Leave It To Beaver” show?  He was probably the first TV character that really rubbed me the wrong way.  I remember thinking, “they can’t believe him.  He is as phony as a three-dollar bill,” Now I was only about 6 or 7 at the time, so I thought this was a real-life event. Yet I still remember fuming at him.  He was so “gooey” to the adults and just a rat to Beaver.  I would almost tell the TV to “wake up; he’s not a nice guy!”  Of course, I was much older when I realized that this was a TV show that was scripted and plotted out.  Still, Eddie still makes me grumpy.

     The problem with real life is that we don’t get to read the script of life.  So, the Eddie Haskells of the world may slip by us once in a while.  We are often blinded by a person’s looks, or wealth, or the way they talk.  We tend to look and if it is pleasant to look at, we like it.  This is one of the reasons that restaurants arrange food on a plate so it looks better.  It is one of the reasons that do-it-yourself stores have the grills put together to see or have the patio set up in the store; if it looks nice in the store it will look nice in your backyard.  We tend to listen to and buy into how things look or sound as we make our judgment.  If it looks good or sounds good, we are for it.

      This can get us into all sorts of trouble; most of us can relate to past experiences where it looked good but was a flop.  Perhaps you have even experienced a relationship or two that went the same way.  It looked good at the start but it went “Eddie Haskell” on you in a hurry; maybe you were the Eddie Haskell.  Yet there are times when we are wrong in our estimation of people.  Too often, we are shallow in our view of people.  We only see the outside and make our judgment accordingly.  The shallow look is often wrong; it takes a deeper look.  It takes a look that we often fail to take because we can’t always see into the heart but that is where we need to look.

    God looks at the heart; he sees the desire of man and knows whose is sinful and whose seeks God’s way.  He looks at your heart; not your wallet or the way you look on the outside.  God looks at who we are not what we look like.  So, God encourages us to look deeper as well.  He encourages us to look at what others do, how they treat others, especially those who cannot help them in return.  God measure for us to use is how we show his love to others.  This is what Jesus told his disciples and it is what he tells us.

    Our tools are limited so we may miss once in a while but God calls upon us to show his love to others.  How others show his love is to be our standard for those who are around us.  Sharing God’s love is always the key.

Father, help me to look deeper to see those around me that share your love with others.  Help me to share your love with those around me.  Guide us to be your agents here on earth to spread your mercy to the broken and downcast.  Use us to lift them up and to restore them to your kingdom.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

5-7-2026

Good Morning!

        Psalm 105:4; “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!”

       When our oldest grandson was a toddler, he liked to play hide and seek.  He wasn’t too bad at it.  He usually hid pretty well except he giggled all the time.  One time, he convinced his uncles to play with him.  They were all at our house.  My grandson went to look for a place to hide.  We have a small entryway on one side of the house.  There is a door to the outside, a door to a closet, a door to my office and a door to the living room.  He ran into this entry way to hide.  He couldn’t open any of the doors to the office, closet or outside.  His one uncle yelled, “here I come.”

    Our grandson froze.  He extended each arm up against the closet door and tried to attach himself to the door in an effort to hide.  He stood as still as he could.  He tried to blend in with the door and hide.  It didn’t work but he tried.  He was hoping to hide but his uncles found him anyway.

   When we think of seeking something, we tend to think of things that are hidden, like a grandson or a buried treasure.  Yet in the Bible, seeking means something a little different.  When we read the word “seek” in the Bible, we should think more of turning to or of asking counsel of.  So, in our verse, when it says to “seek the Lord” it doesn’t mean to go looking for someone who is hidden; it means to turn to God where he is and has always been, right next to you.  We seek God where he is, in his Word and in his sacrament.  We seek God when we engage in prayer to him.

    This is what it means to “seek God.”  It is not some great quest or hunt; it is turning to God as our one and only source of true peace.  “Seeking God” is asking for his guidance, for his Spirit, for his wisdom and for his peace.  “Seeking God” is to trust in his faithful promises and to rely on those promises continually.  This is how we cope with life, by trusting in God and his promises.  Whether we are facing surgery in the morning or the loss of a loved one or a painfully sad change in our life, we are to “seek God” we are to turn to him in confident prayer and read his wonderful words of hope and peace.  We are to hear from God about his love for us and the certain confidence that we have because of his love for us.

    We can always take comfort in God’s Word.  It gives us life and hope, nourishment and comfort.  In God’s gracious Word we have peace.  We can face each challenge with the confidence that God is truly in our side.  Seek God; turn to him and trust in his promises to give your life and hope, comfort and peace.  Seek God; he waits for you with all his mercy.

Father of all goodness, in you we have all our hope.  Guide us by your Spirit that we may always seek you.  Guide us to always trust in your Word and to trust in your grace.  Be with all the hurting and the saddened people.  Guide them to come to you for peace and comfort.  Use us to help in guiding them so that all may come to know the mercy that you bestow on your children.  Protect us we pray in the precious name of Jesus.  Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-6-2026

Good Morning!

      Romans 7:15; “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

    Why did you do that?  Have you ever asked that question of your son or daughter?  It can be a most exasperating question because the answer, oftentimes, is “I don’t know.”  What on earth would lead you to do something like that, what possible good could come from that?  “I don’t know, I guess I didn’t think.”  Sometimes, I am convinced that the blood supply doesn’t always go all the way to the top of most teenagers at one time or another.  I think that and then I wonder sometimes why I do the things I do.

    Have you ever done something that you later regretted doing?  I think if you live long enough, most of us have.  Maybe we walked in on the last part of a conversation and suddenly were offended and made sure everyone knew.  Later we find out that we totally misunderstood what the conversation was.  Maybe you told someone they could count on you but you failed to deliver.  Or maybe it was a little more painful.  Perhaps you joined in the gossip with more intensity than you should have.  Maybe you didn’t defend the person or maybe you added a tidbit of “news.”  Maybe you started it.  Why do we do these things?  Usually, we feel horrible afterwards, especially if we think about it and reflect on it.  It can really cut you if you see that person and see the pain in their eyes.  We know it was wrong; we know it going in.  We know the right thing to do but, for whatever reason, we fail to do the right thing.

    The reason is sin.  We are sinful by nature so sinning is the natural thing to do.  But we are redeemed children of God who has given us new life and new hope.  Yet that hope does not mean it will always be easy; in fact, it can be very hard.  We know what is right; God wants us to love one another just as he loved us.  We know this yet our sinful nature continually tries to pull us back into sin.  That is usually why we are so confused when we do some of these things.  It is not a conscious action; it is a regression into sin.  It sneaks up on us and soon we are bit.

    This is why we need to be vigilant; to be “sober” as Peter tells us.  This is especially true when you find yourself in dangerous situations, places where you are predisposed to sin whether it is at the coffee gathering, a bar or nightclub somewhere, or sitting in front of your computer.  We know our weaknesses but so do the devil and our sinful nature.  So, we have to be very careful to about our actions.  We need to always be thinking about what we are doing.  It is when we don’t think that we fall into sin.  Why do we do what we don’t want to do?  Because we are sinful by nature but thanks be to God that we are the forgiven children whom he loves and redeems daily!

Father, I know what is right but too often I fail and fall short of your will.  Strengthen me and give me the ability to live a life pleasing to you.  Help me to love my neighbor as I should.  Guide me by your Spirit to do the good that I would.  In the precious name of Jesus our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-5-2026

Good Morning!

      1Timothy 6:12; “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

     Many years ago, the Schlitz Brewing Co. had an ad slogan that went something like this. “You only go around once in life, so you've got to grab for all the gusto you can.”  In this slogan they tried to appeal to the idea that you only have so much time to live your life so you need to live it to the fullest.  Today’s generation uses the acronym “YOLO” as in “You only live once;” pretty much the same thought.  Some use this thought as a motivator to be willing to try new things; some use it as an excuse to do foolish, dangerous, or careless activities but I suppose it depends on your perspective.

    The thing about the Schlitz Co. ad campaign that is interesting is that as soon as they left this advertising plan, sales began to flatten out and then dropped off.  It may have been a coincidence or it may have been that beer drinkers want to live life to the fullest and when the beer they were drinking didn’t promote that idea; they moved on. 

     We, as Christians, should be the first group to live life to the fullest.  All of our future worries are solved and settled.  God has promised us eternal life and has promised to be with us and to provide for us all that we truly need in this life.  We should be the first to enjoy life.  We can take hold of eternal life and enjoy what God provides here in this world. We do not need to fear the battles of this world for God will provide for us.  There will be times when it will require faith to see our way through.  There will be times when it will be a great battle but God will always provide us the way to face the test.

    It may seem to be more test than faith at times but that is what Paul means when he says to fight the good fight of faith.  We need to battle to keep hold of our faith.  There will be times when the devil will throw all he has against you but we have to fight to hold on.  Because when we hold onto that faith; when we cling to Christ and to the grace that he pours out upon us, we can withstand the devil’s onslaught but we need to hold on in faith.  But when we do, when we trust in God’s Word and promise, we can live our life to the fullest.

    So, because of God’s grace, we are free to live our life to the fullest.  We should be the most joyful people in the world but often we are dour.  Celebrate!!  Celebrate God’s incredible gift to you; celebrate your eternal life with him in perfect life.  We have more than the world can ever expect; we have more than the world can give.  Celebrate God’s goodness in our lives.  Trust his promise and live to the fullest.  It is his gift to you.

Father, in you we have life, in you we have hope.  Help us to live the life that you give us and to live it to the greatness that we can. It is your gift to us; lead us to the wonder that you give us.  Help those who live in sadness and worry.  Father give them life, give them comfort and give them hope.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-4-2026

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.”

     One time, when my youngest son was just a toddler, his mother took him shopping with his grandmother to Kmart.  As they came out of the store, with him and all the purchases in the shopping cart, the cart began to tip as one of the wheels fell off of the sidewalk.  He screamed, his mom screamed, his grandmother screamed.  As the cart tipped, everyone tried to catch him.  His mom tried.  His grandmother tried but it was to no avail.  The cart tipped and he crashed into the pavement and scraped his nose up.  He cried, his mom cried, his grandmother cried.  It must have been quite the event.

    I don’t know if anyone else tried to catch him; I wasn’t there but I would assume that if someone was there, they would have tried.  Most people will try and catch someone if they are falling.  This tends to be a standard reaction, especially for parents and grandparents.  If you ever have attended a high school sporting event where one of the participants gets injured, it never takes long to figure out who the parents and grandparents are.  It is a common response; very few people, if any, take any delight in the pain of their loved ones.  Most, if not all, will try anything to help ease the pain.

    When I visit someone who is in the hospital, it seems that the spouse or the parent is more upset than the patient is.  We hate to see our loved ones suffer.  Most of us would do anything, including trading places with them, in order to alleviate the pain.  We would take it all away of we could. 

    This is a similar response that God has towards us.  God’s response to us is out of love, out of the purest fatherly love.  God saw the pain and the suffering and had compassion on us as a loving parent would.  To quote Luther, “but God beheld our wretched state.”  God saw our hopelessness and did what any loving parent would: he took our place.  He took from us the cost of that pain, of that sin.  He lifted up Jesus on the cross so that we would be lifted up out of our desperate state.

    This is why God sent Jesus to die in our place.  His love for us is beyond that of what a parent feels for their child.  His is the perfect love that moved him to send his only son to die in your place.  He replaced you with Jesus so that you may have life and have it abundantly.  He sent Jesus, not to judge or condemn but to take your place so that all the pain and sadness could be replaced, replaced with hope.  This is why Jesus came to walk on the earth; he came to bring healing.  Whatever your condition; Jesus came to restore us to life.

Father of all good, you give us life.  Because of your great love we have life; because of your mercy we have hope.  Defend us through the trials of this life so that we may always see your love.  Be with those who are lost and unsure of your mercy.  Give them hope.  Bring them safely home.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-3-2026

Good Morning!

      1 Thessalonians 4:16; “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”

    Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man.”  That is a pretty good guess to me.  I heard someone once thought it would be Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.  One thought it would be Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.  One thought about John Williams’ “Theme for Star Wars.”  I think I like the “Fanfare for the Common Man.”  We were discussing what the trumpet of God would play that would announce Christ’s return.  The Lord will descend, a cry of command, the voice of an archangel, the trumpet and then, then we have the resurrection.  We have the final, wonderful, victorious resurrection.

   We, as Christians, should never fear Christ’s return.  It signals the ultimate victory for us as believers in Christ and his promise.  It will mark a time of great joy.  It will mark a time of joy that has never been seen here on this earth.  We will be victorious and we will be transformed.  Those who are still alive when Christ returns, and there will be a last generation.  You and I may be part of that last generation or we may not; but we will be part of the resurrection and what a wonderful, joyous time it will be.  I cannot wait to see and to hug and to laugh with all my family and friends who have already gone on to rest in the Lord.  All those people, many of whom the ravages of death weighed heavily upon, will be there, whole, and healthy.  All will be perfect.  All will be grand.

    It is when I think about the resurrection that I think of the parents who had to bury a child in their life.  I think of the pain they felt.  Then I remember Paul’s words, “I do not consider the present suffering to compare to the future glory.”  The pain they feel will not begin to compare to the joy and the incredible reunion that will occur.  It will be fantastic.  It is what we should look forward to, what we should long for and pray for.  It will be the end of the devil’s nightmarish reign on earth.  It will be the end of the destruction of creation.  It will be the restoration of everything to the state of perfection and completeness.  It will be amazing.

   So, we wait.  We wait for Christ to return but as we wait, we long for, we dream of, we hope for the day when Christ shall return, with the cry, the voice of the archangel and the trumpet, the wonderful, glorious trumpet.  It will sound and we will win.  Christ will return.  Pray for it, long for it, hope for it but above all know that when it comes, there will be joy beyond all measure for us as God’s dear children.  Celebrate that Christ will return and restore creation and us as well to all perfection and joy.

Father of all wonder, we hope in you.  We long for Christ’s return.  Help us to hold onto the certainty of your love, your mercy, and your promise that victory is ours.  Guide those who are lost or confused to come to see that all hope rests in you and that all victory will come from your glorious hand.  We wait; we wait for the sound of the trumpet.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen and returning Lord and Savior, we pray.  amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

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