2-28-2019

Good Morning All,

       Psalm 48:14; “that this is God, our God forever and ever.  He will guide us forever.        A recent study stated the average person makes over 5000 decisions a day.  No wonder you are tired at the end of the day!  You made the decision to get up and what time.  You decided what to eat for breakfast or not eat it at all.  You decided what to wear, when to read this email, whether you watch TV or read the newspaper, whether to go out or stay in, the list goes on.  As you can see most of our decisions aren’t that important, or so we think.

    It is estimated that 40% of the food purchased in the United States is thrown away.  We buy it and don’t like it, we buy too much, we forget we bought it; all decisions which we made.  Some decisions don’t seem that important at the time but can have a big impact down the road.  A cutting remark or a kind word that was left unsaid can cause much pain.  On the other hand, a word of kindness or cheer can lift the day of the person who hears it.

    We often read the Bible or listen to sermons which exhort us to show God’s love to all.  Too often, we have the grandiose visions of working in a soup kitchen or something that we maybe don’t have the time to do.  We think that to do God’s Will requires so much that we only see our failure, our inability to do it.  The devil wants you to believe that but God tells us something different.

    Jesus told his disciples that He would send “The Comforter” or the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit would “bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”  The Holy Spirit is that voice that you hear saying “This is the way, walk in it.”  This is the right thing to say or do.  It is the Spirit whispering in your ear what to say and do.  Too often we ignore or miss what the Spirit says to us and in doing so we fail to walk in the path of good works which God has created for us to do.  Too often, we think that they are insignificant events and we never hear the Spirit.

     These are all those little decisions that we think are unimportant but can be the Spirit speaking to us.  So next time, be sure to say thank you to the gal at the checkout counter or to the guy working in the produce aisle.  Say thank you to the nurse or dental assistant.  Speak a kind word to the waitress.  Most of all speak a word of love to your family members.  When the Spirit whispers in your ear to go this way; go that way.

     Doing God’s Will might be working in a soup kitchen but it is also showing kindness to strangers or even people we know.  Showing them kindness, not because we want something out of them, but because we want to do something for them; something which God wants us to do as His witnesses.

Gracious Father, too often we fail to listen to your Word or to act according to what we hear.  Forgive us in our slowness to love as You have loved us and walking in the paths which You have laid out for us.  Give us the courage and wisdom to hear your Word and to act as Your Will moves us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-27-2019

Good Morning All,

    Matthew 16:16; “Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

     Kaiser Kurios vs. Christos Kurios.  It doesn’t look like it is that different.  Yet in that small difference is all the difference in the world.  That difference is why the early Christians were martyred.  That difference was why so many were tortured by the Romans at different times and places in the early years of the Church.  All that the Roman officials wanted was for everyone to say “Kaiser Kurios” and all was fine.  The early Christians refused and some paid a high price.  The Romans wanted everyone to confess that Caesar is Lord.  The people could keep their old religion and religious practices as long as it was confessed that Caesar was the highest and greatest Lord.  That is why when we read the Bible and we see where Paul and Peter and Barnabas would go to cities like Ephesus or Corinth and there would be hundreds of temples to different gods with different religions; some we probably have never heard of.  All the practitioners had to do was say Caesar is Lord- Kaiser Kurios and everything was fine.

    The Early Christians wouldn’t say that.  To them, Caesar wasn’t the Lord but Christ is the Lord.  When asked, their response was always “Christos Kurios.”  The Romans saw this as treason and dealt with it in a very harsh manner; no dictatorship can afford for the people to confess anything but the official government line.  Look at North Korea, China, Iran, Syria; take your pick no deviance from the official line is allowed.  Because the early Christians refused to submit, they paid a heavy price; some the ultimate price.  Christos Kurios.

     What about us?  Do we confess Christos Kurios no matter the cost?  Most of us have never had our life, the life of a loved one or even any sort of physical harm threatened against us for claiming to be a Christian, but do we always confess Christos Kurios?  Or do we get intimidated by our surroundings?  It can be tough; when you are in a conversation with a group of people who say that we were lucky to get some rain or that the fates were with us, for us to say Christos Kurios.  When no one else is witnessing their faith, it can be easy to hide in the background.  I don’t want to make a scene or give them any fodder to poke fun at me with after all I just want to fit in.  Yet by our silence, we are not confessing Christos Kurios; Christ is the Lord. 

     We need to remember that without Christ as our Lord, we have no hope.  We have no future.  While we may come up short once in a while, we need to continue to pray for God’s strength and courage to confess Jesus’ name before men.  We need to trust the Spirit to move within our heart and life in order to confess Christos Kurios.  It is not by our will but by the power of the Spirit that we confess that Jesus is Lord.  Trust in the Spirit; trust in God for his mercy and his courage.  It is how the church grows and souls are saved; by the confession of faith: Christos Kurios Christ is the Lord over all.

Dear Father, forgive us when we are slow to confess that Jesus is the Lord most high in our life.  Give us the courage to witness and to speak with the confidence of the faith which you give us.  Keep us in that faith which places our hope in Jesus that we may be saved unto life eternal.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen. 

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret         

2-26-2019

Good Morning All,

      Psalm 94:14; “The Lord will never desert his people or abandon those who belong to him.”
        I remember listening to a radio program where the host was interviewing a recovering addict.  That is how he referred to himself as “recovering”; he said,” The beast is never far away.”  As I listened, in my cynical judgmental fashion, I thought he really has a way with words.  Yet I kept listening and his story got more intriguing.  He had tried to defeat his addiction many times and many times he failed.  He was addicted to cocaine for over 26 years and with his family’s encouragement and demands; he went through 8 different rehab stints.  None of them lasted longer than 9 months before he was back using cocaine.

    The interviewer asked him how he finally won.  The man’s answer was refreshing.  He told her that he didn’t win but that Jesus won for him.  He told her that until he accepted Jesus as his personal savior (not exactly a Lutheran phrase but it was his phrase) his battle with the beast was always won by the beast but Jesus is stronger than the beast.  The interviewer was a little shocked and taken aback but continued with the interview.  Then he ended the interview with an observation that intrigued me and really flustered the gal interviewing him.  He said,” we are all addicts; we all have destructive beasts within us which we can never defeat on our own.  As long as we battle them by our power we will lose, we need something else to win; for me it is Jesus Christ.”

     We are all addicts; Paul said we are all sinners.  Yet I really like how he phrased the idea that we are all “addicts”.  We all have those sins which just seem so hard to shake.  We maybe aren’t addicted to drugs or even too many other sins but there is always one or two which seem to really pull us down.  The early Church used to speak of the seven deadly sins, wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony, as the fallen human tendency toward sin.  If we look at this list; it pretty much gets to all our issues.  In today’s world, we may have some subsets that have appeared given our technology and current style of living but for the most part we can find our self in this list. 

     There are a lot of things that can be said about this list but one thing I hope we all take away from this is that we are ALL in this list.  You might be a one sin and I might be at another but we are all sinners and thus we should not judge others for where we think they sit in the list.  I may think that one person is greedy or another is lustful yet if I am envious of my neighbor; I am no different than they are. 

    Jesus is our only true salvation and our only way to defeat our addictions, our sins.  We struggle on as recovering addicts, fighting the beast within, our sinful nature.  When we can, we should, with God’s love as our motive, help our fellow believer fight his addiction as well.  With Christ, we are all in this together, offering each other comfort, hope and consolation because of Christ’s free gift to us.  We are all recovering addicts and we need each other’s prayers and support.

Father of all goodness, if you abandon me all is lost.  Yet in your love and mercy you sent Jesus to bring me home.  Keep me safe from the beasts and the demons which would devour me.  Keep me in your loving and protective arms.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

2-25-2019

Good Morning All,

        Joshua 1:5; “No one will be able to oppose you successfully as long as you live. I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will never neglect you or abandon you.”

    Any of you who were, or are athletes, or have watched a movie or two about sports contests know all about the pep speech.  Sometimes it is before the start of the game; if you remember the movies” Hoosiers” where the coach (Gene Hackman) takes the tape measure and shows the players that the big city gym and basketball court is the same as theirs back home trying to calm the nerves.  If you want a good pep speech, the one Al Pacino gives in “Any given Sunday” when he talks about how football and life is about inches and fighting for that inch.  Of course, the classic is “Win one for the Gipper” by Knute Rockne’s half time speech of the 1928 Army-Notre Dame Game. 

    This verse is part of a pep speech that God gave to Joshua as Joshua was taking over for Moses.  No one will be able to oppose you, I will never neglect or abandon you.  Joshua and the Israelites had no need to fear their enemies as God had promised them success.  The Hittites, the Amorites, the Jebusites, and the others were not going to be a match for the Israelites even though these other nations appeared to be stronger because God was with the Israelites.

      What about us?  Do we need a pep speech?  Do we fear our enemies?  You might think that you fear no enemies; no country would dare attack this country; perhaps that is true but what about your personal enemies.  Instead of the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites, are our enemies named fear, anxiety, and doubt?  Do we sit in dread of some calamity that looms on the horizon?  Do we fear the next visit to the doctor?  Are we anxious about the winter, perhaps the last storm puts us a little uneasy about the next one?  Do you wonder if those people in your lives are questioning whether you are worth the effort to love anymore?  Perhaps you feel like a burden to everyone because you can’t do everything like you used to.  We all have lots of enemies in our lives trying to cause you dread, trying to cause you to lose sleep, trying to separate you from the Good Shepherd’s flock. 

    We have no reason to dread for the Lord our God is in our midst and he is a great and awesome God.  God’s love for you is so powerful that he sent Jesus to die for you in order that you and I will be reconciled back to God.  That intimate conversation between God and man which took place in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the morning, which was broken by sin, is repaired by Christ’s death and resurrection.  God the Father, working through God the Son, with God the Spirit as the active agent is in our midst giving us the speech, “nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus”, or “This is eternal life that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You sent” or “I can do all things through Him (Jesus) who strengthens me” and the list goes on.  God gives us these to give us hope when we need it, comfort when we need it and strength when we need it.  We have nothing to dread for God is in our midst.   

    Father of all mercies, your grace rolls over us like a mighty river.  We thank you for your everlasting love which knows no measure and has no bounds.  Keep us safe in your hands and protect us from all evil and give us that sense of peace which comes only from you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-24-2019

 Good Morning All,

Luke 6: 27-28; ““But I tell everyone who is listening: Love your enemies. Be kind to those who hate you.  Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who insult you.”

    Nasty sins they are.  Those sins that we have, cling to oftentimes, keep them right where we need them.  We don’t admit it; perhaps even to ourselves but they are there, right below the surface waiting to pop like an over ripe tomato.  We all have them and one of them is hatred.

    I know, we don’t hate anyone.  We may hate that group half way around the world that is causing harm but we don’t hate anyone here, especially someone who we have met.  When Jesus is telling this to his disciples, he continues with if someone slaps you turn the other cheek, if they take your coat give them your shirt, if they borrow something don’t expect to get it back.  Of course, we live this way, right??

    I live this way, except for that guy in college.  I loaned him a book, once.  I am a bibliophile (book lover).  That joker never returned it.  He never got another book from me.  That neighbor, who lets his dog answer nature’s call on my property; I bought a pellet gun last week.  That guy that parks his oversize pickup and takes three or four parking places; the shopping cart slipped when it scratched the side.  If the snowplow goes by one more time after I clean the walk and shoots snow right where I already cleaned; he is going to hear about it.  But I don’t hate anyone, not me.

    Hate is not always violent.  Hate is an anger that burns within.  Hate causes us to not only look for the bad in others (to justify our thoughts) but desires bad things happen to them.  You might call it indifference but that is just to mollify your conscience as you remember times you did the same thing.  We do not love our brother as we should; most of the time we actually hate them.  We wish they were gone, or suffered some pain or indignity.  When Jesus speaks of hatred; it is not something half way around the world that I can “love”.  It is the guy I speak to, listen to, interact with and see face to face, in the flesh up close and personal.

   Those are the hardest to love.  They are the hardest to love because they cause real pain.  Their selfishness, arrogance, self-centeredness causes us pain.  People who insult you, takes what is yours, even your dignity are people we are to love, really?  Yes, really!  Jesus loves everyone.  The hater, the braggart, the selfish one, the close minded one; all of them are loved by Jesus.  All of them had their sins paid for on the cross, just like we did.  What Jesus wants is for us to recognize that we are sinners and that we need forgiveness.

    Jesus wants us to live a better life, more like his but we first need to recognize that we are sinners.  I do hate some people.  I need God’s forgiveness and I need God’s Spirit to try and be a better person, one who is obedient of God’s will.  God invites us to unburden our hearts of our sin, but we must recognize that it exists and repent.

Father, forgive me for my many sins especially when I do not love.  Cleanse me that I may be your servant in your kingdom.  Guide me to look to you in all that I do and say.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-23-2019

Good Morning All,

       Revelation 21:4; “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There won’t be any more death. There won’t be any grief, crying, or pain, because the first things have disappeared.”

    God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  We’ve all been there.  At some point in time we have wiped away a tear from another person.  Maybe it was a small child who skinned a knee or had a toy that broke.  Sometimes all it takes is a kiss on the sore from mom or grandma to make the tears stop flowing.

     Sometimes it takes a little more.  If they are sick and don’t feel well sometimes it takes a blanket and a rocking chair and someone to hold them close.  Sometimes it takes a lot of patience especially if you are dealing with an infant who can’t tell you where they hurt or why; sometimes you don’t think you will ever be able to do it. 

     It seems to get harder as our children get older.  That kiss on the skinned knee followed by some fresh cookies just doesn’t seem to work as well when the tears flow over a boyfriend or girlfriend who decided there were better fish in the sea.  When they struggle with school work and no matter how hard they work it just doesn’t come easily. 

    It gets tougher as you wipe away a tear from someone who is burying a loved one.  You know the pain and the fear they feel but they don’t always want to listen right now.  Sometimes it is your tears which flow as you feel your pain or a friend’s pain and the pat answers just sound hollow.  It can get tough when people want answers and you don’t have any clear answers.  Why did I get cancer?  Why does he have to suffer so?  Sometimes all you can do is to wipe away their tears.

     Through it all, we must always remember that we are just the care givers which God uses to offer earthly comfort.  God is the ultimate cure giver.  That is what this verse is about.  We can only wipe away the tears after they fall.  God will stop them from having to fall.  Every tear will be wiped away never to fall again.  The joy which God promises us is so far beyond anything that we can conceive of.  We will be led to the springs of living water never to thirst again.  We are told that there will be no pain, no sorrow, and no sadness in heaven.  Those who have gone before us are living in God’s total glory.  There are no more tears to wipe away.

     So we wait, knowing that God has made the same promise to us that He kept to them.  This is why we, as the Church, look forward to the return of Jesus and an end to all pain and suffering; an end to all tears.  God comforts us through the human hands of the believers around us.  As sainted sinners, we sometimes fall short but God continues to give us peace through his Word and Sacrament.  He calls us to hear his Words of comfort and to have those tears wiped away until the time when they will be wiped away permanently.      

Father of all mercies, you hold us tenderly as a mother holds a newborn child.  You guard and protect us.  Keep us in your care and wipe away all our tears.  Guide us to be your hands as we offer comfort and help to those around who are in need of your special care.  In Jesus precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-22-2019

Good Morning All,

       Psalm 109:1; “O God, whom I praise, do not turn a deaf ear to me.”

    It was in a small and quiet voice that the question was asked.  You could tell she was worried that she would be struck down by God for even asking, but she had to ask.  “Is it ok to be angry at God?”  That was her question; is it ok?  Many people worry about this question; fearing the wrath of God is wise; yet, the question remains, “is it ok to be angry at God?”  Most of us know the story of Job and how God spoke to him when he was angry at God.  God asked Job, “where were you when I laid the foundation of the world?”  Job knew his place in a hurry.  We know what happened when Jonah got mad and ran away from God in a snit; a great fish was his future.  So, it is with hesitancy that we might ask, “is it ok to be angry at God?”  I would answer with a precautionary “yes, it is ok.”

    I answer it this way because the Bible, specifically the Book of Psalms, gives us as a method to express our anger and pain.  Job and Jonah presumed to be able to call into question God’s will; that is inadvisable.  We are not God and never will be but that doesn’t mean we do not feel hurt when things happen.  We hurt when a loved one dies before we are ready.  We feel hurt when our longing to have a child goes unfulfilled.  We suffer when loved ones turn their back on us in anger.  We hurt when we feel betrayed.  Pain comes to us from many angles and will batter us incessantly.  Suffering is the lot of humanity which is broken because of sin.  It is ok to be angry with God and to complain to him.  God even gives us a method to do this; we call them the psalms of lament.  A lament is a passionate expression of pain, grief, sorrow or suffering.  If you have ever felt that way, God wants to hear about it from you.

    There are 50 or so psalms of lament in the Book of Psalms, roughly 1 out of 3.  Some are community laments and some are personal or individual laments.  Many of the individual ones are from David.  Our verse is from a psalm of lament.  Psalms 102, 38, 41, 41, 52 and 62 are good ones.  Psalm 23 is even considered a psalm of lament (the yea, though I walk through the shadow of death).  Psalms of lament express our pain, suffering and anguish.  I think they are tremendously helpful because they put words to our feelings when we are unable to do so.

    Yet they do one more thing: they return us to God for our hope.  This psalm ends with the statement “because he stands beside needy people to save them from those who would condemn them to death.” Many of the others use similar language; "You alone are my salvation."  That is the point.  We express our pain yet stay focused on God as our healing source.  It might take a lot of times speaking and praying these psalms but it is one of the best tools to help in our healing.  

Father of all healing, you invite us to come to you in our pain and suffering.  You hear us and you give us hope.  Send your comfort to those who suffer and grieve.  Bring them the balm of your healing.  Comfort, comfort your people we pray.  In the precious blood of Jesus, we pray.  Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

2-21-2019

 Good Morning All,

       Luke 18:22-23; “When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still need one thing. Sell everything you have. Distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then follow me!”²³ When the official heard this, he became sad, because he was very rich.”

     I was reading an article the other day about the world economies and how the Chinese economy was starting to slow and wane.  The author of this article wrote that he expected India to advance up to the top of the fast-growing economies.  I remember when India was the place with all the starving children.  If you didn’t eat all your peas or carrots, you were reminded that there were starving kids in India.  I remember watching a news show where they showed all these starving people while hundreds, if not thousands, of cattle just roamed around.  They were starving and all that meat was just standing there looking at them. 

    In India cattle were, and still are, considered sacred.  Since many believe in re-incarnation, they view eating a Hereford like eating a Henry.  But it was so ironic, these starving people refused to give up on their sacred cows and many starved while the cattle walked on by.

    Sometimes we have sacred cows in our life.  We have those things which we will not give up even though it would be better if we did.  Sometimes it is possessions but sometimes it is those sins that we just don’t want to let go off.  Maybe we are jealous of our neighbor, just a little envious.  We know that God wants us to love our neighbor and be truly happy that God has blessed him.  But we don’t want to give up that sacred cow.  We will be double good somewhere else and we’ll keep this little sin hidden away so we can bring it back at the right time.  Maybe we have a co-worker who we would like to see brought down a peg or two; it would serve them right.  Maybe a sibling or a sibling-in-law needs a comeuppance.  We know that God wants us to love one another.  We know it in our mind but we keep that sacred cow hidden in our heart; refusing to give it up.  We think it tastes better especially when someone else, a different neighbor or co-worker shares our feeling about the first person.  All we need is someone to feed our sacred cow and it will get real fat in a hurry.

    Our own personal prejudices are about as sacred as they get.  There are certain people we like and certain ones who we do not.  Rather than ask God to help us overcome these sins; we hold on to these hidden sacred cows.  We’ll let God into other parts of our lives but not into this part.  Yet when we do this, we lock God away from us in all of our life and soon we no longer feel the comfort of the Savior.  When we keep those sinful sacred cows, we deny our own forgiveness; we say that there are some things in life that it is OK to not forgive. 

     So, we need to go to the Father and ask for His help and guidance in losing those sacred cows.  They are only blocking us from enjoying all of the love and grace that God wants us to have.  God’s gentle mercies call us; listen to his call.

 Gracious and eternal Father, your mercies are new every day.  Help us to eliminate all those sacred cows in our lives that cause a separation with you; that stand in our way of your grace.  Help us to eliminate all those sacred cows which we do not even know we have.  Bing them out of the darkness into the light that we may see our sin and confess and release them.  Continue to mold and shape us Father.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

2-20-2019

Good Morning All,

       John 3:16; “God loved the world this way: He gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.”

   One of the most famous sermons ever given in American history was given by a man by the name of Jonathan Edwards.  In 1741, during one of the Great Awakening revivals, he gave a sermon entitled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”  The general theme was that God was as angry at the living wicked as He was at those who were in torment in hell.  At any time, God could allow Satan to take anyone who deserved to go to hell and God was holding them in his hands and he is angry.  The unrepentant were on a slippery slope held up only by the arbitrary, sovereign nature of God; they were sinners in the hands of an angry God.

    Yikes!!  The reaction was one of great fear.  Many cried and cried out “what shall I do to be saved?”  Not a lot of hope or comfort there.  This sermon pretty much defines fire and brimstone preaching.  The theory was to scare the worshiper into straightening up.  I don’t know if it worked or not, I would kind of doubt it.

     God’s actions in the Bible do not show an angry God.  God wants all to be saved and cries for the lost.  The fact that God sent his son, his only son to die, all alone, on a cross so that you and I might have eternal life doesn’t look like an angry God.  That looks like a God that really loves you.  This is why John, in his epistles, stresses God’s love.  This is what it means when we say this is how we know God loves us for while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  This is what pure love looks like.  God didn’t wait for us to show any remorse or any type of reconciliation we were and are incapable of doing this.  We don’t meet God half way.  God comes all the way to where you are and lifts you up, washes you off, feeds you and clothes you and gives you the promise of eternal life.  This is the hope that we have.  We look to and forward to what God is doing.  He is molding us into the disciples that he wants us to be and leading us down the journey that he has laid out for us.  All the while God holds us in his hands.  There are times when we feel like we are in the hands of an angry God but in truth, an angry God would just let us fall, all alone and never give us hope of getting back up.  Yet time after time, we sin and God picks us up and cleans us off and gently takes our hand and leads us on our path.  God holds us in his hands with all the love that we will ever need and guards us with His mercy and grace.  So, we are not sinners in the hands of an angry God.  We are sainted sinners held gently yet firmly in the hands of our heavenly Father protected from all the devil will throw at us.  Rest secure in God’s grace.

 Eternal and loving God, by your grace we are kept safe.  We pray for all of our brothers and sisters who do not feel the security which you give us.  Wrap them with your Spirit of comfort and peace and give them the true sense of your love for hem in their lives.  All this we ask in Jesus’ precious name, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

2-19-2019

    Good Morning All,

          Romans 8:15; “You haven’t received the spirit of slaves that leads you into fear again. Instead, you have received the spirit of God’s adopted children by which we call out, “Abba! Father!”

     ABBA! FATHER!  God has restored, through faith, our place in his kingdom.  When you look through the Old Testament and you look at the prayers in the Old Testament, you see prayers made to God Almighty, to the Lord our peace, to the Lord our righteousness; all kinds of prayer but not prayers to Our Father who art in heaven.  The faithful of the Old Testament prayed.  They prayed with earnestness and in faithfulness but they prayed to a God that was removed from them.  God sustained them and protected them but He was at a distance because God is holy and pure; the people were not.

    So the people had to have a priest offer a sacrifice and pray on their behalf and they prayed to this faithful God from a distance.  But all that changed for us and for all believers.  Remember in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ death, the first thing Matthew records is the tearing of the temple curtain from top to bottom.  That heavy piece of cloth kept the people from the Altar of God, kept them from coming directly to God.  But when Jesus, the perfect, ultimate sacrifice died, God ripped the curtain, threw it open and called to us come back, come in and let’s talk.

     The perfect conversation that Adam and Eve had, when they walked with God in the cool of the morning, is restored through Jesus.  Now you and I, as God’s children, can come to him and cry our Father, Father. 

     Most of my friends who are my age are moving into becoming new grandparents.  Most of the grandchildren are fairly young yet.  I was talking with one man about the joy and the excitement of these events.  He told me one of the best days he had ever had was when he answered the phone one day and heard a little voice on the other end say, “Grandpa, Grandpa, guess what?’ for the first time.  God wants that same conversation with you and me.  He gives us the gift of prayer to call upon Him to come to him as dear children or grandchildren or great grandchildren come running in yelling “Grandpa, Grandpa guess what?”

     Scripture tells us that God leans in to hear what we say and just like any loving parent or grandparent when that little one does not quite know what to say, we know what they mean.  God knows what we mean.  He knows our needs and our wants even before we do and He listens even more intently than any parent or grandparent could ever listen.  We are family, we are the apple of God’s eye, he leans in to hear us but do we take advantage of this?  We can pray whenever and wherever we want, God wants us to pray, He wants us to call on him; He wants us to continue this loving conversation of grace and mercy.  God is listening; start talking.

Abba, we too often fail to come to you as we should.  Too often we bear the weight of fear and sin upon our shoulders when you have already removed them.  Be with us, strengthen our faith that we may boldly come to you with all of our petitions.  We are your sons, Father, we ask that you continue to bless and guard us for Jesus’ sake, in whose precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

2-18-2019

Good Morning All,

     John 16:33; “I’ve told you this so that my peace will be with you. In the world you’ll have trouble. But cheer up! I have overcome the world.”

         Just a little peace and quiet, that is usually what most people want.  I just want a little peace and quiet so I can rest a little; just five minutes.  You get home from work, you come in from outside on these hot July days, the mental stress of making things last a little longer because you can’t afford to replace them now, the emotional stress we feel when relationships are wounded are all things that make us seek some peace and quiet.  I remember watching a news program shortly after the 9/11 attacks and they showed some National Guard members who were stationed at various airports around the country.  The stress that was displayed in their faces as they waited and watched for something they neither knew nor understood.  The news program showed how most of them slept while leaning against a wall for a few minutes at a time; they so desperately wanted some peace and quiet.

    In our lives, we often seek peace and quiet but we often look to the wrong places.  Too often we look to the world for our peace but to the world peace means not fighting.  Peace to the world is like halftime of a football game.  It is time to reassess the situation and try to exploit the weaknesses of your opponent.  Too often we look to ourselves and then we begin to fear and to worry and we let our hearts be troubled.  Often in the Book of John, in fact all of Scriptures, Jesus tells his disciples to “not let your hearts be troubled.”  Because of the salvation that Jesus earned and then gave to us we have hope for eternal life.  But Jesus made another promise to his disciples; he promised to send His Spirit to them.

    The Greek word used for “Helper” is paraclete.  We do not have a good English equivalent for this word.  It means the one who travels with you or beside you.  We have different names in different translations.  The Spirit is called the Advocate, the Helper, the Consoler.  My personal favorite is the King James Version where the Spirit is called the Comforter.  Jesus tells his disciples (that includes you and me),” I will send the Comforter.  For me there is no better symbol of peace.  On those cold winter days, I find my favorite blanket and wrap up in it and I can sleep as peacefully as possible.  That is the image that we should see.  Whenever we lack peace, whenever we need peace God sends his Spirit the Comforter to wrap you up and to give you peace.  We receive the kind of peace that lets us rest that allows “our hearts to not be troubled.”  One of the many blessing that God gives to his redeemed children is peace; peace with God.  We will still face struggles and challenges but we face them knowing that God is for us.  We have His promise to rely on.  We have His peace; we have His Comforter.

Almighty Father, through your Spirit we are given peace and comfort.  Lead us to trust in your Word that this is true.  Give us the faith to trust in this promise and to hold firmly to it.  Teach me to live at peace with You, to make peace with others and even with myself.  Send your Spirit of Comfort to all those who are in pain or in sorrow.  Bless them with your mercy and use us as your hands to deliver this love.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-17-2019

    Good Morning All,

     Psalm 34:18; “The Lord is near to those whose hearts are humble.  He saves those whose spirits are crushed.”

   Sometimes life goes relatively smoothly.  We coast through the days, happy as most things go according either to our plans or our desires.  We often don’t think too much when things go well.

    But when we face trouble, we often see things differently.  We usually start to wonder what we did wrong to deserve this trouble.  We sometimes wonder if we are the only ones who are being afflicted.  We see pain in our family; we are restless and unable to sleep.  All the time we struggle with why.  Why is this happening and why God isn’t fixing it?

     One of the big problems that we have in our lives, and in this country especially, is that we think only of our selves.  We see our problems as above and beyond anyone else’s.  We somehow think that since we have been so incredibly blessed for so long that we are somehow entitled to those blessings.  The truth is we are no better than anyone else.  We are all sinners and deserve death.

    BUT, God in his mercy, has chosen to save us.  He has redeemed us from the devil and the power of sin and called us to be his children.  He has given us salvation and He has given us the tools to survive under him in his kingdom.  He gives us his Word through which He speaks His Words of love and forgiveness.  He gives us His holy sacraments; the water connected to the Word to cleanse us and His precious body and blood to refresh us and renew us.  He also gives us the power and gift of prayer.

    Notice our verse “The Lord is near to those whose hearts are humble.” We never walk alone; we never face the trials and struggles of this life alone.  God is always with us.  Jesus experienced everything which we have or will and he conquered it for us.  We can confidently and boldly go to Him in prayer and He will hear our cry and He will save us.  How God chooses to do this is a mystery to us.  Yet we can have confidence in a God that saved us from the devil with the incredible price of His Son dying on a cross to protect and defend us.

    We may face health issues that are life altering or require surgery.  We may see our job teetering on the brink of disappearing.  We may watch our land dry up and blow away.  We may see our whole country collapse under the weight of too many problems and too few answers.  We may see it all but we know that as God’s people He will rescue us from eternal damnation and give us hope and comfort when all other supports fail around us.  Go to God in prayer.  Go to him in earnest, sincere prayer and He will answer you.  In the Book of James, we read that “we do not have, because we do not ask.”  Make daily prayer part of your life.  Go to Him in faith, confessing our sins, thanksgiving for the gifts we have and for the needs which we have.  He has promised to answer; He has promised to be near and to incline his ear to you and to listen to you and to give you his comfort and peace.  Speak to the Lord for He is listening.

 Dear gracious Lord, your holy will is truly accomplished without us but you have called upon your people to pray to you and to ask for your blessings.  Father we pray for all those who are hurting and lost.  We ask that you comfort them and sustain them.  We look around and see all the blessing that we have and we give you thanks for them especially for the grace which we receive from you through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus in whose name we pray.  Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret     

2-16-2019

Good Morning All,

     Romans 7:21; “ So I’ve discovered this truth: Evil is present with me even when I want to do what God’s standards say is good.”

    We spend a lot of effort and time in the Church speaking about sin and how we are all sinners.  We spend a lot of time making sure we know that we need a Savior and this is true and necessary.  But sometimes along the way we need to remember something else that we are; we are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.

    This is a concept that we don’t develop very well because we always need to focus on the need for a Savior.  But we also need to emphasize the fact that WE HAVE THAT SAVIOR!!!  Jesus came and died so that you and I can be God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.  That single fact drives the devil nuts.  He hates it when we realize and live as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.  The devil tries and tries to make that one single statement seem far away but it isn’t; it is right here beside us.

    Martin Luther used this phrase saying we are “Simul justus et peccator”.  It means “Righteous and at the same time a Sinner.”  This is a rather long theological discussion that is easiest to understand if you remember that anytime we speak of our righteousness we are really talking about Jesus’ righteousness anytime we speak of being a sinner, well that’s the part that we add.  We are declared righteous because of Jesus.  We are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.  The devil will try and turn that and twist that and no matter how we try and explain it, whether in flowery message or high toned theological verbiage; it boils down to this; we are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.

    We have all had times when we didn’t particularly feel holy or beloved.  We don’t feel holy because we still carry around the Law as this stick to keep us on the right path.  We look the Commandments up and down and try to gauge how “good” or “bad” we have been.  But as God’s chosen ones the Law serves not as a stick but as a flashlight.  If we were to ask,” What would Jesus want us to do?” The answer is found in the Law.  What are some God pleasing actions: Have no other Gods before Him.  Do not steal.  Do not tell stories about your neighbors.  If you remember your catechism, this is the Third use of the Law.  It functions as a guide for us.  As God’s chosen ones, we are free from the devil, from the bondage of sin and the oppression of the Law.  We have been declared holy.  This frees us to do what God intended for us to do; to love God fully and to love each other fully.  So instead of wearing the chains of a prisoner, we wear what the chosen ones of God would wear: compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience.  We wear what Jesus wore.  We share in his blessings because we receive his righteousness. 

    So, while we need to remember that we are sinners; remember that we are righteous before God because of Jesus.  So, as we remember the “peccator” (I am a sinner) don’t forget the “simul justus” (I am righteous because of Jesus); that is the part that gives us the joy and the hope we are given by God.

Heavenly Father, we are sinners but you love us anyway.  We fail and fail but you never give up on us.  We thank you for declaring us righteous so that we may live in your kingdom as your adopted sons.  Lead us to live the life that Christ lived so that others will see our compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.  Let your glory shine through us.  In Jesus name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret        

2-15-2019

Good Morning All,

     Psalm 92:14; “They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,”
        The trees are full of sap.  Did you ever think this would be used to describe something positive?  In order for these trees to grow so big and so old; it required ideal growing conditions and healthy trees.  The trees were full of sap.

     Throughout the Old Testament, especially in Psalms, believers (Christians) are compared to trees.  The believer is like a tree planted by streams of water in Psalm 1.  We are trees full of sap.  Now at first that may sound like something less than a compliment but look at what the Psalmist is really saying.

     The sap of a tree is its lifeblood, literally.  The sap is what takes the nutrients from the roots and pulls them up to the leaves for photosynthesis to convert them to energy by the power of the sun; which feeds the whole plant.  If the sap does not flow; the tree does not grow.  If the sap does not flow; the fruit is not produced.  If the sap does not flow; the tree is more susceptible to harm by insects or fungus.  If the sap does not flow; the tree dies.  The tree may stand and look good but soon the weather and the insects and the fires will destroy it.  In so many ways, you and I, as God’s redeemed children, are exactly like those trees. 

     We, as Christians, are fed by the flowing of this sap; this life-giving mixture which feeds us.  In the Church, we would refer to this as the Holy Spirit.  He flows through us bringing nutrients to us through the Word and through the Sacraments to be converted into energy by the power of the Son (Jesus).  We need this nourishment; we need to be full of sap in order to withstand the trials and tribulations of this world: the insects and the fungus.  We need the Spirit to flow through us so that we may continue to grow as the type of disciple, the type of human, that God is shaping us to be.  Just as the size of the tree and the quality of the fruit is shaped by the stresses that the tree experiences; so are we as well shaped and formed.  Faith that is not tested is not real faith.  Real faith is like pure gold; it is refined through fire to burn of the impurities within.  I am sure some of us feel we have been through the refining fire quite a bit lately.  We have experienced drought conditions it is true but we have also experienced other fires as well.  Maybe you have had some health scares or job worries or family strains or a whole host of other fires.  These are but tests for us.  Some sent by God others just used by God to show us what we are made of; God already knows what we are made of He just wants you to know.  He wants you to know that you are full of sap.

    The Spirit flows freely through you feeding you, nourishing you, protecting you even to the point where, like the sap of a tree, He forms a healing cover over the wounds that threaten to destroy you so that you may continue to grow.  But like that tree that is planted by the streams of water; we too must be planted in the good soil with plenty of water.  We must be planted by faith in Jesus as our Savior.  Through Him we receive the nutrients which the Spirit brings to us to feed and protect us.  We are full of sap let us rejoice in mercy of God.

Gracious Father, you feed and nourish us through your Word and Sacrament.  You protect and defend us from all danger.  Keep us full of your sap that we may continue to grow as your children and to bear the fruit which you have given to us.  Let the world see your majesty through us, your beloved children.  In Jesus precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret