Sunday, April 30, 2017

4-30-2017



        Good Morning All,
            Matthew 7:24; Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
       It is always interesting to me when I watch the news and the story is about sinkholes.  Sinkholes are usually naturally occurring places where there is a hollow spot in the ground and it collapses.  Most of the time they show up without a lot of warning; sometimes even swallowing a whole house at once.  There was even a time in Florida when the house sank over forty feet and killed a man who was sleeping in his bedroom.  They can occur just about anywhere but are most prevalent in Florida.
    Florida has had over 300 sinkholes since 2010 and thousands in the last century.  Western Florida is especially prone because the soil lacks clay which normally binds soil together.  The holes can be anywhere from 1 to over 50 feet deep.  It is very difficult to know where they can occur so it is difficult to know where to build or where to not build your house. 
     This kind of reminds us of Jesus’ admonition at the end of the Sermon on the Mount.  We are to build our house upon the rock.  We are to build upon the sure foundation of God’s grace given to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus.  We trust that grace to be there for us no matter what has happened, is happening or will happen in our life.  When we look to God for our only source of salvation, trusting only in him for that truth; we are built on the rock.
     It is when we look to other sources that we are on the sand, or worse, on a sinkhole.  When we look to our own skill or strength, we are on a sinkhole.  When we turn to false teaching or other misleading beliefs, we are on a sinkhole.  When we turn to artificial supports like drugs or alcohol, we are on a sinkhole and when trouble occurs; everything will come crashing down.
    Yet we know that God is always faithful to his promises.  He has promised to be with us and to support us in all our times of need to comfort and to console us.  He is there to be our rock and fortress.  The psalmist calls him our rock and our shield.  It is in his arms that we are protected from the attacks of the devil.  It is in his arms that we can rest the holy sleep, in total peace, secure in the knowledge that we our safe.  Our house, our resting place is on the solid rock and it will not fail.  Nothing will ever destroy this house.  Its foundation is securely built upon God and his grace.  God’s grace is the only solid foundation that we have; without it all the world is a sinkhole.  Only God’s love will prevail.
Gracious Father, your mercies are new to us every day.  They roll over us like a river.  Upon you alone do we build our hope and faith.  Keep us safely in your loving arms so that the devil will have no power over us.  Be with those who are hurting, struggling or lost in this life.  Bring them to your most gracious rock of safety.  Bring them home to your loving arms.  Guard and protect them as their journey continues.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret             

Saturday, April 29, 2017

4-29-2017



   Good Morning All,
                       Ephesians 2:8; “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”
      Imagine, for a moment, that when you get your mail today; you receive a gift card to your favorite restaurant with a value of $5000.  It is a gift from an old acquaintance; quite a gift but a gift just the same.  What would you do? I don’t think you would just throw in a drawer and forget about it.   First you would go there a few times with your family and really enjoy it.  Next, you might think about sharing it with a few of your friends.
    Now perhaps you would call all the same friends.  You really enjoy their company and this would be a great way to celebrate.  Or would you think about some friends that you haven’t seen in a while?  Maybe when you children were in an activity you became close to some of those parents but now it has been a while.  This would give you a chance to reconnect.  Perhaps you might invite some people you just met.  Perhaps you would mix and match.
    Now after you have taken your family a few times and some friends a few times; you might look at your neighbors.  Perhaps you take the widow down the block.  Her husband died last year and it has been real tough on her; she might really enjoy a little fun again.  You always enjoyed their company and it might feel good too.  Maybe the family down the road who just lost their job could use a little boost.  It really wouldn’t cost you anything; the card was free, they would have some fun and you would too. 
    We have the greatest gift ever given; we have the forgiveness of sins and the certainty of heaven awaiting us.  We have this incredible gift that God’s wants us to share.  Yet many of us just put it in a drawer.  God wants us to share this good news of salvation.  He wants us to share with our family and our friends.  People we know well and others not so well.  He especially wants us to share it with those who are struggling with life right now.  There is no better salve than God’s wonderful mercy. 
    We are God’s redeemed children and we have this tremendous gift that we can both benefit from and share at the same time.  God’s grace is overflowing us and we cannot possibly contain it all so we might as well share it.  Share it with your family and friends but especially share it with those who are hurting right now.  God’s grace will always bring comfort and hope.  You don’t have to have a long sermon written out; sometimes a simple act of love or kindness speaks the language better anyway.  God gives us a gift, a gift to share and this is easily done with a hug or an ear that listens or hands that carry dinner or supper to someone.  We are saved by grace through faith; it is a gift, a gift worth sharing.
Gracious Lord, through your wonderful gift of forgiveness we have the hope for tomorrow and comfort for today.  Give us the desire to share this gift with those around us, especially those most in need of your comfort.  Open our hearts to them that we may be your ministers of reconciliation.  In Your most precious name we pray, amen
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret

Friday, April 28, 2017

4-28-2017



Good Morning All,
                   Luke 9:62; “Jesus said to him, “Whoever starts to plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.”
     It has been a long time since I have seen any plowing done in this region.  It used to be the only way anybody farmed but most plows are just sitting in the weeds or shelterbelts now.  It was always so important to start off straight.  If you didn’t start straight, you never got straight.  So you had to pick a point out at the end of the field, keep your eyes focused on that point and never look back.  If you looked back you would lose the point you were focusing on.
    Our verse uses the plowing analogy to make a point.  If you keep looking back at the past, you will never see the future.  This applies in a couple of ways.  First, we cannot be pining or looking longingly at our past sinful life.  This means that if going to a certain place or being with certain people will likely cause us to sin then we need to avoid those places or people.  This can be especially difficult if they are family members or close friends.  Yet if we look back, we lose sight of Jesus.  Our focus must always be heavenward and not earthward.
    The second way to look at this is that we must not look back at the past with despair.  This world is full of pain and sadness.  Throughout our lives, people are going to disappoint us.  People are going to lie to us, they are going to use us, and they will abuse us.  Sometimes it will be by accident but a lot of times it will be on purpose.  The world will hurt us; this we know.  So God encourages us to let the past be the past.  What is in the past of our lives should stay in the past.  When we keep looking back at past pain, it returns to our current life and we experience the pain all over again.
     So Jesus tells us, “don’t look back, keep looking ahead.”  In other words don’t look over your shoulder with desperation and pain; rather focus ahead with hope and confidence in God’s grace.  Keep looking forward; God’s grace is always leading us forward into his eternal kingdom.  Hold fast to his love and his promises; don’t let the old things drag you down.  Don’t let old days remind you and keep you in the pain that used to be.  Live for today with hope for tomorrow.  Don’t look back; know that God’s mercy will sustain you and lift you up.  Keep looking forward to the hope and the certainty of God’s everlasting love.  Don’t look back on what will only cause you pain.  Don’t look back and let the devil chide you and cause you to suffer for his snide comments.  Keep looking forward; keep your eyes focused on Jesus.  It is his love that lets us focus on the prize of heaven.
Dear Father, in this world of pain we too often look back and experience this pain again.  Give us the wisdom and the courage to look forward and to not look back.  Help us to see that nothing good comes from revisiting the sinful past.  Guide us by your Spirit and lead us to live with you in complete communion.  Be with our brothers and sisters who are especially in need of your love at this time.  This we ask in Jesus’ precious name, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret

Thursday, April 27, 2017

4-27-2017



Good Morning All,
               John 1:4; “He was the source of life, and that life was the light for humanity”.
    Have you ever experienced total and complete darkness?  I have; in a cave in the Black Hills when the lights were shut off and another time we had a severe ice storm and a large area lost power.  The cave experience was contrived and lasted only a couple of minutes.  Now for sure, that was a long couple of minutes.  You couldn’t see anything around you.  It didn’t take long to become somewhat disoriented.  You had this eerie sensation that the world was moving and you couldn’t see it at all.  It was a strange experience to say the least but it was contrived, you knew it was coming so it wasn’t that big of a deal.
    The ice storm was different.  We didn’t know it was coming until it was here.  The morning after the storm, in the day light, you could see it would be a few days before power was restored.  There were broken power poles and downed wires everywhere you looked.  It was during that time that I really experienced darkness.  At night, when you went outside, you saw nothing, especially when it was cloudy.  I grew up in a time when almost every farm had a dawn to dusk night light.  Where I grew up, we had three different cooperative electrical associations within two mile of our house.  Even if one was without power, one of the other ones would still be going.  But this storm took out everything.  So when you went out at night; it was completely dark.
    It was truly fascinating to look out and not see any of the lights that made it possible to have your bearings.  Once you were a few feet from the house, you had no clue where you were or what direction you were going.  I tried it a couple of times.  I walked 30 steps from the house and then tried to guess where I was.  As I turned on the flashlight, I was usually wrong.
    That is how our life is without Jesus as the light of our life.  For that is how the sinful world is; living in complete and total darkness.  The world has no real bearings or even the slightest idea where it is or where it is headed.  It will claim that east is west and north is south.  It will claim untruths to be accurate and the truth is “inconvenient.”  Into this mess Christ came to bring life and to be the light to the world.  His believers know the truth and can live according to that truth.  We can see the truth and we can see the failures of the world.  We might still fall for the darkness from time to time but God, in his mercy continues to shine his light upon us and keeps reclaiming us from the dark.  He continuously brings us into his marvelous light.
   Dearest Heavenly Father, you sent Jesus to be the light of the world.  He came to illuminate the darkness of the world.  Give us the strength to stay in the light and to live in the light of your grace and mercy.  Lead us to show this light to those in this world who still live in the darkness of sin.  Give us the courage to be that light.  Be with those who are especially living in the darkness and the coldness of this cruel world.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret