8-31-2014

Good Morning All,

       Jonah 2: 1-2; “From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.   He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.  From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help and you listened to my cry”.

       Have you ever been there?  Have you ever been in the belly of the fish?  Have you ever felt so cut off that there seemed to be no hope?  I can honestly say that I have never been there.  I have never felt that much pain.  I remember talking to a young man who was there.  It was quite a revealing conversation.

    He was a young man who was very exuberant in his faith.  He expressed it freely with you.  As we discussed his enthusiasm, he was very quick to tell you that it wasn’t always this way.  There was a time when he used drugs and alcohol frequently.  There were very few nights when he was sober.  He seldom had a job for more than a week.  He had been arrested a few times and spent the night in jail more than once.  He often slept in the park.  He had stolen money from his family and used people to get what he wanted.  He hadn’t been married but was father to two children by women he hardly knew.  He only chased the next fix or the next drink.  One day it caught up to him.  He had been arrested, again, for possession of narcotics.  This time, no one bailed him out.  So he sat in the jail cell waiting for his trial.

    About a week into his wait, his brother came into the cell and looked at him and asked him, “Have you finally sunk low enough?  Have you been in the belly of the fish long enough?”  The young man said that what was really strange to him was that he understood his brother’s question; he didn’t know why but he did.  He looked at his brother and told him, “Yes, I have been here long enough.”  They prayed together and the young man began the long journey back.  His long dormant faith was bringing him back.  He is mostly reconciled with his family and is working on a relationship with his children.  That is hard because the mothers are still into the drug and alcohol and he can’t be around that yet; it is still too enticing.

   Maybe you have been there or maybe you are there.  Maybe you have hit as far down as you can.  It may be drugs, it may be promiscuity, it may be abandonment of family or faith; it may be a lot of things but right now you are in the belly of the fish.  Call out to God and he will answer you.  Cry to the Lord in your pain or your sorrow and he will answer you.  It might take a while to get out of the fish.  There may be some healing to accomplish with those whom you have hurt but God is with you and he will heal you by his grace.  He will first reconcile you back to himself through Jesus.  Then, slowly and with a lot of help, he will reconcile you to the world around you. 

    It can be a tough row to hoe but God will help you through.  Know that whatever has been done; God will forgive you and will bring you home to be with him.  God wants you out of the belly of the fish; hear his call to salvation.

Father, we pray for those who are suffering in the belly of the fish.  Whatever their pain, Father we ask that you bring them comfort and to know the hope that we have in the cross.  Lead those who can help to reach out to them.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

8-30-2014

Good Morning All,

          Luke 8:24; “The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”  He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.”

   It is getting a little hairy right now.  I have a wedding to perform, two regular services and a funeral within a 24 hour period.  Add this to regular visitations and the like; I feel like the disciples, “Help, I am going to drown!”

   I don’t say this to look for sympathy; I know that all of you have had similar times in your life when it seems like it is all going to come tumbling down.  It seems to come all at once; the job requirements are heavier than usual, the kids are sick, your spouse doesn’t seem to offer much help, then the car won’t start or something like that occurs.  We have all been there.  It just seems to all pile up and come at us at once. 

    Sometimes it might even be worse, health struggles pile upon relational issues with a dash of financial battles.  It can get even the best person down.  Like in our verse, the disciples, for the most part, were all very experienced fishermen; they knew the lake and had probably battled other fierce storms.  Yet this one was different; this one really scared them and they saw only their impending doom ahead.

   We face the same type of struggles; times when we see no hope.  We look at the situation and the events around us and we feel like we are going to drown.  The doctors can’t figure out why we are sick.  The job seems to never get going properly, the kids or your spouse or your parents just seem to lack any type of support or affection that is helpful.  We are drowning and we can’t seem to stop.

    We need to do what the disciples did; we need to call to Jesus to strengthen our heart, to revive our faith and to encourage our spirit.  No matter how great the problem is, it is not greater than God.  No wave coming at us can ever separate us from God’s love.  There is no task so daunting; there is no trial so great that God will ever walk away from you.  You will never stand alone.  The truth for us is no secret; God’s grace will carry us through.

    That is always the basic truth to hold onto.  Whether you are a young couple just starting out together or you are saying goodbye to a loved one, God’s grace is our rock and our fortress.  It is in his grace that the storms of life may batter us but they will never destroy us.  God is always there to calm the storms, to lead us through them and to use them to strengthen our faith.  Each trial we pass builds our faith as we experience God’s grace in our life.  Trust in God to deliver from drowning in the battles of life and to give you life, life eternal with him.

Father, in you we have hope; at times it seems like we are drowning in the struggles of this life.  It feels like the cares of this world can be too great.  But we know you are with us and that your loving arm is protecting us.  Defend us from all perils.  Be with those who see no hope; lead them to the knowledge of your tender mercy.  Lead them to the safety of your loving arms.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

8-29-2014

Good Morning All,

          Genesis 3:1; “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.  He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

    “Boys and girls take warning, "If you go near the lake; keep your eyes wide open and look for sneaky snake" that is the first line from a country song by Tom T. Hall titled “Sneaky Snake”.  The good thing about this snake is that it only steals your root beer.  It may not be what you want to have happen but you could live with it.  This sneaky snake isn’t quite as bad as the real sneaky snake.  The real one steals your hope, your peace and, eventually, your soul.   The devil wants all that and more just because he does.  His only desire is pain and suffering because he likes to watch it.

    The devil uses many tactics to distract us.  He uses the same question on us that he used on Eve; “Did God actually say?”  His goal, quite simply is to make you doubt, just a little; because that doubt is like a little water in a tiny crack in a wall.  If that water freezes; the crack gets bigger and soon more water more freezing and soon the crack is gaping and the wall will soon begin to fall down.  It never takes much water to start with; it just slowly occurs sometimes it is almost imperceptible at first.  Soon the crack is huge and just like that; doubt can drive us to despair. 

    The devil also likes to keep you looking around, trying to distract you.  It is a lot like driving your car, if you don’t pay attention you can soon find yourself in a wreck.  The devil tries to get you to look away from God and his grace and to doubt that it even exists.  This is the devil’s favorite ploy, plant a little doubt and watch what happens.

    This is why it is so important for us to really take the time to focus on God and his grace. We need to spend time in his Word and to spend time in prayer.  The devil will always whisper in your ear, “Did God really say..?”  He will then go on to cause you to doubt your value, your self-worth, the love of those around you, the love that God has for you, really anything he can find to make a small crack in your wall of faith.  He wants anything to cause you to separate from God and to lose sight of God’s grace and goodness.  He will attack; we always need to be prepared.

    We are best prepared when we stay close to God.  Martin Luther told us to always cling to the cross that way we would always have hope.  Trust in God’s mercy for you.  In the face of everything that the devil will throw at you, God never stops loving you.  In the end we cling to God’s promise of mercy and salvation.  So when the devil asks, “Did God really say?”  You can answer confidently, “Yes, God really said that I am his beloved child.”  Trust in God for his mercy.

Gracious Father, I often experience doubts and at times feel weak.  Give me your Spirit of strength that I may stand up to the devil’s attacks.  Be with those who are especially struggling with all the devil throws at them.  As they waver, give them the certainty of your grace and goodness.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret     

8-28-2014

Good Morning All,

          Mathew 6:24; “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

    Our grandson is getting more and more independent.  He is also getting more and more independent minded as well.  We went to the local county fair to do a few rides and look at the new machinery.  He thought he could walk and climb by himself.  Grandma and Grandpa weren’t as sold.  So there was a little battle of wills, this time we won, with the help of some snacks; next time, we’ll see.

    It is kind of interesting to watch and see how our relationship with God is a lot like a two year old with an adult.  You can’t tell a two year old anything.  Once he has a plan, a two year old is pretty set on what he wants.  They don’t have the reasoning skills to discuss things in a rational matter.  Sometimes, the only way they learn is to let them fall over one time, then pick them up and then “kiss and make it better.”  They tend to learn from experience, especially painful ones but sometimes it takes more than one try.  Yeah that sounds a lot like us.

    One thing we need to realize is that we are totally dependent on God and his grace.  Any time we begin to think we have something to offer, we reduce the trust we have in God.  If we think we can contribute half of what we need we are only looking to God for half of what we need.  This type of thinking leads us to be puffed up and come to act as if we have no need for God.  That is always about the time that we fall down and get hurt.  We need to see that only by placing our full trust and faith in God can we ever truly be content.  It is when we try to ‘split our loyalties” or “hedge our bet” that we begin to hurt.

    The reason is that we need to bow humbly before God and his will.  As one of God’s blessed and redeemed children, we find that when we live in humility and meekness before God then we serve only him; we serve only the one true master.  It is when we see ourself as the master that we soon find out how much trouble we are in.  Soon we are wandering away from God’s loving grace and soon we are lost, alone and suffering.     

    So we need to trust God totally.  It is when we are at our most humble state that he will exalt us; not because we deserve it but because he loves us.  When we stay close to God and trust him fully, we see and experience his grace in our life.  We experience the comfort and the peace that knowing our salvation is secure and that God is protecting us.  We can surrender to his love and mercy and know that he is always there for us.

Father, when I rely on my own skills and merits, when I try to serve two masters, I fail and suffer because of it.  Forgive me when I fall.  Keep me safe in your loving arms.  Be with those who are suffering now because of their pride.  Bring them back into your loving kingdom.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret