11-6-2014

 Good Morning All,

        1 John 3:1a; “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”

     How often do we tell someone in our family that we love them?  For most people it is probably daily.  For some it is probably multiple times a day.  Maybe it is as the kids head out the door to school or when you or your spouse head off to work.  Hopefully, you hear it at least as often as you say it.  You may be one of those who say it without uttering a word.  For some it is easier to show it than to say it.  For some it is so common that they don’t often think about it; it becomes just something to say.

    It becomes so easy for us to make something like “I love you” just something we say.  Maybe we say it to get something we want from the other person or maybe we don’t know what else to say so we simply blurt it out.  Maybe we regret saying it or maybe later on we regret not saying it.  Maybe we want to say it but just can’t make our self.  Maybe our response to “I love you” is “ditto.”  We feel it, we desire it, but to express it is kind of hard at times.

    This is the great thing about God; he never has any difficulty expressing his love for us.  When Luther ends his discussion of the Apostle’s Creed in the Large Catechism; he does it like this.  “For in all three articles God himself revealed and opened to us the most profound depths of his fatherly heart and his pure, unutterable love.  For this very purpose he created us, so that he might redeem us and make us holy, and moreover, having granted and bestowed upon us everything in heaven and on earth, he has also given us his Son and his Holy Spirit, through whom he brings us to himself.  For as explained above, we could never come to recognize the Father’s favor and grace were it not for the Lord Christ, who is the mirror of the Father’s heart…But neither could we have anything of Christ, had it not been revealed by the Holy Spirit.”

   If you have ever experienced a time when you felt unloved, know that you were/are/and will be always loved by God.  If you have ever felt abandoned and completely alone, God was there with you at all times, holding you in his loving fatherly arms.  He holds you with an unutterable love.  No matter how daunting or painful the challenge we face; God’s love, real love, is holding us tightly to his chest where we can feel the warmth of his love and we can hear the pulse, the beat, of his love for us.  This love is never expressed in any form other than true and pure love.  God, whose love for you is genuine and sincere every day, holds you close, cradling you in his loving arms.  There is no greater love than God’s love for you and there is no challenge that will ever take you from his love.      

Most loving Father, there are many today who feel only pain and sorrow.  Comfort them Father with your gentle Spirt.  Help them to know your peace.  Help them to know the hope that is in Christ Jesus.  Use us to give them the comfort that they need.  Lead us to share your love.  All this we ask in the precious name of Jesus our risen Savior we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret