3-9-2026

Good Morning!

            Psalm 145: 15-16; “The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.  You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.”

    I have been reading again about the nutritional value of various foods.  I feel like I am watching a ping pong match.  As food goes from good to bad to good to bad for you.  Dairy, eggs, red meat, butter, bread have all switched sides through the years.  It seems we never really know what is good or bad for us.  We know what tastes and usually just hope it is, at least, not really bad for us.

    They try and use a food pyramid to help us understand the number of servings that we need to eat each day.  It advises different amounts of fruits and vegetables, dairy, proteins, and fats.  It seems at times that this pyramid changes shape as the recommendations change but it is still pretty much the same.

    In our faith life, we need to be fed and nourished as well.  We need to do so for most of the same reasons we need physical nourishment.  It provides us with energy for building muscle.  It provides for the needs of our body on a daily basis.  God provides these for us.  He gives us His Word and sacraments, prayer and praise and worship.  We need to see these as the faith pyramid.  These are the elements by which our faith is strengthened.

    We have God’s Word where he reveals his love for us.  He reveals his plan of salvation for us.  He offers us his words of forgiveness and hope.  We need to daily take this important nutrient to heart to find the comfort and the consolation we seek.

   We have his sacraments to nourish our soul and to give us forgiveness.  It is through these gracious gifts that we receive the nourishment that we can feel and taste.  We can taste just a tiny bit of the heavenly feast that we will share with Jesus and all the believers.  We need to consume these on a regular basis.

    God gives us prayer to help nourish us.  We can use prayer to speak to God from our heart.  We can go to him crying from the depth of our fears; we can go to him lamenting the pain of our suffering and we can go to him singing with joyful hearts the wonder of his love and blessings for us.  God uses prayer as a way to nourish us by changing us as we speak to him.  We should be in constant communication with our God.

     Through all of this we will experience God’s mercy and we should give thanks.  We should give thanks to God for his wondrous mercy showered upon us minute by minute.  We should praise his glorious name as a way to remind us of what God does for us at all times and in all ways.  We should praise him in the morning, noon, and night.  The wonders of his love are never lost.

Father of all love and mercy, you nourish us so that we may be stronger in this walk of life.  Through your generous gift of hope, we sing with joy. Guard us by your Spirit.  Be with those who are undernourished and are feeling weak.  Bring them safely into your loving arms.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen savior we pray amen,

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

3-8-2026

 Good Morning!

     Luke 17:21; “They can’t say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ You see, the kingdom of God is within you.”

    We like to play a lot of games that involve searching for something.  From “Hide and Seek” to board games that involve hidden treasures, we like to look for things.  There aren’t many people who aren’t fascinated by treasure hunting or wonder about buying a metal detector and finding some valuable coin or trinket.  We are an inquisitive species.

    We seek answers to problems; we seek information for the sake of knowing what is going on.  We are always on the lookout for new ideas, new theories, or new thoughts which make us wonder about tomorrow.  We tend to think that we can find the answers to everything and then solve every problem.  But what happens when we can’t?  What happens when events go unexplained or unanswered?  Many people, at this time, decide to blame God or the people who believe in God.

    Do you ever notice, when there is a catastrophe, people often blame God and then go looking for answers in all the wrong places?  When people face struggles in their lives, they often seek out answers from any source they can find.  Then they shout out that they have found the answer, “Here it is!”  We have found the answer to life’s problems; only they haven’t.

    But that doesn’t answer the question that many have and that is “Where is God?”  When there is pain, trouble, or sadness, where is God?  Have you ever asked, or heard someone ask that question, “where is God?”  Where was He when the flooding was going on?  Where was he when the forest fires were burning? Where was he when the gunman opened fire?  Where is God?

    We often struggle with this because when we read the Bible, we see all the extraordinary times that God intervened in man’s existence.  We want that type of experience, we want to say, “Here it is.”  The thing is that God has chosen not to work that way.  He has chosen to work through his Church at this time.  Jesus empowered his Church to forgive sins, to preach repentance, to bring reconciliation to the world; God is in you and has chosen that way to work in the world.  So next time we wonder where God is, he is in us wanting to use us to work his love throughout the world.  Maybe we cannot stop everything that is bad in this world, a sinful and broken creation will exist until Christ will return, but we can offer God’s grace to one person, right now.  It might be your spouse, your child, your neighbor, or even someone you don’t even know.

    God has chosen to dwell in you and to use you as the method that He touches the world.  Next time you think “Where is God?”  He is in you seeking to work his love and grace in this broken world.

Father, we see pain all around us.  Use us as your hands and ears to deliver your love.  Give us the courage to show that you live in us and we are your people.  Give us the wisdom to reach out to those who hurt the most and give them your grace.  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,  

Pastor Bret

3-7-2026

Good Morning!

              Exodus 14:21b; “All that night the Lord pushed back the sea with a strong east wind and turned the sea into dry ground.”

    Do you remember that song by Simon and Garfunkel called “Sounds of Silence?”  It is a very plaintive song about a person who feels that he is completely isolated from anyone and everyone.  In the process of this event, he feels the cold and damp while seeing people who are talking but he doesn’t hear anything because they are speaking to him.  He feels lost and without hope.

    That is how the Israelites found themselves while they were in captivity in Egypt.  They were isolated from their land and were alone in a foreign land, enslaved by their cruel taskmasters.  They sat in bondage and cried to God to save them.  Even as they prayed, God seemed distant and unhearing.  The Egyptians continued to beat them and crush their spirit, crush their hope.

    There are times in our life when we probably feel the same way.  Perhaps it is waiting for the results from a doctor’s visit.  You know, one of those visits where cancer is still a possibility.  Or maybe even worse is when the doctor just scratches his head and says, “I just don’t know.”  Perhaps your boss keeps talking about “downsizing” or “re-structuring.”  Maybe it’s been more than a year of hearing, “we aren’t hiring right now.”  I visited with a young man whose family just showed him the door, gave him a suitcase, and then closed the door; how far away is God there?  These are but a few examples, you can probably add some of your own.   The thing is God is never far away; we just don’t always see it clearly.

    In our verse, God was at work for the Israelites at a very dark time in their existence.  The only life that they knew was slavery.  Then, miraculously, they were freed by the Egyptian Pharaoh only to have him change his mind and then begin to chase them through the desert.  Maybe you have felt that way.  Some pain just seems to chase after us.  It seems that many of us have some form of addiction.  It doesn’t have to be to a chemical, like drugs or alcohol, it might be a feeling or an inclination to a mood.  It might be that nagging desire to gossip or envy your neighbor.  Or it might be that constant feeling that, deep down, you don’t think you are good enough.  This can be dark times.

    Yet our verse gives us a clue into our God.  He used the very creation that is his to save his people.  The winds pushed back the sea to form dry land.  The Israelites were saved from the Egyptians and their slavery.  God does the same thing for us; he uses his creation, simple and plain, for our good.  He uses water connected with his Word to cleanse us of our sin and he uses bread and wine tied to his Word to nourish our spirit and to refresh our soul.  Yet he also uses the beauty of a flower or the freshness of a summer rain to give us comfort.  He uses the members of his church to console us as we need.  We don’t always “see” or “feel” God active in our life but he is.

Father, thank you for the blessing of today and the promise of tomorrow.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

3-6-2026

Good Morning!

         Genesis 32:30; “So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”

    Have you ever met someone who is famous face to face?  Have you ever shaken the hand of a US senator or congressman? Perhaps it was an entertainer.  It usually leaves us a little befuddled and confused.  “I thought he was taller” “He looks younger on TV.”  We usually come away with a sense of awe and excitement.  It can make our day or even week somewhat more enjoyable.

    In our verse, Jacob speaks of seeing God face to face.  That would be awe inspiring.  It would leave us fearful, amazed, and completely.  How would you react?  Would it be fearsome, awesome or something else? 

    The reason Jacob is amazed is because only those who were holy could see God and live and since no man was holy; well, there wasn’t much to discuss.  Yet Jacob saw God; how?  Jacob saw God for one simple reason because of God’s grace.  God’s love for Jacob allowed him to see God.  God’s love for us does the same.

     We get to see God.  We see him through the wondrous sacrifice that Jesus did for us.  We get to see God’s face in the Word in which we hear him speak those tender words of mercy.  We see God’s face in the bread and the wine as our soul and faith are fed and nourished.  But where we truly see God’s face is when we look at our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  We see God face to face in the love and compassion that we receive.  They see God face to face when we are loving and compassionate. 

    God is, by his nature, a loving God.  He loves us and wants us to see it.  He gives us his love; through the Word, living, spoken and eaten.  He shows us his love by having others be his face, his hands, and his beating heart.  When we show compassion for people, they see God face to face.  When we share God’s mercy and try to comfort those who are afflicted in some way, we show them God face to face and it is an awesome event.  It is an awesome event because showing people God face to face brings hope.  When people see God face to face, they can have comfort and peace; a comfort and peace they receive by looking into your face.

   The God of all comfort uses us to provide that face-to-face meeting.  Martin Luther called Christians the “masks of God.”  God is the real agent of love he just uses us to deliver that comfort, that compassion.  So, as we go about our day; look for chances to show others God face to face.  Share the love of Christ with them.  Help them in need and want.  Pray for them, comfort them, console them, rejoice with them but give them God’s love as he has given to you.

Father of mercy, we see you face to face because of your grace.  Protect us by your power, comfort us with your peace.  Let us see you face to face that we may have comfort in this life.  Give to us the peace that the world cannot give. Direct me to those who need to see your face. Protect our service men and women.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s peace,

Pastor Bret

3-5-2026

Good Morning!

           Luke 22: 31-32a; “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.”

    “Sift you like wheat.”  This is a reference to how farmers at the time of Jesus would finish the harvest of wheat.  First the farmer would go out into the fields and with a scythe cut down the wheat and stack it into bundles which were then carried up to the thrashing floor.  Here the farmer would take the bundles and then beat them against the floor in order to loosen the kernels of wheat.  After they did this, they would then take a winnowing fork and throw the wheat, chaff, broken straw mixture into the air.  The wheat would fall to the floor as the chaff would blow away in the wind. 

    This was a rigorous process.  Yet, in the end, all you have is kernels of wheat but it can be a very, very stressful event, especially on the wheat.  It gets thrown up into the air and then crashes to the floor only to be tossed up into the air again.  It is a trying and tumultuous event for the wheat but it is necessary to separate the wheat (the necessary part) from the chaff (the waste).  This also happens in our life, sometimes very painfully.

    Many of you have experienced being sifted.  There are times in our lives when our faith is shaken to the very core.  The death of a child will rock you like an earthquake.  Sometimes, the stress from our everyday life shakes us.  Health issues in our family, especially big ones, can really shake you.  Placing a parent or a spouse in a nursing home can make you shudder.  Having your job disappear can be devastating.  Having the company that you worked for all your life suddenly go bankrupt and take your retirement with them can really hurt.  Put two or three of these together and you are sifted.

    When being sifted our confidence can be shaken.  One thing that it does is that it can cause us to seek our god.  Luther defines a god as “That from which we seek our ultimate source of security, that which we cling to with all our heart.”  So, what is your god?  Is it your money, your intellect, your spouse, your parents, your government, just plain you?  What is your god?  Because when we get sifted, the chaff all the false gods, blow away in the wind.  Finally, we are left with only the kernels.  Only the true God, Yahweh the triune God, is left and that is all we can cling to.

    So, we cling to the God who died for us, we cling to the God that redeemed us and we cling to the God that loves us and promises to never forget us.  So, if you are being sifted, pray for God’s grace, talk to your brothers and sisters in Christ and remember who your only source of hope and security is and that is Christ.  You will be sifted, maybe many times, but through them all God holds you close and protects you from the devil and his attacks.

Father, we often feel sifted.  Protect us from all that the devil throws at us and keep us safe.  Give us the certainty of your hope, the certainty of your grace and the wonder of your comforting Spirit.  Be with those who are currently being sifted.  Give them the consolation they need and the comfort of your saving grace.  In Jesus precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

3-4-2026

Good Morning!

        2 Corinthians 1: 3-4; “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

    When I was a youngster, we used to trade baseball cards.  We would trade for our favorite team or our favorite player.  A Mickey Mantle card could get you two or three other cards.  A Harmon Killebrew could get you four or five cards.  I liked Tony Oliva and Jim Grant.  We would trade at what we thought were “equal” values.  There was nothing in writing or long studied manuals, just kids trading dreams.  That is really what it was; we would trade for the player we wanted to be like.  We were all friends so we helped each other out.  If I had someone else’s favorite player, I would trade him for mine or else a group of cards so I had something to trade later.

     Maybe you have this type of relationship with your friends and neighbors now.  We do with some of our garden produce.  We might trade some dill for some pickles later.  We usually trade pretty freely with our vegetables and tomatoes.  We are pretty willing to let them go.  Some of our neighbors are pretty quick to share asparagus so it works out.  We give and take; it is on the ebb and flow.  Sometimes we have lots to give and sometimes we get a lot.  It is neat because we all win.  We get the stuff we want and don’t have to throw away our “extra” stuff.

     We do the same with our faith life.  God comforts us so we can comfort others.  The amount of grace that God pours out upon us is beyond our measure but sometimes, our heart misses some.  Sometimes our pain and sorrow are so great that we lose our trust and we fail to see God’s love around us.  Sometimes we need a little boost.  Sometimes, things are going pretty well and we meet someone who needs a little boost.  I like to think of this as the “grace exchange” program.

     I experience it often.  Sometimes when life feels a little rough and I need a boost; someone will come along and offer God’s grace.  They will tell me that they are praying for me or that they really appreciated the visit or whatever.  I can’t begin to count how many times I have come away from a shut-in visit where I felt uplifted from my visit.  I often feel I get more out of these than those I visit. 

    So, as you go about today, try to give a little grace to those who need a boost.  Share God’s love by listening to them or by offering a comforting hand or just stop and pray with them.   Someday you will need the boost.  If today is your day to need, ask for it someone will offer it.  God’s grace is sufficient; his delivery is through our brothers and sisters in Christ who God places in our life to be a comfort and a help.  So be one and use one.

Father, your grace is poured out upon us with tremendous love.  Often, we miss it but you continue to send it our way.  Be with us when we need it and help us to find those who are struggling at this time and in need of your mercy.  Guide us to them and help us to pour out your grace to all.  In Jesus name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret         

3-3-2026

Good Morning!

            Micah 6:8; “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”   

      We have all heard the old saying “give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”  It is a way to view life and a way to live out a Christian, faithful lifestyle.  Yet it sort of misses the point.  It sounds good but it assumes that you can actually fix the problem by yourself.

    There is a difference between mercy and justice.  Mercy is what you and I do to relieve pain and suffering.  Mercy is giving the man a fish because he is hungry and needs to eat today.  Mercy is meeting the needs of now, right now.  It is one of the most important things that we, as Christians, show one another.  It should be an automatic response from each of us.  The desire to come to the aid of someone in need should be in every Christian’s heart.

    Justice is a little different thing.  Justice is teaching the man to fish.  Justice is about fixing a problem that exists.  Mercy is giving someone the food they need to eat for today.  Justice is getting them better jobs or better pay so that they can afford to buy their own food.  There is a difference in that justice usually takes a large effort by a lot of people for a long time.  It can be daunting.  Yet we seek justice because God tells us to.  We are to do justice.  We should not take advantage of anyone.  We should not stand by as someone else takes advantage either.  God calls upon us to seek and to do justice.

    Yet it is a sinful world and justice can take years to accomplish.  Years to right the wrongs of cruelty and exploitation.  It can take years to get people to recognize the problem.  Yet the person needs to eat today.  He needs shelter and protection now.  So, he needs our mercy right now.  He needs justice, that is for sure, but he needs mercy now.

    This is where we as Christians need to respond.  Sometimes, we look at a situation and see that justice is a long way off and we are almost paralyzed by inaction.  There is no way we can aid everyone.  There is no way to continually try and use only mercy; we need to accomplish justice.  Yet for today, have mercy; have mercy for one person.  Feed one man, one fish for today.  Sometimes that is all we can do.  If that is all we can do, then we do all we can; just that one fish to that one man.

    So, calls upon us to do justice; yet mercy must flow like a river because I can be merciful and you can be merciful; one person aiding one person, as best as we can.  We can work toward justice; we can strive for justice but we must live in mercy.  Every day we need to show mercy to our fellow man because every day God shows you mercy.

Father of all mercy, lead us to be merciful and to seek justice in this world.  Break our hearts as we see pain and suffering.  Move us to action for those who are in need of your holy compassion.  Use us as your instruments to brig healing to the world.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret