2-28-2023

Good Morning All,

      John 1:12; “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,” 

    Why did Jesus come to earth?  Why did he leave his holy temple in heaven to come down to live with lowly man?  God could have just snapped his fingers and everything would have been changed, so why did he come to earth?

     The easiest answer is that he came to die for our sins.  This is the correct answer, but it leaves us hanging a little.  Jesus’ coming to earth in human form is part of the great story of the Bible.  Many people see the Bible as a collection of stories, some connected some not; some important some not; some of great value and some not.  The Bible is really one long narrative telling us what God is doing in our lives.

     Whenever the media covers a major news event, I only watch about 15 minutes of the first news coverage.  They present the facts, as they know them, and then just keep repeating them over and over.  They will use different reporters; those reporters will be in a studio or at the scene but we always get the same few snippets of information.  I like to wait so that they can tell it to me in a longer story so that I can begin to process what they are telling me is going on.  Here the news people will sift through the data and relay a narrative that follows a line of thought to make a coherent story.

     When we read the Bible, we can read it and look for different themes or threads of the story to follow.  One of those themes is the theme of restoration.  We can read from the fall of man into sin in Genesis 3 about how God is going to restore man and his creation.  Adam and Eve have to leave the Garden of Eden; they have to work hard, suffer pain and loss, live chaotic lives and then die.  This is not how God designed it but it is how man chose to go.  The introduction of sin causes all our problems. 

      In order to fix this, God chooses to restore man to his rightful existence.  God sent Jesus in order to restore us to be children of God.  Think of who Adam and Eve were, who were their parents?  They had no human parents; they were children of God living in the perfect Garden in holy communion and companionship with God.  We were to participate, in an active way, with God in the caring for the created world.  Yet when we sinned, we broke this relationship, we broke away from God.

     Jesus came so that we can experience his life and death and resurrection.  These are real events which give witness to God’s incredible mercy and his unbelievable grace.  Jesus came to bring you back into the family of God.  You are declared a child of God and we are given a promise to cling to and then we are given the faith to cling to it.  This faith doesn’t remove our struggles but it does give us hope.  A hope that tells us that this struggle we call life isn’t all there is to the story. 

     All that the story is about is our restoration, our becoming children of God in order to receive the gift of eternal life.  So we wait for the promise to be perfected or completed at which time our perfection will be restored and we can walk with God and converse with God without pain or sorrow.  Why did Jesus come to earth?  He did so in order that you might have eternal life; the eternal life with him in his holy kingdom.

Dear Father in heaven, through your mercy you have made us your children.  We rejoice in the certainty of this gift.  Help us to see that your will for us is alive and active and moves us every day to live according to your will and purposes for us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen!

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-27-2023

Good Morning All,

     Isaiah 41: 9b-10; “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you” 

    Pick and choose.  We use that phrase often.  It is a phrase that we use in a frivolous manner.  We go to the fast-food place and we pick what we want to eat and then choose how to order it “my way”.  It seems that we pick and choose on every whim.  This makes our picking and our choosing very shallow and without much thought or plan.

    When you are choosing pizza toppings, being shallow isn’t that big of a deal.  If you are picking which movie to go to, you can choose on a whim.  Yet we seem to carry this attitude over into our more personal and more important areas of our lives.  We seem to have made making choices something which has no bearing or consequences in or to our lives.

     We choose to be married and then unmarried.  We choose to love someone today but tomorrow we choose to not love someone.  Some days we choose to talk but others we choose to fight.  I think the one thing that amazes me the most is that we choose to not show respect for other people.  We choose to not show simple human decency.  Why can’t we talk without calling each other idiots, morons, thugs, Nazis, communists, and other names I won’t write?  When did we choose to hate? 

    For the most part, we have always elected to hate.  This fact is why so often, when we get to the end of the day, we look in the mirror and ask (or tweet or post) the question; why did I get up this morning?  Why do I go about this day only to be beaten down by the world whether the world took the form of a boss or a coworker, a spouse or a child, a teacher, or a student?  Everyone chose to dump on me and then bale on me.  The devil loves for you to think this.

    God chose you to be his child.  At the end of the day (and the start and the middle) you are God’s redeemed child and he will never forsake you.  When all the world chooses to walk all over you, God chooses to love you.  When we experience the painful events of our lives, it is when we feel that we can handle it by ourselves that we suffer the most pain.  The weight of the world is on our back and Jesus tells us to come to him and let him carry the load.  We don’t need to fear the worst for God promises his best; eternal life with him.

    As difficult as it is, this world and life is not all there is for us.  This time, our earthly life, is but a minor spot in a life that we will live.  We need to trust God and accept his ways as true.  God has chosen you; he has chosen to give you life hold on to that promise for that is our hope.

Dear Father in heaven, we give you thanks for the gift of life.  Father, you chose us and give us faith to choose you.  Show us the path by which we will choose to love one another and to hold onto one another and value one another with the love which you have for us.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen          

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-26-2023

Good Morning All,

     Psalm 23:3; “He restores my soul.  He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

    I thoroughly enjoy a good joke or even a bad joke.  I really like the ones that make you groan when you hear them.  A number of years ago, one of my younger cousins used to tell jokes.  She would drone on and on and when she got done she would either forget the punch line, use the wrong punch line or she left out huge portions of the joke which made it funny.  A few years ago, I listened to her son tell jokes; he did the exact same thing.  It was fitting and hilarious.  I love humor; it is one of God’s gifts that refresh me.

    Yesterday, while reading the news on the internet, I ran across a joke that made me giggle and laugh.  It was long and drawn out and the sort of hit from the side kind of funny.  You have to “get” the joke but if you do, even Sandy giggled at it and she has groaned at all my jokes.  As I read it and giggled; I felt a lot better.  I felt refreshed.  I think God used that joke to refresh me and get me going again.  

    God truly does refresh us and our souls.  He does it for all of his redeemed children.  Your restoring may not be humor; it may be a visit from an old friend.  On the TV show “MASH” there was an episode when Major Burns goes a little off the edge; Radar calls Major Burns mother and has her talk to him.  His logic was, “Sometimes, you just need to talk to your mother.”  Sometimes it is just a day or so of relaxing and turning stuff off; the TV, the internet, the cell phones; turn them off and just let your mind clear.  Read a little Scripture and hear what God has to say to you.  Maybe you need to spend a quiet evening with your family.  Maybe you go for walk or a leisurely drive; listen to your body, listen to your heart, and let God use his Word and his creation to restore your soul.

    I know that some of you don’t feel the restoring right now.  We go through events which can be very painful and causes us to feel despondent.  An illness that won’t go away, finance troubles that feel like we just keep losing ground, relationships that are strained, a death that was not even thought possible; all can cause us to feel pain and sorrow.  The very sad and very real truth is that these events are part of living in a sinful world.  We will experience them, but we do not experience them alone and we do not have to see them as the end only a portion of life.  Through these events God wants to draw you closer to him.  As he does, he restores your soul and refreshes your spirit.

    This is part of what we talk about when we call Holy Communion a restoring or refreshing sacrament.  This is part of what we talk about when we hear the comfort and the consolation of the Gospel.  This is part of what we talk about when we say that God works through his Church and his creation to support this body and life.  God seeks to restore your soul.

    So, if you have experienced this restoration recently; give thanks.  If you are still waiting remember that it is on the way.  God will restore your soul.

Dear Father, we give you thanks for the gift of restoring our souls.  For those who are in need we ask that you send your Spirit of comfort and restore them to the joyful life which the coming of Jesus gives to us.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray. amen       

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-25-2023

Good Morning All,

     John 14:27; “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” 

     One of life’s ironies, if you ask people what they truly want in this world most would probably answer, peace.  Yet peace does not come and our active goes on. This will involve the same usual hectic pace.  This pace will usually end up with us becoming stressed out about something.

   It might be our boss or coworker.  Why does the boss give you an hour’s worth of work fifteen minutes before it is time to go home and want it the first thing in the morning?  Why does he expect you to put in 20 hours of overtime one week but then show some skewed graph about the “average” overtime is only 4.75 hours in a week?  It might be the people around you as you drive in the parking lot.  Apparently, they got their driver’s license free with the purchase of a happy meal.  Maybe it is your family or family-in-law.  What do they mean that they decided to move the family get together up a week and they want you to bring the ham and roast beef?  How many are planning on staying at our house?   Why does your neighbor have loud parties every weekend? 

    There are many things which drive us crazy and cause us to have no peace.  Some are outside of us, but they usually go away.  It is the inward things which really cause us to have no peace.  We are like the young rich man who, when told by Jesus that to be perfect he must sell everything, we go away sad; we go away without peace.  The young man was not perfect, that is complete or whole, because he sought out his happiness and peace from sources other than God.  We too, seek out peace and comfort in sources other than God. 

     I read an article where they surveyed 1000 women and 23% said if they could do it over they would choose a different spouse.  I don’t know how accurate that is but it does indicate that they are not happy or (more likely) they think they could be happier.  Someone else would have done a better job.  The real danger of that is no person makes us happy or gives us peace.  This only comes from God and knowing that we are saved by God, we are loved by God, and we are sustained by God.  It is when we seek peace in money, or looks or fame or in drugs and alcohol; the world and our sinful nature pulls us down and pulls us away from true peace. 

    God’s gift to us is his peace.  This is what the heavenly host sang about on the first Christmas; “Peace on earth.”   This doesn’t mean that suddenly everyone stopped fighting with their neighbor; it means that God gives us inner peace.  We can have peace with ourselves because God gives it to us.  The boss will still be who he is and the other drivers will be who they are but we can have true peace knowing that our salvation is secure and that God wants us to have his peace here on earth.

Dear Father, we long for your peace and you generously give it.  Yet there are times when we seek our peace form other sources and we become troubled and lost.  Keep us in your arms and guide by your Word.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-24-2023

Good Morning All,

     Acts 1:8; “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 

    My nightly television watching usually includes at least one episode of “Perry Mason.”  He always wins the cases and poor Mr. Burger always loses.  The court room scenes always hinge on a witness or two who either change their story, remember something new or show up as a last-minute surprise.  Then we get the last dramatic witness who is usually the real killer.

    Throughout the court room scene Perry Mason keeps asking for the facts, not opinions but for facts.  What are the facts that you know?  This seems to always be the salient question.  Yet that is what it means to be a witness; you state the facts that you know.  You do not add to them or subtract from them.  You don’t guess what they mean you simply tell what you know; what you saw or heard.

      This verse represents the last words which Jesus spoke to his disciples while he was here on earth.  In it, He makes them a promise, a promise that they will receive the Holy Spirit.  This is truly God’s gift to the church.  The Holy Spirit works through the church calling, gathering the believers, making them holy as they live.  The Spirit gives us the power to be the kind of witness that Jesus wants us to be.  Think of Peter; while he was a disciple of Jesus, he was impetuous, hot headed, arrogant, and yet very fearful.  Yet after Pentecost, after the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to the church, Peter boldly proclaimed his witness of Jesus.  The gift of the Spirit meant everything to him.

     The gift of the Spirit means everything to us as well.  The Spirit continually calls us back to the Gospel, gathers us together as the redeemed children of God, enlightens us with the gifts of the Spirit and builds us into the disciples which Jesus wants us to be.  God has created stuff for you to do.  He has stuff for you to do where you are right now.  He has given you the talents, skills and gifts which are necessary for you to be that witness.  He has placed them throughout your world.

     Just as the disciples were witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.  Ours is similar.  We start in our neighborhood and in our family.  We start with those closest to us.  We usually do this witnessing by our self or with one or two others.  It is evident in the way we live our life, the way we treat each other, the way we love one another.  As our circle expands to our state and region, we continue to witness with the power of the Spirit leading us.  Here we usually join together with many Christians to give a strong witness.  Yet sometimes, the opportunity will arise where you can impact one person whom you have never met before and may never see again.  God has stuff for you to do places for you to be a witness to his Gospel. 

     We continue to be led by the Sprit as we try and witness to the ends of the earth usually aiding those whom God has called to go there.  We are his witnesses, given the power of the Holy Spirit to change the world.

Dearest Father in heaven, you have called us to be witnesses to the saving grace of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Lead us to be powerful witnesses and to touch the lives of those around us especially those most in need.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-23-2023

Good Morning All,

     Psalm 32: 1-3;” Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit, there is no deceit.   For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.”

    Remember the old adage “silence is golden”?  I think most teachers and day care providers still believe and wish some certain little ones would as well.  There is also the one that says, “It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”  That bit of wisdom gets more valuable the older you get, unless you are talking to your doctor… or your pastor.  There are times when being silent is good advice but there are times when it isn’t.

   Our verses are a portion of David’s absolution Psalm.  We want to look at it from the bottom up.  See where it says, “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.”  This is how David describes his life when he was trying to hide his sin of adultery with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba.  David even arranged for Uriah to be killed to hide his sin.  Even though he was in the greatest example of denial, sin took its toll.  David said his bones wasted away.

    We probably haven’t arranged the death of anyone, but we still know what David is talking about.  Even if you are a child who stole a candy bar from the concession stand, you know that guilt.  It is this guilt that keeps you up at night.  Even when you sleep you toss and turn and never really rest.  You feel achy like a cold that never goes away.  Sometimes you don’t feel like eating, maybe you even develop an ulcer.  This is what David means when he says his bones wasted away.  The guilt of sin eats away at us, sometimes literally.

    Yet when David was confronted by his sin and it became apparent that it wasn’t “hidden”, David came cleaned and confessed his sin.  We need to see that there are no “hidden” sins where God is concerned.  God sees all our sins and because of Jesus our sins are forgiven by faith.  When we try to hide our sins, we only harm ourselves and give a lot of ammunition to the devil.  The devil loves it when we try to hide from God.  He hammers us with it until we can no longer stand it.  Hopefully, we turn to God and confess our sins and get rid of them.  Unfortunately, many just try to keep on hiding them and they drift farther away from their family, friends, from God himself.

    Blessed is the one, blessed is the man.  We are so blessed by God’s grace; we should be happy.  There is no reason for deceit in our spirit; that only helps the devil.  Confess your sins to God, make amends when you can and confess to your neighbor when you sin against him.  Let them go and live in God’s grace.  There you can be happy.

Dear Father in heaven, we often fail to come to you to free our self from our sin.  We hold them far too much.  Give us the strength; give us the faith, to come to you and to be happy in your holy forgiveness.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret        

2-22-2023

Good Morning All,

     Galatians 5:6; “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love”.

    If I get up early enough in the morning, I can watch “Married with Children”.  Good Old Al Bundy, every man who never made it anywhere.  I always loved the fact that he thought his “four touchdowns scored in one game” was his ticket to everything and everywhere.  25 or 30 years after the fact, he still thought it mattered.  I think the reason I found that so funny was because I know people who think the same way.  They had some small success a long time ago and they think that it still matters.

   There are many people who think that way.  There is something about them that causes them to think their opinion, their wants or desires should count more than anyone else’s.  Maybe they are a sixth or seventh generation member of a church, maybe their grandfather was a county commissioner, maybe their brother used to coach basketball, whatever you want to look at there is something that makes them think that their word should be the last that is needed.  One of those guys in a group is a challenge; two is difficult and three is downright destructive. 

     It is destructive because they always want the credit, be at the front or be in charge.  It is more important that they be recognized rather than something gets done.  When groups try to work like that, failure comes quickly, or the prior success ends.

    That is what happened in our verse for today.  The Galatian church was a real “go-getter” bunch.  They took hold of Gospel message of Jesus that Paul preached to them and lived together as God had planned.  Then trouble grew, because sin remained.  Soon, they began to separate themselves into groups; each thinking that they needed to be credited with something or that they were, somehow, superior to others.  To this Paul tells them that no matter how you were viewed before, once you are one of God’s redeemed children, you are all the same.  So it is not who you are that matters, it is what you are.

    That’s what he means when he writes only faith working through love matters.  Paul is telling us that the matter of rank within the Christian community has no place.  What matters is that we live by the faith that we are given.  What matters are the works we do because of that faith.  What matters are the lives of others we touch because of that faith.

    God empowers us to be the human beings that he created.  God created us to live in his presence with joy, thanksgiving, and praise.  He created us to take care of each other and to take care of creation.  Sin destroyed all of that.  Yet God, through Christ has redeemed us and brought us back to him.  By the forgiveness of sins, we are made children of God his redeemed children.  We are all the same as we stand before God; we are redeemed children claimed through Baptism.  We are joined with Christ through Baptism.  We are given this by God’s grace, and we will receive the same hope for us which Christ has earned for us- eternal life.  So who we are is determined, not by status, or wealth or power but by God’s loving grace.  So all that matters, in this world, is that we live by the love that he gives us; that love abounds because of the faith that God gives to us.  This is what matters -the love which shines through.

Father in heaven, too often we are more worried about how we look or are perceived by others rather than by how your love shines through us.  We ask that you forgive us and that you strengthen us that we may work for you in your kingdom.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray.  Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret        

2-21-2023

Good Morning All,

     “John 21:3; “Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.”

    Have you ever set out to accomplish something only to give up?  Most of us have.  Perhaps you were going to read the Bible from cover to cover and only made through Genesis 12.  Perhaps you were going to exercise every day and that lasted until Thursday.  There are a host of things that we attempt and then give up usually fairly quickly.

    This is what the disciples did.  They were wondering what to do and Peter decided to go fishing.  They went out in a boat and caught nothing.  So, they came back to shore.  It was just one night.  But what happens if they were to do this for a week or so?  They were fishermen, this was their livelihood; it put food on the table. 

    There are times when we give up rather easily mostly because our heart isn’t in it.  But what happens when your heart is in it and you still end up like the disciples, up all night but catching nothing?  Maybe you have been trying to get a promotion at work, maybe you were trying to make the basketball team, maybe you have been trying to fix the relationship with a family member; you have tried and tried but you keep being up all night not catching anything.  It can be a struggle.

    When we struggle with people it is tough.  When we feel we are struggling with God, it can be even tougher.  We read the Bible over and over and God promises to hear our prayers and to answer them.  So, after a long time of praying do, we sometimes feel like we were up all night and caught nothing?  Maybe you are a parent or a grandparent that has been praying for a grandchild or a child and they just keep making bad decisions.  Maybe you are praying for a spouse who is struggling with an addiction and it never gets better.  Maybe you are praying for the health of a loved one, or maybe even your own but it just doesn’t seem to get better; we fish all night and catch nothing.

    It is times like this that we feel like giving up just like the disciples.  But just like the disciples, when we feel like quitting, Jesus is there to encourage us to keep trying.  We should never give up on love, on prayer, on hope or on the love of God for us.  Our time is not God’s time.  Our will is not always God’s will.  Sometimes when we pray, our prayers are really more self-centered than Christ centered.  Do we want someone to love us the way we want?  Do we pray that someone changes to fit our ideas?  Sometimes those prayers are not the answer we need.  So maybe we should pray for more empathy, more trust, more acceptance by us of the other person.  Maybe the real change has to occur in us rather than the other person. 

    God’s grace changes us.  He gives us the faith to live with that change.  We need to trust in his wisdom to lead us forward.  But we keep praying because as we do God is reaching us to.  We see our own inability to make these changes on our own, so we look to God to guide us.  We need to continue to look to God and we need to pray that God will give to us the patience to wait for his will and the confidence to trust his will.  God has promised us his grace, keep fishing for it, you already have it.  But prayer keeps us in contact with our Father in heaven and helps us to see the providence of his hand.

Father of mercy, you give us what we need in due season.  Give us patience to accept your good gifts and to trust that you are always there to guide us, to comfort us and to give us your peace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray.  Amen!   

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-20-2023

Good Morning All,

     Matthew 19:21; “Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 

    One night a farmer looked out his window and saw that his barn was on fire.  He ran out and saved the pig and the chicken that lived in the barn.  The next morning, the chicken and the pig were talking about the heroism of the farmer.  The chicken suggested that they should serve a grand breakfast to the farmer for his act of heroism.  The chicken suggested that they serve him a breakfast of scrambled eggs and fresh ham.  The chicken said they would each contribute to the meal.  The pig said you may be contributing but it’s a total commitment from me!

    Total commitment; that is a phrase that we hear often.  If you ever watch or listen to a coach of a sporting team, the coach will talk about how his players have total commitment to win this game.  Politicians will tell you they will give 100 percent commitment to serving the country.  When I counsel two people about to marry, I tell them this is a life-long commitment; all the way, you can’t be part way in.  There are lots of time when we have to have complete commitment or what we are doing will fail.

    In our verse, Jesus is answering a young man who asked what he had to do to be saved.  The young man said that he had kept the commandments and Jesus told him you are close.  If you want to be perfect (that is complete), go, sell what you possess and give it to the poor.  The young man went away sad because he was very rich.  Jesus was telling the man to be totally committed and the man went away sad.  You see the young man only wanted to be partially committed.  He also wanted that commitment to be on his terms.

    Jesus is telling this man and us a couple of things.  First, if you want to be complete, if you want to be whole; you have to get rid of the “stuff” that gets in the way.  We all have “stuff” that we hold onto and will at times look to that “stuff” to meet our needs and to give us our sense of security.  We make that “stuff” our false god.  We may not mean to, but we don’t want to give it up; we like to hold on to something we can see and hold on to; we are afraid to completely trust in God and his providence.

    The other thing Jesus is telling us is that, we, on our own, cannot be complete or whole.  Since we are sinful by nature we will always have something missing in us and only God can fill the hole.  God gives us the faith to trust in his promise of hope and eternal life.  He fills that hole that we, by nature, fill with “stuff”.  Stuff that never fills the hole in us and sometimes makes us feel even emptier.  “Stuff” that never really completes us. 

    God, in is mercy, comes to you every second of every day to give you peace, hope, comfort and joy; even in the tough times he comes to us with these gifts.  He is there to make you perfect, to make you complete in a way that “stuff” never will.  His grace will free us and give us the peace that we all seek and need.

Dearest Father in heaven, we often feel empty and lost.  Lead us back to you where we are complete and whole.  Forgive us when we rely on stuff and not place our whole faith in you.  In Jesus precious name we pray. Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

2-19-2023

Good Morning All,

     Colossians 1:27; “To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” 

    There isn’t much in this life like a good mystery.  Whether you read one or watch one, a really good mystery can be very entertaining.  A really good one gives you subtle clues as you watch or read the story.  As each character develops the intricacies and the nuances which shape and mold him into the story pulls you in deeper and deeper.  When I was in college, there were a couple of guys who belonged to a mystery book club.  They got a new book every 8 weeks or so.  Each book didn’t have the solution; it came separately at the same time as the next new book.

     There are many mysteries in this life.  We like to think that most things we can explain but there are many which we simply cannot.  Some people revel in these mysteries, simply enjoying the existence of events which cannot be explained or truly understood.  We are the beneficiaries of one of these, the greatest mystery that baffles man, God’s love for us.

     Why would the Creator suffer and die for one of his creatures?  What do we get for this love?  How do the blessings of the sacraments work in us?  These are a few of the “mysteries of God.” Our verse speaks of another mystery; that Christ dwells in you.  How does this happen?  We can’t really explain it but we certainly get the benefit of it.  Because Christ dwells in us, we will be glorified as he is.  We will rise to life eternal.  We, too, will dwell with the glory of God. 

    This is our hope, the hope of glory.  The certainty of living with Christ for eternity.  With Christ in us, we are new creations.  With Christ in us, we receive the blessings of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  We receive the gifts of love, compassion, peace, hope as well as others.  With Christ in us, we receive comfort, consolation, and hope.

    The world does not even begin to understand this or accept it.  This is folly to the world; it doesn’t make any sense.  It is a mystery which can never be understood or explained.  It can only be believed.  It can only be held onto.  God gives us the faith to cling to that hope; the desire to hold on to God’s promise of forgiveness and of eternal life.  It is a mystery, but we hold to it for all our security.

    Life is full of mystery.  The ones which are gifts from God; mysteries that we are the stewards of, are the greatest mysteries of all.  God’s gifts, which we never merit, are given freely to us.  How can we explain this, we can’t.  We can only live with the certainty of God’s promise to us and the certainty of his love for us, for you. 

Father in heaven, the mystery of your love will never be understood.  We thank you and praise you for your blessings and grace.  Keep us close and guard us from all that would harm us.  In Jesus precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret             

2-18-2023

Good Morning All,

         Proverbs 10:28; “The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.”

      When I was in college, we had a psychology class where the instructor asked everyone to think of what they would do if you knew you had exactly 24 hours to live.  If you knew that you only have 24 hours to live, you still have all your current abilities and faculties but you only have 24 hours to live; how would you spend them?  There were only about 10-12 in the class so we had a pretty interesting discussion.  Most said that they would spend the time calling and talking to friends, especially those who were far away or those who they felt estranged from.  A couple of guys answered that they would get drunk and not even be sober or awake when they died.  One guy said that he would get in his car and drive.  No place in particular just drive and see what he could see 24 hours.  Some answered that they would go home and read the Bible and pray.

    It was an interesting mixture of answers.  Some pointed to trying to run away and avoid the future.  Some placed the importance on relationships with people some placed it on their relationship with God; but it revealed some things about us deep down.  Who are we deep down?

    This is a question that Jesus asked many people while he was here on earth and he asks us that today as well.  Who are you deep down, where do you place you hope and your confidence?  Do you trust yourself?  Do you trust your parents or your spouse to solve everything?  Do you plan on hiding or running away when trials and troubles hit?  Where is your hope, your ultimate security; where is your faith placed?  Is it in the true God or is it somewhere else?

     This is part of the reason that God will allow or even send tests and trials into our lives.  It isn’t so God can see what we are made of.  It is so you and I can see what we are made of.  When I have trouble, where do I go?  Whom do I seek out?  Do I turn to God or something else which is the false gods of my life?

    Our verse gives us a clue as to the right answer.  The hope of the righteous brings joy.  Who are the righteous?  They are those who God has forgiven and declared holy.  They are the redeemed in Christ for whom a place in heaven has been waiting since the foundation of time.  They are God’s chosen children who, by faith, cling tightly to God’s promises of hope and salvation.  When they die and are called to account, they will enter into the kingdom of glory with joy and celebration.

   Yet the wicked will perish.  The wicked aren’t necessary mean or bad people; they are people who have placed their faith in some other god.  They see this god as money or fame or drugs or greed or whatever. 

    So where do you place your ultimate security?  Is it in the saving grace of Jesus and his gift of redemption?  Or do you place it somewhere else?  Grab hold of the faith that God gives you and you will see joy.

   Father of grace and mercy, your blessings are new to us every day and they roll over us like a river.  Keep us secure in the knowledge of our salvation.  Keep us secure in the certainty of our hope.  Strengthen us with your Spirit of wisdom and hold us in your hands.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret