4-30-2025

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 used 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!” 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.  Then, a church can be planted.  Of course, after that comes the articles of incorporation, which need to be passed by the congregation, 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 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. Notice what the believers do; they pray, they celebrate fellowship with the breaking of bread (communion) and studying the Bible. 

    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 pray to you.  This we ask in Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.        

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

4-29-2025

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 use this word in many different ways.  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, we want comfort.  When we are 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 had done (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

4-28-2025

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 it 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 to 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 say; 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     

4-27-2025

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 about 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 that 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

4-26-2025

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 beat down, 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 takes 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

4-25-2025

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 do 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 faith.  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

4-24-2025

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 this year “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 

4-23-2025

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 the 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 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       

4-22-2025

 

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 waste land.  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-apocalyptic 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 time 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

4-21-2025

Good Morning All,

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

Our speaker was talking 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 about 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.  Be with those who struggle.  Send your Spirit of comfort and give them the certainty that all things work for good for those whom you love.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

4-20-2025

Good Morning All,

         1 Corinthians 15: 19-20; “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.²⁰ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

    It is Sunday, the first day of the week. Most are getting ready for work. Except for some women, mostly friends and relatives of Mary and a few ragtag Galileans remaining in Jerusalem who are still at a loss. The women go to properly take care of the body of Jesus and they come back with this story about the tomb being empty and angels talking to them. Peter and John go to look, and they find things as the women said. And just like that, nothing would ever be the same.

    If Christ was not raised from the dead and our hope is only in this life, we are of all people most to be pitied. If this were true, then our faith would be a theory or a philosophy. It would be just a moral relationship of self-discipline and self-exaltation. Yet Scriptures gives us possibly the greatest coordinating conjunction to ever be written. “BUT” in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. If thought “A” is true, then this is true BUT “A” is not true “B” is true. Christ has been raised from the dead. Everything depends on this wonderful truth. Our hope for heaven and eternal life, and our purpose for our life here on this earth. Since our faith is based on the historically accurate biblical account of the resurrection of Jesus, we can now go forward with our life story.

    With Jesus’ resurrection and his ultimate victory over death, we now can confidently live out our life, never needing to be ashamed of our faith or how it shapes who we are. We can live out our lives according to God’s will and purpose because we have nothing else to earn, win or prove. It has been won for us and that victory remains with us forever. The amazing power of “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!” can never be overstated. And we are the beneficiaries.

    So, we celebrate. We celebrate to give all praise and honor and thanks to God. We celebrate to remember just how wondrous this gift is. We celebrate because we are now the victors. Now, every Sunday is a little Easter, a soul renewing and refreshing reminder of what happened so long ago on the first day of the week when some women went to a grave only to find it empty. But in fact, Christ was (and is) raised from the dead; and he lives and reigns to all eternity.

    So, celebrate! This Day and every day. Even in the midst of trials, in the midst of things we cannot understand, we can confidently look to the empty cross and the empty tomb and always see our hope. Jesus went through those doors and came out victorious. Then he turned around and gave that victory to you so you could rest in his loving and protective arms. Jesus won and you do too! Thanks be to God! A very blessed Easter to you all!

Almighty and gracious Lord and King, on this day we especially remember your great victory over sin, death, and the devil. That in this victory, you brought us home into your holy family. Help us to always see your hands at work in our lives, giving us the gracious and loving mercy and the hope that we have in your name. We pray this in your holy and wondrous name, Jesus!! Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

4-19-2025

Good Morning All,

         Matthew 28:1; “Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.”

     It is now Saturday. We don’t even have a name for it. Some call it Easter Saturday. What do you do on Easter Saturday? Do you dye eggs? Do you begin preparing your Easter dinner? Do you fill your Easter baskets or finish on the flowers for decoration? How do you spend Saturday? I am very sure we spend it differently than the followers of Jesus did those long days ago.

    None of the Gospel writers tell us anything about Saturday. It would have been the Sabbath day, and all the writers end the prior chapters with Jesus’ death and hurried burial. The next chapter begins with “early on the first day of the week after the Sabbath” or some variation of that. But what happened on that Sabbath is not recorded. We can kind of speculate, most of us have been in the situation where a loved one died rather unexpectedly. There is oftentimes a sense of total emptiness. Some make idle work just to keep their hands busy. Some just start out the window as if they expect the loved one to come walking up. Some wonder around pouring a cup of coffee, taking a sip, setting it down, wandering some more then getting a different cup and repeating the routine.

    For me, my thoughts always go to Peter, what was on his mind and heart? The last interaction with Jesus was “the look” (Luke 22:61-62) after Peter’s denial of Jesus. His last interaction was one of betrayal and now he could never undo it. The women who followed Jesus are probably as active as they can be. Remember the Jewish day ends and the next begins at sunset. So, at sunset on Saturday, the women probably were out and about collecting the spices and herbs and aloes that they needed to properly prepare the body of Jesus for burial. You wonder if they slept at all that Saturday night.

    What a difference! Look at your Saturday versus theirs and see why. We know what happens; they had to experience it. We know the tomb is empty; they were about to find out. We plan everything knowing that Easter Sunday is about to bloom into our life. We anticipate while they worried and wondered. So, whether you are anticipating, or this is your first Easter, and you are filled with wonder and a little uncertainty; it all happens tomorrow! We plan the celebration of the most important day in history. We eagerly look forward to tomorrow. When the subdued nature of worship turns into full throated jubilation. It is coming and we wait with joyful hearts.

    Our Saturday against the follower’s Saturday could not be more different. But thanks be to God our Sunday will be exactly the same!

Tender Father, you graciously held those early followers in your loving arms to comfort them until the new truth was revealed to them. Hold us when we experience fear, loneliness and worry. Bring comfort to all who are hurting for our hope is always in Easter, our salvation is always the empty tomb. Keep us mindful that there is so much more to come because the tomb is empty. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

4-18-2025

Good Morning All,

         John 19:30; “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

    It is now Friday of Holy Week. It is Good Friday. There is much happening. Some will claim that Jesus’ “arrest” occurred after midnight so technically Friday. This may or may not be accurate but in saying it is, it makes Friday fraught with activity. The trials of Jesus, before the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod, back to Pilate. The mocking and the scourging leading to the crucifixion of Jesus. The Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrows), the crying of the women, the dividing of Jesus’ clothes, the sayings on the cross, the other two criminals, the mocking by the Scribes and Pharisees, Mary at the cross, John at the cross, plus things we did not mention, there is a lot going on. Sometimes, we lose sight of the forest for the trees.

    In our exhaustive look at Friday’s events, our study of crucifixion, the debate about the placement of the nails (hands or wrists), and other items often cause us to miss the most important part, it is finished. Jesus has completed (fulfilled) all that the prophets had spoken of. Jesus has kept the Father’s will. Jesus has taken on all sin and paid its burdensome price. So, in those three words, it is finished, changes everything for us. The whole reason for Jesus coming into this world as a man is answered in those words, the bill is paid. It is somewhat telling in that the Greek word used here is “tetalestai” has a connotation of paying of a debt.

    Even the more accurate translation “it has been finished” has a deeper meaning for us. The use of the present perfect tense (has been) means that something that happened in the past still matters in the present. Jesus’ death to pay the debt still works today. Those sins which we commit today are still forgiven on that cross on that day so long ago. It has been finished so it is finished. The debt is paid, and we are freed. We are freed from the bondage of the Law and to sin. We are freed to be the creature that God created us to be. A creature that loves and worships God; a creature that loves and serves his neighbor.

    So, as we contemplate Friday, don’t lose sight of the truth. Jesus took on death, took on the devil and won. In that victory, we have salvation. Jesus won and so do you! That is our hope! The victory on that cross is our victory, given to us by a loving Savior who gave everything so that we may live. It is on this truth that our full hope is based. A hope that will never fail because it is guaranteed by God himself.

    Our observance of Good Friday is because Jesus changed everything. Our present, our future changed when “it has been finished” was proclaimed loud and clear, in a voice of the One who was and is in control. We mourn death, we solemnly remember the incredible cost of our victory; yet we celebrate the wondrous gift of love that God has for us. Jesus wins and so do you!

Gracious and loving God and Father, on this day so many years ago, you worked my salvation. Help me to always remember, with boundless joy, this wondrous act of love. Move me to respond to this love by loving others through a worshipful life towards you. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

4-17-2025

Good Morning All,

          John 11:35; “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

    It is Thursday of Holy Week and things are picking up. It is time for the Passover meal. Jesus gives John and Peter instructions on how to find a place for them to share in this meal. “Look for a man carrying a jug of water and when he enters a building, ask the master of the house if the room is ready.” He led them to a spacious hall, and it was here they ate their meal.  

    It was sundown and the time was at hand. We now begin what in the Book of John is called “the Upper Room Discourse.” John spends chapters 13-17 in this Upper Room. The whole Book of John is 21 chapters long and he spends roughly a fourth of the Book here on Thursday night. Even with His death only hours away, Jesus continues to teach, to encourage, to pray for, and to comfort his disciples. He begins to show them what it means to be a true follower of Jesus. He starts by washing their feet.

    At the time of Jesus, washing the feet of your guest was considered an honorable gesture. Given the amount of walking they did, and in sockless sandals, a person’s feet could get quite dirty. It was often the job of the lowest slave to wash the feet. Yet, in the middle of the meal, Jesus gets up and washes their feet. This was to show them, and us, to follow Jesus is an active life but a humble life; it is a life of service. Jesus tells them, “I have given you an example to follow.”

    For many Christians, this is just too hard to swallow. “If I am the victor, I am going to act that way!! I will gloat, I will hold it over them and they will see I am in charge.” Unfortunately, this is exactly how the devil wants us to respond. This attitude drives people away from Christ not towards him. Yet Jesus shows us a different way, a better way to live. Jesus shows us that the way he lived, the humble, compassionate life he lived drew people to him. He looked upon everyone, especially the hurt and the oppressed, with a special love. In his teachings, he emphasized caring for “the least of these” over and over. Not with some form of power trip but with true humble compassion. So, He instructs us with these simple words, “love one another. Love as I have loved you.”

    Jesus even gave us his special meal, his body and blood, to emphasize his love for us and to remind us of that great love whenever we gather together as his people. We see the great love that Jesus has for us, a sacrificial love that knows no limits. A love for us to strive to have for those around us. To do “church” right is to have people say, “See how they love each other.” See how they share in their burdens, they share in their compassion, they share in their needs, they share in their plenty, and they love one another. There is no need that is too large or too great that they will not carry. Love one another, even as I have loved you!

Father of mercy, defend us with your mighty arm so that we may be a people who love. Give us courage, wisdom, and a trusting faith to live our lives of love for all. Send your Spirit to lead us on the paths you would have us go that all that we do may please you and bring you glory. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret