Saturday, August 31, 2019

8-31-2019


Good Morning All,

          Matthew 22:9; “Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’

     I have a couple of weddings in the offing.  I can’t get over how the brides and the grooms look younger and younger each wedding but that is a different devotion.  The thing that fascinates me the most is how, during the actual wedding ceremony, everyone is scared to death.  When I perform a wedding, I always tell the bride and groom,” The only thing that matters is that you say, ‘I do’ or ‘I will’ at the right place.  After that we don’t worry about it.”  Yet at every wedding; the nerves are always there.  The tension is just below the surface.

    However, the reception is a different affair.  I always smile when the bridal party is introduced.  In our region, at the start of the reception, the entire bridal party is introduced as they walk up to the head table.  As they enter, they dance and wave their hands and really enjoy it. They laugh and everyone applauds.  It is such a contrast to the way they walked into the church a couple of hours earlier where they were so solemn and sober.  Yet the reception, the wedding feast, is a grand celebration.

    As they entire community celebrates the marriage of these two people, they also celebrate life and family.  Some only come to the reception and then they celebrate all evening.  You watch as friends and relatives who haven’t seen each other for a number of years get re-acquainted and laugh at old times and share “what’s new” at the present time.  They gather around in little circles and laugh and talk the evening away.  Then the circles will disperse and new circles form and the cycle begin anew.  The merriment, the joy, the fellowship involved is one of pure celebratory time.

    I think this is why the kingdom of heaven is compared to the wedding feast.  Heaven is a time of celebration.  Heaven is a time of joyfully speaking to each other and remembering the good and sharing the new and great. Heaven is the time of the most wonderful celebration.  We are alive in the heavenly kingdom and we celebrate our presence there with Jesus our king and with all of our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

   The wonder of this all is that our life in the church is to be a foretaste of this feast or celebration.  Our time here is part of the “not yet” of Christ’s kingdom.  We are in his kingdom just “not yet” fully glorified.  We are living in his time of grace and we get to know a little of the heavenly celebration that is to come.  The best is yet to come!!

Dear Father, as we wait for the wedding feast of heaven; keep giving us a taste of it through your mercy and love.  Keep us ever in your loving embrace.  Defend us from the devil’s barbs and arrows.  In Jesus, name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

Friday, August 30, 2019

8-30-2019


Good Morning All,

          Matthew 6:20; “but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

    There is a story about an older couple who had spent their entire life working with the poor people of a foreign land.  After 40 years of tireless and anonymous work, they returned to the United States.  As luck would have it, they were on the same ship as a famous Hollywood couple.  As the ship docked, all the media went running up to the Hollywood couple, leaving the older couple to shuffle off the ship.  As they went, the husband turned to his wife and apologized for not making more of their lives.  “I never took you to any place exciting; we never did anything to be noted for.  If we had, maybe everyone would be excited when we got home.”  As he walked with his head down and dejected, his wife turned to him and said, “We aren’t home yet; our treasure awaits!”

    We are not home yet.  Heaven is our home and that is where our true treasure lies.  It is where our welcome, our celebration waits.  This is why we do not worry about worldly accolades or possessions.  Jesus tells us that those who seek worldly fame already have their glory.  Our glory waits for us in heaven.  As we toil here on earth, doing the tasks that the Lord has given us; we can do them with joy knowing that the Father is glorified by them.  We don’t seek the awards from man; we only receive the love of the Father.    

    Earthly fame and fortune fades away.  It will lose its luster.  But we have something far greater; we have a treasure that God gives to us through Jesus.  We have eternal life with him and we will share in the bounty of his glorious kingdom.  We have something far superior to temporary treasures; we have eternity.   

    So, as we serve the Lord and look around, we don’t need to be jealous of others, envious of their notoriety.  We know that what we do is what the Lord wants us to do and while we do these tasks; we are witnessing to our faith in Jesus as our Savior.  We can take great joy in seeing that all those who we speak to we can speak of the love of Jesus.  This can be to hundreds of people or to your grandchild while reading a bedtime story.  This can be over the radio or through the internet or it can be over a cup of coffee with the neighbors.  There is never a time when witnessing the eternal love of Jesus is trivial or unimportant.  There is never a bad time to share the love of Jesus with someone who is hurting, lost or in need.  Every soul is to be reached; everybody is to hear the story that their sins are forgiven.  For in the end ours is not the accolades or the wonderful retirement here on this earth; our citizenship is in heaven.  Our hope, our future is assured with our Savior.

Dearest Father, remind us that our hope is in you and our citizenship and our treasure is in heaven.  Keep us from jealousy or envy for those around us.  Keep us safe in your saving arms.  In Jesus’ precious name, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

Thursday, August 29, 2019

8-29-2019


Good Morning All,

     Proverbs 15:4; “A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

    The right word at the right time; that is a gift truly worth its weight in gold.  Think of those times when the right word or even the wrong word comes out.  I remember when I was on the school board that the superintendent used to go on and on about how important it was for the bus drivers to be cheerful in the morning.  If the first voice a child hears in the morning is a cheerful bus driver, the student is more likely to have a positive day than if he faces a grumpy one.  That was his theory.  Granted, it doesn’t always work out but there are times when it does as well.

    Think in your own life.  Who would you rather face, a cheerful waiter/waitress or a grumpy one?  Who would you rather deal with, a cheerful checkout person or an angry one?  How about when you meet the receptionist at the doctor’s office?  A friendly face helps out a lot, doesn’t it?  This is true; some call it good business or proper etiquette but for a Christian it can, and should, go much farther.  It provides us with a golden opportunity to witness to our faith.

    The right word, spoken in the right way, at the right time; that is a gift truly worth its weight in gold.  For us, this occurs for us and to us before anything else.  “At just the right time God sent Jesus to reconcile the world back to himself.”  As Jesus hung on the cross, he exclaimed, “It is finished!”  Just the right word at just the right time; this is a truly wonderful gift!  We hear God’s words of forgiveness at just the right time.  You may wonder when the right time is and it is when we need it the most.  After the devil beats us up with his attacks God reminds us that we are his children and that he loves us and he tells us that at just the right time.

     Now, he wants us to offer the right word at the right time.  God calls us to go to our neighbor and to offer the right word.  He calls us to offer the same words to them that he offers to us.  First it is important to forgive.  We need to forgive all the failures, both big and small, all the offenses, all the faults, real or imagined; that our neighbor has caused us.  We do this for two reasons.  First, because God calls us to reconcile with our neighbor we need to reach out to them.  We cannot do this if we continue to hold onto the anger and the hurt.  This not only harms our neighbor but it also harms us.  This is the second reason to forgive; it helps to heal you.  The right word at the right time; that is a gift truly worth its weight in gold. 

    That word may also be a word of compassion to a grieving friend, a hurt neighbor, a suffering brother or sister.  Sometimes this word is the hardest to speak; what should I say?  The truly amazing thing is that God often gives us the right word to say and sometimes that word is said with a hug or a shared tear.  The right word at the right time; that is a gift truly worth its weight in gold.

Dearest Father, your Word is spoken to us at just the right time and you bring us to a new life in Christ and save us from death.  Help us to proclaim that same word to all those around us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

8-28-2019


Good Morning All,

     1 Corinthians 15:57; “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

   There is always a part of me that really wonders about our sports culture sometimes.  Don’t get me wrong, I am a very strong advocate of sports.  The values and life skills which young people can learn are invaluable.  Maybe it is the adults that I wonder about.  The true meaning of sports is to test yourself against yourself but you use an opponent and usually some form of measured competitive format to accomplish this test; but a what point does the test lose its validity?

    There was a basketball team in Texas that lost 103-0.  There was a team in Indiana that lost 107-2.  There was a high school football team which lost 96-0 and the game was done by halftime.  Another school scored 238 points in one game.  I assume it wasn’t much of a match!!  These are somewhat beyond a loss; this would constitute a total beat down, complete defeat for the losing team.  If you are the coach, what do you say to these teams?

     If you are like me, there are days when it feels like I’ve been on the short end of an ugly game.  There are days when it feels like I am totally defeated.  A day like when it is muddy and rainy out and the big truck hits the big mud puddle just as you open your car door to get out and takes your door off and splashes mud and cold water on you and into your, now door less, vehicle.  You and your spouse are in a struggle; one that, one or both of you, do not understand or can get a handle on.  Your children look at you like you are an alien life form.  Everyone from your boss to your friends to your co-workers see you as someone to step on and then over.

    This is why Jesus came.  This is why we have Easter.  When Adam and Eve walked in the Garden of Eden with God, they walked hand in hand with God.  Sin pulled our hand from God’s hand and we have spun out of control ever since.  But when Jesus died and then was raised again, we became reconciled back to God.  God took us by the hand again and better yet; he pulled us into a walk with his loving arm around our shoulder holding us close to him.  Through this we have eternal life and the hope of the resurrection which is great for someday.  But for now, we have the promise and the hope that God, with his arm around us, is caring for us.  God, who knows what is best for us, who knows sees our pain and brings us through it.  We may not enjoy it, that is a sinful world, but we never, ever go alone.  Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Dearest Father, at times it feels like the world wins and we are totally defeated; all our efforts are worthless.   It is at these times that your wonderful grace holds itself out to us as our only hope, our only comfort.  Continue to guard us and protect us from the arrows of the devil and bring to us that peace which only you can give to us.  We ask this in the name of our precious risen Savior, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

8-27-2019


Good Morning All,

      2 Timothy 1: 3-4; “I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.  As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.

    I watched a movie not too many nights ago about a young man who was trying to come to grips with the death of his father.  The young man and his father had a strained relationship.  They had had an argument and the young man stormed out of the house.  A few years later, his father had died and he returned home to find some answers.

    As he rummaged through his father’s house, he found a whole trunk full of letters which the father had written to himself.  As the young man read the letters he saw a side of his father which he had never seen.  In the letters, the father could only praise the young man and all his efforts.  Each letter ended with the father telling himself to be sure and tell the boy about this as well.  The son saw that his father truly loved him but couldn’t express in words, only in the letters which were hidden away.  The last ones told of only pain as the old man died alone and without his son.  It was a sad movie.  But it was about things that rarely happen anymore.  We rarely write real letters any more.  We text or email or do Facebook but we never write letters anymore; Letters which express in wondrous prose, the depth and intensity of human emotion.

    2 Timothy is one of those letters.  Paul writes this letter to his most beloved Timothy.  Timothy is a young man who became a preacher under Paul’s careful tutelage.  Paul fondness for Timothy grows until Paul considers him as his son.  In this letter, his last letter, Paul writes to Timothy.  Paul knows that he will soon be executed so he wrote Timothy with all the passion of a dying father to his son.

    He begins at the very beginning, noting that Timothy’s faith was begun out of the love for him by his grandmother and mother.  It was nurtured by their faith which in turn taught and fed his.  Timothy grew up and his faith was nurtured by his loving family and he grew in faith and became one of the church’s earliest pastors.

   Paul notes with joy all his remembrances of Timothy and desires to see him again.  It is because of the faith that Timothy displays; a faith nurtured by his mother and grandmother. Now many of us have the chance to be the Eunice or Lois in a young person’s life.  Be sure to take that role.  God gives us the opportunity to witness our faith.  For some it is half way around the world but for most of us; it is with the little boy or girl that sits behind you in church and kicks the pew that you sit in.  When God gives you opportunity; go ahead and try it.

Dearest Father, you have given us those people in our life who have formed and shaped our faith and we give you tremendous thanks.  We ask that you help us to serve in that same way for others around us.  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

Monday, August 26, 2019

8-26-2019


Good Morning All,

Acts 20:36; “And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

    One of the more entertaining parts of being the preacher is teaching junior high age confirmation class.  They really keep you on your toes.  I pretty much let almost any question be asked.  It used to be any question but a few years ago, “zombies” were put out of bounds.  One of the interesting discussions usually involves prayer. 

   It usually starts with the question, “what is the right way to pray?”  That brings lots of answers but usually they agree that it is with your hands folded and your head bowed.  What if I stand like this? (I have both arms extended upward with my head looking up) They all shake their head, no.  I tell them that this is how Solomon prayed to God in the Temple.  They looked perplexed.

    Then I ask, “what about this?”  I kneel down on the floor and stretch out on the floor. (This gets harder to do every year!!)  They all shake their heads again, a little more emphatically.  “This is how Joshua, Elijah, Paul and even Jesus prayed; are you telling me that Joshua, Elijah and Jesus do not know how to pray? (It’s a little mean but they really looked puzzled by now).  So, the question is asked again “what is the right way to pray?

    This is where we talk about the different postures of prayer in the Bible.  The “right way to pray” is not about how you stand or hold your hands or even what, exactly, you say.  The right way to pray is to just do it.  Just pray.  Pray from your heart and pray in faith, expecting God to answer your prayer.  Take time to speak to God and do it often throughout the day. Pray intentionally with your focus solely upon what you are doing.  If you can get yourself to find a pattern of a short devotion during the day and then praying to God during the day; you can receive some real comfort from this.  It can help make a “crisis” more like a bump in the road.  The truly wonderful thing is that as we continue in a devotional time and then a prayerful life; the Holy Spirit will remind us of different verses or passages to help us remember what God truly wants for us. 

    If we feel fearful or anxious he can bring up “cast all your anxieties on him for he cares for you”.  If we feel burdened by stress we can remember “Come to me all who are burdened and I will give you rest!” If we feel completely abandoned we have “Lo, I am with you even to the end of the age.”  If we feel defeated we have, “God is for us, who can be against us?”  These can all come to mind if we keep a rhythm of speaking to and listening to God in our lives.  This will provide us with the strength and comfort and hope to live this life.

Dearest Lord, you taught us to pray in the manner of being at one with the Father.  In this way, we can come close to you and to experience your grace and mercy.  We can live in a life of hope in you and never feel abandoned.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

Sunday, August 25, 2019

8-25-2019


Good Morning All,

Hebrews 12:2; “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

    Some of you may remember when Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992.  I remember James Carville.  He was a campaign strategist who has a very unique character and is interesting to listen to.  Whether you are on his side are against him, he is entertaining to watch and listen to.

    During the 1992 campaign, Clinton was trying to unseat President George H. W. Bush.  The Democratic campaign was stuck and spinning its wheels.  They were having a hard time focusing on an issue.  Then, during one of these meetings, Carville gives them three choices to focus on and it was the last one which resonated then and, to a certain extent, today.  He decided, “It’s the economy, stupid!” 

    Once they found their focus; the Democrats went on to win rather easily.  But they had to find their focus and their main selling point.  What was the main point that the Democrats wanted the people to go home with?  What was the one thing that the Democrats wanted the voter to recall?  Once they decided on that; they went with it full bore.

    You can almost sense the writer of Hebrews doing the same thing here in the beginning of his letter.  He does it for a different reason than trying to get attention; he does it so that we are not distracted by the cares and struggles of the world.  He wants us to always look forward and upward to Jesus; not just as example but as the source (pioneer) and the completion (perfecter) of our faith.  Faith which looks to Jesus for life, hope and peace.  That is the central point of our faith.  We can talk about many issues or concerns but our focus is, should, and always will be Jesus Christ.

    We let too many issues cloud our mind and fog our thinking.  How does this work?  Why is this the way it is?  What does this mean?  We battle them and then a few months, weeks, days or even moments; these issues are gone but Jesus Christ always remain.  The devil loves to play the game where we have a “crisis of the week” it really should be viewed as a “crisis of the weak”.  We can get too involved in stuff that has no real value.  We need to focus on what matters and that is Jesus Christ. 

    Jesus is the rock upon which we are built.  He is the one truth in a world that knows no truth.  We only need to focus on Him and Him alone.  Jesus is the reason for our hope and the completion of that hope.

Dearest Father, keep us safe within your arms today as we go about our life.  Remind us that in this world there are many questions, trials and troubles.  Help us to see that they only bring us closer to you.  Help us to focus on Jesus Christ and him alone.  In His precious name we pray, amen.  

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

Saturday, August 24, 2019

8-24-2019


    Good Morning All,

         Psalm 103:13; “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”

     One of the hardest parts to being a parent is when your children are very young, too young to speak and communicate, and they are sick or hurt.  They cry and cry but you just can’t figure out how to console them.  Are they hungry?  Are they over tired?  Do they have a stomachache?  It is painful to watch this as a parent; you want to fix the problem but you don’t know how to fix it.

    As children grow and become adults, they still experience pain.  Some of it is physical, some emotional.  One of the hardest parts of being that parent or a friend to someone like that is that you can see their pain; you know it is there but if they don’t express it or can’t express it; you feel just like that infant’s parent.  You want to fix the problem but you don’t know what is wrong.  Are they having health issues?  Are the under stress at work?  Do they feel unloved by their friends?  Has their spouse hurt them in some way?  How do we fix it?

    One of the greatest evils which have befallen the world is pain.  Not physical pain as much as emotional and spiritual pain.  We see it everywhere.  Just look at any bookstore or on Amazon and you see a myriad of self-help books on everything from dieting to surviving a divorce to surviving the loss of a child.  Now you may be able to read how to lose weight and actually have it work but I don’t know about reading how to cope with the death of a child.  Yet this points to a huge problem for us; too many people think that everything we deal with has to be internal.  We show little emotion and we express it even less.  The British use the phrase “stiff upper lip” and for many in this country this is true as well.

     This is part of the reason that we have trouble understanding the tradition of sackcloth and using ashes and wailing in public like we read about in the Bible.  This is such a public outpouring that we see it almost as unfit and improper.  Yet they are expressing their pain to all around.  Now I am not advocating that you do this but at least express your fear or pain to someone.  It can be a neighbor or a friend.  It can be your pastor or a counselor but above all cry out to the Lord.

    God has made a great promise to us his people.  The first and foremost is the promise of redemption from sin.  Yet the next is of great value as well.  He has promised to be our God, our “hands on” God.  He has promised to listen to our cries and to answer them.  He will listen but we must cry.  This can be an actual physical cry or it can be an emotional cry from the heart but God will hear and answer you.  It may not be the answer we think we want at that time but God’s will is always best for us.  So, cry out to God; He will hear you and answer because he has compassion.  His love for you knows no bounds.

Dear Father, we often suffer in silence when you tell us to pray and to call upon you.  Give us the wisdom to see you as our loving Father, as our “hands on God”.  Help us to see your tender mercy when we need it most.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

Friday, August 23, 2019

8-23-2019


Good Morning All,

     Isaiah 13:9; “Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it.”
    Have you ever watched any of the movies about the earth after some form of nuclear catastrophe or some other cataclysm?  It is always fascinating that the world is so desolate and such a waste land.  There is always a scene where the wind is blowing so much dust or sand that you can’t see the characters of the film. 

    It is interesting how we view a post-apocalyptic world.  There is always destroyed buildings, broken up roads or streets.  There is very little if any vegetation; it always appears to be shot in a desert with little except for scrub brush plants.  There seems to be a lot of time when water is so precious that it may even be a commodity which is traded or fought over. 

     That is how we usually view a world that is destroyed. It is desiccated and void of greenery, of created life or existence.  There is rarely enough food, water or other provisions to live much more than a subsistent existence.  This is the exact way which Isaiah describes the life of the children of Israel would live while in exile in Babylon.  They would not live in the “Land flowing with milk and honey” rather they would live in desolate conditions.

    This really refers to the way that their faith life would be.  They had experienced God’s grace and lived in the land flowing with milk and honey but now, with God’s grace withdrawn, they would live in a land of desolation.  They had lost out of God’s grace, for a little while but they never lost out on his mercy.  God’s love for them never stopped and he promised to restore them to an even greater life.  He will again hear their cries even before they are made.

    This is what God promises to us through Jesus.  He sees our pain; he knows our fear and he has compassion on us.  We know this because of the cross upon which Jesus died.  If God does not love us fully, beyond any measure or standard; why would he have allowed his Son to die such a horrific death?

     So, as we go through life, we may feel like we are in a wasteland, barren and hopeless.  Yet God comes to us with his Word, the word of forgiveness. He comes to us with his soul refreshing gift of Holy Communion to re-invigorate our spirit.  He gives us his Church where we experience flesh and blood expressions of His tender grace and mercy.  He gives us prayer to speak to him and to cry out to him in pain or in joy but even before we do; He knows us and he answers us.  We do not have to live in desolation for we have a risen Savior who proclaims life to us and in us.  We are restored; we are loved and we are part of God’s holy family.

Dearest Father, we often see only the barren and the wasteland; yet it is only by your tender mercy that we can survive.  Guard us, sustain us and protect us from all that devil will throw at us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

Thursday, August 22, 2019

8-22-2019


 Good Morning All,

     2 Corinthians 5:17; “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come

    I was talking to a friend the other day and he was relating a story about one of his granddaughters.  It seemed rather fitting for our devotion.  The story begins when the little girl is 2.  She had decided that when she grew up; she wanted to be an elephant.  Nobody is sure where that came from but she was only 2 and she was fascinated by elephants.

   As she got a little older, she was still infatuated by elephants.  She still thought being an elephant would be neat.  She had books about elephants and had stuffed elephants in her room.  When she drew pictures, it was about elephants.  When they talked about Noah’s Ark, she only asked about the elephants.  I think you get the picture.  When she was 5 years old, the decision was made to take her to the circus.  What a great idea, unfortunately they told her a little too soon. 

   Those days that she had to wait were almost unbearable.  She was super excited each time she would stop and think of the elephants she would squeal with delight.  They were going to go on Friday.  By Wednesday, the parents were thinking about giving her sedatives so they could sleep.  This was one excited little girl.  Finally, it was Thursday night.  They had put her to bed a couple of times when she came out for the third time.  She was about to be scolded for not going to bed when she ran to them and hugged them and said, “I want to thank you today for what you are going to do tomorrow!!”

    This little girl had total confidence in her parents that they would keep their promise.  She knew that on Friday the elephants would be real.  She knew that nothing would stop them.  We have an even better promise from God.  He promises us the blessings of forgiveness and new life.  He re-creates us every day.  He draws us to him through the redeeming and atoning by Jesus.  We have so much to be thankful for.  Whatever the world throws at us, we face with God on our side.  That is a promise we can live with.

    We can go about each day confident that God will take care of us.  This is part of why Jesus tells us, “don’t worry about tomorrow”; we do not have to; God has already taken care of it for us.  Isn’t that comforting to know that God takes care of us and not just today but tomorrow as well?  Now as we face the trials of this sinful world, we know that it really has no long-term impact on us.  There will always be a tomorrow for us because God has already taken care of it.  He will guard us and protect us and when necessary he will comfort and console us with the gentleness of his Word and nourish us with his precious body and blood.  I thank you today for what you are going to do tomorrow.  What a gift!! (By the way she loved the elephants)

Dearest Father, I want to thank you today for what you are doing today and what you are going to do tomorrow.  Keep me in the certainty of this knowledge that I might always be in the comfort of your loving arms secured by your grace.  Send your Spirit of comfort to those who are struggling or in pain.  Guide them to see your grace.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray.  Amen!!

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

8-21-2019


Good Morning All,

     Song of Solomon 1:15; “Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves.”
   Love is a many splendored thing.  I know; not very original but it is true.  Love is a wondrous thing.  It evokes tenderness, gentleness, a sense of longing and a desire to be with that someone.  Our verse comes from that beautiful poetic book of the Bible.  It is a love song between Solomon and his bride.  It doesn’t get a lot of read because it is, to some, a little racy.  It actually is just a very intimate conversation between a husband, who loves his wife with an intoxicating love and a bride who returns that same love.

    The book, this love song, is about intimacy not sex and there is a difference.  Intimacy is about a closeness to another person.  It is an interpersonal relationship which, on some levels, is very private.  It is also subtle.  It is looking into their eyes as they speak and you hang on every word and listen and treasure.  I see this most dramatically as I watch our elder members sit by the hospital bed of a very sick spouse.  The intimacy of the marriage, for those who are blessed to have it, is a place of safety and protection.

    The Song of Solomon and actually the entire Bible tells us of God desiring to have this intimate relationship with man.  We see it begin in Genesis 2:4. Here, we see God addressed as “Yahweh.”  This is God’s personal name.  You can tell that is what is being used when you read your Bible and the Bible has “LORD” or “LORD God”.  Lord is capitalized.  This is the name of God who is personal.  There is a lot of debate over what this name means.  Roughly it means “I am that I am” or “I am the God that you need”.  For me, although it is not very theological, I like to think of Yahweh as “the One who gets his hands dirty”.  Notice in Genesis 1 that God spoke and things happened.  But in Genesis 2 we see God reaching down into the dirt and shaping and forming Adam.  God gets his hands dirty.  Then we see where God breathes into Adam the breath of life; Adam gets a soul.  So, we can envision God with dirt on his hands and his mouth as he brings life to Adam in an intimate act.  This is no “stand way away”; this is upfront and personal.

    Yahweh “the LORD God” is closely and intimately involved in our lives.  He gently and tenderly loves us and provides for us.  He sustains us through his creative and re-creative acts.  He rescues us from sin and when we could do nothing about it; He sent Jesus to suffer in our place so we would not have to.  All of the pain, suffering and sin were placed on the back of Jesus so you and I would not have to bear it.  This wonderful, intimate love which God has for you He shows to us every day with his gentle love and tender touch.  In that tender touch; as he gently places one hand behind our head as he embraces us with the other, we find safety, security and hope.

O Father, the world can often be cold and uncaring and those whom we love may be distant.  Shower us we pray with your tender love, mercy unbounding and grace beyond all measure.  Bring love and intimacy into the lives of your children that we may so ever love you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen.

God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret   

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

8-20-2019


Good Morning All,

     Psalm 103:12; “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”

    Have you ever had someone make a promise and then fail to deliver?  The first time that someone does that can really leave an impression.  A little bit of trust leaves you.  For most of us, the first time that you break a promise to a child, no matter how small to you can be as devastating to us as it is to the child.  You see the look on their face and you know that you will never stand as tall in his eyes again.  As we grow older, we experience this betrayal or breach of trust with more frequency.  Each time we experience it; we become a little more jaded; our heart a little more hardened.  It is like each little cut that scars over and becomes denser and having less feeling. 

    A broken trust causes much turmoil in our life.  Many people who experience a painful breach may have a difficult time trusting again.  It can take many forms.  If you share a confidence or a fear with someone only to have it becomes gossip fodder, you are slower to openly share next time.  A trust is broken and a breach is formed.  This breach is like a gully forming between you.  It gets wider and deeper and you and the other person are pushed farther and farther apart.

    A definition of transgression is just that.  It means to break a trust.  It means to make a breach in a relationship.  It can best be thought of in terms of relationships especially like that of a marriage vow.  It is a most sacred trust that we pledge to be faithful to one and to only one and if that trust is broken fixing it is difficult at best.  We transgressed against God.  We were unfaithful.  We broke that trust by seeking false gods.  Those false gods took many forms: greed, selfishness, anger, lust, or callousness to our neighbor.  These all show the effects of a broken trust, a breach of our faithfulness.  How does one ever get past this?  You and I may not but God does.

    Jesus suffered and died because you and I were unfaithful to God.  We broke the trust, the faith, but God healed it.  Every whip mark, every beating, every moment on the cross was to fix that breach between man and God.  God filled the gully in with every drop of sweat and blood that Jesus expired.

    The difficult thing for us to understand is that as we respond to this event; we should not respond out of guilt or sadness.  We should see beyond this and see this for what it truly is.  It is an act of incredible love.  Jesus’ selfless actions, his willingness to die for us should cause to respond with the same type of love for God and for our fellow man.  Lent, Good Friday and Easter are not about guilt they are about immeasurable love.  The God who loves you, the God who got his hands dirty for you comes to you with the love of a father beyond our ability to comprehend.  Relish in it; for by his love our transgressions are gone.

Gracious Father, we come before your throne seeing your wondrous mercy.  All our sins are gone, our debt is paid.  You bring us back to you every time we break that trust with you loving kindness.  Continue to pour out on us your grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

Monday, August 19, 2019

8-19-2019


Good Morning All,

Philippians 1: 3-5; “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

  I am a child of the 1970’s.  Now there are some really weird things about the 70’s which remain as cruel tricks to us: mood rings, pet rocks, lots of hair, disco, leisure suits (oy!!) just to name a few.  But we also had some cool songs.  Most were light and just kind of lie in the back of your mind.  Sometimes; they come back as theme songs for TV shows.

   One of those songs is the theme to the “Golden Girls”.  You can hear it in the back of your head can’t you: 

                                                 Thank you for being a friend
                                         Traveled down the road and back again
                                   your heart is true you're a pal and a confidant

This little tune goes a long ways to show what Paul was writing about to the church at Philippi in our verse.  “I thank God in all my remembrance of you;” isn’t that how we would like to have a friend greet us one time when we meet?  “You have lifted me up from the depths of my sorrow and renewed my hope and vigor” (Maj. Winchester on MASH) 

    God has promised to be with us; to have his presence with us; to guard us and then to lead us on.  He does this in a spiritual way by reminding you of the Scriptures that you have read and know.  This is why it is important to “read, mark, learn and take to heart” the Words of the Bible.  This is how God usually speaks to us.  Usually, God does not speak to us like we speak to the guy down the road.  He uses the Words already spoken to reveal his message to us.

    Yet, God also speaks to us by using the elements of the created world.  He uses family and friends, even people who are barely acquaintances to bring you hope.  In my own life, it never ceases to amaze me how, “at just the right time”, I will get a card or letter or email from someone who offers a word of encouragement.  The lift is incredible.  I hope we all do this for all the people in our lives. Sometimes it takes a friend to lift you up.  So, when you need a friend look for him and if you have a friend who needs one; be that friend.      
    One other thing that helps is to verbalize it.  When people come to me with a problem, trying to get them to say what it is can be half the battle.  Even if I know what the problem is, I want them to say it.  When we say the problem out loud, the problem suddenly gets smaller and we can begin to see ways to address it.  The same is true in our prayer life.  Tell God what is hurting you.  This is for your benefit not his.  This is one way which God uses to let you see that the problem is smaller than God.  Sometimes, we really need to remember that.  It isn’t that God needs to hear our fears; we need to hear them.  Take the power that these fears have over us away and see God’s grace truly at work in our lives.

Dear Father, as we go through life it is filled with danger, pain and sorrow.  If we did not have your love to sustain us, all would be lost.  Keep us in your arms protect us and give us hope.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

Sunday, August 18, 2019

8-18-2019


Good Morning All,

Psalm 144:7; “Stretch out your hand from on high; rescue me and deliver me from many waters, from the hand of foreigners”
    I remember watching a movie many years ago in which the story starts with a young boy who was out fishing with his father.  It was a cold day and the boy moved in the boat and fell into the water.  The scene was very surreal; the boy slowly was sinking in the cold water.  There was no sound; just him sinking.  Suddenly a hand grabbed his coat collar and yanked him back up.  As he was pulled out of the water, you heard yelling and screaming and the little boy was coughing and crying and the boat was hurrying back to shore to get him into dry clothes and warm him back up.  The boy was scared; the father was shaken and fearful.  The father never took the boy fishing again.  Yet the boy grew up to become a soldier who feared nothing.  The battle he fought was fear and he fought it head on.  

    In many ways, this is what God does for us, he reaches down and takes hold of you and rescues you from your enemy –sin, the devil and death.  But God doesn’t just pull you out and then leave you.  When God takes hold of you, he holds on tight.  One way to think of it is that when God takes hold of you in what you could call a hug.  God takes you and hugs you close to himself.

     There are really three ways to respond to a hug.  First you can fight it and try to break away from it and run.  There are many in the world that do this to God’s hug.  They fight it; their sinful pride tells them they don’t need God’s love and care, his hug so they fight it and end up lost and often in struggles which they never win with problems that never go away.

    The second way to respond to a hug is to just stand there.  Let the person hold you but try not to respond to it.  Unfortunately, there are many Christians who respond to God’s hug in this fashion.  They wear their faith like their Sunday clothes, for an hour a week after that their faith; like their Sunday clothes, hang in the closet.  They miss the robust value of God’s relationship with them.  They battle life by themselves and often face tough roads all alone.

    The third way to respond to God’s hug is to hug back with all the gusto you have.  Cling tightly to God; this is what faith is it is clinging tightly to God.  As you cling tightly, you can experience his comfort, his strength, his guidance but above all you can experience the true peace which God promises us.  We experience this true peace when we fully embrace God and his promise; when we hug God back. 

    God gives us the ability and the choice to pick which way we will respond to his hug.  Let God strengthen you to hug him back!

Dearest Father, all that we have is from you; give me the power to hug you back to embrace your love with all that is within me.  Lead me closer to you, in Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

Saturday, August 17, 2019

8-17-2019


Good Morning All,

    2 Kings 6:17; “Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

     Are you like me?  I can’t tell you the number of times I have to look for something or other in my office.  I know I put it right over there and the next time I want it; it isn’t there.  Then I start looking all over the place and then don’t find it.  Then a few days later, there it is right where I put it.  I must confess that, at times, I think someone is messing with me but I have no proof. (Yet)

    Most of us have these moments and, for the most part, we can laugh them off.  A moment of forgetfulness and we pass it off.  But have you ever felt it more deeply in your heart and in your soul?  In our verse, the king of Syria is invading Israel with a great army.  The servant for Elisha is frightened and can see no way out.  He sees no hope only destruction.

    I don’t know if any of us have felt like this.  There have been times and there will be times when I have felt like I was searching for an answer from God and just couldn’t seem to find it.  Maybe you have as well.  Perhaps you have felt the sting of an angry remark or comment from a loved one.  Perhaps you felt the stinging rebuke of an employer.  Perhaps the doctor’s report wasn’t what you expected.  So, you are left wondering where everything is.

    Elisha prayed that the servant’s eyes would be opened so he could see the great army.  Of course, the eyes opened were the eyes of faith which revealed God’s glory, power, and faithfulness.  Isn’t that what we really need more than anything?  We need God to open our eyes to the truth of his grace.  We can search and search but we never look in the right place.  Too often, we turn to the “experts” in the world and listen closely to their advice and yet we receive no comfort or hope.  The “experts” never address the root problem.  Our sin costs us our ability to truly see God’s grace around us.  It is there, just like the well that Hagar didn’t see; is there right in front of us.  God pours his love out on us every minute of every day.  Many times we just don’t see it.

    That is why Jesus came to this world to walk among us.  God opening our eyes to see the well, or the river, of his love and grace.  We will still face the sinful world and its trials and troubles of this life but we do not face them alone and we do not face them without hope for we have the everlasting hope of our salvation.  We have Jesus to bring us through all the trials we face and lives to give us eternal life with Him.

Dearest Father, your mercy overflows us like a river yet we do not see it.  We focus too much on our troubles and not on our salvation; we see our failures instead of your grace.  Lead us to see the waters of your wondrous grace and mercy.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret