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

4-7-2026

Good Morning!

     Luke 19:42; “(Jesus said) “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

     “If I had only known.”  How many times have you said that?  How many times have you heard that said? “Oh, if I would have only known that my mom was going to die, I would have visited her more.”  “If I had only known that this was the last time I would talk to him, I would have said something different.”  If I had only known.

    We place a lot of value on knowing something.  We think that if we know what is going to happen that somehow, we will be better prepared and that we will make better decisions.  This sounds really good in theory but not so good in practice.  Because we rarely know what is going on and we are even less likely to have a good plan in place.  Even if we see all the “signs” we are still unprepared for what will happen.

    In our verse, Jesus is lamenting over Jerusalem, and all the Jews, because they have missed the signs.  All that Jesus did while he walked the earth pointed to the fact that he was the promised Messiah.  Yet they didn’t see the signs but even now, as Jesus waits to be arrested and crucified, if the Jews would have repented, Jesus would have forgiven them.  If they only would have known and realized who Jesus really was, they would have been saved and they would have had peace.  But they didn’t know and these things were hidden from their eyes.  They failed to see because they didn’t have faith. 

     There are many times that we fail to have peace because we do not see the truth.  Too often, we want to create our own truth.  Instead of receiving the Gospel’s life changing joy, we seek to change the Gospel so that it “fits” us.  We take God’s truth and then twist it’s meaning to fit our own personal needs and agenda.  Soon, we have tried to “fix” or “improve” the sweetness of the Gospel that its truth is hidden from our eyes and we begin to call sin, “alternate choices” or “enlightened knowledge” or some other pet name. 

    Yet we only have true peace when we see that God’s pure truth is active in our lives.  God’s love for us is real as is the love that God wants us to have for all others.  Yet sin separates us from God and it blinds us to his most gracious and wonderful love.  So, we need to see God’s truth and repent of our sins.  We need to turn away from selfishness and self-centeredness and be humble before him.  We need to listen to God’s Word and to know it as true.  When we do this, we see what God reveals to us, his love and mercy.  So, trust in God’s Word; it is never too late to repent and receive the comfort of our forgiveness and salvation.

Gracious Father, in your wonderful mercy we have life.  Keep our eyes open to the truth of your wonderful grace.  Keep us steadfast in your loving arms.  Be with those who are struggling and do not see you.  Help them to see that it is never too late to hear your voice and come into your marvelous light.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

4-6-2026

Good Morning!

     1 Corinthians 13:13; “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

     Love seems to always be the answer.  The Beatles sang that, “All you need is love.”  The Andrews Sisters sang “I wanna be loved;” Elvis wanted to someone to “love me tender.”  The Righteous Brothers lost that loving feeling.  We speak an awful lot about love, in and out of our faith.  Out of our faith, the word can mean about anything from people to pizza we “love it” but what about our faith and what does Paul mean when he says the greatest of these is love?  How can love be greater than hope or faith?

   As Paul addresses this statement, we can read it in two ways; one way is temporal and one way is eternal.  The temporal understanding is about our earthly relationships.  Faith is something that you have.  You have faith; it benefits you and you only.  Each one of us has to have faith, on our own, to hold onto the promise that God makes to us.  Faith sustains me and helps me to grow closer to God through Christ. 

   Hope is what keeps you going through the toughest of times.  No matter how difficult the trek or dark the night, you have hope because of the promise that there will be a better day.  Someday, God will rescue you from this sin filled world.  Jesus will return and restore creation to its perfect state and you with it.

    Love is the greatest because you have to share love.  Love only exists when it is freely given away.  You cannot hold onto your love; if you do, it fails to accomplish its task.  You can hold onto your faith; you can hold the hope that God gives you but you have to give love away.  Love helps to build others up; it can help to lift them from the depths of sadness and despair.  Love builds the family of God here on earth like nothing else we can do.  In the temporal world, love is the greatest because love brings about peace for all.

   In the eternal sense, love is the greatest because love is everlasting.  Love is the only thing we will take into our eternal life with Christ.  We will no longer need faith because we will be living and seeing Jesus.  Faith is being certain of what we do not see; we will see Jesus face to face.  We will talk with him and listen to him and share his banquet feast with him; we won’t need faith.

   We also will not have to hope for the promise because the promise has been fulfilled.  We won’t have to hope for it to come because it is present.  All we will take with us and, like the Beatles sing, all we need is love.  We will live in God’s eternal joyous kingdom, loving all and being loved by all, especially Jesus. 

    So, love is the greatest because it is the peace in this life and the everlasting truth in the next.  All we really do need is love.

Gracious Father, you give us three great gifts: faith, hope, and love.  Help us to cherish them and to experience them and to live them.  Strengthen our faith, build up our hope, and let us love one another as you have loved us.  Be with those who do not experience love.  Move us to love them with a willing heart and spirit.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret