Wednesday, July 31, 2024

76-31-2024

Good Morning All,

           Psalm 37:7; “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!”

      Everyone who has ever played sports in some form of organized fashion, whether high school or college or city league or even church league remembers that one player.  That one player who was always on the “cheaper” or “dirty” side of the game.  He would cheat at the game and get away with it.  He was always pulling something that was shady or outside of the rules.  He would push you in the back in a basketball game or punch you in a football game.  He made the game a lot less fun than normal.  He made the game a task or a chore rather than a challenge.

    The one universal truth about this type of player is that he rarely, if ever, gets caught.  He will push the other player and then that second adage about sports comes into play, “the second guy gets caught.”  It is as frustrating thing to experience when the bad guy seems to win, and the good guy seems to come up short. 

    There are times when we think this is true in our faith life as well.  Why does it seem that some of the unbelievers have all the success while believers seem to struggle to have anything at all?  It seems somewhat unfair; it should be the other way; at least we think.

    First and foremost, we need to remember that as Christians we measure success differently than the world does.  The world measures by “stuff,” possessions and other tangible things.  We see success as faith, loving relationships, reconciled families, people coming to faith, suffering healed; in other words, we see success in terms of human condition.  We see success in terms of relationships that get healed, both between man and God and man to man.  These are successes.

    So, we look at the world and we wait, we wait for God.  We wait for God to do the wonderful thing that he has promised.  We wait for God to put an end to pain, to suffering, to injustice, to death.  This will occur when Christ returns, and creation is restored, and we are made perfect at his arrival.  We wait, in joyful anticipation of God intervening and ending death.  We wait with the total assurance that God will do as he has promised to do.  God has promised us salvation, hope for life eternal with him in everlasting glory.  We look forward to this coming but until it does, we wait for God.

    So, as we wait, we take the opportunity to serve God and give him praise and thanks by serving others, by bringing God’s grace to them.  We measure our success, not by gold or silver, but by the love of God shared throughout our midst.

Gracious and loving Father, through you we have salvation, and we have hope.  So, we wait for you to finish our redemption and bring it to completion.  We wait for your glorious return.  Be with those who are tempted by the world’s measure of success and are missing out on your great love and peace.  Guard and protect them from the devil’s arrows.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

Tuesday, July 30, 2024

7-30-2024

Good Morning All,

              Ephesians 6:16; “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.”

     At one of our Bible studies at our church we were looking at Ephesians 6 and the armor of God.  This is an image that some of us cannot quite grasp but Paul and the first readers of this letter would have understood it right away.  Paul describes a Roman soldier like one that the citizens would have seen every day.  They would have been in full uniform with the breastplate, the helmet, the sword, and shield.  Paul took this visual and applied it to the life of faith that he wanted the readers of this letter to be aware of. 

     We sometimes struggle with these images because we don’t see that we are in a war.  Yet the truth is that we, as believers, are on the front line.  If we think about it, the unbeliever is already caught by the devil, those who have died are no longer in the battle so the only ones whom the devil will attack are believers, you and me.  It is only the believer who has attacks of guilt and conscience.  We are the ones whom the devil targets to shoot those flaming arrows of temptation.  So, we need to be ready for the attack that comes at us every day.

    Paul uses faith as our shield.  Faith is the desire to trust in God’s promise.  Faith clings to the hope that God gives to us.  By having faith, we are able to resist the devil and his temptations.  Faith helps us to resist the devil’s whispers which cause us to have doubts.  The shield is a very apt description.  In Paul’s time, the shield would have been covered in leather.  Just before the battle the shield would have been soaked in water in order to extinguish the flaming arrows shot at them.  That is how Paul wants us to see our faith, as a shield that takes the hits of the arrows fired at us.

    But there is one major thing we need to remember; we need to hold the shield up and in place to protect us from the arrows.  Having the shield at our side or, even worse, having it in the closet by the door.  A soldier that doesn’t have his shield up and in the ready position is very vulnerable to attacks from the enemy.  So too we must always have our faith ready to absorb the attacks of the devil.  It is faith that allows us to stand up to the arrows that the devil fires at us so we must keep our faith up and in the ready position. 

    In order to do this, we need to keep our faith strong.  We do this through prayer, devotional time, proper use of the sacraments and in praise and worship of God.  These are the tools that God gives to us to keep us strong and ready to do battle.  The devil will attack; he will fire at us every chance he gets but God’s grace will defend us and through the faith that God gives us we will prevail.

Father, as we do battle with the devil, we need you to guard and defend us.  Give us the strength to trust in you.  Give us the faith to extinguish the arrows of the devil.  Be with those who are being fired upon at this time.  Protect them with your Holy Spirit.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

Monday, July 29, 2024

7-29-2024

Good Morning All,

       Joel 2:13; “and rend your hearts and not your garments.”  Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.”

     I was reading an article the other day about the cost of forgiveness.  The author was telling how people would go about buying their forgiveness, from husbands that brought home flowers to wives that baked pies or favorite meals; the author made a claim that forgiveness was earned or at least paid for.

    We often hear that.  A person wrongs another and then has to pay, sometimes for a long time, for their forgiveness.  We often call this the price of forgiveness.  It is a common thought, totally wrong, but common.  Buying forgiveness is not possible because forgiveness is given and not bought.  If you buy something, you have earned it because you have enough to pay for it. 

    There are many people who believe that they can buy forgiveness, so they have no need to change their ways.  As long as they can pay someone enough to continue what they are doing, they feel no need to change.  Sort of like the little boy who told his mother he was going to hit his sister.  His mother told him he would lose his allowance if he did.  The little boy looked his mother and said, “It’s worth it!”

    In many ways, the Israelites thought along this path.  A few more offerings, a few more sacrifices, a few more hollow prayers offered, and they were “forgiven.”  It seemed simple enough except that it is not accurate.  Forgiveness from God is given to us, freely but with the desire by God that we change our ways.  God wants us to change from the sinful actions because sinful actions still cause pain, suffering and harm.  Think of a person who pollutes the environment, pays a fine for doing so and then continues to pollute.  The damage remains and continues to grow.

    The person who attacks another, whether physical or emotional, inflicts pain both on the victim and upon himself.  God has repeatedly told this to us.  The pain is shared by both so the healing requires both to work.  So, the offending party needs to repent to “rend his heart” as our verse says.  We need to tear our heart, remove the desire to sin and to repent of our sins; that is to turn away from sin and turn to God.

    God calls to us with his words of forgiveness and his words of love.  He calls us to come to him and to live in his kingdom.  He calls to us to reconcile with our brothers and sisters as one family unto him.  God is calling, are you listening?

Father of grace, you forgive us so that we may be empowered to forgive others.  We see and experience your mercy and you lead us to show mercy to those around us.  Give us the strength to rend our hearts and turn to you in true faith.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

Sunday, July 28, 2024

7-28-2024

Good Morning All,

               Philippians 4:13; “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

    Do you remember the story of the little train that could?  This was the little train that made it over the mountain by saying, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.”  Then when it made it over the mountain it said, “I thought I could, I thought I could.”  This is one of the first stories that children read, and it is designed to encourage children to try new things and to have confidence in their ability to succeed.

    I used to use the contrarian version of this when I coached baseball.  I would tell my players that if they thought that they would fail then they would fail.  If a batter thought, he would strike out then he would more than likely strike out.  It is similar in the idea that you have to have confidence in your ability to succeed.  If you lack confidence, then you can almost guarantee that you will fail.

    Paul is telling us something similar.  When we read “I can do all things” it might be better to read it as “I can endure all things.”  Paul isn’t telling us that we are the little engine that could.  There are things we cannot do.  I cannot swim or run a mile in 5 minutes.  This is not what Paul is telling us.  He doesn’t mean that with enough determination we will be successful; he means that by clinging to our faith, we can endure everything that the devil and this world can throw at us.  We will endure until the end when we receive our crown of righteousness.

    God gives us the power to endure.  It might not be the power to avoid.  We may experience some of the worst things that the world will throw at us.  It might be health problems or relationship problems or any one of a myriad of other events and tragedies.  The world is still a broken place and still suffers from the ravages of sin.  Pain still occurs but we know that through it all, we will endure.  Our eternal hope is secure because of Jesus and his sacrifice.  Because of that we can endure everything for it is through Christ’s atoning work that we have salvation. 

    No matter what the devil throws at us, no matter how much he may try and torment you with his whispers of doubt and lies of despair. We can endure it through the strength of Christ.  We can do all things through him who strengthens us.  We can endure, persevere, and then prevail.  God has promised us the eternal success of our salvation.  We will be restored, body and soul, when Christ returns.  But until we meet him in glory, we will wait, and we will endure for God’s grace goes with us.

Father of all grace and mercy, because of your undying love we will endure.  You have promised to restore us to perfection with you.  We wait in your loving arms.  Be with those who feel that they are at the end of their strength.  Be with those who are wavering under the weight of the devil’s attacks.  Give them the certainty of your eternal love and grace.  Strengthen and preserve them, Father.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

Saturday, July 27, 2024

7-27-2024

Good Morning All,

         Galatians 6:8; “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

     Throughout history, there have been many imaginative (and somewhat disgusting) methods of exacting capital punishment.  Some were relatively quick and easy.  They would behead the murderer.  They might use something called “draw and quarter.”  This was kind of nasty.  They would cut you open and remove your stomach and intestines (that’s the draw) then they would attach each arm and each leg to four different horses and then have them run in different directions (that’s the quarter).  The one that I found most unique was for the murder victim’s body to be tied to the back of the murderer.

    The murderer would walk around with the weight of the victim on his back.  Everyone would see that you murdered this poor person.  It wouldn’t take long for the stench of the decaying body to be overpowering and no one would come anywhere near to the convicted murderer.  Eventually, the decaying body, with the accompanying maggots would cause an infection in the body of the murderer who would then die a rather unpleasant death.

    I hope you don’t read this with breakfast, but this is very much like our sinful life.  We carry the decaying body of our sin on our back.  Between the stench and the decay, it is a miserable and wretched existence.  In the end we suffer, horrendously, and then die because of the decay and corruption of the body of sin on our back.  Not a pleasant thought but accurate.  Sin destroys us in this fashion.  It is a disgusting horrible life to live, and the devil tries to extract every ounce of discomfort, sadness, and pain that he can.  His only goal is to make us miserable. 

    Yet this is what God does for us.  He cuts the ties which keep the body of sin attached to us.  Jesus does this through the atonement on the cross.  So, what Jesus also does for us is to change our desire to sin; that’s the sow to flesh part; to our desire to live according to his will; that is the sow to the Spirit part.  That is what faith does for us; it changes our desire from sin to salvation.

    The Spirit instills in us the desire to follow God’s will.  Yet our sinful nature will get in the way sometimes.  Yet we know that God forgives our sins and helps us to get up and go again.  He continually cuts the ties of the body of sin that attempts to attach itself to us.  He does this through the renewing Spirit that we receive through our Baptism.  He does this out of love.  So, we are given new life; a new life that is not built on the corpse of sin but rather is built upon the grace of God and the promise of salvation.  We will battle that corpse of sin, sometimes it will succeed in drawing us down, but God’s grace will pull us out and by faith we will persevere.

Gracious Father, through your mercy we lose our corpse of sin.  Give us the comfort to know that it will never destroy us.  Keep us in your loving arms.  Be with those who are especially weighed down at this time.  Help them to feel the cords cut and the freeing of their spirit by you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

Friday, July 26, 2024

7-26-2024

Good Morning All,

          John 8:32; “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

     There is an old saying that goes like this; “If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth.”  Most people ascribe this statement to Lenin, the architect of the Soviet revolution in Russia.  Interestingly, there are some who think it was actually Joseph Goebbels, the chief propagandist for Nazi Germany, who first spoke it in 1928.  Some then say that all Goebbels was doing was quoting Hitler from his “Mein Kampf” book.  I am not sure who to attribute it to but find it interesting that most attribute it to three of the 20th century’s greatest liars.

    Regardless of who first said it, it seems to be true.  In most aspects of life, we see this truth.  In the summer I do some umpiring of baseball.  I always find it interesting when someone wants to argue the rules that they are sure they are right about. “That’s the way my dad taught me” (maybe he didn’t know either) “That’s the way I’ve always played it” (it was always wrong). “That’s how I saw it called one time” (still might be wrong).  Yet the idea that repetition makes something right or correct is an interesting thought.  How often do we accept something as the truth just because it has been repeated many times?  Is that our only standard?  No wonder the devil has so many “truths” out there.

    The devil is the “Father of all lies.”  He tells them without hesitation.  That is the interesting thing about his lies; he doesn’t care.  When people hold onto the truth, they value it, they cherish it, they hold it with high esteem.  The devil has none of this.  A lie told today that is disproved simply means a different lie tomorrow.  There is no regret or recrimination.  Lie, lie, and keep lying seems to be the order of the day.  That is why it is so important that we keep focused on the truth.

    Jesus tells us that he is “the way, the truth, and the life.”  Our verse tells us that the truth will set us free.  So, we can see that Jesus sets us free.  Jesus is truth.  The only truth we need to focus on is the truth of God’s grace gives us salvation.  God’s grace saves us and gives us the comfort for this life as we do battle with the devil’s lies.  The truth, the simple and whole truth is God’s unending love for us. 

    The devil will tell you many lies; he will try to separate you from God’s love but our faith rests in God’s undying love; in the truth.  Jesus died that you would be saved.  That is the truth, and that truth sets us free from all the devil’s torments.  The devil will launch them at us, but they will only bruise us. God’s grace saves us.

Father of all truths, the devil lies to us constantly.  Keep us strong in your truth.  Guard us from the devil’s assaults.  Be with those who are falling prey to those lies.  Help them to see your truth as their only source of salvation.  This we ask in the precious name of Jesus, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

Thursday, July 25, 2024

7-25-2024

Good Morning All,

         James 4:3; “When you pray for things, you don’t get them because you want them for the wrong reason—for your own pleasure.

    I hear it often.  Someone will ask why God doesn’t answer their prayers.  Why do their prayers fall on deaf ears?  “I pray and pray; yet nothing happens, what’s the use?”  “It seems like God doesn’t answer my prayers, so why pray?”  Our answer comes from our verse.  The question is “why do you pray?”

    One of the most apparent reasons for this is that we tend to pray in a manner that is manipulative.  We often see God more as Santa Claus; someone we send our wish list to and then expect him to fill the bill.  We pray for stuff, cars, trucks, money, bigger homes, and the like.  Sometimes we pray for others, but we usually pray that God will change them.  We want them to change so we get what we want.  We try to manipulate God.  This includes the ever present “If you give me this then I’ll do that” “That” might be attending church more often, putting more into the collection plate; it might be refraining from some unsavory activity.  Once again, we are trying to manipulate God into some form of action.

    Sometimes it might be because we aren’t really praying to God.  Sometimes our prayers are to impress those around us.  Either by the content and words used or by the repeated telling others how often and hard we pray.  We are not really praying to God for his Spirit and guidance; we are praying in vain that others are impressed.  Scriptures tell us that we already have our reward when we do that. (Matt. 6:2)

    Sometimes, we pray mass produced prayers with little, if any, thought or feeling.  How often is our table prayer of “Come Lord Jesus be our guest” turn into “crumbly cheese asparagus”?  This hollow repetition is not real prayer, so it is not truly heard by God. 

    True prayer comes through the Spirit.  It is the desire to communicate with God.  It expresses our desire for God’s will to be active in our lives.  We call to God for his Spirit to guide us, to comfort us, to give us peace.  We pray that God will sustain us during the devil’s attacks.  We pray for the safety of others; we pray for God’s peace to be on the people of the world.  Our prayer is not for stuff but for a contented spirit.  Our prayers are a response to God’s grace.  They are a response to God speaking to us through His Word.  Prayer is calling to God to do something wonderful in our life.  Faith is knowing it will happen and trusting that what does happen is God’s loving will for us.

Gracious Lord, help us to pray, teach us to pray.  Help us to place all our fears and worries in your loving hands.  Teach us to come to you in honest and open conversation.  Help us to see that true prayer will lead to peace and contentment in our hearts.  Be with those who are in pain or sadness at this time.  Lead them to cry to you in their time of need.  Lead them to the safety of your loving arms.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

7-24-2024

Good Morning All,

     Matthew 5:24; “leave your gift at the altar. First go away and make peace with that person. Then come back and offer your gift.

         It started out as a simple exercise.  It was supposed to be an exercise in getting to know each other.  It ended up a little more interesting.  It happened during a college class that I took.  We got into groups of 4 or 5 and then we had to tell what we would do if we were told we had 24 hours to live.  What would you do?  Where would you go?  How would you spend the time?

    The discussions started out as you would expect a group of 20-year-olds to begin.  A couple of the early volunteers mentioned consuming large amounts of alcohol.  Yet it didn’t take long for the general answers to become more intense and personal.  Some wanted to call all of their friends and just talk.  Some wanted to call their parents and grandparents one last time.  Eventually, most seemed to agree that their very first priority would be to call those family members and friends that the participants thought of as someone they were on the “outs” with.  They wanted to call those who they were fighting or feuding with and make amends and peace with them.  We never got to the class part that evening, I don’t think the speech teacher was prepared for this deep of a discussion.

    It is really sad when I have to do a funeral and I know that one or more of the people there would like to have had one more hour with the person who had died.  They would like one more hour to say, “I’m sorry” or “I forgive you” or “I love you.”  As they realize it is too late, it can be difficult for them.  Whether we want to admit it or not, personal relationships are extremely important to us.

    This is because God is a God of relationships.  From the very creation when it was “not good that man should be alone” all the way through Scriptures; God is about rebuilding our relationships; first with him and then with others.  When we have those relationships with others, we are to maintain them.  When they are broken, we are to fix them as quickly as possible.  That is part of what our verse means; don’t wait to fix it.

    God tells us to fix it and fix it now.  It doesn’t matter who started it or who is right; the person who values the relationship the most will go first, and we are all supposed to be that person.  God gives us the gift of family, love, friendships, and companions.  These are to aid the time we spend traveling on the journey of this life.  They are to give us comfort and aid as we go.  These are some of the gifts which God gives us as a blessing.  Don’t waste them.

Gracious Father, lead us to go to our brothers and sisters and mend our relationships.  Lead us to share in the love and the fellowship of grace that is from you.  Help us to see the love that we have from you through them.  Help us to see that it is the devil’s doing when the strains occur.  Guide us by your Spirit of love to overcome the devil’s ways.  Be with those who are broken at this time and heal them by your mercy.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

7-23-2024

Good Morning All,

              Luke 4: 18-19; “The Spirit of the Lord is with me.  He has anointed me to tell the Good News to the poor.  He has sent me to announce forgiveness to the prisoners of sin and the restoring of sight to the blind, to forgive those who have been shattered by sin, to announce the year of the Lord’s favor.”

    This was part of the reading from Isaiah that Jesus read to the people in Nazareth when he first began his ministry.  That would be quite the announcement.  That is the kind of announcement that I would like to make in church one Sunday: “He has anointed me to tell the Good News to the poor.  He has sent me to announce forgiveness to the prisoners of sin and the restoring of sight to the blind, to forgive those who have been shattered by sin, to announce the year of the Lord’s favor.”

    That should really make people sit up.  They might even adjust the radio.  I wonder how some would react to me saying that.  I bet some would get pretty offended if I said that.  I am sure some would figure that it wasn’t really my place to say this.  It would take a lot of nerve to make a statement like that.  I could probably get away with in St. Paul’s or St. John’s but at Trinity it would be over the radio, and someone would hear it.  Then there would be trouble.  I know someone would not like it.  The ironic thing is that the people of Nazareth didn’t like it when Jesus said this either.  They thought he was being a little “out of his league.”  He was just the carpenter’s son; he has no authority to say this.

    Yet we know that Jesus is the Son of God and this message definitely applied to him.  He came to the world in order to make this announcement.  His coming made a dramatic and climatic change in human history.  His death, resurrection and ascension give him the power and the authority to say this; but what about me?  I’m just a farm boy from South Dakota.

    What gives me, and you, the power and authority to say this?  Jesus does!!  He tells us to announce the grace of God to everyone.  We are to announce the Good News, especially to the poor in spirit.  Those who know of their failures of their lack of goodness; those who know that they have not kept God’s law and feel the pain of it.  To those people, we announce the forgiveness to the prisoners of sin.  Those to whom the weight of sin brutally pushes them down, we offer relief; we offer hope.  To those whose lives have been shattered and destroyed by sin, to those who have had the very depths of their soul scourged by the pain of sin; we announce the year of the Lord’s favor.  We announce it to the world because Jesus announced it to us.

    So, we share this Good News!!  You are forgiven and freed from the bondage of sin.  We are rejuvenated by His grace and mercy.  It is truly the year of the Lord’s favor- you are redeemed!

Father of all grace, in you we have favor.  In you we have salvation and hope.  Help us to proclaim that favor and that hope.  Help us to reach the poor and those imprisoned by the weight of sin.  Help them to know your forgiveness; help them to experience your grace.  In Jesus precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

Monday, July 22, 2024

7-22-2024

Good Morning All,

            Psalm 28:1; “To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.”

    Sometimes the idea of silence can be a good thing.  Think in terms of a bunch of 7- and 8-year-olds who have had their fill of Mountain Dew and Milk Duds; silence would truly be golden.  After a day in a crowded gym, silence can be appreciated.  Getting up early in the morning, as the sun is coming up, the silence can be peaceful and calming.  There are times when silence is a good thing; it is a desired thing.  Yet sometimes it is not.

    If you have ever had a loved one out driving in bad weather and you try to get hold of them but can’t, silence is not golden.  If you are waiting for a doctor’s report, silence is not what we want.  There are times when we have silence for a few days or weeks, and we think we will go crazy waiting.

    But what happens when it seems that the silence goes on for years?  What happens when the silence for the couple that longs for a baby and prays over and over for a baby, yet no infant arrives?  They watch their friends have children, their brothers and sisters have children, and they have to smile and be excited and happy yet the silence from God seems so harsh.  Why doesn’t God answer their prayer?  They watch the news on TV and see another child that the parents decided they didn’t want or care about and they wonder at the silence.

    Or the person who is lonely and is looking for a mate; they pray for guidance and for the right person to enter their life, but they remain alone.  Despite their prayers, the silence remains.  There is a similar pain when a loved one dies; we cry to God, but we hear silence, and the pain remains.  “We become like those who go to the pit.”  It seems as though God is silent and our pain too great.

    We need to remember that silence does not mean inaction.  God is still active in our lives.  He still sends his Spirit into our lives and into our hearts to give us hope.  He still uses the people around us to give us the consolation that we need.  He continues to pour his grace upon us and give us the forgiveness of sins that we so desperately need and the hope of salvation that sustains us.  We may never hear the answer that we want to hear but that doesn’t mean that the silence is rejection.  It does not mean that God does not hear or care.  It does not mean that he is not acting for us as a loving and gracious Father; it only means that we may not hear him, especially if we have something specific that we want to hear.

    So even in the depths of our pain, as we cry out God hears us, and he acts for us.  The silence is not rejection nor is He turning away from us.  His love for us knows no bounds.

Father of all mercies, even when it seems that you are silent you are there for us.  Even if we don’t hear you, we know that you are there acting for us and lifting us up.  Guard us by your grace.  Be with those who are feeling that you have been silent too long.  Give them the comfort of your Spirit and bring us to give them the consolation that they need.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret        

Sunday, July 21, 2024

7-21-2024

Good Morning All,

        Psalm 103:12; “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

    As I was typing this (or is it word processing it?) I got about 1/3 of the way through and didn’t like the way it was going.  This was mostly because it wasn’t going anywhere.  So, I pushed the left click button and highlighted the portion and then hit delete; “Poof” it was gone.  There was a time when you would have pulled the paper out of the platen, crumpled it up and tossed it in the waste basket, pulled out a new sheet of paper and twisted it in and started over.

    Now if it was only a mistake or two, you could use your “correcto-ribbon” if you had a Smith Corona Electric typewriter.  Otherwise, you had to break out the white out.  Now we only backspace to get rid of an extra letter or two.  If we still used white out, I would have to buy it by the gallon.  But nothing beats the backspace or delete button to rid yourself of those pesky typing mistakes or even the entire rambling paragraph.

    There have been other times when I wish I could have had a delete button in my life.  Maybe, just maybe, some of those dumb, hurtful things I said or did could have been erased before they had a chance to hurt the feelings of others.  Maybe I could have backspaced a couple of times when I had my mouth engaged but my brain in neutral.  Deleting a couple of painful actions would be nice as well but we don’t get to do that do we?  While we can’t always delete past mistakes we make with people; God makes it possible for us to delete our mistakes with Him.

    Because of Jesus, our sins are forgiven, forever deleted from God’s memory.  He does this out of love for us.  He does this to bring us back into the loving, family relationship which he wants to have with us.  He does this because we need to be holy in order to be in his presence.  By declaring us holy and paying for our sins himself, our sins are removed.  The barrier of sin is removed, and we are once again His beloved children.

    But if God hadn’t forgiven us, we would still be in our broken relationship.  We need to see the importance of this.  If we do not forgive, then our relationships continue to be broken.  Remembering others’ sins, real or imagined, only causes us pain.  As long as we hold onto the sins of others who commit them against us in our hearts and minds, we will never know peace.  Until we hit the delete button and erase those sins, those memories of pain, so that we only have a blank screen, we will suffer the consequences of having unforgiven sins in our lives.  By holding the sins of others in our heart, we tend to view our sins as unforgiven and being retained by God.

    Yet God does forgive our sins and he desires that we forgive others as well.  To delete the sins of others frees us to experience the complete freedom of God’s forgiveness.  So, delete away, God has.

Father, you remove our sins and bring us back into your grace and favor.  Lead us to forgive others as well.  Lead us to see that in this way, we heal ourselves even more than we help to heal others.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

Saturday, July 20, 2024

7-20-2024

Good Morning All,

        Matthew 2:2; “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

     In 1980, the R&B group known as The Manhattans had a song entitled “Shining Star”.  It was a love song about how the singer saw his girlfriend as the shining star in his life.  It seems like there are people in our lives who provide us with that spark or light that we crave so much.  We look to them for examples of how things are done properly.  We look to them for inspiration, and we look to them for direction and answers.  We look to them for guidance.

    For many young athletes, this person may be a coach or an older player on the team.  It might be a teacher or a mentor from the church.  It might be a co-worker that is our light; it might be a neighbor or a friend.  Most of us have someone that we look to for inspiration; to be a light to our life.  This seems to be human nature.

    It is that human nature that makes being a light so important.  The Magi saw a star that told them that something amazing had happened.  Their understanding of the prophecy told them that “the King of the Jews was born.”  This must have unnerved Herod, the sitting king, when he was asked, where is the King of the Jews?  Yet the Magi had seen the star and went on looking just as the Spirit had guided them to do.

    Later, Jesus told his disciples to let your light shine that the world will see your good works and give glory to God the Father.  Then he told them about being a city on a hill.  Then he told about the foolishness of putting a lamp under a basket.  Jesus is big on light, isn’t he?  This is because he is the light of the world, and he gives us the path to follow and the light to see it.  As he was speaking to the disciples after his resurrection, he told them, in essence, “while I am gone, you are the light now.”

    So that is where we are, we are the light in the world.  We are the ones who are to be that light on a hill showing the world God’s love.  You are to let your light shine so that the glory of the Father may be seen.  How do we do this?  Jesus gives us many examples both by word and deed.  He tells us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison.  This is the continuation of God’s call to His people in the Old Testament.  “Take care of the orphan, the widow and the alien in your land.”  He showed us his love by healing the sick, raising the dead and, ultimately, dying for us to remove our sins.

    So be the star in the night, be the light in the dark world.  Jesus empowers us to be this light.  Show God’s love to those around you, especially your family and your friends; they may need it the most.  Epiphany is about revealing the truth to the world.  Make this the year that you reveal the truth about Jesus to someone.

Father, help my light to shine so that others will see your love, your mercy and your glory.  Make me shine brightly.  Guide me to those who are in the greatest need of your loving hand and grant them your peace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

Friday, July 19, 2024

7-19-2024

Good Morning All,

              1 Timothy 2:1; “First of all, I encourage you to make petitions, prayers, intercessions, and prayers of thanks for all people.”

     Probably the greatest gift that God’s gives to his people is the gift of prayer.  I think this because no matter who you are, whether you are 8 or 88, you can pray.  God hears all prayers, whether you are the richest person or the poorest person, the most educated or the least educated, it doesn’t matter God hears you.  You can pray for someone in your house or someone who is half a world away.  It can be your bestest friend or someone whom you have never met.  The wonderful thing about prayer is that it is between you and God; the people that you pray for are the beneficiaries of your prayers.  Prayer is about the ongoing dialog with God; it is the life sustaining rhythm of God speaking to us and we are speaking to God.  So how should we pray?

   One way that I learned to pray as a child was called the “hand prayer;” some call it the “five finger prayer.”  The thumb is the closest to your heart, so you first pray for those closest to you, like your family, friends, co-workers, etc.  We pray for their safety and health and that God would keep them in faith.

    The next finger is the “pointer” finger.  Here we pray for those who point the way for us.  Here we pray for teachers, preachers, missionaries.  This is also where we pray for the right and proper use of God’s Word and the expansion of the Church.

    The next finger is the tallest.  Here we pray for our leaders, the president, governor, judges, and legislators.  We would also add community leaders, police, firemen and our armed forces people.

    The next finger, the ring finger, is the weakest of the fingers on your hand.  So here we pray for the weakest ones.  We pray for the sick, the homeless, those who have suffered a great loss like the death of a family member or those who had a disaster like a hurricane or tornado.  We pray for little children who are abandoned or abused.  We pray for broken families and the pain that is there.

    The last finger is the pinkie finger.  It is the smallest, so this is where we pray for our own needs and wants.  It is the last and the least because we are to put others ahead of ourselves.

    This is a simple way to pray.  You can teach it to your kids and grandkids.  It is not fancy but that is the point.  God doesn’t want fancy; he wants you, just as you are, to come to him in prayer.  He wants you to pray for others as part of the ongoing holy conversation that he wants us to engage in.  So, if you need a guide to prayer, this is one way but whatever way you choose, choose to pray.

Father of all tender mercy, you call us to pray for others.  Too often we are lax and fail to pray for others.  Lead us to see the greatness of the gift of prayer.  Lead us to use it often as bring the cries of others before you and into our minds.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret