6-30-2023

 Good Morning All,

1 Samuel 7:12b; “for he said, “Till now, the Lord has helped us.”

    Have you ever watched some of the “underdog’ movies like “Rocky” or “Dodgeball” or even “The Karate Kid”?  In these movies, and dozens more like them, we have the wise old guy who tutors and then gives advice to the young upstart who is taking on the world.  We could even add “Star Wars” to this list.  Sometimes our hero comes in already beaten up and in need of help and sometimes our hero doesn’t even know he is the hero until the old guy explains it to him.

    The thing about these movies is that the old guy has the answers for the new guy.  It might be a trick or an insight or a way to deal with your opponent or it might be an insight into the new guy himself.  Part of the plot twist is that somewhere along the line the new upstart guy either loses confidence or the girl or skirmishes along the way.  Just when it seems hopeless, the old wise guy whispers the secret to all, and the good guy wins in the end.

    In the end, the new upstart guy pays homage to the old wise guy in some way, shape, or form and the wise old guy smiles back.  In many ways this is what is going on in our verse.  Samuel is telling the young upstart Israelites that the reason for their success is God and his benevolent hand.  In the passages right before this verse, the Israelites defeated a superior Philistine army.  They did it because God caused it to happen.  That is how we win as well; God causes it to happen.

    God caused Israel to win because he loved them not because they deserved it.  They didn’t deserve it.  God causes us to win because he loves us not because we deserve it; we don’t.  This is God’s mercy and grace at work.  We benefit because, so far, God has helped us.  This makes it seem somewhat conditional; it really isn’t.  It really is about God’s faithfulness to us.  This is about God keeping his promises to us.

    God has made promises to us and has kept each one of them.  Right up until this moment, God has kept every promise that he has made to you.  Can you say that you have kept every promise you have made?  I know that I can’t.  I have broken many promises throughout my life and usually they were made to my closest family members, my wife, my sons, my parents, and sisters.  Sometimes we make such cavalier promises that we never even realize we break them.  “Call me if you need something;” then they call and oops I am busy.  God is never busy.  God is always there for us.  God is always speaking to us with his words of comfort, hope and forgiveness.

    Right up until now God has helped us.  It is when we refuse to see the help and accept the help that we begin to howl.  We complain that God isn’t helping; he isn’t listening, but the truth is we are the ones who aren’t listening; God is always speaking.  God offers us his love in Jesus for us to hold on to.  Right up until now God has saved you, redeemed you and preserved you.  He will continue this same promise forever.

Dearest Lord Jesus, you have redeemed us with your blood and righteousness.  Keep us as your dear ones and hold us safely in your arms.  Make us see the comfort and hope which you give each day through your precious Words of forgiveness and salvation.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret        

6-29-2023

Good Morning All,

       Psalm 23:5b “My cup overflow”

    Overflowing the cup; to some it would seem wasteful.  You spill so much isn’t that wasteful?  But that isn’t the way to view it.  Rather than view a cup at the table think of it as a cup in a river.  That is how we should envision the grace that God gives to us.  When the Old Testament writers talk of grace, we can imagine an employee getting an undeserved bonus or gift from their employer.  It is extra and not earned.  Think in terms of a bonus or time off; not as part of an agreement or contract but just something that the employer wants to do in order to show his love or appreciation for his employees.  God’s grace, that overflowing gift we don’t deserve just keeps coming to us rolling over us like a river.  We own no cup, bucket or vessel which can possibly hold God’s grace; it simply overflows and spills onto those around us.

 

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life—now that is a blessing!

 

     As we look at this section, we want to focus in on one word: “follow.”  To us to follow means to trail after, to tag along or loll behind.  That is not how the Hebrew word should be interpreted.  This word translates better as “to hunt” or “to pursue” or “to chase.”  We think of follow as what a calf does with its mother; we should think in terms of a lion and its prey.  We see God’s goodness and mercy hunting us down.  God keeps coming after us every day with his grace and his mercy.  It is not just a one attempt and be done.  It is not just lagging back behind just in case we decide to try it.  This goodness and mercy are more like the well-trained sheep dogs which a skilled shepherd counts on.  While the shepherd is leading the flock, the sheep dogs are in the back keeping the stragglers from getting lost.  God uses his mercy, which is totally undeserved; to keep bringing us back to his flock.  He keeps bringing us back no matter how often we stray.  He keeps bringing us back with all his love.  We can always run but God’s goodness and mercy will hound us forever.

 

And I will dwell in the House of the Lord, forever.  Now that is eternal security!

 

    This is what we can always hang our hat on.  This is the promise that we can always trust.  No matter what else happens, we will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.  This harkens back to a time when being in the Temple meant that no harm would come to you.  No one would draw blood in the Temple.  No one would fight in the Temple.  So, if you could get to the Temple, you would be safe form the Israelite soldiers.  We of course see it as living in God’s presence, first the Church then heaven; as a place of eternal safety.  It is here where we experience all that God has to offer us.  We experience his love, his comfort, his consolation, his peace; all this and more because we dwell in his house forever.

Dearest Lord, you shepherd us with your grace and mercy.  Keep us as your dear children, safe in your House, secure in all that we do.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

6-28-2023

Good Morning All,

          Acts 2:42; “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” 

    Do you remember that little ditty you use to say in nursery class or for your grandmother?  “Here is the church and here is the steeple; open up the door and look at all the people!”  You would fold your hands together, and then you put your two index fingers up as the steeple.   Next you would rotate your hands and wrists to wiggle your fingers to be the people.  It is so easy to make a church when you are 3 or 4; why is it so difficult when you are 30 or 40?

    First you have to canvass the area and see if there is a need for the church.  Then you have to have a mission committee form to provide the proper preaching ministry.  There has to be proper administration and then, and only then, can a church be planted.  Of course, after that comes the articles of incorporation, which need to be passed by the congregation, then accepted by the state, then approved by the district and synod.  Then we are a church!!

     Unfortunately, this is how many people view it.  It is all mechanical in nature; it is all about the physical or visual effect.  It is about numbers; about how big or how many or how often events in the church occur.  Some go so far as to be everything to everyone and to have everything go on at the church.  Unfortunately, this makes the church just one big social club.  This is not the true church at all.

    The true church, the true Church that is the body of Christ, has nothing to do with a building or even a human plan.  It has everything to do with the Spirit of God and how the Spirit expresses himself in the world through the physical hands of believers.  That is kind of a wordy statement so let’s look at it a little by looking at our verse.  Notice what the believers do; they pray, they celebrate fellowship with the breaking of bread (communion) and studying the teachings of the apostles. 

    The true Church is God’s people at work but what is our work?  First it is studying the Word of God and praying.  This is the holy conversation we have with God.  We listen (the Word) then we speak (prayer).  This interaction keeps us actively engaged with God.  Yet that is only part, we need to meet in fellowship and the breaking of bread in order to stay connected to our fellow Christians.  This is how we get the support of the Holy Spirit; this is how the Word becomes flesh now.  The Spirit moves our Christian brothers and sisters to admonish, comfort, console and uplift us.  We do this, not by some 8-point plan, but by the love we express because of our prayers, our devotion to the Word and to our fellowship together.  By being filled with the Spirit, God will move us to serve him. 

    All of this isn’t meant to completely demean church plans, committees, or programs.  It is meant to ask a question; why do we do it?  We should do them because we have prayerfully considered the needs around us and how God wants to use us to meet these needs.  Above all we need to pray, pray first, for all those in need.  They we pray that God will lead us to the way we should help those in pain.  We don’t do programs to make us look good but to respond to God’s grace.  Above all, pray for each other, pray for those in need.  Pray with some of your friends during the week if you can.  Try and meet to pray and study God’s Word; to engage in this holy conversation.  It can be in your home, at coffee one day, in a break room but try to pray with each other in fellowship together.

Dearest Father, build your Church through us.  Use us to be your hands and your voice in a world that so desperately needs to hear you.  Keep us close to you through your Word drawing us to prayer to you.  This we ask in Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.         

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

 

6-27-2023

Good Morning All,

              Isaiah 40:1; “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.”

    Comfort is something that we all seek and need once in a while.  We want to wear our jeans in comfort.  We want to wear our shoes in comfort.  We like to work in an atmosphere of comfort.  When we are sad or afraid, we want comfort.  We even have comfort food. 

     When we look at the Old Testament, especially Isaiah, we read a lot about comfort.  Our verse for today is among one of the better-known verses.  “Comfort, comfort my people;” but what does this mean?  Is God giving us a good pair of jeans and some meatloaf?  There are some out there who would think that way.  But this phrase has far more power than that.

     When Isaiah talks about comfort, he is talking about being restored.  So, when Isaiah speaks of comfort for the people, he is telling them that Israel will be restored.  After the Babylonian captivity is done; Israel, specifically Jerusalem, will be restored.  The beautiful city will be restored, and the Temple will be as well.  This is what the captives long for.  They want to return to Jerusalem to the restored city.  All they remember is that as they are marched off into captivity is that the city was burning and in utter ruin.  They dreamed of the day when it was restored to its original shine and luster.

     So how does this affect us?  We certainly aren’t waiting for Jerusalem to be restored.  What does this mean to us and why should we even find joy in this statement?  What it means to us means that God’s promise of restoration applies to us as well.  Not to the land and Jerusalem but to God’s holy family.  We see this story not as land but as faith.

    We were taken off into the captivity of sin.  Think of when Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, how sad that must have been.  They were leaving behind a place of perfection and total joy, and they were leaving because of what they did (sinned) and because of what they didn’t do (have faith).  They must have been crushed and burdened with the weight of knowing what they had and that they so carelessly threw it away.  So, through them, we gained a life full of pain, sorrow, sadness.  These are the burdens of sin in our life.  We are saddled with pain, fear, sorrow, loneliness; all that stuff that makes life so unpleasant.

    There was and is nothing we can do to change this; so, God did.  By having Jesus take our place and receive the punishment that we deserve; we are restored.  We are restored double for our sin.  We receive more restoration than we have sinned.  The restoration is accomplished.  We live with the promise of the final restoration on Judgment day.  We wait eagerly for that day. 

    But until then, we can live knowing that God is comforting us; he is restoring us to his family.  Even as we keep falling away, he keeps restoring us in double fashion.  Even as the pain and suffering of this world tries to beat us down; God restores us to his family.  We can take comfort in our restoration for it is when we see that we are truly God’s children that we can take refuge and comfort in Him.

Dearest Father, you have restored us to your family.  We live with the knowledge and comfort of your restorative love.  Give us the certainty of this hope and the certainty of our salvation.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-26-2023

Good Morning All,

           Proverbs 25:11; “A word rightly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

6-25-2023

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.”    

    There is always something interesting in making something for yourself.  It really doesn’t matter what it is; it might be a bookcase or a pie or a piece of pottery; we enjoy making things with our hands.  Some of us find it therapeutic and relaxing.  Making something with your hands gives you far more satisfaction than just going out and buying something like it instead.  Using your hands tends to bring out a sense of purpose and comfort.  It is like the carpenter.  You know that you are watching a true carpenter when they get to the end of the project.  Before they declare it done, they take their hand and gently run it up and down the finished project.

    As we look at our verse, I hope you notice how God is addressed in this passage.  Here, and in the rest of the Bible, when we see God called “the LORD God” this refers to God’s proper name as “YAHWEH.”  This is the name by which God introduced himself to Moses the “I AM the I AM.”   YAHWEH is the Redeemer of Israel; this is the Name by which God personally rescued the children of Israel from Egypt.  The thing that I want you to keep in mind is that by this name” YAHWEH” is the “hands on” God. 

    Notice how creation is described.  The LORD God formed the man and breathed into his nostrils.  YAHWEH got his hands dirty forming you.  He formed you out of the dirt and then placed his mouth on that dirt and breathed into a life, a living creature, a soul.  We can take so much comfort in this.  YAHWEH isn’t a distant God who is averse to being near us.  YAHWEH is a “hands on” God.  He gets into our dirty lives and breathes new life into them. 

    When we hurt or fear or are lost, YAHWEH is there.  He is there getting his hands dirty to redeem you.  Think of Jesus, God in the flesh.  He walked on dirty roads, he touched the skin of dirty people, looked into the heart and soul of dirty people, and made them whole; he made them clean.  God comes to you and picks you up out of the gutter and lifts you up with his loving arms into his bosom to hold us near and dear to him. 

   As we go through life, we will face a lot of unpleasant things.  We face the pain of broken marriages, lost children, angry parents, family dying way to soon or maybe watching one die way too late, but God gets his hands dirty for you to give you hope.  There is nothing dirtier than death on a cross; yet Jesus, our Redeemer, did just that.  He did it because he loves you and if getting dirty is what he had to do then getting dirty is what he did.  We do not have to think that God doesn’t understand my life; he truly does.  That is why Jesus became a “hands on” person who died a “hands on” death.  He did this so that you and I could keep our “hands on” eternal life.

Dearest Father, you reached down into my life at times when I felt that no one could or that no one cared.  You saved me from the wretched pain of the devil and his snares.  Continue to guard me with your Spirit and protect me this day.  In Jesus name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-24-2023

Good Morning All,

Romans 8: 38-39; “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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

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

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

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

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

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-23-2023

Good Morning All,

           2 Timothy 1:5; “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.” 

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

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

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

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

   We all have a grandmother or a mother who was instrumental in our faith formation.  Those who filled those roles may not have been blood relatives but within the church; someone filled these roles.  It may have been a Sunday School teacher or a neighbor.  It may have been a kindly member who showed you the kind of love which Christ had for her or him.  It was this encouragement which God used to grow your faith.

    Now many of us have the chance to be the Eunice or Lois in a young person’s life.  Be sure to take that role.  God gives us the opportunity to witness our faith.  For some it is halfway around the world but for most of us it is with the little boy or girl that sits behind you in church and kicks the pew that you sit in.  When God gives you opportunity; go ahead and try it.

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

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-22-2023

Good Morning All,

           Luke 11:1; “Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-21-2023

Good Morning All,

    1 Corinthians 2:2; “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 

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

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

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

    You can almost sense Paul doing the same thing here in the beginning of his Corinthian letter.  He does it for a different reason than trying to get attention; he does it to “start over” as it were in his preaching.  Paul is more about “let’s start from the beginning” than anything else.  But He has decided to focus on the crucial statement.  It is Jesus Christ and him crucified.  That is the central point of our faith.  We can talk about many issues or concerns, but our focus is, should, and always will be “Jesus Christ and him crucified.” “Jesus Christ and him crucified” is the phrase that changes our whole world. It draws us into God’s holy family and gives us the hope we need to overcome whatever the world throws at us.

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

    Jesus is the rock upon which we are built.  He is the one truth in a world that knows no truth.  We only need to focus on Him and Him alone.  Jesus Christ and him crucified are all we need.

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

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-20-2023

Good Morning All,

    Exodus 22:17b; “And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

6-19-2023

 Good Morning All,

    Isaiah 65; 23-24; “for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them.   Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.”

    Have you ever watched any of the movies about the earth after some form of nuclear catastrophe or some other cataclysm?  It is always fascinating that the world is so desolate and such a wasteland.  There is always a scene where the wind is blowing so much dust or sand that you can’t see the characters of the film. 

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

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

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

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

     So, as we go through life, we may feel like we are in a wasteland, barren and hopeless.  Yet God comes to us with his Word, the word of forgiveness. He comes to us with his soul refreshing gift of Holy Communion to re-invigorate our spirit.  He gives us his Church where we experience flesh and blood expressions of His tender grace and mercy.  He gives us prayer to speak to him and to cry out to him in pain or in joy but even before we do, He knows us, and he answers us.

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

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-18-2023

Good Morning All,

    Psalm 136:1; “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

    I want to relate a story to you that I was told a few years ago.  I might not have all the details exactly right so I might take literary license as it were.  A young father was telling about his daughter when she was very young.  At the age of 2 she had decided that when she grew up; she wanted to be an elephant.  Nobody is sure where that came from, but she was only 2 and she was fascinated by elephants.

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

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

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

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

Dearest Father, I want to thank you today for what you are doing today and what you are going to do tomorrow.  Keep me in the certainty of this knowledge that I might always be in the comfort of your loving arms secured by your grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-17-2023

 Good Morning All,

Song of Solomon 2:6; “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me!”

    Love is a many splendored thing.  I know; not very original but it is true.  Love is a wondrous thing.  It evokes tenderness, gentleness, a sense of longing and a desire to be with that someone.  Our verse comes from that beautiful poetic book of the Bible.  It is a love song between Solomon and his bride.  It actually is just a very intimate conversation between a husband, who loves his wife with an intoxicating love and a bride who returns that same love.

    The book, this love song, is about intimacy not sex and there is a difference.  Intimacy is about closeness to another person.  It is an interpersonal relationship which, on some levels, is very private.  It is also subtle.  It is about a spouse who is seated in a chair and the other spouse comes by and gently rubs their hand on the back or arm or neck of the other one.  It is about sharing with each other and having no walls between you.  It is putting down the book or newspaper when your spouse comes in the room.  It is looking into their eyes as they speak, and you hang on to every word and listen and treasure.  I see this most dramatically as I watch our elder members sit by the hospital bed of a very sick spouse.  The intimacy of the marriage, for those who are blessed to have it, is a place of safety and protection.

    The Song of Solomon and actually the entire Bible tells us of God desiring to have this intimate relationship with man.  This story of this incredible love begins at creation.  Have you ever noticed that in Genesis, chapters one and two are both about creation?  Some wonder if there were two creations but we miss the nuance and the shift.  We miss it because we see “God” as “God” and we don’t see the differences in the way God is addressed.  In Genesis 1 through Genesis 2:3 God is addressed as “Elohim”.  This means God Almighty.  This describes God as the One who is over all and has power and dominion and sits high in the heavens.

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

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

    For those of you who have this intimate type of relationship with your spouse you can rejoice in God’s blessing.  If you are not in this type right now, know that Yahweh holds you closer than you can ever know and gives you love beyond measure.

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

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret