Wednesday, July 31, 2019

7-31-2019


 Good Morning All,

Luke 23: 39-40; “One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”  But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?"

    Do you remember the song “All My Trials”?  It was recorded by Joan Baez; Peter, Paul and Mary; The Kingston Trio among others.  It is a very plaintive ballad about the struggles of life.  It starts with the haunting line,” Hush little baby don’t you cry; you know your mother was born to die.”  

    This is one of those songs that when you hear it and listen to the word; you either love it or hate it.  There are many people who despise this song because, to them, it is a negative song with a negative attitude toward life.  They see it as fatalistic and dreary and gloomy.  It is based on a Bahamian lullaby where a mother on her deathbed is comforting her children.  The key line in the song is “all my trials soon (will) be over”.  While some find this song problematic, it tells of a truth of life.  Our life is one long trial and it will soon be over.   It is an accurate view of life; we were born to die.

    The story of Christ’s crucifixion really is a microcosm of the life of man.  As Jesus hangs on the cross, there are two thieves, one on each side, being crucified with him.  One is defiant and mocks Jesus; the other, seemingly repents of his wrong doings and confesses that Jesus is Lord.  Both men are dying but one will live to be in paradise.  We like to think that our life will last a long time; perhaps in our mind it will last forever.  Yet we are sinners, we are dying.  In essence, we are already hanging on the cross; we are dying.  Our life is slowing draining away.  We will all eventually die; the question is which cross do you hang on?

    Many in this world hang on the cross of the scoffer.  They deny Jesus as Lord; they do not believe that He can or will forgive their sins.  They do not believe that God would do this out of love for them.  They hang on that cross refusing to see their own death coming.  They deny that they are truly helpless and incapable of changing their lot, their future, in any way.  So they join the sinful world in scoffing and denying Jesus and sealing their fate and certain eternal death.

    Then there are those who accept life.  Even though they are hanging on the cross, they look to Jesus for salvation.  Even though they are facing earthly death, they trust in God’s promise of forgiveness and of eternal life.  They have faith in the words, “you will be with me in paradise”.  They have eternal life so they are able to face death knowing that the trials of the cross will give way to life everlasting.

    So, the question is which cross do you hang on?  Is it the one which scoffs at Jesus and does not believe in his promise or do you hang on the cross which is forgiven and has received the promise of salvation?

Dear Lord, we hear your promise of forgiveness and salvation.  Give us the faith to trust in your promise; give us faith.  Hold us close to you and when our time on the cross is done, bring us home to you in Paradise.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret          

Monday, July 29, 2019

7-30-2019


Good Morning All,

         Proverbs 11:21; “Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered."

    As I watch different sports now and then, I am reminded of the old adage that the second guy to throw a punch is the one that gets the penalty.  It seems that when one player gets away with a late or cheap hit, the second player usually gets mad and retaliates and gets caught.  We see this occur all the time in sports but we also see it in life.

    Whenever we deal with very difficult people, those people to whom ethics seem like a word for others to know and someone else to have; it becomes difficult to stay true to ourselves.  It is very tempting to use some of his own tactics back at him.  This is especially true when you know what his tactics are and what he is trying to do.  We can see the trap he is placing in front of us and we can avoid it.  But what do we do when we don’t see the trap and then we fall into it?

    This is when our anger can get the best of and we become what we despise.  We can become wicked, deceitful, deceptive, petty, and underhanded.  This not only plays into the hands of those who hate us and look to discredit Christians.  It makes it harder to witness to our faith when we have engaged in this kind of deceit.  It can be especially destructive if it “works” one time and we feel that we experience some worldly success.  This tempts us to believe that we can get away it again.  It can tempt us to think that we are “above” God’s law and will.  This temptation takes us back to the Garden where the devil tempted Eve with the promise to be “like God”.

    This type of action really serves the devil’s purpose.  It draws us away from God and ensnares us into the devil’s trap.  Whenever we engage in this type of activity, we will be overcome by evil; we cannot beat the devil at his own game.   

    Our only chance is to follow God’s direction.  This is one of those verses that give us some very practical advice as well as theological teaching.  We, as God’s redeemed children, are never able to battle the devil especially on his turf and on his terms.  We must always cling to God, His promises and His justice.  We may never see what we feel will be “justice.”  Yet by our staying true to our faith, we are witnessing to God’s grace and truth.  When we repay evil with good, we confound the ones who commit the evil.  More importantly, we are speaking the words of God’s precise Gospel message.  We show love to those who hate us just as Christ did and instructs us to.

Dear Father in heaven, temptation is all around us.  We try to stand up to it and fail miserably.  Give us wisdom to rely on you and your strength and not our own.  Give us the strength to stand to our foes and that by your grace; we may show your glory to the world.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

7-29-2019


Good Morning All,

     1 Peter 3:15; “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

     “I wish I had said something.”  “I didn’t know what to say so I didn’t say anything.”  I hear that a lot.  We go to work and get into a conversation with a co-worker or we are at coffee and church, God, faith, religion becomes the topic and we freeze.  Or even worse, a friend comes to us quietly and they are distressed with some event in their life.  Maybe they have found out they have cancer or that their son or nephew has lost his job.  We know we should say something but what.

     It is times like these that make us feel useless and without any clue as to who we are.  You might even remember this verse, “Be prepared to give a defense of your faith” and the guilt sinks in.  It is times like these that cause our confidence to sink.  It may be of little consolation but all Christians go through this.  We all face times when a chance or an opportunity to witness to our faith in Jesus and how we benefit from that faith just slips through our fingers.  Maybe you were tongue tied, maybe you were intimidated, or maybe you just didn’t see the opportunity until after it was over.  It happens to all of us.

    The first thing is to stop beating yourself up.  That is really the devil and your old sinful nature attacking you.  Remember if the devil can convince us to always back away; if the devil can crush your confidence; he wins.  Our confidence doesn’t come from inside of us, remember it comes from God and one of the best ways to approach this is by asking ourselves a simple but honest question, “Why do I believe in Jesus?”  This is the question that provides for our defense.  When Peter speaks of defense, he is not talking in terms of Perry Mason or anything like that.  He means to give an explanation.  This will usually arise when someone is hurting and they ask you, “how do you handle this stuff; how do you cope?”  It is here that we get to witness.

    It will not be an argument; it will be one hurting soul looking for grace, comfort and hope.  So, be prepared at least a little, trusting also that God gives us the words but we still must be prepared.  Take a little time and think up how you would answer someone’s question or address someone’s pain.  It might take some time but it might be a good learning experience.  How do you receive God’s comfort?  How do you receive Hs grace?  This is part to come up with an answer but also to aid you in your faith.  How do you receive God’s comfort?  When you realize this, first you can offer this advice and direction to the person you are talking to.  It will also help you when you are troubled.  Some hear it best in music, some feel it best in the company of loved ones, and some receive by reading God’s Word. 

      Whichever method comforts you the best, we see that God uses whatever created means he wants to come to you.  Plus, we know that God will give us other chances to witness for him.  He will be there for you whatever you need from him; God will provide.

Dear Father, we often miss chances to witness for you to bring your comfort to a hurting world.  Give us the strength and the courage to speak your love and grace to those around us who are most in need of it.  Guide us by your Spirit.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

Sunday, July 28, 2019

7-28-2019


Good Morning All,

      Psalm 30:5; “For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning."

    Did you ever watch a scary movie or read a scary book when you were a child?  How did it go?  I remember the first couple of times I watched a scary movie; it was a Vincent Price one and I didn’t turn the lights off for two nights.  Every noise made me jump.  It is funny how the night makes our fears alive.  Here, in the wintertime, a forced air furnace house will creak and crack each time the furnace kicks on.  During the daytime, we hardly notice, but at night; it sounds like footsteps in the hall: it could be an axe murderer!!

     The night always brings about our greatest fears.  The sounds we hear but we don’t know what made them; we can’t see them and make us wonder what is out there.  This is part of the reason why the Bible always equates God with light and the devil with darkness.  It is an analogy which we readily understand.  We can get lost in the dark, very easily, and the darkness heightens our sense of loneliness.  It is at night that we often struggle the most.

     It is at night that the “worries” strike with a vengeance.  How do we pay all these bills?  Why is my child struggling in school all of a sudden?  How do we fix the car right now?  What will I do if we don’t get any more moisture this year than last?  Why doesn’t my spouse love me like they used to?  My health, my parents’ health, my spouse’s health just isn’t what it should be.  When the “worries” start, especially at night, the devil and our old sinful nature loves to attack. 

     One thing about the devil, he knows no mercy nor does he ever show any.  He sticks the knife in, twists it about, pours salt on the wound and then he starts all over again.  This is what the Psalmist was experiencing when he wrote our verse.  He is reminding us that While God’s anger may last a moment or two; his love and grace last a lifetime.  There will be times of suffering or sorrow but God will comfort us with his Spirit. 

     God is here to rescue you as well.  He comes to you in his Word and he listens to you in your prayers.  The Spirit will cause us to remember all the things which Jesus said to us.  This is part of the reason why reading the Bible regularly is so helpful.  The Holy Spirit uses those special passages to bring us comfort and to remind us of where our hope comes from.  God encourages us to pray so that we can express our fears and our desires.  So, when we face those nights or days filled with the “worries” take a few minutes and yearn for God in the night.  Look to him for your comfort and hope; don’t look to yourself or any other worldly support.  Any other support will only fail.  Only God, whose love and mercy exceeds our every need can keep us safe and give us peace.

Dear Father, we yearn for your Holy Spirit to comfort us and give us peace.  Keep us secure in your arms and give to us your peaceful rest which only you can deliver.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray.  Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

Saturday, July 27, 2019

7-27-2019


Good Morning All,

      Romans 3:23-24; “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is Christ Jesus"

    Have you ever found yourself keeping a mental tally of when you were a good person or a bad person?  For example, if I went to one of my son’s ballgames; I was good.  When I yelled at the ref; I was bad.  I bring flowers home for my wife; I am good.  If they were for her birthday and it was a couple of days ago; I am bad.  If I say “hi” to a friend in the store; I am good.  If I walked right past him because I was preoccupied; I am bad.  If I get to work early; I am good.  If I don’t get my tasks done on time; I am bad. 

    We could go on and on.  Some of the list can get somewhat whimsical but sometimes it can hit a nerve as well.  Some things just irritate or hurt a little too much; especially if I find myself always scoring “bad”.  I try hard but I just can’t seem to score in the “good” zone.  So, at the end of the day, when I tally up the total; I am a bad husband, a bad father, a bad son, a bad neighbor; well, you get the point.  At the end of the day it can be pretty depressing.

    Maybe you have stretches of times like that as well.  Sometimes things just seem to be going against us.  It always seems that just as trouble enters our lives; more and more comes our way.  We don’t get a drop of trouble; we get a flood of trouble.  We look at our lives and all we see on our score card is “bad” so we assume that God hates us and is getting even.  At least that is what the devil wants us to think.  The devil likes it when we look at our score card and see we are way behind.  He likes it when we look at life and think that God is evening things out against us.  He likes it when we think “I am just too bad to be loved by anyone including God.”  Once we are thinking this, the guilt and the pain just pile on.

     Sin and the guilt of sin can be very cruel.  They will take events in our lives and turn them into thoughts that we are not good enough to be loved by anyone, especially God.  This is one of the most painful things to think and it is also the most wrong.  The devil is trying to deceive you; don’t let him.

     God loves you very dearly.  Even when we were sinners, he loved us enough to send Jesus to die for us to make us whole again.  We have a hard time comprehending the love that God has for us.  We only have imperfect images to try and convey his perfect love.  God doesn’t look at your score card; he looks at us through Christ as his redeemed children.  So, at the end of the day, throw the score card away; God has.  We may struggle at being a good parent, spouse, child, neighbor or whatever but God’s love doesn’t depend on us.  God’s love depends on God and that love goes beyond anything we can ever envision.  So, live in the comfort of God’s grace and mercy.  We don’t deserve it but, thanks be to God, we have it.

Dear Father, your mercies roll over us like a flood and we are amazed by them each day.  Give us the peace in our hearts and minds that you have forgiven us and that you hold us near to you.  Watch over, bless us and protect us with your great love.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

Friday, July 26, 2019

7-26-2019


Good Morning All,

      Philippians 1:6; “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

    Are you a starter?  Do you have a lot of projects started?  Do you like to start projects and then get someone else to finish them?  It is kind of interesting that some of the world’s greatest masterpieces are unfinished.  Franz Shubert has the “Unfinished Symphony”; Charles Dickens has “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”; these are just two of the list of unfinished projects.  Of course, these projects went uncompleted by accident not by design.  Our verse speaks of a project that is unfinished by design.

    The Apostle Paul is offering a blessing to the people of Philippi promising the guarantee of Jesus to finish the work that Jesus began.  Paul is telling them that greater things are on the way.  The Gospel of Jesus began and what Jesus began to do and to teach, yet neither of these ends.  We see a start but we don’t see an end.  The Bible ends, doesn’t it?  Why doesn’t it tell us that the Gospel of Jesus and what he did and taught ever got finished?  It almost sounds like it isn’t finished.  That is because it isn’t.

    What Jesus began doing, he continues to do through the Church by the Holy Spirit.  The message of the Bible isn’t some past event or ancient history; it is the start of your life story and it is the start of my life story.  It is in the Bible where God tells us of his love for us; it is where God shows us his love for us by the offering up of his son.  The Bible is where God brings us into His story, the story of restoring, reclaiming, and redeeming his creation, of reclaiming you and me.  The message of the Bible is today and it is tomorrow.  It is God’s life refreshing message of hope and salvation.  It is God telling you that you matter; you are his redeemed child.  Jesus began this ministry and won’t finish it until he returns again. 

      This means that we, as Christians, live in a state of “already but not yet”.  We are already saved; our name is already in the Book of life but we aren’t there yet.  Jesus has begun this good work in you and will see it completed in his day and time.  Our life with him has just started and our time to serve with him has just started.  It has only begun.  The old has passed away and the new is here just not all of it.  We live in the time of grace.  We live in the time of God’s grace not yet perfected, not yet completed.  We are given the time and the task of continuing the ministry of Jesus until he returns.  Jesus has begun this work, continues it through us until He finishes it when He returns.  God’s story of salvation continues through you and through me.  It is our hope and our salvation.

Dear Father, you choose to wait for the completion of Jesus’ ministry.  Move us to use this time to brig others into your kingdom.  Let them see in us the wonders of your love and grace.  Keep us strong by living in the message of hope that you give us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen   

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

Thursday, July 25, 2019

7-25-2019


      Good Morning All,

      Ephesians 2:19; “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God."

     Some of you remember the Berlin Wall.  It was the dividing wall between East and West Berlin with the east being under the control of the Soviet and the west being under the influence of the western democracies.  For many years, it was the symbol of the Cold War.  It divided a city, even families into to very separate entities.  That wall stood for years until it was finally torn down, brick by brick, literally destroyed by the people on each side of the wall yearning for an end of the divisions and longing for the reconciliation of the families, the friends and neighborhoods, the whole city become one again.

      It is very easy to build walls in our own lives as well.  It can be a very natural defense strategy.  If I build a wall around me than nothing can get to me and I cannot be hurt or called upon to worry about someone else.  If I build a wall I can avoid any chance of involvement.  We use the walls to divide our time, our loyalties, our passions, our trust, or dreams and our hopes.  It seems easier somehow when we wall off portions of our lives; we think it cleaner that way.

     We build walls in our faith life as well.  We build great big walls.  We build walls so thick and so high; we don’t even remember what is on the other side.  We build walls to keep God out.  When we build walls to keep God out, we let the devil tell us what God is like.  Since we don’t see God or truly know God, we listen to the devil tell us that God is vengeful, angry and full of hatred.  The devil tells us that if we even try to even touch that wall we will be struck down.  The devil will tell you the best thing to do is to build the wall thicker and higher making the distance between you and God even farther causing you to be even more hostile toward. 

     So, God did the only thing that would work.  He intervened in our life.  God broke down the wall between us.  Jesus died to destroy that wall then rose again to open the door of salvation.  There is no wall between us; we are no longer strangers and aliens to God.  God has put it to an end.  We can see God for what he truly is.  He is a God who loves us and loves his creation.  If the devil was right, why didn’t God just totally destroy everything and start over?  He kept it because he loves it; he loves us.  We still face our challenges but God is there to comfort us, defend us and to give us hope.  The devil will continue to tell us to rebuild the wall and at times we do, but God continues to destroy it until the day when we finally receive the ultimate act of God’s love; when we reach heaven to live in eternity with him.     

Gracious Lord, you have destroyed the walls that separate us from your love.  Forgive as we try to rebuild them.  Shower your wondrous love upon us.  Give us strength to face the day, comfort those in need of your love and bring peace to the hearts that are restless.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

7-24-2019


     Good Morning All,

       James 4:10; “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you

    “I’m kind of a big deal you know!”  It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud.  A couple of years ago I was listening to my great nieces and nephews play at Christmas time.  They are mostly quite young.  One of them wanted to play the way he wanted and a different one wanted to do something else.  The first one wondered why the second one got to decide what they were going to do.  The response, “Well, I’m kind of a big deal you know!” 

    When you are “kind of a big deal”, you tend to think that the world revolves around you.  When the one who says this is two or so, it is funny.  When the one that says this is twenty-two, it is more troublesome.  Yet as we look at the events of our lives or the people of our lives there are times when it was “kind of a big deal” to us.  When I finally convinced the girl of my dreams that I would try and be a good spouse and she agreed, it was kind of a big deal.  When each of our boys was born, it was kind of a big deal.  Marriages, births, and deaths are kind of big deals in our lives.  So are health issues, job changes, graduations, empty nests, retirement, and the like are kind of big deals. 

     Pride leads us to many failures.  We think that everything revolves around us.  We see others simply as agents of our convenience, happiness or desires.  We fail to see the great thing; we fail to see God.  We fail to see our God who created everything with his spoken word and sustains creation by his love.  We see a world that we think is to bend to our liking.  Yet even in our sin, Jesus comes to us with his love and forgiveness and shows us what really is a big deal.

    Christ took on mankind’s sin and paid for it all.  More importantly, Jesus took on your sins and mine.  We are part of this great blessing, this wonderful gift from God; it is kind of a big deal.  We have the promise of the Creator-Redeemer God that we will have eternal life with him.  That is kind of a big deal.  It is the big deal that makes our comfort and our hope possible.  There is nothing we can do or pay that can extract us from the price of our failures, of our sins.  On our own, we are weak and lost; we are no big deal at all.  But God changes that with Jesus.

    In Jesus, God reconciles man, and all creation, back to Himself.  We, now because of Jesus, are a big deal.  It is given to us to celebrate, to hold onto and to share with those around.  We hold the good news of the gift of salvation; the true gift from God.  A gift, a wonderful and mighty gift that we are given.  We don’t earn it or deserve it; we receive it and should receive it in humble fashion, as one who knows that this great gift is not purchased by himself but purchased and earned by another.  Our gift of salvation is purchased by Jesus.  So, we thank God, humbly knowing that Hid greatness is now our greatness and hid blessings are poured out upon us.  This is our humble hope.

Dear Father, your mercies are new to us every day.  We give you thanks for the blessings of this life especially for giving us the hope of salvation in Jesus.  Be with those who are in most need of your grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

7-23-2019


      Good Morning All,

       Matthew 12:33; ““Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit."

     It seems like a simple concept to follow.  You are one thing or another.  If your pet is born a dog; it is a dog it isn’t changed into a cat.  If you have red hair; you have red hair.  You can try to hide it or change the color but in the end; this is only a deception because your hair is red.  It is a simple concept but one which many people try to deny and change.

    An apple tree produces apples; an oak produces acorns; weeds makes weeds.  We cannot change that.  That which is born of flesh is flesh.  That which is born of a sinful nature has a sinful nature.  There are those who would deny this.  Some think you can stare at your belly button long enough to become God.  Some believe that God exists in us from the beginning and that they can coax him out.  Some will tell you that God exists in the hopes and dreams of little boys and girls and all we have to do is to wish for all to be well.  All the while they are deceiving themselves and others.  This is bad enough but then they are also missing the true free gift which God gives to us.

    By nature, we are sinful, we are flesh.  Yet it is by God’s grace that we are born, that is reborn, of Spirit.  We do this through Baptism.  We receive God’s Spirit by Baptism.  This is a completely unnatural act.  It doesn’t occur because we want it to or because we can make it occur; it occurs because God makes it happen.  As we look at the sacraments we see where God takes everyday things and makes them do extraordinary actions.  It is not because of the everyday thing, like water; it is by God’s Word that this occurs.  This is the free gift of God to us and we can relish it.  We can savor it and we can enjoy it.  God gives it to us so that we can be called his children.  We are heirs to his wondrous kingdom. 

    This change is not manmade or man found.  While some try to claim that they found Jesus; remember Jesus has never been lost; it is always the other way around.  Jesus comes to you and after you with his Word bidding you to come to him.  He wants to bring you into his kingdom and he chooses to do this through “the washing of regeneration by the Holy Spirit.”  We do not come to God, find God, make ourselves God or any other such thought; we are born of flesh and flesh we are. 

     Yet God, in his unfathomable love, re-creates by Baptism to be his children and heirs.  This gift, this wondrous gift, is given to us.  Then, God empowers us and encourages to go, and bring this gift along and give this gift to others.  We receive the washing and the cleansing of our souls and we are re-created into his children to life eternal to love others, as God’s servants bringing his grace to all. 

Dear Father, you give us the gift of spirit by your Holy Spirit.  Help us to see and to trust your grace to save us.  Give us the wisdom to go forth and to boldly speak of your forgiveness.  Strengthen our spirit to serve you only.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret


Monday, July 22, 2019

7-22-2019


Good Morning All,

       Genesis 1:26; “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

    It starts out as a question that gets asked often; why did (or does) God…?  The most frequent, of course, is why does God allow evil?  Or, why allow suffering?  If the person who asks is sincere and not just looking for a fight or a Facebook moment, I usually ask a little deeper.  Why did God create you?  Initially, the first person is a little shocked and taken back because this usually gets to the heart of the issue right away but from an angle that the person did not expect.  Why did God create man, the animals, the trees, the earth or any part of creation?  Certainly, God doesn’t need any of this; God is a complete and total being.  He has no needs.  You and I have needs.  We need food, water, air, shelter, companionship and a whole list of other things but God does not need anything, so why did He create anything.

    One of the reasons this hits home so much is that it takes us, as humans, off of a pedestal that we have placed ourselves on.  We as humans tend to think that this world would not survive without us.  We tend to think that, without us, God could not have gotten everything done.  We have this complex that values our contribution far more highly than it really is.  Talk to anyone who has been involved in something for many years.  It might be the coach who has coached for 30 years, or the guy who was mayor for 20 years or the preacher who served his church for 25 years; ask any of them.  When they leave the position, someone else takes over and everything keeps going along.  It might be different but it continues and soon the mark of that individual lessens and soon fades.  We are not needed by God; if anyone of us was not here tomorrow; there would still be a tomorrow.  We are not needed by God but we have something of greater value; we are wanted by God.

    God created man, and everything, simply because he wanted to create it.  We were created by a loving God who desired to bring us into existence, to be a companion for him.  This is why he tells us in Scriptures, I don’t need a thousand sacrifices; I desire your love.  God is completely self-sufficient but loves us because he wants to love us.  His compassion, his mercy, his love is directed at us because of the purest and greatest form of love that exists.  God wants you simply because he loves you and that will never change.  That is why God sent Jesus to take our place and to pay our debt; because he wanted to because he loves you.  We don’t have to worry about being obsolete or worthless in the eyes of the world because our loving God has deemed us worthy by his grace.  The God of love created you for one reason and that is to love you.

Father, your amazing mercy reveals itself to us in so many ways that we cannot begin to know them.  Keep us ever mindful of your great love and mercy.  Defend us from the devil and his wiles.  Keep us ever focused on you.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret     

Sunday, July 21, 2019

7-21-2019


Good Morning All,

       Galatians 4: 5-6; “God sent him to pay for the freedom of those who were controlled by these laws so that we would be adopted as his children.  Because you are God's children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into us to call out, "Abba! Father!"

    Veni, vidi, vici.”  This short phrase is the “official” report that Julius Caesar gave after a very short rebellion.  Caesar told, in these three words, how the war went.  “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Short and sweet, a complete report of a war that barely was.  Caesar told it in a simple matter-of-fact method.  He arrived at the region, he surveyed the situation and the he launched his attack.  The efficient general gives an efficient report.

   As we look at our text, this is an apt description of Jesus.  Jesus appeared.  The word used here is our word “epiphany” or to make known or to come to light.  Jesus came into the world bringing the light of hope.  He came bringing the wondrous news of God’s new covenant where God himself paid the bill which we owed.  He came as that wondrous covenant.  He came to bring the reconciliation of man back to God through his grace and his mercy.  He came to bring life to sinful man by removing the stain of sin.

    He saw.  Jesus came into this world to live the life of a man.  Jesus was like us in every way except for sinning.  He experienced the same pains, the same fears, and the same uncertainties of our life.  This is a tremendous blessing to us.  We have a God who has experienced our life.  He knows what it means to be human.  He knows what makes us weak and where we need the most comfort and the most support. When we cry to him in our pain and anguish; he knows our pains and comforts us.

    He conquered.  Jesus came and defeated the devil, sin and the power of the world.  He overcame all those things which separated us from God.  He conquered so that we might have life.  He conquered so that we would have hope.  He conquered that we might have peace.  We no longer live in fear of tomorrow.  We no longer need to live a life struggling to try and earn eternal life.  We have it as a free and precious gift from Jesus our Savior.  He conquered so that the victory is ours given to us as we are marked with the sign of His Baptism where he washes away our sins and regenerates and renews our soul. 

    So, as we wait the time we celebrate the birth of our Savior, we want to remember why he came.  He came to conquer; to conquer the devil and to rescue us from his control.  He came to claim us as his own dear brothers and sisters.  We are his by virtue of our Baptism through which God claims us with the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus came, he saw and he conquered that we may have eternal life and the hope for his comfort in this world.

Dear Father in heaven, we give you thanks for coming to be a man and conquering for us so that we might have life.  Keep us strong in the knowledge of our salvation and give to us the peace which only you can.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

Saturday, July 20, 2019

7-20-2019


Good Morning All,

       Colossians 3:12; “As holy people whom God has chosen and loved, be sympathetic, kind, humble, gentle, and patient

    “You shall be a holy people.” or “You SHALL be a holy people!!” or “YOU shall be holy??”  It is interesting how we can read the exact same sentence and different people can interpret it differently.  How you read a sentence goes on to determine how you respond and react to it. 

    There are those who read this and see only God’s law.  These people then turn around and show only God’s law to people.  These people will see a situation and say,” your sin caused it and now God is punishing you for it.”  Unfortunately, this is the voice that many non-Christians hear.  They see the church as quick to judge and slow to aid.  Perhaps they have even experienced it.  A woman who had an abortion a few years ago and now is having other related health issues, a homosexual who has AIDS, a drug addict who is homeless; these are examples of people who may only hear the church say “Thou shalt not..”  They have needs and seek comfort but are we there to offer them God’s Gospel?

    Some read this as a promise to great prosperity.  If we are holy like God is then we should be powerful and wealthy like he is and since God does as he sees proper; and so can we.  These people read this as a license of entitlement.  They see it as “what God owes me.”

    We read it differently.  This verse doesn’t speak of our actions or character; it speaks of our relationship with God.  Because of what God has done, we are set apart from the rest of the world.  This doesn’t mean we are better or superior.  It does mean that God has blessed us far beyond any measure that we can conceive of.  We have been redeemed and called the children of God; we are declared heirs of his eternal kingdom.  Because of God’s grace, we have a relationship with him that is different than the unbeliever.  In the Old Testament, the Israelites engaged in many ceremonial rites and laws which clearly set them apart from their neighbors.  We too, should be seen as set apart not so much by our ceremony but by our actions within the society in which we live.  God gives to us the vertical relationship with him and then he calls us to live in a horizontal relationship with our fellow man.  We might call the relationship with God “liturgical” (church speak) and a relationship with our neighbors as an “ethical” (world action). 

    The world should see the results of our relationship with God.  In that relationship, we are forgiven entirely by God’s grace.  We should therefore deal with our fellow man with the same grace.  God has chosen you and he has chosen to reach out to the world through you.  You have been called to a wonderful task; the same task that Jesus lived while here on earth.  We are blessed and privileged to carry it out.  Go with God’s blessings in touching the world. 

Dear Father, by your grace you have set us apart; you have declared us holy.  Give us the courage and the wisdom to live our holy life-giving glory and honor to you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.    

God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret