6-30-2016

Good Morning All!!   

         Jeremiah 29:11; “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”    

    When my oldest son was about 4 or 5, he got a chance to fly in an airplane.  It was a small two-seater that was flown by my mother’s cousin.  We took off from runway number one of the Northville International Airport and we flew for a few minutes.  He liked it but wasn’t overly sold on the whole deal.  As we came around for the landing approach, the pilot slowed the engine way down and the plane began to descend.  My son’s eyes got wide and a tiny look of terror was on his face.  He didn’t say anything but he didn’t have to.  After we landed; he was quieter than normal.

    By the time we got back to our farm he was talking a mile a minute again.  He liked how the plane did this and he liked looking out the window and seeing everyone’s house and the roads and so on.  Being the usual 4 or 5 year old he looked up and finished with the standard, “That was fun dad, do you know what I want to be when I grow?”  Expecting the obvious, I answered, “No son, what do you want to be?”  He replied, “I want to be a fireman!”

    He had his plans.  I don’t know if the airplane ride didn’t sway those plans or just cemented them in place.  We all have plans.  It is amazing the percentage of students who change their major in the first year of college.  It is something like 80% change at least once.  We all have plans and they can change. 

    I remember a girl we went to college with.  She grew up on a small dairy farm and swore up and down when she graduated she would be as far away from a farm as possible.  That was until she married a west river rancher.  Plans can and do change.  Some like these are kind of humorous; unfortunately, some are not.  Many servicemen and women return home from active duty and are wounded and maimed.  Their plans with their families change.  Couples who plan on growing old together and then suddenly one dies and the other has a change of plans.

    We all make plans and we should but we should always make them with the understanding of “Deo Volente”; God willing.  All are plans are dependent on God’s will because God has plans for us.  These plans are to give us a future and to give us hope.  We don’t always see these plans and sometimes we don’t even like these plans but God’s plans are always to mold and to shape us into the disciples that he calls us to be and his plans are to draw us closer to him and to give us eternal salvation.  We can fight God’s plans but this only adds to the stress of our life and while we do not always see the plans as clearly as we like; we trust in God’s grace and mercy to carry us through.

Dear Father, too often we think our plans are the best when it is your plans which are in our best interest and for our future.  Strengthen our faith that we may have full confidence in our future and that we place our entire trust in you for you are our hope.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-29-2016

Good Morning All!!   

               Zechariah 7:10; “do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 

    It is the question which man has asked since the time when Cain killed Abel.  It comes in various forms but it is the same question.  Cain asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The lawyer who questioned Jesus wondered, “Who is my neighbor?”  What do I owe my neighbor?  How am I supposed to treat others?  What are the expectations and demands?

    God’s law requires us to treat others, all others, well.  We are never ever to treat them with disdain or ill will.  We are to love one another and this is how we are to display it.  God introduces this to the Israelites on Mount Sinai with the 10 Commandments.  With the commandments, God gives us to levels of action.  The first is the vertical relationship we have with God.  This is a liturgical or worshipful relationship we have with God.  We owe to God our praise, thanksgiving, honor, reverence; we owe him our love.

    The second level of relationship we have is on a horizontal level which we share with other people.  Here God tells us to live an ethical relationship with our neighbor.  God reminds the children of Israel that they were once the suppressed, oppressed people.  God chose them to be his people.  Through them, God will bless the nations of the world.

    This now applies to us as God’s chosen children.  He tells us that we are not to oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner (alien) the poor or anyone else.  We are to love them.  We too, were once oppressed; not by men but by the devil and our sinful nature.  We too, were once enslaved and we are to remember this and not enslave others.  We are to be God’s freeing agents.  We are to free men from the enslavement by the devil.  We do this by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus to them but our commitment to our neighbor does not stop there.  We are to aid, comfort, defend and protect those who are unable to do so themselves.  This is the message from many of Jesus’ parables.

    The parable of the Good Samaritan, the unforgiving servant, the rich man and Lazarus, the rich farmer all play to this theme.  We are to take care of our neighbor.  So as we look at this theme we can see the answer to these questions: am I my brother’s keeper? Yes.  Who is my neighbor? Anyone in need.  The color of their skin, their gender, their socio-economic status, their wealth or power, none of these are to be factors in who we help.  We are to come to the aid of any who need it. 

    This can be a daunting task but it is one which God calls us to, which God will enable us to do and to which the world needs so desperately.  Follow God’s will to treat others ethically and with his love; just as he treats you with mercy that we do not deserve.

Gracious Father, your wondrous mercy flows over us like a river.  Grant us the strength and wisdom to love those whom you have placed into our lives and who are in need of the mercy we show because of your Spirit and will.  Bless those who obey your will through your love and grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

                                                           

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

6-28-2016

       Good Morning All!!   

Genesis 1: 13; “And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.”

    Have you ever stopped and thought about the rhythm that exists in the Bible?  It starts at the very beginning of the Bible; the rhythm flows “the evening and the morning.”  There is an ebb and flow, a comfortable movement within Scriptures.  The seasons, planting and harvest, the years, the lunar movement and the tidal movement all show a rhythm; a steady comfortable beat; a pulse.  Our heart, our breathing show a rhythm, a flow at ease with our very existence, is essential to our core being.

    The thing about our rhythm that is really noticeable is when we are out of rhythm or out of sync.  We all feel that certain sense of discomfort, a sense of life amiss when the rhythm of our life is disrupted.  This is one thing that the devil and the world and our sinful nature really tries to cause; a disruption in our rhythm.  Think of how the Bible describes creation before sin.  It is very good, perfect; in total sync with perfect rhythm. 

    Yet when sin entered the world; the rhythm was attacked and completely disrupted.  The perfect ebb and flow was replaced by too high of highs and too low of lows.  Comfort and peace are replaced by seeking to balance two extremes.  The emptiness which the world creates around us twists our healthy rhythm for a very unhealthy one.

    We become ruled by tyrants; tyrants whose names are: too busy, too urgent, too frantic, too anxious, too fearful, and too selfish.  These create unhealthy, sinful rhythms which destroy.  They destroy our relationships because we have no balance instead of a rhythm we are simply adrift.  All the time, the rhythm of our relationship with our friends and neighbors, the rhythm with our family and the rhythm of our relationship with God are all disrupted; maybe even destroyed.

    Yet God sent Jesus into the world to restore the rhythm.  Jesus restores us to God’s family where we can enjoy God’s rhythm.  Instead of sinful man’s frenetic pace which only destroys, we have God’s rhythmic action of “thank and praise” “serve and obey”.  We can return to the rhythm of speaking to God and listening to God of praying and reading God’s Word.  We can return to the rhythm of worship and service.  All our relationships strengthen and grow by the rhythmic breathing in God’s grace and mercy and breathing out the works which he has laid out for us to do.  The rhythm of God’s love returns and flows throughout our life bringing us the comfort of His Spirit and His peace.

Lord of Creation, create in us a new rhythm of life composed of hours that sustain rather than stress, of days that deliver rather than destroy, of time that heals rather than harms.  To our overcrowded calendars let us say “Peace”; to our over-caffeinated consciences let us say “Cease”; to our suffocating selves Lord, grant us release. Free us to be the child you want us to be.   In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

6-27-2016

Good Morning All!!   

    1 Peter 1:3; “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"

    There is an ancient Roman saying. “While there is life, there is hope.”  We apply this to our life and we teach it in many capacities.  If you have ever coached a group of youngsters in any kind of sport, keeping them from giving up when they get behind is always crucial.  You have to continually tell them,” Don’t stop until the clock does” or “It ain’t over until it is over” or “Fight until the last out.”  Take your pick they mean the same thing, there is always a chance.

    This is an attitude held by many doctors and nurses.  As long as there is a breath of life in a person, there is hope that they will get better.  Most people like to believe that this is their philosophy for life as well.  As long as there is life, there is hope.  They just keep on plodding on forward; holding to the tenet that hard work will get them ahead in the end.  But what happens when hard work fails?  What happens when it feels like all the life is gone?  What happens when all your work doesn’t keep you healthy?  Or wealthy?  What happens when life doesn’t go according to our plan?  Is there no hope?

    As a Christian, we should view this saying a little differently.  We should say, “Where there is hope, there is life.”  We know that all our hope, life, comfort, all that we have comes because we have been given hope by God.  This hope exists beyond this world and this life.  The struggles of this world, though sometimes painful, are only temporary.  Even as we battle these struggles, God gives us the tools to deal with them.  He gives us His Spirit to bring us into remembrance what he has told us, how he has given to us his words of forgiveness, his words of reconciliation. 

    He gives us his sacraments to give us the touch and feel of his grace; the life renewing, soul refreshing nourishment to help restore us.  He gives us his Church, the flesh and blood contact here on this earth; the hands of his grace.  All this he gives to us out of his love and fatherly mercy.  He gives us this to exist in a broken, sinful world. 

    He gives us this so we can be sure of the promise that we have; the promise of hope.  The certainty of God’s grace and his merciful actions.  The certainty of our salvation which is ours and eternal life which awaits us.  We have life because we have hope.  We have hope because of God’s grace. 

Dearest Father, we often feel that there is only despair in our life.  We often feel we have no hope.  Give us the certainty of our hope, of our living hope.  Lead us forward with the confidence of your grace, active in our lives.  Be with those who have no hope at this time, give them the certainty of faith to hold onto the living hope that is from you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret