11-30-2016

      Good Morning All,

           Psalm 18:6; “In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help.  From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears”

      When I was in college, I had a couple of classes with an instructor whose methods and manners were very different from my thoughts of what they should be.  He could have just walked of the local commune.  He had hair that looked like it hadn’t (or couldn’t) been combed in a few weeks.  He shaved once a week whether he wanted to or not.  We had an 8:00 am class; it wasn’t unusual for him to be 10-15 minutes late; most of the students didn’t wait.  A few of us did because we had the next class across the hall.  He would come in late, make excuses and then begin his lecture.  I really struggled with the way he presented himself.  The man he replaced was a clean shaven suit and tie kind of guy.

    For about three weeks, I told anyone who listened what I thought about this guy.  I told how poor an instructor he was.  I told how his preparation was weak and his classroom etiquette was a little under par.  While griping to a classmate, he asked me if I ever listened to the guy teach?  Why?, I asked.  Because the guy is a genius, and he was.  He was one of the top men in his field in the upper Midwest.  So the problem that I had with him were the results of my assumptions and presumptions.  When I let the man teach, he was amazing.

    How often do we do that?  How often do we place so many structures and restrictions on our relationships that they often go bad before we even try?  Sometimes we go to great lengths to complain about them to others.  Sometimes when we have stress in any of our relationships, we complain to anyone who will listen except to the one who can matter the most.  We need to take our distress to God.

    We often don’t think of going to God with our disappointments or our anger.  We think that this is a form of sin so we won’t do it.  We go to God with platitudes and half-baked verbiage that we hear in church.  But God doesn’t want flowery language or “church words”; God wants us to have an honest and open, prayerful conversation with him.  God already knows our thoughts, fears, desires and worries.  Even if we don’t express it, God knows our heart.  The thing is that by expressing it; we will know our heart.  Had I really listened to my comments about my instructor, I would have heard the distance in the relationship was mine. 

    God will hear your cries, even your cries of distress and anger.  He will use his Spirit to help you if you are faithful in your prayers.  A huge part of faithfulness is total honesty on your part when praying to God.  Anything less will void your cry.  It will come off as sinful selfishness.  Yet God does desire to have a relationship with you and for you to have relationships with your fellow man.  Trust God to help you build them.

Gracious Father, too often we hold our distress out of fear and sadness.  In doing so we hold onto the pain of our sin.  Give us the strength to bring our cries to you.  Be with those who are in deep pain and distress.  Lead them by your Spirit to call upon your Name.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret        

11-29-2016

Good Morning All,

           Deuteronomy 6:12; “be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

     I am tired of turkey.  It’s only been a couple of days but I am tired of turkey and stuffing and stuff.  We tried to send some home with the kids when they went home.  They didn’t take any food but everyone is home so it is calm again.  Thanksgiving is over and, unfortunately, I am glad.

    Doesn’t it seem like we feel like that more and more?  We look forward to a holiday and then we seem to want it over as soon as we can.  Sometimes this is because we try to do too much in a short amount of time and fail to relax and enjoy it.  I ate a month’s worth of turkey in 48 hours.  Sometimes we let the world define our expectations and we miss the truth of what we want.  Sometimes we lose sight of what we are truly celebrating.  Sometimes we just simply forget.

    That was a problem that the Israelites had; they were forgetful.  They forgot about all the wondrous things that God had done for them.  They forgot how God had preserved them and then saved them from slavery in Egypt and brought them out of Egypt by his gracious hand.  Yet soon, they forgot this miracle and only thought of their belly.  First it was no food and then it was food that wasn’t good enough.  They complained because they forgot about God and his gracious gifts to them.  They forgot about God’s blessings on their lives.

   We often do this as well.  We get so used to God’s gifts that we soon take them for granted and may even come to look upon them with a certain amount of disdain.  We forget the Lord, who brought us out of slavery, our slavery to sin, and thus bestowed upon us all the blessings we receive.  We miss the great truth about how God continually blesses us.

    For many of us, these blessings include the abundance of food, the joy of family, the fellowship of friends, the peace of the land.  These are a few blessings that we have but do we remember the Lord or do we assume that we, somehow, deserve everything we have.  For many of us, we have so much that we begin to despise some of the gifts.  We have an abundance of food so we despair about the exact food.  When my grandson got tired of turkey, he told his grandma, “I want sumpyelse.” When asked what he wanted, he didn’t know.  How often do we go to God and want “sumpyelse” and despise his gifts?

    Forget not the Lord.  Don’t ever forget God’s love for you; it is plainly displayed to us in the open and empty tomb of Christ.  Death could not hold him and it cannot hold us.  Don’t ever forget or take for granted this wonderful gift.  It is what we should truly be thankful for.

Father, too often I forget your grace in my life.  Forgive my sin and heal my heart.  Be with those who fail to see this is the one thing to always be thankful for as we have eternal life.  Continue to bless your people with your mercy; keep us safe in your loving arms.  Thank you for your grace.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

11-28-2016

Good Morning All,

           Matthew 14:29-30: “He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”

    Most Sundays I lead three worship services.  The first one is at 8:00 ma and is a close-knit congregation that usually shares coffee, juice, cookies and some great stories after worship services.  Most of the time, I have to take a “cup of joe to go” so we can make it to the next service.  As I was leaving the lady who made the coffee said it was almost finished.  This was strange because the coffee pot was usually going right away.  She explained the delay by saying, “I plugged it in but didn’t turn it on.”  I think that can explain an awful lot of my life; I am plugged in but not always turned on.  I am sort of involved from the edges but not completely involved and sometimes miss what happens.  It used to be called “too many irons in the fire.”

    I wonder sometimes if many of us do not experience this same phenomenon in our faith life.  We are plugged in just not turned on.  We know in our head that we are saved.  We read the Bible and grasp and believe that Jesus came into this world, was crucified for us and raised from the dead for us and that by believing this fact; we have eternal life.  We are comfortable in our faith but, for the most part, our faith rests on a shelf that we take down when we think we need it.  We are plugged in but we are not turned on and we fail to utilize all that our faith can give us.

    Many of us are like Peter, we need to get out of the boat and keep our eyes focused on Jesus.  We want to stay connected with the sinful world because we are comfortable, we know leaving the boat is the best but we just like to stay in the boat.  Yet Jesus bids us to get out of the boat.  Jesus bids us to come to him and to trust him fully.  When we do this, we find a confident peace that the world and the devil cannot harm.  When we fail to use the gift of faith in its totality, we suffer.  When we lack a complete faith, we bear worries and burdens, fears and unwarranted guilt.  We carry weight which Jesus has already removed from us.  Full joy of faith is found when we get out of the boat and hear the voice of Jesus and follow him completely. 

    We can have a saving faith that is a faith that is plugged in.  But a stronger and greater faith is always possible and it is this faith that leads us to live our life in full hope and trust.  We have to get out of the boat and keep our eyes focused on Jesus.  This is the source of our greatest level of contentment, peace and living in hope.  This is the life that Jesus wants you to have so get plugged in and turned on.

Father in heaven, lead me to trust in your wonderful loving promise.  Guide me by your Holy Spirit to leave the cares of this world behind and to follow you completely.  Help me to get out of the boat and be completely turned on to your grace and mercy.  Lead me forward in service to you.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret