4-30-2018

Good Morning All,

         Colossians 3:1Since you were brought back to life with Christ, focus on the things that are above—where Christ holds the highest position

    A number of years ago I took 13 teenagers to San Antonio for the National Youth Gathering.  One of the “side events” was to go to the amusement park “6 Flags over Texas.” This is a huge amusement park.  Of course the kids challenged me to go on at least one ride.  I actually don’t mind the rides but I figured I should probably keep track of the 13 teens rather than go for fun.  Now, I know I am not as young as I used to be but I am young enough to take some challenges.  So I rode on some type of roller coaster.

    As I did, I remembered an old trick that a friend I have that used to love amusement parks.  As a teenager, his family would travel for their vacations and they would always go to an amusement park and he would always ride the various rides.  He told me that this trick.  When you get in the ride, don’t be in the very front always have a car ahead of you.  Next, as you ride, find a rivet or a screw or some other spot on the car ahead of you and focus your eyes on that spot.  He said you won’t get dizzy or have any problems seeing because that spot is going to lead you to where you are going.  You only get dizzy if you watch the area around you and it goes by in a blur.

     Our faith life is the same way.  Our text speaks of focusing our heart on things that are above; we focus our eyes upon Jesus.  When we truly focus on Jesus, we are able to follow him where he leads us without all the distractions around us.  It is when we start to focus on the events around us that we really begin to struggle.  These sights, these events which occur on the outside of our focus are the ones which can distract us from our faith.  If we look around us, we begin to see and hear things that will tend to cause us to be lose sight of our hope and our salvation; we need to keep our focus on things above- on Jesus.

    The struggles and problems of this world can cause us to become lost and depressed.  We can lose a job, or a spouse or our own health can deteriorate until we struggle greatly.  These things can cause us to lose our focus on Jesus and his great Gospel.  The truth that you and I are forgiven of our sins and that we are given eternal life in heaven.  We lose sight of the fact that God has promised to give us comfort here on this earth and renew us with the promise of our salvation.  So keep your eyes focused on things above.  We do this with prayer and Scripture reading and with devotional time.  Spend some time focusing on Jesus so when trouble strikes we are in the habit and mindset to call to Him first and receive from Him the consolation that we need.

Gracious Father, help us to keep focused on things above; to keep focused on Jesus and his wonderful mercy.  Strengthen our resolve and strengthen our faith that we may cling only to you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

4-29-2018

Good Morning All,

         Psalm 91:1-2; “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

    We celebrated the 125^th anniversary of our church about 5 years ago.  It was a nice day and we had two big tents up for people to sit under and eat.  After the meal, many just sat under them and visited.  The shade of the tent provided a comfortable place to sit.  With the sidewalls, the wind was blocked and you could sit pleasantly. 

     In biblical times, the tent or shelter was one of the first things put up and one of the last things taken down.  It provided shelter from the heat and the rain and the wind.  During the windstorm or sandstorm, it was all that would protect you from the pain and the grit.  It protected the occupants from excessive heat, poor weather, and provided a cool place to rest.

     In our Scripture verse, we see God’s mercy as this tent.  It shelters us from the blistering attacks of the devil.  The threats and the assaults that are sent our way to destroy our trust in God’s promises.  The devil would rather you were out in the heat experiencing the discomfort of the fiery blasts that he launches at us.  He wants you to see the mirages of his lies and to think these are the oases which we seek.  We follow the lies and distortions which tell us that we can manage all of life’s challenges on our own.  We are the masters of our lives and we don’t need anyone or anything; this is just another of the devil’s attacks to drive us from the safety of God’s shelter.   

    It protects us from blinding storms that the world blows at us.  It seems that the world tries to blow so much stuff at us in order to confuse us and to block our vision.  The world tries to drive us from god by the blinding and incessant lies that it pelts us with daily.  It tries to make it difficult for us to look forward to God by making it difficult to see anything.  The world distorts reality for all of us.  It twists and turns and deceives.    

     Our hope is fully found in the safety of God’s dwelling; in his shelter.  We are safe when we live safely in God’s holy reign and within the protection of his loving arms.  It is in his grace that we are safe.  It is in his mercy that we find our shelter.  The forgiveness of our sins provides us the refuge, that strong and impregnable fortress where we find peace and hope.  This is the place where we find our shelter.

Dearest Father, you provide for us the shelter as we face the storms of this life.  Father, we often fall short of trusting you fully and we seek to battle the storms and fight through the lies and the deceits.  Forgive us when we fail to trust in you.  Give to us the faith to hold onto your grace and to live in your shelter.  Send your Spirit of comfort to those who are in desperate need of your grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret        

4-28-2018

Good Morning All,

         Mark 2:16; “And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

    One time I had a principal tell me that he would step between a couple of 300 pound football players who were duking it out; but he would hide if he saw a group of 7^th grade girls snarling at each other.  The strange thing was that those of us who were listening to the story all commiserated with him.  Kids can be cruel.  They seem to have a pack mentality and heaven help the one that they turn on.

    In many ways, that is what has happened in our text.  The leaders of the Jewish Church had decided who was and wasn’t a “sinner.”  If you were a “sinner” they would attack you with a vengeance.  They would banish you from the Temple and require you to be “clean enough” to enter the Temple.  Of course this required a certain amount of money be spent (to them) before that would work.  It accomplished two things for the scribes and the Pharisees; they were wealthy and they rode roughshod on a whole nation of people so beaten down that they had given up all hope.   

    Then along comes Jesus, a respected and honored rabbi.  Some even thought he was a prophet and he had the gall to eat with these “sinners”.  We need to remember that eating together at this time is a somewhat intimate act.  You usually ate from common bowls and either dipped your hand or your bread into the bowl.  It was a sign of friendship and great hospitality.  For one to eat together was a sign of acceptance of the other person.  How could Jesus eat with those “sinners?”  You know; people of questionable moral quality, people who were forced into situations not of their choosing, people that others had beat down until they had nothing left.  You know those people; “sinners”

   You know, people whose spouses deserted them, who never seemed to catch a break, a young woman trying to raise a child on her own because of bad choices made years ago, or a young man given a label because he was curious or a young gal who went to a party and was taken advantage of; you know “sinners”; people the world just beats down to no end.  Jesus eats with them.

     Jesus sees the pain, the heart ache, the hollowness in the eyes and the emptiness of the soul.  Jesus comes to “sinners” like me and like you and he gives us hope.  He comes to us with his word of forgiveness and hope and he invites us in for a meal and a chance to heal.  He doesn’t judge what we did; he forgives and forgets and tells us to release the pain and forget about it.  He gives us a new life in him.  Jesus eats with sinners and gives them eternal life.

Dear Jesus, you come to us and make us whole.  You remove the suffering from our heart and give us hope and life. You gives us new life and the grace to live each day as we continue on our journey with you. In your precious name we pray, amen  

God's Peace,

Pastor Bret