12-31-2025

Good Morning All,

             1 Corinthians 6: 19b-20: “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

     “It’s a free country!”  “I have my rights and I will exercise them as I choose!”  We hear phrases like this often, especially in the United States.  It is all about my freedom to do as I please.  The interesting thing is that we are now seeing what happens when my freedom meets your freedom.  So how do we as Christians supposed to act?  We have freedom; Christ freed us from sin and the devil.  We are free, right?

    We need to see this carefully.  Christ has freed us.  He has freed us from the tyranny of the devil.  We are freed from the guilt of sin.  We are freed from the fear of being separate from God.  We are freed.  Yet this freedom has never meant that we can choose whatever we want.  We are no longer under the reign of the devil; now we are under the reign of God.  We are God’s children.  We were bought with a great price; we were bought with the blood of Jesus.

    So now we belong to God, we are free of the devil but our allegiance is now to God.  Our allegiance is not to our own personal freedom; our allegiance is not to our own selfish desires; that places us back in the reign of the devil.  Being in God’s kingdom means to desire the “higher things;” we desire those qualities which Jesus displayed.  We desire to serve God and fulfill his will.  We seek to live as God desires us to live.

    This can be a challenge.  There are many times when the world will do everything it can to convince us that we are wrong.  Just remember that even the devil quoted Scriptures when he tempted Jesus in the desert; it can be the same with us.  Yet the world always twists Scriptures just enough to make them wrong.  We know that God loves us and loves all people but God hates sin because it separates us from God’s grace.

    God hates sin because it removes us from his love and from his grace.  God hates sin because it harms us; it harms our relationship with Him.  God’s hatred of sin is probably easiest understood if we think how, you and I hate cancer.  We see what cancer does to the body and we see what cancer does to our relationship with the person who has it.  Cancer can destroy the body and kill the person who has it.  We lose that loved one to a disease so we hate cancer.

    Sin is a cancer and because it is, God hates sin.  God does not hate you or anyone else but sin will separate us from Him.  So, in order to redeem you, God had Jesus come into the world to pay your debt, to buy you back from the devil.  So, we should live our lives for Him.  We should thank and praise, serve and obey Him with complete joy. 

    Father of grace, you sent Jesus to buy us back from the devil.  Let us never forget that we are yours.  Let us never forget that by your grace, we are forever in your mercy.  Help us to live in your holy kingdom.  Keep us from seeing freedom as the desire to follow our selfish desires.  Help us to see that freedom gives us the power to live in your will.  Be with those who struggle with freedom.  Give them the wisdom to know and to do your will.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-30-2025

Good Morning All,

     1 Samuel 22:2; “And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them.”

     As I have told you before, I am a fan of movies.  The other day I was watching one of the Robin Hood movies and I tried to figure out how many different versions that I had seen.  There is the “real” one with Errol Flynn.  There was one with Sean Connery, one with Kevin Costner, the newest one with Russell Crowe, Disney made two, one animated and one with real actors and my favorite; “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.”  These are the ones I thought of, there are probably others. 

    The basic premise was that a group of people were suffering under a great injustice and eventually, a nobleman who lost his estate became their leader.  They “robbed from the rich and gave to the poor.”  Eventually they are vindicated when the proper king returns and all is right with the world.  A wonderful little tale and like many wonderful little tales; it would seem that it has its origin in the Bible.  The biblical story is based on David.  He, essentially, became an outlaw as King Saul tried to kill him and kill anyone who helped David.  Thus, men who had been beaten or punished by the king turned to David and he became their leader, their commander.

    In many ways, these two stories, similar as they are, are somewhat representative of our relationship with Jesus.  You and I, as sinners, live under the rule of a cruel ruler, the devil.  The devil wants you to live in distress.  He wants you to suffer the pain of sorrow and sadness.  He wants you to feel the worry of paying the bills tomorrow or facing the doctor, alone, or trying to deal with the uncertainty of life.  He wants you in debt, so you have more to worry about.  He tempts us with tantalizing gadgets and things; that everyone else seems to have and we just “need” in order to live.  Yet above all, the devil wants you to be bitter in soul.  He wants you to go through life feeling passed over, forgotten, unlovable, leave-able; someone not worth worrying about or worth wanting.

   Into this life, Jesus comes to claim those whom the devil attacks.  He is there to comfort you in your distress.  He is there to give you hope beyond debt and above all; he is there to relieve the bitterness in your soul.  He is there to take the bitterness of loneliness, and despondency and to restore you to someone whom He completely loves.  He will never forget you, never find you unlovable, he will never leave you.  You are always someone whom Jesus finds worthy of wanting.  He wants you to be loved by Him and to live with him in eternal paradise.  He will show you the way to live in harmony with God.  He has shown us the path to eternal life.  His love for us endures forever, especially for the distressed, the indebted and those who are bitter in soul.

Gracious Lord, you came to bring us out of distress and to sweeten our bitter souls.  Continue to strengthen our faith and to lead us to that life which you give us, one to prosper us.  Be with those who feel the bitterness of life.  Show them your mercy.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

12-29-2025

Good Morning All,

   Genesis 18:32; “Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”

     “If you change your mind, I’m the first in line; honey I’m still free; take a chance on me.”  Alright, I admit it, I know songs by ABBA, not a proud moment but a moment anyway.  We like the idea of change.  We like it when others change for us.  “Change the channel, please, my show is on now.”  “Let’s change seats so I can see better.”  “Instead of going out for supper, let’s cook a pizza.”  We like it when people change their mind, alter their actions or plans to fit our desires, but what about God?  Can we change his mind?

     Our text is part of the story of Abraham praying to God that he spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Abraham starts out by asking God if he would spare the city if there were 50 righteous people, then 45, then 40 all the way down to 10.  At each request, God tells him that he will not destroy the city if there were that many righteous.  In the end, Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.  Yet how do we match the idea that God is perfect and immutable (changeless) and then he changes his mind?  If God does not change, why pray?  Why ask God for something if it is already decided?

    The most important part about prayer is that while it does not change God; it completely changes you.  In our story, Abraham knew, without a doubt, that these two cities did not even have 10 righteous people in them.  When you and I pray, God uses prayer to change us.  For most of us, praying helps us to identify our fears and worries.  Once we identify what we are afraid of or what we are worrying about; it tends to “shrink the problem.”  The devil loves it when we live in nebulous fear when we are just afraid.  Yet, if we put a name to that fear, such as, I am afraid of losing my job, God, through the Spirit, will send you comfort.  It might be in the form of helping you realize that there are other jobs or opportunities for you.  It might be from other friends or family members.  God works in many ways, but he works.

    The most important part of prayer is that we come to God and lay our fears, our worries, and our burdens at his feet.  Then we trust God to keep his promise to provide for us.  If we do this right from the start, we will begin to have comfort right from the start.  If we trust from the start, then even if our prayers are not answered in the fashion that we thought was best, we know that God will make all things work for good for those who are called according to his purpose.  So, we pray and God heals us; in his way and in his time, but he does heal us.

Father, we come before your throne of mercy seeking your blessings upon the families of the land.  Many families are under attack.  We pray for reconciliation; we pray for peace within our own lives, within the lives of those whom we love, and within the lives of all those who are hurting.  Send your Spirit of peace to your people.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-28-2025

Good Morning All,

Matthew 6:7; “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.”

       One time while teaching the confirmands about prayer, I asked them if they ever prayed a prayer that started like this; “Crumbly cheese asparagus.”  Of course, they looked at me like I was growing a third eye out the top of my head.  I got the disgusted teenager response of “noo-ah” with that little “tsk” at the end.  I didn’t see the eye roll but it could have been there.  So, I tried again.  Crumbly cheese asparagus….and let these gifts to us be blessed. Amen.  Again, they looked at me but a little less disdainfully (probably couldn’t have been more!).  So, I said it again a little slower; come Lord Jesus be our guest and let these gifts to us be blessed, amen.  Now they were thinking a little, so I asked them in a different way.

    “Do you say the common table prayer?”  Most said yes.  I asked if they always thought about what they were saying or were they trying to grab the biggest piece of chicken off of the platter before anyone else did; maybe they were already eating when mom or dad started to pray.  Now they didn’t look up.  So, I asked if they thought this was and honest ad God-pleasing prayer.  Hearing no response, I asked them if they ever prayed other prayers while they were distracted or thinking about something else, again no response.

    There are many times when we are guilty of this.  There are some prayers that we say so often that we may do just that.  This fact is one of the reasons that some believe you should not pray the Lord’s Prayer with great frequency.  I don’t really agree but I do read the prayer as I pray it so I do think about what I am saying.  Empty phrases do not make a God-pleasing prayer.  A God-pleasing prayer rises like incense before God.  It is a prayer that truly connects us to God because it is an earnest and honest heartfelt communication to God.  Even when we are hurting or lost or confused to the point that we do not know what to say; it is better to have our heart full and our mouth empty than the other way around.  It is better simply to cry before God with a plaintive “Help me, O Lord” than all the phraseology and beautiful words but no desire to truly communicate with God.  This is what this Scripture verse means.  This is what this whole section is talking about.

    We are encouraged to go into our closet, not because we are ashamed but because we want to be able to pray and be undistracted.  We want to have a heartfelt heart-to-God talk.  God invites us to come to him in prayer, to relieve the burdens of our life.  We can do this best by praying from the heart, even if the words fail us; God never will.

Father, remove the distractions of my life so that I may speak clearly to you.  Father, I desire to walk more closely to you.  Send your Spirit to enable me to be drawn to you.  Send your Spirit to fill me with your love and mercy.  Teach me to trust in you fully.  In the name of Jesus our ascended Lord we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

12-27-2025

Good Morning All,

           2 Corinthians 1:22; “and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

       “And it comes with the Good Housekeeping seal of approval!”  Most television commercials used to end that when.  It was the coup de grace of the advertising world.  If you had any doubt about the quality of this product well, this would calm your nerves.  It went without questioning that the Good Housekeeping seal of approval was the standard that things were measured by.  It also used to be Underwriters Laboratory or Consumer’s Digest.  These were the measures by which every manufacturer wanted to get the seal of approval from.  It was the standard that one could claim to be selling the absolute best product available.  It was marked with the seal that represented quality and value.

     You and I have been given the seal by God.  He has sealed us in our Baptism with the blood of Jesus and in this event, God delivers all the promises that He has made to us.  Our “yes” from God comes to us in the resounding voice of all that Jesus did/ does/ and will do for us.  By his keeping of the commandments, by his life, death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus began the great “yes” that God spoke to us and we are his sealed redeemed children.  So, we look forward to the completion of all of God’s “yesses.”  The time when all of creation is freed from the bondage of sin and death is finally destroyed and we are reunited with all the saints who have gone on before us.

    We look forward to this but until then we live with the guarantee of that promise.  We have the down payment, the guarantee in our heart, of the Holy Spirit.  This is a sign as well that God is pleased and blesses us with his Spirit.  It is through this Spirit that you and I are able to withstand the devil’s lies and attacks.  The Spirit, alive and active in us, is proof of God’s yes; it is proof of our being sealed by God, given his approval for our life.  Given his seal to show that his love for us has redeemed us and made us his.  We have eternal life; we will always have it and since we are guaranteed this, we can live a life that is full of the certain hope that nothing in this world can ever take that from us.  God’s great gift is ours forever.  God’s great love gives us true peace, that sense of comfort and rest that comes to those who no longer fear.  We need not fear because all our sins are forgiven and we have God’s seal on us to give us the victory.

Gracious Father, through Jesus, you tell us yes and give to us new life and new hope.  You free me from the power of the devil and bring me into your eternal kingdom.  Be with those who are unsure or are lost, bring them to know with certainty that your mercy sustains them and that you give them peace.  These good gifts all come from you.  In the precious name of Jesus, our ascended Lord we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-26-2025

Good Morning All,

       Acts 8:35; “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.”

     So how do you respond when you hear good news?  Most of us get very excited.  We can hardly contain our excitement.  Think of a time when you got good news.  When our son and his wife were expecting their first child, we could hardly wait to tell everyone.  We were sitting together at the table and we agreed that this good news belonged to our son and to our daughter-in-law so we were going to let them tell everyone.  So, we sat but then my wife said, “I have to tell someone!”  So, we thought of someone who probably wouldn’t be on the call list and then we told them.  We had good news to share and couldn’t wait to do so.

    Maybe you have had a similar situation.  When you have good news, who do you tell first?  Do you tell your family or your co-workers?  Do you do the Facebook thing or do you call them on the telephone in the old-fashioned way?  When you have good news, you share it.  When we have good news, we tell the people around us.  We might start with our family, then our close friends and then our acquaintances and then anyone who we have contact with.  It might be the waitress at the diner we eat at; it might be the mail man or the guy we see every day at the mall.  When we have good news, we share it or do we?

     The best news we have is the news about Jesus.  The best news we have is that we have Jesus as our savior.  The best news we have is that we will have eternal life with Jesus in paradise.  We have God’s promise of salvation, of comfort, of being sustained by his grace, of being free from the guilt of sin.  It is placed in our hearts and given to us to hold onto whenever things look bad or we feel sad.  We are the redeemed children of God, held safely in his loving arms protected from all that the devil throws at us.  We literally have everything that we could ever need; so why are we quiet?

     We should be telling everyone our good news!  We should be telling our family and closest friends about the wonder of what we have.  We should be telling everyone but why don’t we?  It may be because we have had the news so long that it isn’t exciting anymore and that is too bad.  Our salvation and God’s grace is a breath of incredible life-giving newness every day.  Every day we are brought back into God’s family.  Every day we receive the forgiveness of sins and the life affirming words of salvation.  We are renewed and redeemed every moment of every day; we receive this wondrous mercy every day.  This is god news for us and it is good news for us to share!

Gracious Father, we give you thanks for the good news which you give us.  We give you thanks for the gift of salvation that you give us.  Lead us to be voices heard that proclaim your praise.  Be with those who do not know the peace that this wonderful news gives us.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-25-2025

Good Morning All,

     Luke 2:7; “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”

    What is your favorite part of the Christmas story? Is it the shepherds? Is it the angels? Maybe you are an innkeeper person, we all have parts that seem to strike us as we listen to the story. For me, it is, and always has been, the baby in the manger. Even as a child, this fascinated me. My mother would put up the nativity scene, usually on top of the television, shortly after Thanksgiving and my curiosity was aroused. I would always be looking at the manger. I would pick it up and move it around in the scene. Maybe to the outside wall where a manger might be placed to the center of the scene to reflect the importance of the baby.

    This baby, lying on bed of straw, amazed me. I don’t think it was the straw. I grew up on a farm that had pigs, cows, and sheep for a while. I understood straw as bedding. I even fell asleep on a pile of straw because it was soft and warm. I was always fascinated by the baby. No matter what you did, he looked so vulnerable. He was exposed to everything around him and yet, he survived through it all. The baby in a manger is just so amazing and fascinating because we go far beyond a set of parents who could barely provide for the child entrusted to them. We see the very Son of God wrapped in swaddling cloths!

    Of all the Christmas stories, lores or narratives, the one narrative to hold onto is really quite simple. “Baby Jesus, God’s own Son; surely loves us everyone!” The God who created all things with a thought and a spoken word now takes on human flesh, human frailty and is born of lowly estate. Most would think that God, if he were to enter the human race, would do so in the greatest palace but He doesn’t. Because this time, God comes to serve his creation, to begin the healing and restoration that it so desperately needs. So, Jesus comes in a humble way, to lead a humble life in order to serve the very people who too often despise him.

    The baby in the manger is the first of many signs in Jesus’ life that shows his love for us. He was born in a manner humbler than the vast majority of us were. He was attacked, falsely convicted, and crucified to save and to serve us. He did this because he loves us and it started here, on earth, in a manger!

    So, as we celebrate this Christmas season and see all the grandeur around us. Remember the quietness and the humility that was from the start. Your Christmas may seem bland or empty compared to others, but you always have the gift and the presence of the Babe, the Son of David. He will always give you hope, hope for eternal life in his name. Merry Christmas!!

Gracious Father, you sent your Son to be our Savior, and we give you thanks and praise. Hold us in times of trial, struggle, or pain. Keep us in times of joy and celebration. May we always be your children and may we always know your peace. In the precious name of your Son we do pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-24-2025

Good Morning All,

         Galatians 3:28; “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ.”

     I was reading an article by a child psychologist the other day.  She was addressing an issue raised by a young parent whose young child pointed to someone in a wheelchair and the rather loudly asked, “why can’t that man walk?”  The horrified mother asked what to do.  The psychologist suggested that rather than get upset she should point out all the similarities that existed.  Yes, the man couldn’t walk but he had two ears like you and two eyes and two arms, etc.  She felt by pointing out all the similarities, the differences would hold less prominence.

     Why is it that we always seem to look for the differences at first?  Why do we seek those things which we use to divide and separate?  It often starts out innocently enough: it is how we identify individuals.  We see Suzy as the short, blonde girl and Billy as the tall red head.  But all too soon we take those differences and use them to hold others down or try to push them back; all in an effort to get to the front.  So, we take those differences and we begin to categorize people.  This group is greedy; this group is lazy, this group is selfish, this group is made up of criminals.  (I didn’t list who but you probably filled in the blanks).  Instead of looking at what we have in common and trying and building on that; we build walls to keep some back from us or out of our sight or away from us.

       Yet when God looks at people, He sees one thing, a sinful creature.  Before God we are all the same.  There is no difference; we are all sinners deserving eternal punishment.  But by God’s grace, God sees only righteousness and holiness when He looks at His redeemed children.  All God sees is Christ’s atoning sacrifice.  He sees us as one in Christ, holy and undefiled.  We are not male or female, tall or short, fat, or skinny, black, brown, white, yellow, purple, or orange; we are the redeemed children of God.  That is how God sees us and that is how we should see our fellow believer.  We are all the same.  We are forgiven sinners who live by God’s grace and mercy.  We need to tear down the walls we build and see what God sees, forgiven creatures.

     When we do this, it enhances our desire to have compassion for one another.  When we see each other as more like us than different than us; we will see the pain or sorrow that others experience.  When we see how we are alike; we see ourselves as brothers and sisters just as God desires us to.  We are God’s children, one and all; all of us alike. 

Father in heaven, too often we let our sinful nature lead us into prejudice and suspicion.  Forgive us for our sin.  Guide us Lord to remove the walls and the barriers which we build between us and our fellow believers.  Cause us to see them as our brothers in Christ and to feel their pain and to share in their joy to your glory here on earth.  In the precious name of Jesus our ascended Lord we pray, amen. 

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-23-2025

Good Morning All,

      John 3:16; “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

     It is one of the hardest decisions we ever have to make.  It is one of the hardest decisions to counsel someone about.  It is the decision to give up on someone, at least for a while.  Sometimes it might be a parent who has a child that is a drug addict or an alcoholic.  He never seems to have a job.  Maybe he has been arrested a few times.  Maybe he even went through the detox program a couple of times but nothing seems to work.  It is tough on parents to deal with this.  Few things age a person like this does.  Each phone call, you wonder; is he dead or in jail or involved in some drug deal that went bad; what happened?  It hurts to watch them struggle but sometimes you have to let them go.  You have to let them suffer the consequences of their actions.  You shield and shield them but you are slowly losing your own sanity.  You are suffering more than they are so you have to let go.

   It might be a spouse who stopped working on keeping the marriage going.  They stopped saying, “I love you” a long time ago.  They barely acknowledge you even exist.  They have started to attack you with verbal assaults that cut you to the core.  They have left the marriage in every way except they have an occasional presence in the house.  You have tried and tried.  You have asked that they go to counseling with you.  You have asked what is wrong and now you hear rumors they are spending time with someone else.  Maybe you have even found hotel receipts and you are distraught and shot emotionally.  You are exhausted and completely lost; you have to give up before you lose your sanity.  You have to walk away and let things heal and start over later.

    These and a few more like them are extreme events that hurt us so deeply.  Maybe you have been through these or maybe you know someone who has.  It is tough and it ages us quickly but at some point, in time, we have to give up.  That is what makes what God does for us so incredibly special.  God never gave up on us.  We were the unfaithful spouse; we went chasing after other gods and denying the true God and living as if he didn’t matter.  We were the delinquent child, taking whatever God gave to us and destroying it by seeking only our own physical pleasure.  You and I are that child; you and I are that spouse.  Anyone would have given up on us a long time ago but God does not.  God’s perfect love, the perfect sacrificial love, would not allow him to give up on us.  God’s perfect love moves him to seek us out no matter where.  Most of us would not chase a child to those places or a spouse to those places but God does.  God came to this wicked world to save us because he loves us.  We all know how far we would go for the love of a child and yet God exceeds the distance that we would ever go.  That is the kind of love he has for us; it knows no end!

Father, your love for me goes beyond anything I can ever imagine.  You keep me safe from the devil’s arrows and when I lose my way, you come to me and call me back.  Be with those who are struggling with their personal relationships.  Give them strength and courage; remind them that you never fail them.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

12-22-2025

Good Morning All,

       2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you.”

     How many times have you made a promise?  How many times has someone made a promise to you?  How many times have you broken promise?  How many broken promises have you had?  All of these questions probably are quite a few.  A big part of this is we use the word promise way too freely.  I promise to pick up supper on the way home.  I promise to wash clothes when I get home.  I promise to come to your ballgame.  I have made all those promises and broke each of them, more than once.

    Perhaps you have too.  We all have made promises and not kept them.  Yet most of us have made major promises which you are keeping.  For those of you who are married, how long have you been keeping that promise?  If you are not married, look at your parents and grandparents. 

    Notice the change in the verb from kept (or made) to keeping.  A true promise is one that you are always keeping or fulfilling.  That is what the verse for this morning is telling us.  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise…toward you.  The Lord made a promise to you; a personal promise to you.  The Lord God, creator of the universe, makes and is keeping his promise to you.

    Another thing about this promise is that it looks to the future.  When you took (or will take) your wedding vows, you are promising for tomorrow.  You promise to love and remain faithful “until death us do part.”  God promise for you is future oriented as well.  The promise made to you is a continuing promise for eternity.  You are given the promise of eternal life.  It is looking forward to what God promises not to what you did in the past.

    Another thing about a promise is that it depends on the person who makes it.  We all know (or we may be) someone who makes a promise and the expectation is often (we’ll see).  The promise depends on the trustworthiness of the one who makes it.  God is always faithful to his promises.  God’s promises are always kept.  That is part of why God addresses himself as “the God of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”  It shows God’s faithfulness.

    This is the promise for you.  It looks forward and depends totally on God.  It comes to us as a gift.  God keeps this promise every day.  Even, maybe even especially, on those days when we struggle or feel that God is far away; He isn’t.  He is always close to you, keeping his promise; a promise that includes eternal life, the comfort of the Holy Spirit and the fellowship of your fellow believers.  God keeps his promises new and fresh every day, trust in his promises.

 Dear Father in heaven, we give thanks for your holy promise, the promise of eternal life and salvation.  Give us the strength and the courage to hold onto that promise.  Lead us by your Spirit forward with your promise.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-21-2025

Good Morning All,

  James 1: 19-:20; “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires.”

    I was listening to the radio the other day and it was playing “American Pie” by Don McLean.  If you are under 70 or so you probably remember it well.  It was known for the meaning of all the lines and the verses, who did this refer to or what is that a reference to.  There is one line about “my hands were clenched in fists of rage.”   This line refers to the anger and violence which occurred in the 60’s and early 70’s with all the riots and the anti-war protests.  It was a time when it seemed anger was the way to move forward. Sounds a little like today, right?

   Make a “fist of rage.”  What does it look like?  First, it is closed, tightly closed; like our willingness to listen and to love the other person.  It is shut to any words that someone else can say to us.  We don’t WANT to hear it.  We can but we don’t want to.  Notice how it is turned in.  We turn all our attention inward; we focus on our real or imagined pain, indignation, and self-righteous arrogance.  When our hands are tightly closed, the only thing we can hold onto is ourselves.  Try to hold someone else’s hand and make a fist; you can’t do it.  When our hands are clenched in fists of rage, either literally or figuratively, our sinful nature focuses selfishly inward causing us to dream up all sorts of real or imagined hurts that we are suffering and someone has to pay for the pain we feel.  This ties into another line in the song “I saw Satan laughing with delight.”  The devil wins when we are angry because it does not produce the righteousness that God requires.

    Remember what Jesus told his disciples (you and me), “Love one another” “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”  There is no place for anger in our lives; it does us no good.  Listen to what is said.  This takes not only our ears but our eyes and our hearts as well.  How does he look when he says this, what tone does he use, is it from pain that he speaks?  Choose your words carefully.  Wait until he is done speaking, let it sink in for a minute or so, then respond.  Try to speak in a calm and quiet tone.  This is one of the devil’s best temptations to cause us to get angry and then to stumble into sin because of a careless word or thought.  Seek God’s help in controlling your anger, especially if you are actually in the right and the desire to defeat the other is great.  Use a gentle answer to turn away wrath. Anger only produces sin not the righteousness which God requires.

Father in heaven, all too often my fists are clenched in rage; forgive me that I am slow to listen and to forgive as you have forgiven me.  Strengthen me and give me the courage to open my hands to those around me and hold them as dearly as you hold me.  All this we ask in Jesus’ precious name, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-20-2025

Good Morning All,

          Matthew 15: 26-27: “And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”   She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 

    This is a portion of the story of the Canaanite woman and her faith.  She came to Jesus looking for a miracle for her daughter and the disciples tried to send her away.  It appears that Jesus is as well as He tells her He came for the lost sheep of Israel and she was not one of them.  She continues to pray and plead with Jesus until He relents.  Then Jesus praises her faith and heals her daughter.

    To many this seems to be a story about how nagging will win the day.  If you just keep pestering God long enough, He will give in and give you what you want.  But that is not what is going on here.  This is a better case of playing “who am I in the parable?”  Whenever we play this game, we always want to be the good guy.  We always want to be the Good Samaritan when we read that story; we want to be the example of goodness and right faith.  But if we are honest; are we the good guys or are we the foolish guys?

    In this story we want to be the Canaanite woman who, even though seemingly rejected by Jesus, continues to plead and beg our Lord for His mercy.  Is that really us?  Do we continue to pray and pray until God answers our prayer?  Or do we give up and begin to play the Schleprock card and say, “woe is me I never win at anything; I never get what I need, I am always the loser; my life is so rough.” 

   The unfortunate truth is that we are usually more like the disciples were in this story.  Eating a feast at the table with Jesus; spilling and wasting enough food that a poor outsider saw it as enough to live off of.  Isn’t that really how we are?  We receive such an abundance of blessings from God that we fail to see how great they are and then we begrudge someone else who seeks just a scrap of the blessings that we have.  Most have multiple TVs in their homes, most have multiple cell phones, and many have multiple computers.  We spend thousands of dollars on health care because we are overweight while a huge chunk of the world slowly starves to death.

    Does this mean we are bad people because we have wealth?  Not necessarily, wealth is a gift from God but do we give thanks for that wealth like we should or have we reached a point where we feel entitled to this prosperity?  We need to be thankful to God for all that He has given to us and we need to pray that we do not become so hung up on what we have that wealth becomes our God.  We need to see God’s hand at work in our lives and give thanks to the Lord.  Then we need to look for ways to share God’s love and blessings with those around us both near and far.

Dear Heavenly Father, too often we sit at your table and feast and do not see the great and wonderful blessings that we have.  We confess that all too often we are like the disciples who assume blessings and dismiss those who are in need.  We ask for your divine mercy.  Give us strength to follow you and to be your hands here on earth and that we show mercy to those who are in need.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, Amen!

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-19-2025

 Good Morning All,

          Matthew 5:9; “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

    Peace is a unique experience.  It has been the longing of man since Cain killed Abel.  Much of our popular entertainment, whether books, music, movies or whatever, will have “peace” as a theme somewhere in the story line.  Sometimes it is easy to see such as the Beatles and “Give Peace a Chance” or Peter, Paul, and Mary with “Blowin’ in the Wind.”  Sometimes it is a little more subtle.  One of the most powerful anti-war movie/TV shows during the Vietnam War was a movie about the Korean War called MASH.  We all claim to want peace just like we all claim to be tolerant; it has to be on our terms.

     That is the trouble with man’s definition of peace.  You and I can be at peace as long as you do what I want.  Since I don’t really trust you anyway; I am always making sure that I am stronger than you and ready to “enforce peace” (can anyone say oxymoron?).  Too often, peace is just the absence of fighting, a lull in a battle that will always rage in the hearts of sinful man.

    Jesus calls us to a different reality.  He calls us to be peacemakers, true peacemakers reconciling man to man and being God’s hands in reconciling the world unto himself.  This is no easy task; we will not do it by our own will or volition but only through God’s grace will this occur.

     We have seen or experienced violence throughout our land for many years now.  In the middle of all this, God calls us to be peacemakers.  Peacemaking is not a passive act.  It requires us to get our hands dirty.  It requires interrupting injustice without resorting to injustice, the act of disarming evil without destroying the evildoer.  It doesn’t involve fight nor flight actions but the careful, Spirit-led, arduous pursuit of reconciliation and justice.  It forces us to see the face of the oppressed in our own faces, and the hands of the oppressors in our own hands.  Remember this when confronted by those who advocate policies and lifestyles which oppose God’s Will but also remember it when they ask what our motive is.  We see this when we stand against abortion and homosexuality but do we see it when God’s calls upon his people to be compassionate to the poor, the orphans, the widows, and the aliens in our lands?  God wants all to be saved and calls us to show compassion and love to all that we meet even those who are “wrong.”

    We are called to be faithful to Christ and his teachings.  When in the Garden, when Peter drew his sword to defend Jesus; Jesus rebuked him and healed the man whom Peter struck.  Even on the cross, Jesus prayed for his enemies as well as his family and friends.  Do we pray for our enemies or those whose views are different than ours?  Do we ask God to forgive them?  Do we forgive them?  “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.”       

Gracious Father, too often we are slow to be peacemakers.  We seek retribution instead of reconciliation. Forgive us for our failures.  Use us and give us the courage to be your voice for those who have no voice, your hands for those who need your comfort.  Move us, as your kingdom of priests, to ever praise your name.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-18-2025

Good Morning All,

          John 3:17; “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

    Most people really aren’t into second place or second best.  Many will claim that second place is really just the first loser.  There is a reason we call the second-place trophy the “consolation prize;” it implies that we need to be consoled for coming in second.  Do you know who Major Gherman Titov is?  He was the second man to orbit the earth in space.  Do you know who the second man to walk in the moon was?  It was Buzz Aldrin.  We often know who the first person was but we rarely know who the second one was.  We all know the first one, the “stars” but what about the second ones or the back-ups?  Who was Babe Ruth’s back-up?

    In many ways, our verse is like that.  Almost everyone knows the verse that precedes this one.  We call that verse “the Gospel in a nutshell.”  It is often times the first verse we teach children to memorize.  It is the favored Confirmation verse.  It is a really good verse; “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son; that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  That is a great verse but our verse today should be the second verse and really should be read as it is written; as the continuation of the thought in verse 16.  God sent his son to save us not to condemn us.

    We can find great comfort in this.  As we go on our journey through life, we will have many bumps and slips.  We will fall down and occasionally get lost.  Through it all, Jesus is seeking you.  He is looking for you and we can take comfort and consolation in that he is not looking for us to criticize us.  He is not trying to catch you with a “gotcha.”   He is not seeking you to attack you or to condemn you for your failures and shortcomings; he seeks you out in order to bring you back into his kingdom.  He comes to save you from the falls and the fears that the devil will launch against you.  He is looking for you to give you life.  He seeks you out to bring you salvation.

    So, no matter what we have done in the past; God seeks you out to bring you through forgiveness into eternal life.  God seeks to put you back on the course to salvation and just as importantly, on the path where you will have peace in this world.  God seeks to put you on the path to live this life secure in certain knowledge that you are his child and you are loved and protected by him.  You are not on this journey by yourself; you are not left to face the trials and tribulations alone.  Jesus is with you every step of the way to bring into the perfect existence with him in eternal life.

Gracious Lord, you seek me out in order to give me life.  You came to give me salvation and you continue to give me life.  Keep me safe on my journey.  Keep me safe in the trials that I can remain strong and safe in the comfort of your loving arms.  Guide those who have fallen to safety in your mercy.  Bring all your children home.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-17-2025

Good Morning All,

                   1 John 5:4; “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

  One of the styles of music that I enjoy is the American folk music.  One of my favorite groups is “The Kingston Trio.”  They have a unique blend of humor, wit, and musical ability to blend together.  One of their songs, probably known only to their fans, is called “The Merry Minuet.”  Its name is somewhat a misnomer because while it is a minuet, it is not very merry.  Notice part of the lyrics.      

       

                                    They're rioting in Africa. They're starving in Spain.

                                   There's hurricanes in Florida and Texas needs rain.

 

The song goes on to speak of all types of ills and problems in the world including nuclear proliferation.  It was written in 1958 but all you have to do is change the names with different names and the effect is the same.  There is trouble in the world.

   We as Christians today can really relate with this emotion.  We are witnessing an incredible cultural shift. We see the denial of God and His creation.  We see a rejection of the Ten Commandments and of God-given natural law.  There is trouble everywhere and we seem to be on the losing end and this is what the devil wants you to think.

    That is part of the great lie that the devil tells.  It is the lie that brings death to man both a temporal and an eternal death.  It is the lie that causes sinful man to view decline as advancing and debasement as value.  It is the lie that denies God and it is spreading throughout the world.  Some will say it is worse than ever.  Whether it is worse or not really does not matter; it is still a lie and we know the truth- we have overcome this world, its lies, and its ruler the devil.

    So, if you read bad news after bad news take heart, our victory is secured by Christ and we can trust in that truth.  God’s love is victorious and he gives that love to us through his Son Jesus by faith in him.  So, cling to Jesus and his victory in faith.  We need to stand fast, clinging to Jesus, be in the Word and be in prayer.  Truth, real truth, comes from God and him alone.  He has given us that truth in Jesus.

    So, continue to live your faith.  Everyone needs to hear the truth- from presidents, governors, and legislators to college students to the babies that rest on your knee.  One of the best ways to tell this truth is by living out our call to bring healing and hope to all we meet.  Remember how the Apostle Paul spoke in 1 Corinthians 13 “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”  

Father, as we see the world seems to crumble around us.  Keep us mindful that all things are under your care and guidance and that our salvation is secure in Jesus.  Give us the courage to be your hands and voice in this fractured world.  Guide us to bring healing and hope.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret