8-29-2026

Good Morning!

              Matthew 1:1; “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”

     The last one chosen.  That was the fear of many children during playground games.  Lined up against the wall and two people began to choose.  One by one they get picked until the last few get picked.  It can be a somewhat humiliating situation.  Yet most of us go through it at some time in our life and we survive but at the time it is not real fun.  We always place importance on the right one being chosen.  The tall and lanky ones, who move with the grace of a leopard or a cheetah with all the strength and speed; they have the eye-hand coordination to accomplish just about anything.  They are the perfect player, the perfect teammate, the usually victorious one.  The last ones picked; they usually lost if they got to play at all.

    When we look at the genealogy of Jesus, we expect the names of kings, like David and Solomon or the great patriarchs like Abraham and Isaac.  Yet do we expect the names of Tamar and Rahab?  One acted as a harlot and one was a harlot.  What about names like Abijah? He was a rebellious son who attacked his father.  Certainly, these must have been the last ones chosen.  Certainly, there had to be better choices than these; certainly, there had to be more virtuous options.  Somewhere in the selection had to be the tall, lanky, svelte warriors. 

    The truth is that there are no virtuous people.  Abraham and Isaac lied, denied God, and turned their back on God’s covenant.  David and Solomon took a very “liberal” view of what adultery really was.  Now the world may view some of these people who are listed in this genealogy are great and some are not.  Yet before God, they are all the same.  They are those whom he has chosen to serve him in the manner that he has decided.  Their background, their previous life was of no consequence.  God had a need and a plan for them so he used them to accomplish his goal.

    This is still true today.  There is a place that God can and will use you in service to his kingdom.  Your past, your history is of no matter to God.  God only looks at your future.  You may have always been the last one to be chosen.  You may have been viewed as the biggest loser on the playground but in God’s eye you are someone to be loved, to be wanted, to be chosen as one to serve him in his kingdom.  Your past may be as varied as those in Jesus’ family tree: harlots, cheats, liars, thieves, drunkards, and rebels.  Their pasts were sinful and wicked but they were forgiven by God and claimed as his children.  He does the same for you and me.  Through our Baptism, we are members of Jesus family as well.  We are inheritors of his glorious kingdom.  We are saved by his grace alone and in that we can place all our hope.

Father, you don’t let my past stand in the way of your grace.  Lead me to not let my past stand in the way of my faith.  Lead me by your Spirit to trust in your grace and to live in your wonderful kingdom.  Lead us to be your children.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

8-28-2026

Good Morning!

     Exodus 3:1; “Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.”

    It is often called a “mountaintop experience.”   It is usually a spiritual experience where you “feel” closer to God.  It can be a very intense experience that can leave you excited, exhilarated, enthusiastic and full of life and a joy of knowing God.  It probably even draws its name from the Bible when Peter, James and John were on the mount of transfiguration with Jesus.  The disciples wanted to stay up on the mountaintop.

    It is easy to see why we think this way.  There are many stories in the Bible where God is on the mountaintop.  Abraham and Isaac had one; Moses had a few; Joshua and some of the judges had met with God on mountaintops.  Elijah met with God on the mountain of God like Moses.  Mountaintop experiences are the types of experiences that many people love to share; they love to relate the greatness, the grandeur and the elation that they experience when they have been to the mountaintop.  But what if there hasn’t been a mountaintop experience for you? 

    Many don’t have this experience.  Just as many cannot tell you the precise time and date that faith came into their life, many have not had a mountaintop experience.  We just live ordinary lives; we never know those real high moments nor do we know those really devastating low moments.  We don’t know the mountaintop but we don’t know the depth of the pit either; we are just plain people who live their life on the plain.

    Yet the joy of the Gospel is for us as well.  We may not ever experience the rapturous heights but we can know for certain that God’s promise of salvation is for us as well.  God gives us the peace and the calm to live the life that he has given us.  We can live with the certainty that God’s love for us is real.  You don’t have to have fallen into the depths of the pit and you do not have to have been on the mountaintop.  Your salvation, and the certainty of it, does not depend on how you feel but it depends on God’s grace and God’s grace alone.  There may be times when you don’t “feel” that god is close to you but he still is.  There may be times when you don’t “feel” his grace but it is continually poured out upon you.

    It is not your feelings that determine your salvation or faith.  It is the certainty of the knowledge that Jesus died for you, a fact an event that occurred in a place called Jerusalem many years ago.  It occurred in order that you might have salvation.  Whether you have been to the mountaintop, been to the depths lived your entire life on the plain or had all three, all that matters is that God loves you and has given to you salvation which we can hold onto by faith.

Father, I don’t always feel like I think I should.  I think that I should do something to make me be saved.  Give me the comfort in the knowledge that your grace comes from you freely.  Help me to know that it does not depend on me or my feelings.  Renew those who feel lost or adrift.  Give them the comfort of the certainty of your mercy.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

8-27-2026

Good Morning!

     Psalm 104:34; “May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.”

       As an aid to this devotion, I would encourage you to read all of Psalm 104 when you can.  This is an interesting psalm which teaches us a great truth.  It is a psalm of praise in which praise is given to God for creation.  The whole psalm leads us through creation and in it we see the power and majesty that is God.  It speaks of creation starting in verse 5 and going through verse 26.  We see where God laid the foundation, he caused the mountains to rise up, he waters the trees and so on.  This psalm not only speaks to the actual creation but to God continuing to work his creative force within creation.  We can see that in verses 27-31.  We see what a glorious creation that God has made.

    This is the type of psalm to read or remember when you are experiencing some of God’s exquisite beauty.  Think of it when you travel and see the majestic mountains, or beautiful lakes or rolling plains. It is the type of psalm that, as you read it, you can close your eyes and relive all those beautiful places on the earth that you have witnessed including the sunrises and moonrises, the sunsets and the moonsets, the stars and comets and all the celestial beauty which can cause us to shrink back from the incredible majesty that we see.  It continues to verse 34, our verse which seems like a logical end.  The logical end would be for me to meditate on God’s wonderful creation and enjoying it.  For not only does God provide for us but he abundantly provides for us and we can rejoice in it.

   Yet, the psalm ends with verse 35. “Let sinners be consumed from the earth and let the wicked be no more!”  This sounds almost like a cold slap in the face but it really the call of the Christian with respect to creation.  Our goal, our hope is not that we leave creation but rather that Christ returns and restores creation.  Our hope is for the perfected creation in which creation is no longer subjected to sin (Romans 8: 18-25).  We hope for, we eagerly wait for the freeing of creation (and that includes us) from the pain and the decay that sin brings.  We eagerly wait for Christ to return so that death, sin and decay and destruction will end.  We look forward to the King of kings completing the restorative work begun on Calvary.

   So, we as Christians do not see this world as something to be used and tossed aside rather, we see it as God’s precious possession in need of some fixing.  Some we can do but, ultimately, we can only wait for Jesus to return.  So, for you and me to see God in the beauty of his creation is normal or even expected.  Just as you see the nature of the artist in the beauty of the painting so we can see the beauty and the wonderment of God in his creation.  You and I, as humans, are placed in the midst to care for and enjoy this as God’s precious gift to us; so, enjoy and take care of God’s creation.

Father, the beauty of your creation speaks of your love.  Lead me to care for your creation and to enjoy it and to revel in the sights and sounds, the taste, and the texture of your world.  Come Lord Jesus, complete your work, and restore your world.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

8-26-2026

Good Morning!

     Matthew 11:28; “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

        Are you rested from the summer sports and leisure activities? The fall stuff has started with ball games, matches, music and what not. I hope you enjoyed your time of rest in between. Some people call it Thursday.  Are you rested or are you tired?  It seems that we are usually either tired or rested.  It usually seems that we are tired more often than when we are rested but once in a while we are rested.  Don’t you wish you could figure out the “being rested” part more than “being tired” part?

   One of the greatest dangers we face is that we take our eyes off of Jesus and we place our eyes, and our trust, somewhere else.  Maybe you experienced a childhood that left you feeling left out or passed by.  You may have felt tired as you grew up and so you sought out your own solace.  You relied on your skill and wit.  As you grew up you maybe came to see your family, your job, perhaps your marriage as your source of comfort and hope.  Yet trusting these things can leave you tired.  Placing our hope in the things of this world, like wealth, popularity, personal strength, or knowledge may seem like the right path but in the end, it leaves us tired.  It leaves us tired because these things always fall short.  There are always times when these will fail and we will have to figure out a way to make up for the shortfall.  So, the strength we think is here comes up short and we are left tired and empty.

    This is why Jesus invites us to, “come;” he invites us to come and rest.  He offers us the rest of a small baby as she lies against her mother’s chest, sleeping the deep and contented sleep.  She rests in the comfort and safety of her mother’s loving arms, hearing her mother’s heartbeat, feeling the gentle warmth of her mother’s touch.  She sleeps the deep sleep of total rest and comfort.  This is the rest that Jesus invites us to have.

    He invites us to the rest, which results from knowing that all our needs are met.  He invites us to the rest where we trust wholly in his love to bring us that rest.  We do not need to seek anything else for that comfort and rest; it is all in the hands and the loving arms of Jesus.  So, when other things or other people fail us and they will sometimes by selfish aim and sometime by no fault at all; they will fail.  The doctors can only do so much; our spouses and family can only do so much; our wealth can only go so far; eventually, everything else will fail but we will always have Jesus.  He will never fail us.  He never has and he never will.

    We can trust and take comfort, find our peace and our rest in his unfailing love; a love that saved you and me and gives us that hope that we seek and that rest that we desire.  Rest in his loving embrace.

Father of loving mercy, we come to you for rest.  We come because Jesus invites us to come to him for rest. Bring us by your Spirit to hear his invitation and to seek his rest.  Be with those who are tired from the cares of this world.  Give them your holy rest and peace.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, we pray, amen.

 God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

8-25-2026

Good Morning!

     Galatians 2:20; “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

        I always remember the line about how “there is no such thing as bad press.”  This usually pertains to entertainers and to the idea that as long as your name is in front of the people, as long as they think about you, then you are still famous.  The public may hear that you were picked up for drunk driving but at least you are still in the public eye.  This is especially true for the not so famous anymore who grasp for past glory.  “No such thing as bad press.”

     You and I may scoff and snicker at that but to a certain extent we are the same way.  We like people to think that we are important.  We like for people to seek us out and “need” us.  We may even harken back to previous experiences to remind people that we are important.  This is partly why people refer back to “scoring the winning point in a crucial game in high school” when they are 40 or 50 years old.  It is why people refer back to a time when they were on a board or served on some committee a few years back; we want people to think we are important and that we matter and that our opinion matters as well.

    We may even shape our relationships around the idea that we are important.  We may attempt to control relationships in this fashion.  When someone threatens to “leave” a friendship or other relationship unless their “needs” are met; they are saying to the world, “I am the important one here.”  These relationships are often toxic and seldom last very long; for when we take the attitude that any relationship is about “me first;” that relationship will suffer greatly.

    Here we need to see that a truly successful relationship has both parties “crucifying” the old selfish self and being reborn, through Baptism, as the new creation that is in Christ.  We see our relationships as Christ does and that is to look to love, to comfort, to aid others more than self.  We live, not to feed the selfish nature, but to be in Christ holy presence and to be Christ to the world; to be his hands and arms, to be his voice and his ear, to be his shoulder and arms.  We are to be the personification of Christ to the world.  We are to place Jesus first in all of our doings, in all of our actions, in all of our relationships.

    So, as we go forward, let us remember that we have crucified the “old me;” we have drowned the me that demands to be first and God has given birth to the new me which is filled with the desire to serve Christ and him alone.  It is not “me first” but “Jesus first.”  

Father of love and mercy, in you we have hope.  Lead me to see that the old me is crucified and that the new me is in Christ’s image and in his Spirit.  Lead me to love and not demand.  Lead me to love and not require others to serve me.  Lead me to be your servant by serving the needs of others.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

8-24-2026

 Good Morning!

     Deuteronomy 31:8; “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

   One of the worst experiences for us as humans is to feel all alone.  Many of our popular songs in some way or form lament about being alone.  It might be a country song or an old rock song, a folk song, or a new modern song.  We worry about being alone.  For many, this is a great fear and anxiety; they fear ending up alone.  I know that numerous times I have spoken to older couples and each party wants to be the first to die.  It is not that they seek death but they would rather die than live alone.  It is difficult for us to live alone.

    We, as humans, are really social and gregarious creatures.  We seek companionship and fellowship.  It is how we were created.  God made man and then made woman so that they would have companionship together.  They would love together and, together, this bond would be the basic bond or building block for our society and civilization.  The need for this bond is what drives men and women to seek companionship, to be inclusive in our gatherings, and to look after those around us.  We seek companionship, love, acceptance, being valued and treasured.  These are all part of what it means to be human; to be the creatures that God created us to be.

     It is also one of our weaknesses that the devil and our sinful nature attempt to attack and exploit.  It usually occurs in tandem with another stressful or painful event in our life.  We may have lost a spouse and suddenly we feel completely alone.  We may have lost a job or some other form of income and we are no longer able to be in our group of friends and now we are on the outside looking in and we feel alone.  We may have health issues which separate from the life we had and now we feel alone.  We feel we are facing the illness alone; we are facing a change in our life alone; we are facing each day without that person who has always been there and now we are alone.

    The devil takes stressful events, whispers in our ear, feeds our doubts and our uncertainties and with a practiced voice and meter begins to try and separate you from God.  He tries to lead you away from God’s family.  He fills your head with lies and your heart with anxiety.  He tells you that you are all alone and you fear and anxieties mount.  The lie is false; you are not alone God is with you but the anxiety and the fear are real; you feel the pain.

    So, keep your eyes focused on God; he will not abandon you.  He will comfort you and he will use those around you to do so.  Seek them out; they will not abandon you.  God’s Spirit will move them to you.  Experience God’s grace; know that his love for you knows no bounds.  He will never abandon you or leave you alone.  When that fear or anxiety strikes, turn it over to God and he will restore you.

Father of all goodness; keep me in your loving arms.  Hold me tightly to your chest so that I may never know the pain of loneliness.  And when the devil lies to me, give me the reassurance of your loving grace.  Send to me you Spirit to keep me comforted. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

8-23-2026

Good Morning!

     Galatians 4:5; “to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

      I remember watching a movie a few years back that was about the gangsters of the 1930’s.   It had these three men rob a bank.  Over the next few years, they ran and ran but everywhere they went; pretty soon a policeman from the town that had the bank that they robbed would show up and they would have to run again and again.  Eventually, at the end of the movie, there was the big shoot out scene and one of the brothers is killed and the other two are wounded but arrested.  As they are hauled away in the police car a narrator voice that sounded like a cross between Broderick Crawford and William Conrad said, “You can’t outrun the long arm of the law.”

    That phrase, “the long arm of the law” is really very old.  It goes back into the 1500’s and originally referred to the king’s ability to collect his taxes.  There was no place to hide from the long arm (or hands) of the king.  It later changed to the law in the United States.  It simply refers to the idea that you cannot get away with anything.  The law will always be after you and you will never have any peace.  You can run all you want but eventually you will get caught.

    This saying refers to using fear to accomplish its goal. The goal of this saying is to maintain order and to keep the law.  It uses fear and guilt to keep you obeying the law.  We are afraid of the punishment so we behave as desired.  In many ways, we can see the law of God the same way.  It has long arms as well.

     We may think that there are times or places where we can live away from God’s law but there truly isn’t.   Late at night, when no one is watching or even when we are completely alone in our thoughts, whenever and wherever sins creep or leap into our life the long arm of the law will be there.  It will be there to point out our faults and our sin.   It will be there as the weight for us to carry as we soon see our weaknesses and the distance between who we are and who we should be. 

     The wonder of God’s Gospel is that it has even longer arms than the law.  God’s Gospel message of forgiveness because of Jesus reaches for us no matter how great a depth or distance away from God that we feel we are; God’s love reaches us with his merciful words of forgiveness.  No matter how guilty we feel because of the law; God’s grace reaches farther and wraps us in his loving embrace to comfort and to forgive you and to bring you home.

Father of all love and mercy, when I feel beaten down by the law and my guilt and pain are great, you are there to give me the comfort of your love given to me through Jesus.  Lead me to see that your love changes my heart and my life.  Help me to change into the person that you desire me to be.  Help me to see that life in harmony with you rather than opposed to you brings peace and contentment to my life.  Open my eyes, dear Father.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret