10-31-2016

Good Morning All,

           Ephesians 2: 8-9; “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

     He didn’t plan for a revolution.  He simply wanted to discuss or debate an issue at hand.  He sent a copy to his bishop, as would have been the custom.  He had items he wanted to debate; to have someone explain to him why the events he described were proper.  Tradition says he nailed his issues, 95 of them, to the All Saint’s Church in Wittenberg sometime on October 31, 1517.  This act in and of itself was not that strange; this was how things were posted at that time.  Students, professors and other members of society who wanted to debate an issue would first submit the items for public scrutiny so that a debate could occur.  It was just supposed to be an academic exercise but it ended with a changed world.

    Martin Luther’s 95 theses led a discussion of church teachings, practices and doctrine that split the church and the continent of Europe.  Luther’s main complaint was with the practice of selling indulgences; essentially you would buy these slips of paper that gave you credit for good works to place against your sins.  This was an attempt to balance the account with God.  Luther saw this as wrong on many levels and if one wanted to, you could view Luther through different lenses.  He saw this practice as incredibly exploitative.  The poor peasants would be scared into giving up what little money they had to the pope and his bishops and archbishops.  You could call Martin Luther a social justice warrior.  He noted that it was mostly German peasants who were being fleeced.  Martin Luther was a nationalist and a patriot.

    Yet the crucial element was that Luther shows us what God’s Word tells us.  We do not have to buy anything to balance our account with God for God has already done that for us.  Christ died to pay for our sins and then freely gives us that gift of paying for us by giving us faith to trust in that promised mercy.  We are saved by grace; it is nothing we do.  Our salvation depends entirely upon God.  We supply nothing to our salvation.  It is 100% dependent upon Jesus.

    This truth should give us joy and peace.  I cannot possibly contribute enough to my salvation so God, mercifully, does not require me to or even allow me to aid in my salvation.  This gift is freely placed in my hands that I may hold onto it and always know that God’s love will always sustain me.  No matter how bleak things may appear, God’s grace gives me hope.  My hope is in the forgiveness of my sins and in the promise of the resurrection of the body that Jesus freely gives to me and it does not cost me a single dime.  It is mine to be grabbed hold of and for me to cling to for all the comfort that I need.

Father, your grace is sufficient for all my needs. Guide me by your Spirit that I may always cling to your mercy.  Lead me to walk your holy path that I may serve you in all gladness.  Keep me free from all the devil’s attacks.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

10-30-2016

Good Morning All,

           Isaiah 40: 3-5; “A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.  And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”  

    One of life’s ironies; we all want great roads; smooth and well maintained and groomed.  We want them always ready to drive on at a moment’s notice we want to be able to get in our car or pickup or SUV or whatever you drive, and go where we want.  This is what we want yet we have no patience for road construction.  There are few portions of our lives which are universally despised and this is one of them.  Even if we complained about the condition of the road and wondered when they would fix it, we complain about fixing the road.

    We know that road construction is necessary.  Often travelled roads wear out.  The change of population or the introduction of new industry can mean a small country road needs to become a four-lane highway and that four-lane highway might become an eight-lane expressway.  Roads need a lot of work; constant attention or they will fail at a critical time.

    Our Scripture verses talk about road maintenance.  We all understand this passage is about making straight the way of the Lord.  We all understand it as a reference to John the Baptist and the preaching of repentance.  We like to think that this means that God will come and remove all the boulders in our lives, in our path to the Lord.  We like to think that God will make our travel smooth and free sailing. 

     The truth is that it is not our path that needs fixing it is our life.  It is our life, which reflects our faith; that needs to be under constant repair.  There are times when we need to be built up when we are low, experiencing life’s struggles.  There are times when the hills must be shaved down when maybe we feel we are capable of aiding in our salvation or we have the attitude of the Pharisee who was “thankful he wasn’t a sinner”.  Perhaps there are times when we engage in hidden sins or acts of selfishness and we must have the rough places smoothed out or the crooked areas straightened. 

    We often don’t like it.  We rarely like it when it is our sins which need to be corrected.  We rarely enjoy it when God corrects our lives.  Yet it is vital that we be cleansed of our sin.  We need to be prepared for when the time will come when we must not crumble, when our faith will be tested the most.  When we trust ourselves, we will crumble but if we keep our faith in God and his promises of salvation and of the forgiveness of sins, we can stand tall and strong.  The devil will not be able to attack us.  Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight his ways.  It might not always be what we want or enjoy but it is necessary that we be shaped and molded by God into the disciples which he wants us to be.

Dear Father in heaven, we give you thanks for making your ways straight in our lives.  At those times, we feel lost and injured but you are with us giving us comfort when we need and poking our conscience when we need it.  Continue to bless us with your grace and mercy.  In Jesus’ precious name we pay, amen.

God’s Peace,       

Pastor Bret  

10-29-2016

Good Morning All,

           John 11:41; “So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.”

       Some years ago, Garth Brooks recorded a song entitled “Unanswered Prayers”.  It was a song that told a story of a man who, while in high school, prayed to date this certain girl.  It didn’t happen and he met another woman and married her.  Years later, he and his wife met the original dream girl and the man realized that his true love of his life was his wife so he was glad that his prayer in high school went unanswered.

    We spend a lot of time talking about prayers that seem to go “unanswered”.  We try to explain them away as God is telling us no or God is telling us to wait or, like the song implies, God has a better plan for us than we have for us.  We spend a lot of time dealing with these prayers.  We look at them and try to discern why we received the answer that we received.  When we focus on these prayers, ones we deemed as “unanswered” we often come to question or doubt God’s loving action in our lives.  “If God loved me…” leads us down a path that is destructive to our faith. 

    Yet do we spend any time on answered prayers?  When each of our grandchildren were born, we prayed for “ten fingers and ten toes” meaning we only wanted a healthy child to be born. All three are healthy; I must confess that I was slow to respond as Jesus did in our verse.  “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.”  When we pray for safety in our travels, when we pray that no one gets hurt during the harvest or any of other numerous prayers, do we thank God for hearing us?

    Even in our “unanswered prayers” God hears us.  He listens to our cry for relief or comfort. He hears us as we open our heart to him in both praise and concern.  God hears us, when we call upon his Name He does not turn away.  God inclines his ear, much like a parent or grandparent leans in to listen to the soft voice of a child, to hear us and he responds to us with his loving grace.  God listens to us in each prayer we raise even if we are unable to express ourselves with coherent words; He hears, understands and fulfils his promises to us.

    So, in all our prayers both answered and unanswered we should always give thanks to the Lord that He has heard us.  We should at all times give thanks to God that we are able to come before him and to speak to him as we speak to our parents.  We should always give thanks to God for his gracious inclusion of us, sinners and reprobates, in his holy family.  Give thanks that in his mercy, he cares for us and provides what we need. 

Father, we thank you that you have heard us.  As we lift our voices to you we know your ear is always attentive.  Forgive us when we assume we know all the answers and we fail to trust your holy decisions.  Keep us always mindful that you alone are all-knowing.  Protect us from our own arrogance and selfishness. Guide us by your Spirit.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret