Friday, March 31, 2017

3-31-2017



Good Morning All,
            Isaiah 65; 23-24; “for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them.   Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear”
    Have you ever watched any of the movies about the earth after some form of nuclear catastrophe or some other cataclysm?  It is always fascinating that the world is so desolate and such a waste land.  There is always a scene where the wind is blowing so much dust or sand that you can’t see the characters of the film. 
    It is interesting how we view a post-apocalyptic world.  There are always destroyed buildings, broken up roads or streets.  There is very little if any vegetation; it always appears to be shot in a desert with little except for scrub brush plants.  There seems to be a lot of time when water is so precious that it may even be a commodity which is traded or fought over. 
     That is how we usually view a world that is destroyed. It is desiccated and void of greenery, of created life or existence.  There is rarely enough food, water or other provisions to live much more than a subsistent existence.  This is the exact way which Isaiah describes the life of the children of Israel would live while in exile in Babylon.  They would not live in the “Land flowing with milk and honey” rather they would live in desolate conditions.
    This really refers to the way that their faith life would be.  They had experienced God’s grace and lived in the land flowing with milk and honey but now, with God’s grace withdrawn, they would live in a land of desolation.  They had lost out of God’s grace, for a little while but they never lost out on his mercy.  God’s love for them never stopped and he promised to restore them to an even greater life.  He will again hear their cries even before they are made.
    This is what God promises to us through Jesus.  He sees our pain; he knows our fear and he has compassion on us.  We know this because of the cross upon which Jesus died.  If God does not love us fully, beyond any measure or standard; why would he have allowed his Son to die such a horrific death?
     So as we go through life, we may feel like we are in a wasteland, barren and hopeless.  Yet God comes to us with his Word, the word of forgiveness. He comes to us with his soul refreshing gift of Holy Communion to re-invigorate our spirit.  He gives us his Church where we experience flesh and blood expressions of His tender grace and mercy.  He gives us prayer to speak to him and to cry out to him in pain or in joy but even before we do; He knows us and he answers us.
Dearest Father, we often see only the barren and the wasteland; yet it is only by your tender mercy that we can survive.  Guard us, sustain us and protect us from all that devil will throw at us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret

Thursday, March 30, 2017

3-30-2017



Good Morning All,
            1 Kings 8:28; “Nevertheless, my Lord God, please pay attention to my prayer for mercy.  Listen to my cry for help as I pray to you today.”
     Have you ever played the game “20 Questions”?  Someone thinks of something and then the other player has to guess it by asking questions?  It can be a challenge, especially if you don’t ask the right question.  When you watch the old Perry Mason shows, we see how carefully he would word his questions to lead the witness to give the right answer.  Even when someone asks me a question, I’ll often ask them, “Why do you want to know?”  The goal of this question is to get to the question behind the question.   Why are you asking this question?
   Sometimes when we pray; we don’t get what we pray for.  This can lead to a frustrating situation.  We often cry to God and ask, “Why?”  This is the wrong question.  We should ask the question, “What?”  What do you want for me Lord?  This is what we should ask; we should ask for direction not an explanation.  We do this by first trusting God to do what is best for us.  No matter what else happens in our life; we are always a redeemed child of God, blessed by him and carried by his promises.  Nothing can or will change it.  So as we face prayers that seem to be unanswered, we need to remember that our desires do not form us but God’s mercy forms us.  We may need to let go of one desire as God may have a different one in store.
    We need to ask God for guidance and support; then we need to turn to our brothers and sisters in Christ and listen to them for their comfort, their wisdom and their direction.  God uses Christians to speak his Word to us.  Then we may need to step back a little and see what else God is telling us.  Sometimes our focus is so narrow that we miss all God’s beauty around us.
    We then need to look at God’s gifts and see the new dreams that he has in store for us.  It may be time for a change in your life; perhaps major perhaps not so major but we know that, through faith, God is guiding us along.  He has promised that all things work for the good of those whom he loves.
    Look forward to what God is promising.  He promises us plans that will make us prosper.  He has plans that will give us eternal life.  He has a love for you to give you what we need and what is best for us.  Trust God to hear your prayer and answer you.  His love for you endures forever.
Dearest Jesus, we come to you in prayer and often ask “why?”  Give us the wisdom and faith to ask “what?” what can I do to serve you.  Free us from fear and lead us into your beloved arms.  Keep us strong that we may stand up to the devil’s assaults.  Be with those who are especially vulnerable at this time.  Give them hope and comfort in your arms.   In your precious name we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

3-29-2017



      Good Morning All,
           Psalm 139:5; “You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.”
    We often call them “bear hugs”.  This is where you sort of wrap your arms all the way around someone and pull them close to your chest.  Most of the time, we do it in a humorous fashion.  We will pick up a child and growl and they will squeal in delight.  We might come towards them with our arms open wide trying to get them in a corner and then hemming them in and then grabbing them.  They will usually squeal with delight.
     But sometimes, that hug isn’t a game; it is real.  Have you ever had a close call; like a car accident or a serious medical emergency?  When it was over, what did you do?  I know what I did; I grabbed the person and held onto them as close as I could.  There were a lot of emotions going on, the release of pent up fear and anxiety, and a strong desire to let the other person know that I really loved them.
     Sometimes you hug like this because you want to protect and shield the other person.  Perhaps when the other person is receiving painful news and you are trying to shield them from it.  Or perhaps you do this when you have no words to say.  We let our emotions speak for us and a hug works well in this situation.
     In our verse the Psalmist is speaking about how God and his love interact with us.  God comes to us and surrounds us with his love.  It is an all-encompassing love that envelops us with a peace that will give us comfort and consolation.  It is the kind of hug that, when you receive it, you know that the other person loves you with a totality that brings a sigh of contentment.  This is what God gives us in this world.  He gives us contentment.  The world always wants us to think we need more and to take our happiness and contentment away.  The world only seeks to make us sad and miserable. 
    God comes to us and surrounds us with his mercy and holds us tight in the embrace that will never let us go.  He holds us as close to him as we have need of.  He will never let us go.  He hems us in with the grace and mercy.  He comforts us and shields us from the arrows that the devil throws.  God is our only source of comfort and hope.  Through him we have the strength to face each day and we can face it with confidence because of what his love for us does.  It shields us and protects us.  We are forever held in a bear hug by God our Father.  We cling to him and him alone. 
    Dearest Father, you embrace us with your steadfast love and mercy.  We only need to cling to you.  Give us the faith to cling only to you and to see that you are our only source of love.  Make us to show that same love to those around us and to give them the same hope that you shower upon us.  Be with those who are suffering at this time.  Encompass them with your unending grace.  All this we ask in Jesus’ precious name, amen
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

3-28-2017



 Good Morning All,
             Proverbs 18:24; “ A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” 
     I am always amazed at how far we have come technologically speaking.  My children are using something called skype to talk to their parents, each other and the grandchildren to grandparents.  If you remember the TV-telephone from the “Jetsons” that is pretty much what it is.  It is amazing how we can stay in contact with each other anymore.
    I think back to when I was in high school and college; if you wanted to be in contact you either wrote a letter or made a long distance phone call, which was expensive.  If you mailed a letter, you waited until the other person got it and then waited for them to write back.  It was difficult to keep in touch and we often felt as if the friendship or the family was drifting apart a little.  You felt like you were farther away than you wanted to be.
     Sometimes, we feel that way about God.  Sometimes, it feels like He is a long ways away and not answering his mail very fast (or his phone battery is dead).  Most of us know those times.  A family member is lying there close to death, we have a lot we want to say but don’t know how.  We wonder where God is; is he listening at all?  We are finally getting things to feel like they are going smoothly; then the car dies and how do we afford a different one.  We finally find the perfect job and our spouse gets transferred to a different town, now what, God are you listening at all?  The neighbor kid who went off to join the army just came home without legs, how can this happen? 
     Sometimes it seems that we are all alone and the weight of the whole world is on our shoulders.  It can even seem like all our friends are no longer around to even care let alone help us.  Even though it doesn’t seem like it, God is still there holding us close, closer than anyone.  We still live in a sinful world, bad things happen even to God’s children.  The difference is that we know that God is still there to comfort us and to console us and to give us courage to give us hope.  We live with the hope of the resurrection.  We live with the hope of eternal life.  We live with the certainty that we will be re-united with our loved ones and all the faithful who will gather at the throne of grace to celebrate the feast that will never end.
      Along with that promise, God has given us a family that will love us and comfort us with hugs and shared tears.  We still grieve at death but we grieve as one who knows that soon we will all gather together in heaven.  God may feel like he is far away but he really isn’t; that is just our sinful nature trying to drive us away from God so the devil can torment us.  Yet God is holding us close standing with us closer than any friend or brother ever can.  We can, and are, always in contact with God.  He is as close as your Bible and your prayers.  We can read what God reveals to us and he will listen to your prayers.  The Spirit will bring you peace, the kind of peace that only God can bring.   
Dear Father, we rest in your loving arms.  In your mercy we find rest.  Protect us from the devil and his ways and give us that sense of hope and comfort that we can only receive from you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen,
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret