5-31-2015

Good Morning All!!

         1 John 5:4; “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

  One of the styles of music that I enjoy is the American folk music.  One of my favorite groups is “The Kingston Trio”.  They have a unique blend of humor, wit and musical ability to blend together.  One of their songs, probably known only to their fans, is called “The Merry Minuet.”  Its name is somewhat a misnomer because while it is a minuet, it is not very merry.  Notice part of the lyrics;      

        

                                    They're rioting in Africa. They're starving in Spain.

                                   There's hurricanes in Florida and Texas needs rain.

The song goes on to speak of all types of ills and problems in the world including nuclear proliferation.  It was written in 1958 but all you have to do is change the names with different names and the effect is the same.  There is trouble in the world.

   We as Christians today can really relate with this emotion.  We are witnessing an incredible cultural shift. We see the denial of God and His creation.  We see a rejection of the Ten Commandments and of God-given natural law.  There is trouble everywhere and we seem to be on the losing end and this is what the devil wants you to think.  He wants you to think that you are losing.

    That is part of the great lie that the devil tells.  It is the lie that brings death to man both a temporal and an eternal death.  It is the lie that destroys nations and civilizations.  It is the lie that causes sinful man to view decline as advancing and debasement as value.  It is the lie that denies God and it is spreading throughout the world.  Some will say it is worse than ever.  Whether it is worse or not really does not matter; it is still a lie and we know the truth- we have overcome this world, its lies and its ruler the devil.

    So if you read bad news after bad news take heart, our victory is secured by Christ and we can trust in that truth.  God’s love is victorious and he gives that love to us through his Son Jesus by faith in him.  So cling to Jesus and his victory in faith.  We need to stand fast, clinging to Jesus, be in the Word and be in prayer.  Truth, real truth, comes from God and him alone.  He has given us that truth in Jesus.

    So continue to live your faith.  Everyone needs to hear the truth from presidents, governors and legislators to college students to the babies that rest on your knee.  One of the best ways to tell this truth is by living out our call to bring healing and hope to all we meet.  Remember how the Apostle Paul spoke in 1 Corinthians 13 “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”   

Father, as we see the world seem to crumble around us.  Keep us mindful that all things are under your care and guidance and that our salvation is secure in Jesus.  Give us the courage to be your hands and voice in this fractured world.  Guide us to bring healing and hope.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

5-30-2015

Good Morning All!!

         John 3:17; “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

    Most people really aren’t into second place or second best.  Many will claim that second place is really just the first loser.  There is a reason we call the second place trophy the “consolation prize”; it implies that we need to be consoled for coming in second.  Do you know who Major Gherman Titov is?  He was the second man to orbit the earth in space.  Do you know who the second man to walk in the moon was?  It was Buzz Aldrin.  We often know who the first person was but we rarely know who the second one was.  We all know the first one, the “stars” but what about the second ones or the back-ups?  Who was Babe Ruth’s back-up?

    In many ways, our verse is like that.  Almost everyone knows the verse that precedes this one.  We call that verse “the Gospel on a nutshell.”  It is often times the first verse we teach children to memorize.  It is the favored Confirmation verse.  It is a really good verse; “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son; that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  That is a great verse but our verse today should be the second verse and really should be read as it is written; as the continuation of the thought in verse 16.  God sent his son to save us not to condemn us.

    We can find great comfort in this.  As we go on our journey through life; we will have many bumps and slips.  We will fall down and occasionally get lost.  Through it all, Jesus is seeking you.  He is looking for you and we can take comfort and consolation in that he is not looking for us to criticize us.  He is not trying to catch you with a “gotcha”.   He is not seeking you to attack you or to condemn you in your failures and shortcomings; he seeks you out in order to bring you back into his kingdom.  He comes to save you from the falls and the fears that the devil will launch against you.  He is looking for you to give you life.  He seeks you out to bring you salvation.

    So no matter what we have done in the past; God seeks you out to bring you through forgiveness into eternal life.  God seeks to put you back on the course to salvation and just as importantly, on the path where you will have peace in this world.  God seeks to put you on the path to live this life secure in certain knowledge that you are his child and you are loved and protected by him.  You are not on this journey by yourself; you are not left to face the trials and tribulations alone.  Jesus is with you every step of the way to bring into the perfect existence with him in eternal life.

Gracious Lord, you seek me out in order to give me life.  You came to give me salvation and you continue to give me life.  Keep me safe in my journey.  Keep me safe in the trials that I can remain strong and safe in the comfort of your loving arms.  Guide those who have fallen to safety in your mercy.  Bring all your children home.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-29-2015

 Good Morning All!!

          Matthew 5:9; “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

    Peace is a unique experience.  It has been the longing of man since Cain killed Abel.  Much of our popular entertainment, whether books, music, movies or whatever, will have “peace” as a theme somewhere in the story line.  Sometimes it is easy to see such as the Beatles and “Give Peace a Chance” or Peter, Paul and Mary with “Blowin’ in the Wind”.  Sometimes it is a little more subtle.  One of the most powerful anti-war movie/TV shows during the Vietnam War was a movie about the Korean War called MASH.  We all claim to want peace just like we all claim to be tolerant; it has to be on our terms.

     That is the trouble with man’s definition of peace.  You and I can be at peace as long as you do what I want.  Since I don’t really trust you anyway; I am always making sure that I am stronger than you and ready to “enforce peace” (can anyone say oxymoron?).  Too often, peace is just the absence of fighting, a lull in a battle that will always rage in the hearts of sinful man.

    Jesus calls us to a different reality.  He calls us to be peacemakers, true peacemakers reconciling man to man and being God’s hands in reconciling the world unto himself.  This is no easy task; we will not do it by our own will or volition but only through God’s grace will this occur.

     We have seen or experienced violence throughout our land for many years now.  In the middle of all this, God calls us to be peacemakers.  Peacemaking is not a passive act.  It requires us to get our hands dirty.  It requires interrupting injustice without resorting to injustice, the act of disarming evil without destroying the evildoer.  It doesn’t involve fight nor flight actions but the careful, Spirit-led, arduous pursuit of reconciliation and justice.  It forces us to see the face of the oppressed in our own faces, and the hands of the oppressors in our own hands.  Remember this when confronted by those who advocate policies and lifestyles which oppose God’s Will but also remember it when they ask what our motive is.  We see this when we stand against abortion and homosexuality but do we see it when God’s calls upon his people to be compassionate to the poor, the orphans, the widows and the aliens in our lands?  God wants all to be saved and calls us to show compassion and love to all that we meet even those who are “wrong”.

    We are called to be faithful to Christ and his teachings.  When in the Garden, when Peter drew his sword to defend Jesus; Jesus rebuked him and healed the man whom Peter struck.  Even on the cross, Jesus prayed for his enemies as well as his family and friends.  Do we pray for our enemies or those whose views are different than ours?  Do we ask God to forgive them?  Do we forgive them?  “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God”       

Gracious Father, too often we are slow to be peacemakers.  We seek retribution instead of reconciliation. Forgive us for our failures.  Use us and give us the courage to be your voice for those who have no voice, your hands for those who need your comfort.  Move us, as your kingdom of priests, to ever praise your name.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace

Pastor Bret

5-28-2015

Good Morning All!!

           Matthew 15: 26-27: “And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”   She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 

    This is a portion of the story of the Canaanite woman and her faith.  She came to Jesus looking for a miracle for her daughter and the disciples tried to send her away.  It appears that Jesus is as well as He tells her He came for the lost sheep of Israel and she was not one of them.  She continues to pray and plead with Jesus until He relents.  Then Jesus praises her faith and heals her daughter.

    To many this seems to be a story about how nagging will win the day.  If you just keep pestering God long enough He will give in and give you what you want.  But that is not what is going on here.  This is a better case of playing “who am I in the parable?”  Whenever we play this game we always want to be the good guy.  We always want to be the Good Samaritan when we read that story; we want to be the example of goodness and right faith.  But if we are honest; are we the good guys or are we the foolish guys?

    In this story we want to be the Canaanite woman who, even though seemingly rejected by Jesus, continues to plead and beg our Lord for His mercy.  Is that really us?  Do we continue to pray and pray until God answers our prayer?  Or do we give up and begin to play the Schleprock card and say, “woe is me I never win at anything; I never get what I need, I am always the loser; my life is so rough.” 

   The unfortunate truth is that we are usually more like the disciples were in this story.  Eating a feast at the table with Jesus; spilling and wasting enough food that a poor outsider saw it as enough to live off of.  Isn’t that really how we are?  We receive such an abundance of blessings from God that we fail to see how great they are and then we begrudge someone else who seeks just a scrap of the blessings that we have.  Most have multiple TV’s in their homes, most have multiple cell phones, and many have multiple computers.  We spend thousands of dollars on health care because we are overweight while a huge chunk of the world slowly starves to death.

    Does this mean we are bad people because we have wealth?  Not necessarily, wealth is a gift from God but do we give thanks for that wealth like we should or have we reached a point where we feel entitled to this prosperity?  We need to be thankful to God for all that He has given to us and we need to pray that we do not become so hung up on what we have that wealth becomes our God.  We need to see God’s hand at work in our lives and give thanks to the Lord.  Then we need to look for ways to share God’s love and blessings with those around us both near and far.

Dear Heavenly Father, too often we sit at your table and feast and do not see the great and wonderful blessings that we have.  We confess that all too often we are like the disciples who assume blessings and dismiss those who are in need.  We ask for your divine mercy.  Give us strength to follow you and to be your hands here on earth and that we show mercy to those who are in need.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray,  Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret