5-31-2023

Good Morning All,

    Proverbs 17: 28; “Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.”

    Have you ever put your foot in your mouth?  Have you ever asked a lady when her baby was due, and she tells you “I’m not pregnant”?  Or maybe asked if those two gals are his granddaughters and he tells you “this one is my wife”?  Yikes!!  Have you ever expressed an opinion about someone else’s choice of clothes or vehicles or whatever and they are standing behind you?   Where is that hole that we want to crawl in?

    Then instead of simply admitting that the mouth was engaged when the brain wasn’t and apologize; we go to elaborate efforts to cover it.  Things like; “I knew you were there all the time; I was just teasing.”  We speak loudly, have over exaggerated hand gestures, and tend to laugh a little too loud and a little too long.  We are embarrassed and a severe case of “foot-us in mouth-us” disease kicks in.  We didn’t mean to hurt anyone; we simply didn’t think all the way through what we were saying.  Yet this painfully embarrassing event is not nearly as bad as when those cruel comments are said and meant to harm.

    Those cruel and degrading epithets, those hateful and derisive comments and those dismissive and cutting remarks cause much pain.  Pain for the recipient; but also, a reduction in the character of the person who speaks them.  We all know people who always have a cruel or crude or hateful comment about another person; do we really think they don’t make some similar comment about us when we are not around?  Listening to someone who is always dismissive and derisive tends to drain you and drive you away unless you are one of those who thrive on it.  These folks think that they are smart and witty but in fact most people really see them as fools.  We need to be careful not to be one of these fools.

    It is especially true with today’s technology; we must really be careful and think three and four times before we send that email or tweet or post that “thing” on Facebook.  There was a time when cruel or unflattering items had a limited range of being heard and a limited life span.  Now they exist forever.

    We need to remember how the Eighth Commandment (Thou shall not bear false witness) works and this is how all the Commandments work as well.  The Commandments have a negative (Thou shalt not) and a positive (Thou should do this) component.  They also have an exchange quality; I treat you this way and you will treat me this way as well.  So, as we look at this Commandment, I would not speak negatively about you and in fact I will try and put the best spin (construction) on your actions and statements and I can expect that you, as my Christian brother or sister, will do the same.  It is when we refuse to follow these guides that we become the fool that everyone knows.

Dear Father in heaven, the tongue causes us more problems and pain that almost any other part of the body.  Give us the wisdom and courage to control our tongue and to speak well of our neighbors.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret         

5-30-2023

Good Morning All,

Exodus 1:15; “Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah,”     

    If I were to give you a quiz about current events, how would you do?  Who is the President of the United States?  Who is the Prime Minister of England?  Who is the President of Russia?  Who is the head of the North Korea? Who is the head of China?   Who is the Speaker of the House? 

    These are some questions which you can answer or, given the time, could find the answer.  Google will take you a long way.  These represent the movers and shakers in our world.  These are the people who seem to be in the news almost all the time and their opinions and comments are carefully weighed and measured.  We end up not only listening to what is said but how it is said and who specifically says it.  If the President of the United States says something but the Speaker of the House says something else; well, we measure it and consider it carefully.  We look at the phrasing, the timing, and the force of the statement.     

    Now here is a different quiz.  Who is the nurse for the children of the President?  Who is the teacher for the Prime Minister’s children?  Who is the maid for the President of Russia?  Who is the cook for the leader of North Korea?  I am not even sure Google will help you much with some of those.  These people slip on by us.  Anyone of a thousand people could fill those tasks.  We don’t hang on the word of the cook who says that the soup was watery today or that the children had the sniffles.  This just doesn’t garner our attention.

    Now, one more quiz.  Who was your first Sunday School teacher?  Who confirmed you?  Who had the most lasting impact on your faith development?  Who showed you how to live as a Christian?

    In our verse, the two women mentioned disobeyed the king of Egypt who was trying to kill the male sons of the Israelites in an attempt to control the Israelites and to thwart God’s plan.  These women displayed great courage and remained faithful to God.  Their faithfulness is rewarded by God.  Later on, they have their own families but here we know their names, their own personal names but what was the personal name of the king of Egypt?  We are not told.  The mover and the shaker of the time is forgotten; yet two humble servants of God, faithful to his Word, are remembered.  The same is true for us.  In another 100 years, only those who are faithful to God and trust in his promises will matter; the rest will be put to shame as unnamed souls.  God, in his mercy, calls you by name at your Baptism and calls you his own and even the hairs on your head are numbered and watched by him.  You are redeemed by God and saved.  How the world viewed you will not matter, only the blood of Jesus, which saves you, will ever matter.

Dear Father, you know all there is to know, and you choose to reveal what you want.  Give us the faithfulness of these midwives that we too may faithfully serve you in whatever situation that you place us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-28-2023

Good Morning All,

        Isaiah 63:9; “In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”

    When I was growing up, I liked to listen to the radio.  I listened to basically two types of music.  We had the rock and roll like Queen or the Beatles or Three Dog Night.  We had the balladeers like Jim Croce or Simon and Garfunkel.  I really like the ballads; they speak to life.  They spoke of joy or sadness of elation or incredible pain.  I liked Simon and Garfunkel and their song “Bridge over Troubled Water.”  It is a plaintive love song. 

    It was a refreshing song in that it was about drugs or sex or violence.  It was about one person’s undying love for the person.  He promised to always be there, no matter what.  This is a promise to be there as one to lean on, to cry on, to be able to be comforted by.  This is still one of the best love songs around. 

    One of our greatest needs as a person is someone to love and to be able to count on when we need them most.  For most of us it is a spouse or a few really close friends.  These are the ones who know us, warts, and all, and still love us.  The ones who can best tell us to move on, think about what to do, and whatever we need to hear.  These are the people who can provide a rudder in our life when life can really get muddy on us.

    That is one blessing that we as Christians have over other religions, we have a God who has “walked the walk.”  Jesus became a man to experience our life.  We often spend time thinking about how he keeps the law perfectly and dies for us.  Don’t forget that he also cried for us and hungered for us, was elated for us, and saddened for us.  Jesus experienced all of our human emotions and all of our experiences.  So, when we hurt, He truly feels our pain.  When we are elated, He knows our joy.  The full range of emotions Jesus has experienced them.

    So, like the song says,” when you’re weary, feeling small when tears are in your eyes, I will dry them off.”  We have the undying love of a God who willingly became man in order to save us.  He died that we might live.  In all of our afflictions, Jesus is there to lift us up.  He is there with his love to redeem us.  His grace sustains us and carries us on.

     We will face hardships and afflictions; that is part of being human.  Yet we do not face them alone and we do not face them with a stiff and uncaring God who fails to see or feel what we see and feel.  God has carried our every affliction and has defeated them with his power because of his love.  We can always find comfort in his arms.

Dear Father, you carry us in your loving arms to safety with all the certainty of your promise.  May we always find comfort in you.  We know that there are many who are hurting and in need of comfort.  Lead us to them that we may be your arms, hands, shoulders, and voice to be the comfort that you so richly offer.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-27-2023

Good Morning All,

   Psalm 107: 19-20 “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.  He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.”

     Some people never seem to have any problem fitting in.  They seem to be the center of the crowd and at ease in any discussion.  They were the class president in school, or the captain of the team, or the homecoming queen or the top student in the class.  But then there are the rest of us.

    Most of us have at times felt like an outsider looking in.  We have felt odd, different from everyone else and felt that everyone else was aware of our difference.  I remember two stories from my college years that really show this to be true.

    The first was a guy named Ahmed.  Ahmed was the first Middle Eastern guy I met.  He was a nice quiet guy, kind of shy and going to school to learn English and then go back and teach in his home country.  Unfortunately, Ahmed had two strikes against him, the year was 1979 and Ahmed was from Iran.  By November, the “Iranian Hostage Crisis” was going strong and foolish college students were calling for the destruction of Iran and all Iranians.  Ahmed felt out of place and not wanted.

     The second was a girl in the Abnormal Psychology Class.  She always experienced these panic attacks.  She had to wear a heart monitor and if it went off, she had to call the hospital.  Again, remember this was the late 1970’s; microchip was a buzz word no one used.  The monitor was bulky, and the phone call was from a real phone not a cell phone.  So, if it went off, quite a few knew it and then she would leave class and call the hospital.  Not exactly inconspicuous; add that to the fact that they weren’t finding anything and a couple of her “friends” hinted it was “all in her head” and this occurred in “Abnormal Psychology;” painfully ironic.  You could see the pain and fear in her eyes when it went off and deep down you wondered if this thing was only making matters worse.  If her attacks were stress related; it would be like throwing a brick to a drowning man.

    Ahmed went to Canada; he couldn’t go back to Iran and his family felt “uncomfortable” here.  The girl ended up with a thyroid condition which stress and anxiety made worse.  You and I can probably relate.  There are times when we feel this pain and distress.  Ours may be from a relationship strain, job strain or unease in social situations.  We see them all the time.  All of a sudden, our co-workers are a lot younger, smarter, and better than we are.  Maybe you find yourself without a partner for the first time in 30 or 40 or 50 years; now what?

    Whatever it is that causes us our distress, God will deliver us.  Notice the line “he sent out his word and healed them” that word is Jesus and he healed us by his passion.  Through Jesus we are healed, made whole by his blood; restored to God’s family where we experience all of his love, grace, and mercy.  We will still have those times when we think we stick out like a sore thumb; but we are among God’s redeemed children, and he will lead us through; holding us close no matter what the situation.

    So, as we face all those battles and all those struggles, we cling to God; we cling to his promises, and we cling to him in hope.  Even if we feel like we are the only one afflicted, God speaks his words of comfort to us and gives to us his holy rest and comfort.  

Gracious Lord, we cry, and you hear, we are in distress, and you respond to us with your love and patience.  Teach us that there is nothing in this world which can separate us from the love which you have for us.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-26-2023

Good Morning All,

Revelation 2:10b; “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

     We often use the word faithful.  We want a faithful dog; we want our car to be faithful; we want our politicians to be faithful.  But what do we really mean by that?  Usually, it means we want them to do what we want them to do.  We want our dog to roll over, fetch, sit up and play catch when we want to.  We want our car to run forever with a minimum of effort on our part to keep it going.  We want the politician to always vote for our interest, whether it is the best for the country or not.  We really have a warped sense of faithfulness.

    The Bible uses the word “faithful” often.  It actually starts in Genesis and goes all the way through to Revelation.  Throughout the whole Bible; throughout our whole existence; God shows his faithfulness to us.  Through his creative and restorative process of us; he displays his love for us.  Yet God’s love is the outward expression of his nature to be faithful.

     What we as human often fail to see is that what God truly calls us to be is to be faithful; faithful to trusting in his promise of forgiveness.  As much as we don’t like to think it, it is not disobedience which causes us to go to hell; it is unfaithfulness.  Our disobedience is simply the outward sign of our unfaithfulness.  When we do not trust in God’s promise, we look elsewhere for our security rather than trusting in God for it.  It is not a question of obedience; it is a question of faithfulness.

    Many Christians, especially American Christians, struggle with this truth.  They prefer to think in terms of obedience and disobedience.  If we think of receiving God’s grace because we are obedient; then we can remain self-focused.  We can think in terms of “God is rewarding me” so what I have is mine.  Those who do not have must be disobedient.  I am getting mine and they are getting what they deserve.  The problem with that is that God’s love for us is from his faithfulness not our obedience.  When you look at God’s love as a gift and a sign of his faithfulness, it calls into question our faithfulness because ours is lacking.

    If we are honest, it is our lack of faithfulness to God’s promise that causes us all our problems.  We tend to think in terms of “deserve” instead “given.”  Imagine you are at a family dinner gathering.  As you sit around the table, the host brings out the food on platters.  It is given to the first person who takes from it and passes it on.  What if he thought he deserved that platter of food, he might just put it down on his plate and keep it; leaving you and the others to go hungry. 

   We need to see that God’s call to us is to be faithful; to be faithful to his promise for when we are we see God’s incredible grace in our life, and we see the need and we have the desire to share God’s gifts with others.  So, as we go through life, and we look at all the gifts and blessings that God has given us; are we just the first person to receive the platter at the dinner table?  Are we sharing the platter or are we placing it down in front of us?  Are we faithful to God and his promises and his call to us to be his witnesses and his agents here on earth?  Be thou faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life.

Dearest Father, too often we are unfaithful to you and to your promise.  Our faith is weak, and we fail miserably.  Forgive us for our sin.  Cleanse us and renew us that we may fully trust in you as our only provider and savior.  In Jesus precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

5-25-2023

Good Morning All,

      Hebrews 4: 9; “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,”

    As far as I know, most of the “blue laws” are gone or at least ignored.  The blue laws were laws that enforced the closure of businesses on Sundays.  This included many retail stores, movie theaters, the sale of alcohol and other things were prohibited.  This was, in many ways, an effort to force people to go to church and to be with their family.  These laws existed for a long time, but it soon became obvious that you cannot force people to do things they have no desire to do.  These also changed as our society and economy changed from an 8- hour, 6 –day a week existence to a 24-hour, 7 day a week existence.

    As we look at the Sabbath for a moment, we need to see how Scriptures lays it out for us.  Unlike the Pharisees, and many who still see the command to keep the Sabbath as a harsh command, the keeping of the Sabbath was about rest.  It was never about the command to worship.  As we look at the Sabbath, we can see it through three “tenses,” the past, the present and the future.

    As you read this, don’t think in terms of “have to” but in terms of “get to.”  We first see the Sabbath in the story of the creation.  “In six days did the LORD God create the earth and on the seventh day he rested.”  This is part of the rhythm of life that God gives us.  He gives us a day to stop our work to rest and while we rest; we can focus on our relationship with God.  It also allows us to focus on what God has done and continues to do for us.  We recall his creative works which give us life.

    We should look at it through the present tense.  How does our life go today?  To say that life has stress is an understatement.  We run ourselves ragged trying to keep up with what we think we “need.”  The devil and our sinful nature really feed into this.  This is where our drive to “be better” can drive beyond what is healthy.  This “stress to success” takes a horrific toll on many of our relationships.  It destroys marriages, families, friendships, personal health and, worst of all, we destroy our relationship with God.  God gives to us rest; rest from the frazzled world, rest to restore our soul.  This rest lets us take that deep breath and look around and see where our true goals for our life should be, with our God and with our family.

    The third tense is the future.  This is where we see eternal rest with Jesus in heaven.  The cares and struggles of this life are all gone and rather than battle and wrestle with them; we can lay them aside and rest in his glory.

    So, try to keep a Sabbath.  Try to make a day where you rest with your family and with God.  If you can’t work a day, try a half a day or a third of a day but try to find the time to rest in God’s grace and in his mercy.  Luxuriate in the grandeur of his love.

Gracious Lord, you give us the rest that only you can give.  You bring us the sacred time for us to rejuvenate and to refresh our soul.  Give us the wisdom to accept this day as a gift and not a command.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,             

Pastor Bret

5-24-2023

Good Morning All,

         1 Corinthians 13:7; “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

    Many youngsters, at one time or another, think of running away.  When they are younger, it is to run away from punishment.  When they get a little older, it may be to resolve issues with parents or school.  Maybe they think that the rules are too strict or that they are deserving of more trust and freedom.  As they get older, it can be more and more serious.  It can be the stress of classes.  It can be the stresses of friendships or lack of friends.  It might be the strain between friends who have and friends who are.

    Running away is often our answer in life.  Sometimes it is our answer to life.  We think we get away from the problems.  Somehow, the problems won’t find us; the problems will just disappear.  Yet, as the old saying goes, you can run but you cannot hide.

    Adam and Eve tried to run.  They tried to run from God and to hide their sin.  When God “found” them; they tried to run from the responsibility of what they had done. The really sad thing is that by running away from God, they were running away from their only hope.

    When a child is little and runs away, a parent has two choices; to wait for them or to go looking for them.  As children get older, we usually have to go looking for them.  As parents, we never stop loving them; we never give up.  There may be times when our children do things which we almost cannot bear but we still love them.  We may not approve of what they said or did but we still love them.  A child can never truly run away from the love of a parent.  The child may think so, but the parent never does.  The parent will always be looking for the child trying to get them back.  Parents never really give up on their children.  The love of the parent endures.

    God is our heavenly father; he will never stop looking for you.  He will never stop loving you.  God’s love endures all things.  He wants to keep us in the family, and he wants us to be happy.  It is kind of strange that we often spend all of our time complicating the Bible.  It is really simple.  God wants to deliver us from evil; to save us from the wretched power of the devil.  He wants us to live as a community of people who serve him and love him.  He wants us to be a community of people who communicate with him and he wants us to have the good life.  All this, out of fatherly divine goodness and mercy; all this out of love, God loves us.  Instead of running away, run to him.  God desires our love and our faithfulness.  He desires this more than our obedience.  God’s love endures and he wants ours in return.

Father of love, we glorify your name for all the blessings which you give to us.  We are especially thankful for the gift of redemption, for the gift of your love.  Move us to share this love with those around us and to bring all the runners home.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-23-2023

 Good Morning All,

     Colossians 3:15; “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” 

     In the mid 1970’s, a musician by the name of Harry Chapin had his one number one hit song entitled “Cat’s in the Cradle”.  It is a song about a father who is too busy providing for his family to spend time with his son.  The son tells him that it is ok and that he is going to grow up and be just like him.  In the last verse, the father calls his now adult son to visit, and the adult son is too busy, and the father realizes that his son is just like him.  It is rather poignant and is a song I encourage new fathers (and mothers) to listen to it were intently.

    It is very easy to become too busy.  We strive to do it all and to have it all.  Time: and the management thereof, becomes a most stressful event in our life.  Our schedules are full to overflowing and we look to squeeze more in.  We don’t slow down and because of that and yet we want to have everything.  There comes a time when there is no more time.  God put 24 hours in a day and no matter how important you think you are; you cannot put 25 into one.  But we try and in the end; we begin to crack.  The inevitable stress becomes more than we can handle. 

    The release of this stress takes many forms.  It can and will take a tremendous physical toll.  People have ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, overeat, under eat, use drugs and alcohol to compensate for the stress.  Sometimes it takes the form of breaking the relationships which are essential to our own well-being.  Like in the song, the father sacrificed his relationship with his son because he didn’t have the time. 

    The truth is we have the time; we just don’t have the priority right.  All of this stress leads away from that golden promise of Jesus, the promise of rest and the promise of peace.  The type of peace only found in Christ.  Take time to breathe and to enjoy the good life which God gives us.  If we stop and look at what God gives us, it is ample and with it we will have time.  Time for our families, time for our rest and above all time to spend with our Lord Jesus is available if we live in peace.  We need to let the way of the world go and live in God’s peace.  We all complain about the rat race and how it literally turns many of us into rats, doing whatever we can to get ahead and for what? A whole bunch of busted; busted bodies and poor health, busted relationships, and above all completely busted lives. 

    The devil and the world want you to race and race.  God wants to give you peace.  We get a choice.  We can receive God’s gift; it is right there on a platter for us.  Take the rest and peace he gives you; you won’t regret it.

Dearest Father, only you can give us peace.  Grant us the faith to grab hold of the peace that you give us.  You move mightily to redeem us and to bless us.  Let us see these are gifts from you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-22-2023

 Good Morning All,

    Isaiah 40:31; “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

   Have you ever watched the movie “Forrest Gump”?  I really like it because it is a movie that you can watch over and over and find new nuances or story lines.  There are some really good lines to quote from this movie.  “Life is like a box of chocolates” “Mamma said stupid is as stupid does!” “Sometimes I guess there just aren’t enough rocks” “I am not a smart man, but I know what love is” These come in handy once in a while.

    One of the side stories of the movie that intrigues me is how Forrest waits the entire movie with his love for Jenny.  Jenny starts out as the young schoolgirl who befriends Forrest, and they grow up together.  She eventually grows away from him (she thinks), but he never does and writes her letters every day when he is in Vietnam.  Through her whole life, when Jenny has to make a choice; she usually takes the wrong one.  Her life is tough.  It is a struggle every step of the way, never answering Forrest’s letters but his love continues.  He waits for her until she comes home for a while.  She sleeps like she hasn’t slept for years.  They eventually get married, but she dies shortly afterwards from some new disease. (Unstated but AIDS is implied) So Forrest is waiting again, with their son.

    I don’t know if I could wait like that.  Waiting can be hard for us.  We wait for the job we want.  We wait for the spouse we need.  We wait years for a child to be born.  Sometimes we wait for a prayer to be answered and then it is not what we hoped for.  Sometimes we find ourselves waiting for a loved one who has left us and will not return.  Sometimes we wait and it feels like time stops.  Yet God tells us to wait.

    To wait on the Lord means to know that God is doing something for us that is wonderful.  He is doing something so wonderful that, even when we know it, we don’t really understand it.  God’s grace is alive restoring us to his family.  God is preparing us for heaven and is preparing a place in heaven for us.  When we “wait for the Lord” when we are expectant; anticipating God’s wondrous mercy and as we trust in that mercy.  As we trust in the Lord we are renewed; we can run like we are not weary.  Think of all the restored joy and energy which God gives to us which we pass by because we are waiting for something different and yet God has the precious gift waiting for us; life eternal with him.  We will live in what the Bible describes as a wedding feast.  This is a time of eternal gladness.  Wait for the Lord; it is going to be great!!

Dearest loving Father, your mercy is new to us every day.  Teach us to wait; teach us to wait as you do the wondrous events and actions in our life.  Be with us and guide us.  Protect us and give to us the energy to run and never tire in our service to you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret         

5-20-2023

Good Morning All,

      Mark 1:17; “And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 

    During the 1960’s there was a singing group called the “American Breed”, a sort of one hit wonder group, had a hit song called “Bend Me, Shape Me.”  It was a song about a guy singing to the girl he loved how his love for her was so great that she could do whatever she wanted to him.  “Bend me, shape me, anyway you want to;” a song of this young man’s undying devotion. 

    It may or may not be prudent for a young man to sing this to a young lady, but it is the attitude with which we should approach discipleship under Jesus.  This verse is one which is a little different than some would read it.  Many read this verse and think that it is an instantaneous event.  Yet actually, this verse is the start of a lifelong process.

     This passage actually means to mold or to shape.  Think of a potter who is shaping a piece of pottery out of a lump of clay.  The lump would just lie there and do nothing.  Yet as the potter begins to pull on it, push it, and stretch it into the piece which he is creating.  It may become a bowl or a vase or a cup. 

     The same is true for us.  Our entire life we spend being molded into the disciple which Jesus intends us to be.  We are pulled and pushed and formed by the events of our lives.  Through them, God shapes us into his disciples.  Some of these experiences may be enjoyable while some may not be.

    Think of the experiences that we have had in our lives.  Perhaps you have worked with someone who is very difficult to work with.  They are demanding, judgmental, arrogant.  They berate you often.  It feels like their only goal is to deride you.  Events like this can teach a Christian to be compassionate and forgiving to his neighbor.  When we experience the pain of the death of a loved one, we can become more understanding and able to offer comfort to our neighbor. 

    In both these cases, we will tend to know the right words, know when to speak and when to listen.  God uses, even directs, our life experiences in order to fashion us into the disciples which he wants us to be.  It takes a lifetime of learning and growing, a lifetime of shaping and molding.  Yet through it all, He brings us closer to him and strengthens our faith.

     There are times when we don’t want to be shaped but when we are we need to trust in his word of hope that all things work toward the good for those whom he loves.  God shapes us but it is with his loving purpose to enable us to be his disciples. In order to better share his kingdom with those around us.

Dear Father, as you mold us, keep us close to you with our eyes focused on your grace.  Strengthen our faith and encourage us as we reach out to encourage others.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-18-2023

Good Morning All,

      1 John 4:9; “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” 

    During the mid- 1960’s the Beatles recorded a song entitled “All You need is Love.”  It was written very simply.  It was written that way by design.  The BBC commissioned the Beatles to write a song which would be easily understood by any nationality or in any language.  It was then sung on the first international satellite television show.  It was a live broadcast around the world and the Beatles introduced their song at the end of the broadcast.

    It was an ambitious undertaking requiring thousands of technicians and new satellite technology.  It was complicated by the fact that shortly before the broadcast the Soviet bloc nations pulled out.  It was designed to try and bring the nations of the world, all the people, to exist in one happy existence.  The fact that the Six Day War broke out right before kind of put a damper on the event.

    The thing is the producers were right.  All you do need is love, sadly; the Beatles were not the place to look.  If we were to look at the history of mankind, the lack of love is the problem.  When sin entered the world, man’s perfectly harmonious relationship with God and with his fellow man was broken.  We went from selfless love to selfish love.  We went from caring about our neighbor to trying to figure out how to stick it to our neighbor.

    Immediately after sin, Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent, Cain killed Abel and mankind left God.  Sin turned man inward.  We look only to our selfish needs, and we refuse to look out for others.  It becomes all about me and when it is all about me; there is no love.  Think about it.  Think of 1 Corinthians 13 and the description of love.  Love is patient, kind; love keeps no record of faults, etc.  Do you know any selfish person who has those traits? 

    From the onset of sin, man has been completely selfish and lost the capacity to love.  One of the more important aspects of the “image of God” was destroyed by sin.  We were completely lost in our own selfish desires and wants.  This is why Jesus came into the world.  For God so loved the world; that is why Jesus came.

     With His coming, Jesus showed the world what it means to love.  Look at the verses where we are told this.  “Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for another.”  “Love one another as I have loved you.”  We see Jesus returning man back to his original purpose; to love one another.  It is as if Jesus gave us a badge to wear for all to see.  That badge is the badge of love for each other.  The question we need to ask ourselves is do we wear the badge, or do we hide it?  Do we share God’s love, his compassion, for the people we come in contact with, or do we hide it and stay with our sinful selfishness?  God gives us the power to love, through faith; we can impact the world in a way that John Lennon couldn’t have imagined.

Dear Father, your love is all that we need and all that we have, Give us the courage to love, give us the capacity to love, and bring us together as your dear children to show your love to all.  Bless those who are especially in need of experiencing your love.  Use us as your hands to show your love to the world.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen            

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-17-2023

Good Morning All,

Joshua 1:5; “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.” 

     When we bought our refrigerator, the salesman promised that we would be happy with it and would have years of trouble-free use.  Then he tried to sell us the extended warranty.  So now I wonder how great a promise that was.

    Many years ago, my dad bought a boar from a guy.  Dad asked him if he guaranteed the boar; the guy said yes.  Dad asked what if the boar was sterile.  The guy told him he guaranteed that he would sell dad another boar.  He didn’t bring a boar home that day. 

    We can go through life and have a lot of promises made to us.  Many come with a lot of fine print attached.  Many aren’t worth the time it takes to listen to them.  But some are made to be kept.  We promise our spouse that we will love, honor, cherish and be faithful until death do us part.  This is probably the most important and sacred promise that we make.  Yet even this one can fail.  Sin even has its tentacles in this. 

    It would appear that we live in a world where there are absolutely no promises worth hearing.  This is because we are unable to truly keep any promise we make.  We may try but eventually we fail.  Sin does that to us.

    This is what makes God’s promise so extraordinary.  This is what makes it so important for us to have faith in Him.  He promises to never leave or forsake us.  This is a most wondrous gift to us.  Yet many, even believers, fail to grasp the width and depth of this promise.

    Many think that God is sitting in heaven watching us, even watching out for us.  Yet his promise is so much more than that.  He is with you.  Through his Holy Spirit he lives in you and thus experiences your life.  God isn’t some distant entity; he is the eternal, loving Spirit which gives us meaning to our life, which gives us hope.  God has shown this to us by the birth of Jesus.  In that birth, God became man and experienced all that this life has to offer.  Through Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension we have the new hope for the new life.  We have the forgiveness of sins.  We have the promise that God is with us.

    We have the same experience which the Israelites had when they were in the wilderness and God’s Presence rested in the Tabernacle.  God’s Presence is with you every day and he will never leave you.  The glorious fact is that this promise depends on the nature of God and not on our qualities.  God is with us to share our life and to carry our burden.  The devil and the world will fling all sorts of junk at us, but God is there to shield us, to protect us and to keep us safe within his loving arms.

Dear Father, we give you wondrous praise for your promise to never leave us.  Even when we try to leave and go our own way, you are there to return us to your arms and safety.  Continue to keep us within your gentle hold.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-16-2023

Good Morning All,

Matthew 5:7; “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

     Jesus once told a parable about a king who was settling his accounts.  He called a man before him who owed about 200,000 years’ worth of wages to the king.  The man said he would pay the king back.  The king had mercy and forgave the debt.  The man then went out joyful at his good fortune.  Until he met a friend who owed him about 3 months were of wages.  When the friend asked for time, the first man went into a rage and had his “friend” thrown into prison until the debt was paid.  When the king heard this story, he called the first man in and asked him, “I showed you mercy, shouldn’t have you?” Then he had the first man thrown into prison until his debt was paid.

    One time I listened in a Bible study while the leader of the study rationalized how unlikely this scenario was.  This person was so callous and out-of-touch that he must be almost psychotic.  This act so lacks sensitivity that it is almost off the charts.  After all, what kind of a monster would put anyone, let alone a friend, in prison over an insignificant sum of money?  There was a hearty round of agreement, and everyone went away feeling good about themselves.  As we left, I kept thinking of the prayer of the Pharisee who said, “I thank you, my God, that I am not a sinner like that man!”

     Don’t we throw people into “prison” all the time?  Don’t we demand that all debts, no matter how small, get paid?  Think of your brothers or sisters, have you ever been mad at them for a couple of days because they messed up your room?  Did you try to get even?  What about your spouse?  Do they ever do something that leaves you with the feeling, maybe you even say it; “They knew I was mad at them over this.”  Not all prisons have steel bars and locks.  Some are made of our anger and our judgmental attitude.  Yet we leave church having received God’s forgiveness, but we punish our children for making us be two minutes late for church.

    We are that man.  Our sinful nature does a good job convincing us otherwise, but we are that man.  We stand and gratefully receive God’s forgiveness of our sins, yet we extract from our family and friends’ payment for every sin, real or imagined, and we put them into our emotional prison until they pay.  If that is you, and it probably is at one time or another, God is speaking to you.  Look at the debt that we are forgiven.  The amount that the first man owes in the parable is absurdly high to make the point; we can never pay that debt only God can forgive it.  Yet someone messes up our room, causes us a little inconvenience, hurts our feelings or some other small matter and we imprison them for days or weeks until they pay.

    If that is you, listen to God’s Word of forgiveness and heed his warning.  Be merciful and you will receive mercy.

 Dear Father, too often we refuse to forgive others.  We would rather keep them in our prisons.  Forgive us when we do this and give us the insight to see when we do this and give us the strength and wisdom to do so.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret