11-30-2019

Good Morning All,

        Ephesians 4:24; “and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

      One time, as I was coaching high school age kids in baseball; I talked with a fellow coach who faced a unique situation.  He had a young man come up who could throw the ball pretty well.  He had decent speed and was fairly accurate.  The problem was that the way he threw the ball made it an illegal pitch.  If a runner was on base it would have been called a balk.  So, he had to set about to completely change.  He had to get rid of the old style of pitching and bring in a new style of pitching.

     This was harder than it sounds.  One of the first problems was that he wasn’t convinced that he had to change.  He had been successful at the younger level and no one had made him change.  His coach kept telling him that he was wrong but neither he nor his parents believed him.  He asked me what he should do.  I told him to go ahead and let the kid pitch.  The other coach asked, “what about a balk?”  I said, “so what?  He doesn’t believe you; let him believe the umpire.  The only thing I would do would be to talk to the umpire before the game and let him know that you know it is a balk and that he should call them, vigorously if needed.”  Needless to say, the young man’s first pitching appearance wasn’t what he or his parents expected.

    So, the young man swallowed his pride and worked to change his pitching style.  He was never as dominant as he was when he was younger, but he was a competent pitcher.  In a way, our life is like that.  Sometimes change is needed but change is hard.  That is what has to happen in a Christian’s life; we need to change.

   When God calls us to faith, he makes us “a new creation.”  This means that we need to shed the old life and live the new life that God gives us.  This can be difficult because part of change is to recognize that the old life was bad.  It takes humility to admit that past failures have caused pain.  It takes humility to confess our sins.  Yet this is an important part of faith.  We humble ourselves before God.  When we truly recognize and confess our sin, God creates us as new creations.  It is out with the old and in with the new, the new that God creates in us.  We need to embrace it and to live it.  We need to shed the old.  We need to, through faith, embrace the new life; trust in God’s mercy and his will for our life.  This is the new life to trust in God over our own skill and knowledge.  Trust in God to provide and protect us.

Father of all that is good and gracious.  We give you thanks for the new life that you give us.  Strengthen us by your Spirit.  Give us the humble heart to live according to your divine will. Guard us from all evil and keep us safe within your loving arms.  Be with those who are struggling with the cares of life and give them the certainty of hope in you.  Save them by your mercy.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

11-29-2019

Good Morning All,

       Luke 2: 4-5; “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,  to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.”

   It was about 120 miles or so.  That would have been the approximate distance that they travelled.  They went because they had to not because they wanted to.  Who would take a first-time mother on a walk/donkey ride when she was over 8 months along, if you didn’t have to?  The Bible doesn’t tell us much of the trip; it just says they went.  All the lore and the speculation surrounding the trip is just that, lore and speculation.  Did Mary walk, or ride a donkey or in a cart of some kind?  Did they travel alone or were they part of a group?  One thing that I think most women would agree on is that it was not the most pleasant trip to take no matter what mode of transport was available.

    We might wonder what they thought or talked about on the trip.  Mary probably was pretty sure that her baby wasn’t going to be born at home now.  Her baby would be born in Bethlehem.  She maybe was aware of the prophecy that the Savior was born in Bethlehem but maybe not.  She undoubtedly kept replaying the conversation with the angel in her head, “You shall give birth to a son who you will name Jesus.”  Joseph was probably deep in his own thoughts remembering his angelic visit, “Don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, the child she is carrying is of the Holy Spirit and you shall name him Jesus.”  Of course, they probably had to endure the scoffing and the ridiculing of the neighbors, the busy bodies and the uppity relatives.  She was pregnant before the wedding, tsk, tsk.  How much did they understand?  Probably, not much.

    You and I are called on to do much the same thing.  We take a journey, maybe not always the one we want at a time we want, but we must go.  As we go, we know part of the story, but we may not know the whole story.  That is our life.  We know that we have God’s promise of salvation, of forgiveness, of his presence and comfort as we go but a lot of it is unseen.  At times we probably have endured ridicule for our faith; we may have even wondered if the story made sense.

    Our best response is to do what Mary and Joseph probably did; cling to what we know and keep repeating it.  Mary and Joseph had visits from angels to tell them the next step they were to take; have a baby to raise together.  Our next step may not be quite so dramatic or revealed but we take the next step in faith.  God has told us that we are his children.  We are saved and can call upon his name for strength.  We are in the family and the devil cannot harm us.  So, we continue our journey, trusting in God’s promise, living in hope of the resurrection.  That is our journey.

Father, we seldom see or know the way we must journey.  Help us to know that we are in your loving arms.  Help us to know that we are safe.  Be with those who are struggling on their journey.  Remind them that nothing in all creation can separate them from your love.  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

11-28-2019

Good Morning All,

          Genesis 2:7; “then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

      When I was a kid, I got a box of clay one time.  It had four different colors blocks of clay.  Each piece of clay kind of looked like a stick of butter.  You could take it and then you had to “warm it up” that was to roll it in your hands until it became pliable.  Once it was pliable, then you could form it into different shapes.  It was fun to work with, but my actual shapes were not quite as good as my imagination.  I had visions of being a Michelangelo, but I ended up more like the turtle than the artist.

    It takes talent, patience, an artistic flair, and a passion to be a good sculptor.  It takes an eye that sees what this blob of clay can be.  Michelangelo once said that, “he saw an angel in the block of stone and chiseled until I set him free.” That is quite the skill and it displays a little of what God does for us through his creative process.

   In this process we see two things about God.  First, we see him as the God who is willing to get his hands dirty in our life and secondly, we can see this creative process as an ongoing event.

   In the creation of the rest of God’s works; he spoke, and it was.  Yet here we see God taking his time to mold and shape you to be the creature that he wants us to be.  With the creation of Adam; he had the perfect creature.  It was shaped right and it filled its role in creation perfectly.  Then Adam sinned and he began to add extra clay to his existence.  He padded this perfect creation with excess selfishness, excess jealousy, excess greed, with excess hatred.  All of this excess went to block his vision of God and Adam lost sight of all that God had done for him. 

    So, God sent Jesus to return us to the creative process.  We see when Jesus told his disciples that he would “make them fishers of men.”  Here “make” can be thought of as molding or shaping or fabricating.  It is taking a lump of clay and shaping it into a piece of art.  We can see God doing this when we think of times when the excesses of our lives are stripped away until we see that our only source of hope and security is God.  All of that padded on excess sin needs to be shed.  We need to stop clinging to our old sins, our old sinful desires and to our old sinful hurts to be the creation that God desires us to be.

   Yet we sin and we sin daily so God must continue to shape us and mold us daily.  He does this through the forgiveness of sins which he tells us to remember.  We call this the confession and absolution cycle.  Through this process God continually molds and shapes us.  He gets his hands dirty because he loves us.

Gracious Father, you have wondrously made me, and you continue to mold me into the disciple that you want me to be.  Lead me to trust in your loving arm.  Lead me to be your holy child.  Lead me to be the light in this dark ad lonely world.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

11-27-2019

Good Morning All,

         John 1:14; “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

      The young wife was crying, almost inconsolably.  Her husband, wanting to ease her pain and be the hero, began the process.  She had taken her wedding ring off while washing some glasses in the sink.  As she pulled the plug and the water went down the drain; she reached for her ring to put it back on.  Her hands were still wet and slippery, so the ring slipped and fell into the sink and went down the drain.  She put the plug back in and screamed and cried.  Her husband came and they did want most newlyweds do; they called dad.

    Dad told them to get a bucket and take the trap beneath the sink loose and drain it into the bucket.  As the mixture of grease, food bits, hair and soap poured into the bucket, the couple hoped that the ring was in it.  So, the husband reached into the gooey mess and felt around until he retrieved the ring.  He gave to his wife and all was well.

     Yesterday we looked at how God “got his hands dirty” by forming man out of the clay of the earth.  Today we read where God does even more.  When the Apostle John first wrote this verse in the original Greek, he was making a play on the words.  Where we write “Word” he wrote “logos.”  This conveys the thought of pure logic, pure thought, total reason.  So, we see God on the purest form possible.  At the creation, God spoke, and all occurred.  Where we use the word “flesh” John used the word “sarx.”  Here we can think of the dirty and grimy part of human existence; the sweat, the smell, the grittiness of human existence.  You can think of the “gunk” in your sink trap. 

    Yet rather than just immerse his hand into this gunk, God sent his Son to completely immerse himself, his entire body and existence, into the cesspool like world of humanity.  God did not choose the easy way or the simple way and certainly not the clean way.  He did it this way because of his love for you.

   He hears your cry; he knows your pain and he brings about healing.  He doesn’t avoid the mess.  He doesn’t expect you to be “mostly clean.” He picks you up out of this muck and grime in order to give you live, in order to bring you to the purity in which we were created.  This is what the birth of Jesus really means to us; God, in his purity, enters the depravity and sadness that makes up the human existence.  Into this pain and sorrow, Jesus brings healing and hope.  He brings God’s mercy and his love and comfort.  He enters our existence and heals it and takes us into his existence.  He came as a child to grow and to live a human life in order to dies for your sins.  He comes to us today, in his Word and sacrament, to bring you healing and strength; to bring you new life.

Gracious Lord, you give us new life.  You lift us up and take us from the dredge of sinful existence to holy life with you.  Help us to know your love and mercy.  Help us to trust in your promise.  Be with those who are in pain and sorrow at this time.  Lift them up by your grace.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

11-26-2019

 Good Morning All,

       Mark 10:45; “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

    We all seek to know the value of something.  We want to know “what does it cost?”  “What do they want for it?”  “What is it worth?”  It is always interesting to watch how people react to information about auction sales.  It might be some high-priced Sotheby’s auction where some movies stars pantsuit sells for 10 times the expected value or the rare painting that sells for millions of dollars more than expected.  We are amazed at what people pay for some things what makes it worth that much to them.

    Of course, we do not have to go to a fancy auction sale, we can see it in our own life.  Perhaps you have been to an auction or you heard of someone paying what you considered and exorbitant price for something.  What would cause someone to pay such a ridiculous price?  Why would they pay three or four times what most people thought it was worth?  Sometimes it is foolishness; a person relatively new to the situation overpays because of inexperience but most of the time there is a reason why someone values something so greatly.

    I was at a farm sale a number of years ago when an old anvil was being sold.  These usually go for the vale of scrap iron, but it didn’t take long before this particular anvil became very expensive.  Soon it was at $1000.00 and a few more bids and it went for just over $1200.00.  Most were in awe; a few knew the story and soon it was out.  The anvil belonged to a German immigrant and these were two of his grandsons bidding on it.  (They didn’t get along.)

    Something is worth what someone will pay for it.  What are you worth?  The EPA says the average American is worth $8,000,000 but what are you worth?  What is the homeless guy worth, or the recovering but lapsing addict, the gal who had an abortion, the high school dropout, the little child with cerebral palsy or Downs’ syndrome?  A lot of people would probably put them far under the EPA number.  What is the movie star worth, or the billionaire, or the up and coming politician?  Some might think these folks are worth far more than the EPA number.  What are you worth?   I don’t know what you are worth to the government, but I know what you are worth to God.  God gave one Son to buy you back.  You are worth one dying Savior.

    The world will tell you different.  It might call you worthless and hopeless, but God doesn’t.  God calls you valuable.  God invested a lot into you.  He paid a price far beyond what anyone else might pay because of his great love for you.  There was no price he wouldn’t pay; and he held nothing back, not even his only Son.  Your value to the Father is one beyond human understanding; only the Father truly knows your worth and he paid dearly for you!

Father of all mercies, your love is beyond our understanding, yet it is desired so much.  Keep us in your loving arms that we may never lose hope.  Keep us safe in your loving arms.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

11-25-2019

Good Morning All,

        Matthew 1:23; “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”

      One thing that gets stressed at this time of year is the idea that we need to spend it with others, especially those whom we love.  This is the time of the year with the greatest amount of travel.  People tend to try to get home to be for the holidays.  We tend to find comfort, acceptance, love and a welcoming environment.  It is usually where we find safety and reassurance.

     While the Israelites were wondering through the wilderness after they crossed the Red Sea, they were a large group of people trying to head home.  They had been slaves for hundreds of years; they had seen their children, specifically sons, killed by the Egyptians.  They worked hard all day and cried all night at their plight.  So, when Moses led them out of Egypt, they were a little worried about being alone.  So, God, in his loving manner, lived with them.  He set up his tent in their midst.  He was Immanuel- God is with us.

    God’s very presence was with the Israelites as they travelled throughout the desert.  The Israelites saw it as a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of smoke by day.  These pillars would rise high up and be wide, so they were easily seen.  As the Israelites faced the challenges of living in the desert, the lack of food and water and the marauding nomads, they would need someone to look to for protection.  They really had no idea where they were going so they needed someone to lead them safely.  They were kept safe because of Immanuel- God was with them.

   Yet when the Israelites turned away from God, they lost Immanuel.  So, they went centuries without truly experiencing the very presence of God.  They felt as if God was not with them so they would long for the days of when God was truly with them, when he pitched his tent and lived in their midst; they dreamed of a time that was Immanuel.  They dreamed of the time in the past and they looked forward to a time when it would return.

    This is the richness of the promise that the angel announced that he shall be called Immanuel- God with us.  The safety and peace that the people knew when God was dwelling with them, in their very midst was to return.  Jesus is Immanuel; he is God with us.  So we can know our security through him.  We can know that we are welcome in his presence as he dwells with us.  He is our home in times of trouble; he is our safe harbor from the storms of this life; he is our Immanuel.

Gracious Father, you lovingly sent Jesus that we may once again know what it is to live in your presence, to know what it is to have you live in our midst that we may know the safety, the security of your love.  We have Immanuel for you are present in our hearts and in our lives. In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

11-24-2019

Good Morning All,

          Luke 12:7; “Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

        “Was it worth it?”  This question is often asked and not always in the best circumstances.  It often is asked by parents of children who get into trouble for something they did.  It is asked by teachers and coaches for the same reason.  Sometimes friends ask it as a way of conveying that there was a cost, perhaps a high cost, for some perceived benefit.  It may have been the breaking of a date with one person in order to go with another.  It might have been trying to take something we weren’t entitled to have.  Whatever the event, eventually the facts would come out and someone will inevitably ask that question; “Was it worth it?”

     Was it worth it?  There may have been times in your life when you asked that question of yourself.  Maybe you placed a great value on that promotion at work, that piece of land to own, that “extra” loving relationship.  Was it worth it?  Was the pain and suffering worth it?  In the long run; it never is.  Not only does it cause pain to those around us, it can destroy our self-image and our self-worth.  Sometimes events in the past can cause us to decide that it wasn’t worth it and now we aren’t worth it either.  We are at that point where we have no value to anyone, anywhere.  At least this is what the devil, the world and our own sinful nature wants you feel like.  They want you to think that you are worthless so that any decision that you make from now on will be based your own poor self-worth.

    Yet you are worth it.  God values you deeply.  He values you enough to send his Son to die for you in order to redeem you from the price of sin and to remove the guilt that the devil and the world can hold over you.  Jesus died for you; was it worth it?  It is according to God and his love.  You are worth it.  God values you enough to leave behind his glory and power to be born into a world of pain and poverty, to live and die as the payment for your sins, for your failures.  He rose from the dead and left the tomb empty as a sign that we will do the same someday.  All because God says you are worth it. 

    The devil and our sinful nature will try to keep you down, to try and drag up past failures to make you question your value, your value before God and your own personal value.  Yet never doubt how much God values you.  Never doubt how much God loves you.  Are you worth it?  The spread of arms of the loving Savior says so.

Gracious God, to you alone belong all glory and honor.  We give you thanks for the blessings of today.  We give you thanks for the value that you place on us.  Help us to know this value and to hold that value for ourselves and for each other.  Help us to lift up our brothers and sisters through your grace and mercy.  Use us to show the world just how much you truly value your children.  Move us to bring others to the knowledge of the value you place on them.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

11-23-2019

Good Morning All,

         Romans 9:16; “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”

   We like things that we can count on, that are dependable.  You may be someone who relies on your cell phone.  It has all your important upcoming dates on it, it may have notes for grocery shopping, you may use it to record portions of a meeting or a class, you may use it for all your reference information using the search part of it for all the information you may need.  We rely on it almost entirely, but we understand that there are limits.  There are places where we do not get a good signal so our phone doesn’t work or perhaps the battery is dead so it can’t be turned on.  We rely on our phone; we even depend on it but there are times when we know it won’t work.

    Most of us realize that we can depend on someone only up to a point and after that we cannot depend on them.  We can depend on the mail, or FedEx, or UPS; unless the weather is horrible somewhere in the shipping channel.  I won’t be late for an appointment; unless I have a flat tire or am delayed by a train.  Most of us realize that reliability is still only a percentage of the time.  It might be as high as 90-95% of the time but there still is a point where we can no longer depend on the other person.

   So, we often feel that, at some point, we need to rely on our own skill and wit.  This can be a source of fear and worry; what if we can’t provide the rest of the material or strength of idea that is needed?  This is what can keep us from sleeping at night this is what can cause us to worry about tomorrow; who can we depend on at times like this?

    It is at times like this that we need to remember that our salvation, our hope and our comfort depends on God, wholly and completely.  We can rely on his wondrous grace and mercy at all times and in all conditions.  There is nothing that can ever stand in the way of God’s love for you.  There is nothing that can prevent God from giving his grace to you.  There are no weather problems, there are no reception troubles, there are no flat tires or road obstructions; nothing can prevent God’s mercy to you.

    This is because God’s mercy, poured out on you, depends on God and not on you.  God’s love for you is the result of his loving nature and his desire to love you.  It does not depend upon your actions or words.  It does not depend upon how much you give to the church or how often you attend.  It depends upon God and the love that he has promised you.  We do not deserve God’s love but we always receive it.  Trust in that love to sustain you and to give you peace.

Father, your grace for us carries us through all we need.  Your grace supplies our comfort in times of trial and in times of sorrow.  Your grace gives us hope.  Keep us safe in your loving arms.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

11-22-2019

 Good Morning All,

                 Isaiah 64: 6a; “We’ve all become unclean, and all our righteous acts are like permanently stained rags.”

          “The opposite sides of the same coin;” I use this phrase fairly often.  I find that for most people, their greatest character strength is also one of the character weaknesses.  For example, someone who views themselves as a person who takes charge and makes decisions quickly may struggle when asked to follow directions or to serve in a subordinate role.  A person who likes to look at the “big picture” often struggles when trying to deal with the details of the situation.  The phrase “the opposite sides of the same coin” usually describes two truths that are more closely related than we may think.

     Our verse tells us that none of our “righteous acts” can ever impress God.  Nothing we do, no matter how many times you go to church services, no matter how many times you read the Bible, no matter how many prayers you have said, no matter how much money you have given to the church; none of these events impress God.  There is no number of homeless people that you have given food or shelter to that has God impressed by your actions.  The hours you spent in the food kitchen do not raise God’s perception of you.  The kindness you show to strangers, the honor and respect you show to your elders, the generosity that you show to people who can never repay you; none of these make God sit up and think, “There is a great person.”

    There are a lot of people who get depressed when they see this.  Deep down, we want God to be impressed when we tell him, “What a good boy am I.”  When we think that God doesn’t give us a little star by our name when we perform one of these actions, it can be kind of a letdown.  Yet the beauty here is that, more often than not, we live on the opposite side of the same coin.

    It is true that God doesn’t pat you on the back for the number of times you went to church; he also doesn’t hold it against you when you slept in because you stayed up too late the night before.  He doesn’t think more of you when you stop and help the homeless, but he also doesn’t think less of you when you don’t stop.  We don’t gain God’s favor by being good, but the much better news is that we don’t lose God’s favor when we fail to be good.  God’s grace is poured out upon us for one reason- God loves you. 

   So why bother doing good things if these things don’t impress God?  First and foremost, these good things for others are a wonderful response to God’s love.  Secondly, we never know when the Holy Spirit will use one of those times to move the heart of the person you helped.  Thirdly, God calls us to be the light to the world, to show them what God’s love looks like.  Think about how much God loves you then try and do that for your neighbor.

Father of all mercy, I am thankful that you do not hold my failures against me.  I thank you that your love depends on you and not on me.  Help me to respond to your love by showing love to my neighbor.  Help me to share your grace with those around me.  Lead me to those who are in most need of your loving and peaceful Spirit.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

11-21-2019

Good Morning All,

        Luke 2: 4-5; “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.”

     Most people will remember where they were when something big happened.  People of my parent’s generation remember where they were when they heard that Pearl Harbor had been attacked.  Many of us remember where we were when President Kennedy was shot, where we were when the first space shuttle blew up, where we were when the 9-11 attacks occurred.  We remember where we were or what we were doing.

   But do we remember what we were doing on Dec. 6, 1941 or Nov. 21, 1963 or Jan. 27, 1986 or Sept. 10, 2001?  Do we remember what we were doing the day before these momentous days occurred?  I wasn’t alive in 1941; I was too young to remember Pres. Kennedy’s death; but I do vividly remember the Challenger and the 9-11 attacks but the day before; I don’t really have a clue.

    I wonder if Joseph and Mary really had a clue about the next day.  Or were they really just worried about the birth of their promised and prophesied son?  Did they really grasp its meaning?  When they were told that Jesus would save his people, what were they thinking when they ended up in a stable, in a little town away from the big city and power center?  We will never know what they were thinking the day before Jesus was born but we know the response when he was born.

    We are often in this same situation.  We may feel like tomorrow makes no difference and that tomorrow is so far away.  We may feel burdened by the night, by the stresses of this world, by the concerns of what tomorrow might bring.  Yet we can rest assured that whatever waits for tomorrow; God’s love for us is there as well.  We will never face the tomorrows of our life without God there beside us.  Whether it is joy or sorrow, gladness or sadness, we know that God will make all things work for good for those who love him.  He has promised us salvation and has promised us new life.  Whatever tomorrow brings, it comes under God’s complete control and it comes unable to wrestle us from God’s loving embrace.

    The boat we ride in may rock and roll but we will never be spilled from the Savior’s redemption.  We may face incredible events tomorrow or the next tomorrow, but we can face with the confidence that God is God and I am not and his grace and love for me will protect me no matter what tomorrow beings.

Gracious Father, we rest in your loving and protective arms.  Defend us from all that the devil throws at us.  Keep us safe and sure of your mercy.  Father, many are battling and struggling with the pain of this world.  Give to them the hope of tomorrow with the promise of your love in their lives.  Defend them and bring to them the peace which only you can bring.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

11-20-2019

Good Morning All,

Judges 6:15; “And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.”

    This was Gideon’s answer to God’s call.  Basically, Gideon said, “I am the bottom of the barrel, the buckest of the buck privates, the peon of peons, the last hired-first fired kind of guy.  There is nothing that I can do to change what is going on.”  There are many times we may feel like this.  Think of the young freshman boy who is practicing football with the seniors of the varsity team; nobody cares what he thinks.  I had a friend who years ago joined the navy.  While in basic training, he failed to salute an officer.  Fortunately for him, the officer had a streak of mercy in him.  So, when my friend told the officer he didn’t know he was supposed to salute him; the officer answered, “son, just salute anyone who walks by; they all outrank you.”  That is the bottom of the power chain and in the worldly way of thinking; it makes sense.  Every action is dependent on having the power to act and when you are the weakest you have no power; so, we do not act.

    So God comes into this situation, and tells Gideon that he is going to deliver Israel.  Gideon is skeptical to say the least; yet that is exactly what God does.  God uses Gideon to accomplish his task and the world marvels, but we should not because this is how God has worked from the beginning.  God takes ordinary things, connects them to his Word and makes them extraordinary.

    All through Scriptures God uses simple and ordinary things to accomplish his tasks and goals.  He used a bush that didn’t burn, rocks for water, quail for food lamps and horns to win battles.  He uses simple, plain water and wine and bread.  Nothing fancy or amazing but when connected with His Word these became (or become) agents of change and salvation.  Simple water connected to God’s Word is a life cleansing, Spirit empowering, forgiveness delivering wash.  Simple wine and simple bread when connected to God’s Word are the faith strengthening, Spirit uplifting, nourishment of the Holy Meal.  Yet God does not stop there.  He doesn’t stop with things; he uses everyday people to do the same.

   Simple shepherds were the first evangelists, Galilean fishermen proclaimed the greatest news ever and did so in the face of tremendous opposition; not on their power but on God’s power.  Power received because they were connected to God’s Word and this same power is given to you and to me.  You may be lowly in the eyes of the world but God’s power, given to us as his children through his Word is greater power than any world leader, or satanic foe, could ever stand against.  We may be small in the world but when connected to God’s Word; we can move mountains.

Father of all mercies, in You do we have strength.  Not my power but your power will move the world.  Lead me to walk according to your grace.  Lead me to always trust in the power of your Word so that your Word will be boldly proclaimed and that in this proclaiming, your healing goes forth.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

11-19-2019

Good Morning All,

        Genesis 1:31; “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day”

     One of life’s great pleasures for me now is to watch my grandchildren grow. I watch them play and marvel as they accomplish new tasks and solve problems and overcome past struggles.  I still have on my cell phone the video as we watched my oldest grandson first attempt to climb down steps on his own.  He continues to grow, and we look forward to watching his sisters and his cousins grow and develop as well.  It is what parents and grandparents do; we revel in the growth and development of our children.  We look forward to sharing those events as we go.

    It is an amazing fact that this is how God looks upon us as well.  You are his dear children who he looks forward to walking in the cool of the morning with.  You are the children he likes to gaze at as we sleep.  You are the reason that God’s view of creation went from good to very good.  This is a phenomenal event.

    Think of all the beauty that exists in God’s creation.  Think of the beauty of a sunrise or sunset.  Think of the majestic beauty of a mountaintop or the splendor of a lush valley.  Think of the beauty in the stars or the amazing view that exists throughout the animal world or the shape of the clouds.  Think of how the psalmist wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”  The beauty of God’s creation is above everything, yet, God chooses to watch you.  It is you that he chooses to love.  It is you that he chooses to have this loving, fatherly relationship with.  It was no other creature that was made a living soul.  It is you.

    So, as we continue on our journey of life; let’s look forward with a renewed faith in the truth.  This truth is that God’s love for you knows no bounds.  His love for you causes him to give you the forgiveness that you so desperately need.  His love for you gives us the hope that we can hold onto when all looks hopeless and lost.  His love sustains us when all else fails.  So, if your life has been difficult and your struggles tough; let’s look forward to the grace that God bestows upon his people.

   Strive to leave the past in the past.  Strive to leave the devil’s assaults and lies behind you.  Don’t let them drag you down.  Leave the anger, the bitterness and the sorrow behind.  These are the tools the devil uses to hold you down and to keep you from experiencing God’s wonderful grace.  You are the apple of God’s eye; live with the joy and peace and comfort that God desires you to have.  God views you as very good, worthy of redemption by Jesus.  Trust in his mercy for the journey ahead.

Father, in you we have hope for your mercies are new to us each day.  Keep us strong in our faith and give us the courage to live as your children.  Be with those who are battling the attacks of the devil.  Lead them to your safe arms.  Give them comfort in your grace and keep them in the knowledge of your salvation.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret           

11-18-2019

Good Morning All,

         Hebrews 6:19; “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,”

      A few days ago, I was watching one of the old swashbuckling movies about a pirate who really wasn’t a pirate.  He was really a member of the English navy who had attacked some Spanish ships, but it turned out that England and Spain were no longer at war, so he was branded a pirate.  He was trying to get to England to clear his name.  During a key moment in the movie, our hero ties himself to the deck of the ship so he could steer the ship during a huge storm.  He had them tie him to supports for the steering system and then fastened a rope to the floor and then a chain was attached to his leg and it was fastened to the ship.  In the end he made it through the storm and guided the ship through the dangerous shoals.

    I don’t know if you have ever faced a time in your life when the wind and the rain and the huge waves of life are buffeting you about but if you have; you know the feeling of hopelessness.  There are few feelings in this world that leave us as empty and as lost as feeling that we have no hope.  There is no greater sense of loss.  There is no greater sense of being completely isolated and alone than when we feel a situation is hopeless.  It can be a job that disappears, it can be a relationship that is crumbling, it can be health issues that are overwhelming us, it can be a summer of no rain; there are many ways to experience hopelessness but there is only one way to have hope.

   The writer of the Book of Hebrews uses this logic for our hope.  God made a promise to Abraham and God took an oath upon himself to keep that promise.  Now we know that God is unchangeable so any promise that he makes; he keeps.  He made a promise to Noah, He made a promise to Abraham and he made a promise to you.  The promise to you was that of eternal salvation with him.  It is also a promise of love right now.  We don’t have to wait until we die for God’s promise to give us comfort, to give us hope.

    We can, and should, tie our self to God’s promise.  We can anchor our self in God’s perfect grace, his promised mercy to us, and his amazing love to give us hope.  No matter what we face, no matter what we fear, God’s perfect promise is there for us.  We are never alone, and our life is never hopeless.  God has promised to care for you as a Father cares for his children.  His love for you knows no bounds.  His love for you has no limits.  We can always turn to this promise; we can cling to this promise; we can rely on this promise to give us his grace and mercy.  God’s promise will never fail you; it never has, and it never will.

Father of all hope; help us to keep our anchor in you.  Help us to keep our hope secure.  Though the world and the devil attack us, keep us attached to you.  Be with those who are fighting the battles of life, especially those who feel that they are losing the battle, give them the hope of your sacred promise and give them comfort and peace.  Give them your loving and precious peace.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

11-17-2019

Good Morning All,

          Isaiah 42:13; “The Lord will march out like a champion, like a warrior he will stir up his zeal; with a shout he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies.”
      While watching sports over the past years, I am intrigued by the number of times the success or failure of a team is deemed to be with one player.  The announcers would go on and on about how this player or that player was hurt so the success of this team was certainly hindered by the absence of the player.  The announcers were convinced that without this player in the midst of the huddle, the champion of the team; the team would most likely lose.  Sometimes they would almost wax poetic about how the team would have certainly won if that one certain player would have played.

    If you want to ensure victory, it is important to have a champion.  It is important to have the one who will bring about certain victory.  This champion must always be in the game for without him victory will never be grasped.  The sweet taste of victory can be ours if we have that one great champion in our midst.  As long as this champion is in our midst, fighting for us, we will never be ashamed.

    At the time that our verse was written, the Isaiah was foretelling of the future for the Israelites.  First, as defeated and conquered people but soon; God would send a champion to fight for them and insure victory.  In their misery, God did not leave them to simply twist in the wind.  He sent the champion to free them from their oppressors.  He does the same for us.  He sent Jesus to be our champion

    We were being humiliated by the devil and the world and our sinful nature.  This evil group set out to torment us, to leave us in as much pain as possible.  This group was entertained by our suffering and we are unable to defeat this group on our own.  So, God sent Jesus to be our champion.  God sent Jesus to guarantee our victory in this fight.  God sent Jesus so that we would never have to suffer the humiliation or the torment of the devil again.  We have the sweet taste of victory because of Jesus and the victory that he gives us over sin, death and the power of the devil.

    The only tools that the devil has left in his arsenal are the lies that he tells us in order to deceive us.  He can only whisper his lies in order to cause us to doubt.  That is all he really has, lies and doubts.  God has given us the victory over the devil.  God has given us the promise of eternal life.  We have the great champion Jesus to insure our victory.  We will never be put to shame.

Gracious Father, because of your great love we have the victory over the devil and death.  These no longer hold us for we are in your hands.  You give us the blessings of this life and the promise of a greater tomorrow.  Be with those who are in pain at this time.  Give them the comfort of your Spirit that they may know the certainty of your presence in their midst.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret     

11-16-2019

Good Morning All,

          Luke 15:8; “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?”

      It happens almost every Christmas.  My mother-in-law is very generous in her gift giving.  Yet rather than buying something she isn’t sure about; she chooses to give cash.  Every year, when the unwrapping is done, and all the paper is gathered up and in the garbage bag; someone panics.  Someone is missing the money from Grandma.  The frightened party changes from year to year but the expression is the same, sheer panic.  Soon everything is turned upside down.  All the garbage bags are dumped out and gone through carefully.  We go through every piece, until, someone excitedly shouts, “I found it!” Another Christmas is salvaged.

    Perhaps you have done this as well.  Most of us have.  We have misplaced or lost something of value or of importance, so we scour the place, we empty trash bags, turn pockets inside out, dump drawers; we search until we find it.  The greater the value, the harder we search.  If it holds some sentimental value, like a keepsake, we will go to all lengths to find it and retrieve the item.

    Our verse speaks of such a situation.  The coins here probably refer to the marriage headdress that a woman would wear.  So, in essence, this woman has lost her wedding ring.  She was desperate to find it.  So, she swept her house until she found it.  She would have gone to any lengths to find it and she would have been ecstatic when she found it.

    This verse also describes the search that God does for his lost children.  He will overturn every drawer, empty every garbage bag, sweep every speck up to find you and to claim you as his child.  He sent Jesus to pay the way and then he began the search for you.  He looks every place that you hide.  He looks in every corner that there is.  He knows your pain and your fear, and he seeks you out.  He will not stop until he finds you because you are of such great value to him.

    God loves you so much that nothing will deter him from seeking after you.  No matter how many times you get yourself “lost” God will keep looking for you.  He seeks you out and calls you back.  He looks in all the places where we fall.  He looks in the painful times and in the sorrowful times to seek you out, to pick you up and to place you back on your path.  No matter how lost or dirty or how much self-destruction that you have caused; God never stops loving you and looking for you and cleaning until he finds you.  You are more precious than jewels to him.  His love never ends.

God of all mercy, we are often lost and harmed.  We inflict upon ourselves much pain and sorrow.  We hurt others, we deny you and we make a mess of our life.  By your mercy, restore us we pray.  Be with those who do not believe that you seek them out.  There are none so lost that you do not constantly seek them.  Bring them to the full knowledge of your mercy.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

11-15-2019

Good Morning All,

      Philippians 1: 3-5; “I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now" 

         I think most people have one.  Most of us have that one friend that, for whatever reason, makes us smile.  Whenever we see him, our hearts are lifted, and our day is brightened.  This friend can usually elicit a smile if not a total laugh from us.  This friend always seems to have an aura of lightheartedness about them.  They seem to lift us from the doldrums upon their appearance.  Which leads to my question; do we have a playful God?

    As I look back over the years; I am always amazed at how someone would come along at just the right moment to restore my spirit.  It might have been a phone call or a letter; it might have been an email or even a real in the flesh moment when someone near and dear or even someone seldom known would help to lift me up would.  As you think of that, think back to your own life and how often someone comes along to offer a lift to our mood or spirit.  Perhaps, if we are truly honest and observant, there were times when we didn’t want to have our spirits lifted and we brushed off the attempt.

    It is somewhat of a sad truth in that many times we would rather stay in our sorrows and doldrums than be lifted out of them.  We would rather wallow in self-pity rather than enjoy God’s gracious world.  The devil will feed into this and so do some of those who like to aid him.  Yet God offers us something better. He offers us some joy and contentment when the world and the devil want us to be sorrowful.

    The devil and the world will always try to use complicated ways to bring you down.  They will always try and tie all the pain together into one long chain and then fasten that chain to you in order to bring you down and to cast a pall over your life.  Yet God offers us a different way and, sometimes, he delivers it through a smile or a joke or a kind word from a friend.  God uses the beauty of a sunrise or sunset in order to provide us with a sense of peace.

    So God takes the simplicity of his creation, a smile or a kind word to overcome the confusion and anger that the devil tries to cause.  The more confusion that the devil can cause; the more he likes it.  This draws more people down, causes sadness and sorrow.  This gives the devil what he wants; gloom, doom, pain and suffering.  Yet God comes to us with the simple laugh of a child or a smile from a friend to give us a lift of joy in this world.

    We can receive this gift from God because it is built on his eternal truth; nothing can separate us form his love.  Nothing can pull us out of his loving hands.  There is nothing on this earth, above or below it that can pull us from God’s incredible love.  Because this is true, God does not need the complex because the simple is so true.   Through all this the devil gets more and more complicated to deceive you; maybe God is playful after all.

Father, you lift me up with the simple joys of life.  Guard and protect me from the devil that I might always enjoy the life you give me.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret