8-31-2026

Good Morning!

     Matthew 28:20; “Teach them to do everything I have commanded you. “And remember that I am always with you until the end of time.”

         I had a friend who could not wait for whatever we were doing to get done.  When we were in high school and playing football, he couldn’t wait for football to get done.  Then he couldn’t wait for basketball to get done.  When we went to college he couldn’t wait until he was done with classes.  After his children were born, he couldn’t wait until they were old enough to drive and then he couldn’t wait until they graduated.  His job wasn’t any better; he couldn’t wait until he could retire.  He would always look forward to what was coming but he never really enjoyed what he was doing.

    This seems like a sad life to me; yet there are many Christians who live the same way.  It is easy to do and not entirely wrong.  We are eschatological; that is, we look forward to the end of time and look forward to the return of Jesus as King and Lord.  So, for Christians to look forward to the end times is not all bad.  Only when Jesus returns will all pain, sorrow, suffering, sadness, and death finally end.  This is why we look forward to Christ’s return; this is why we pray for Christ to return.  For when Christ comes, we will have the restored and recreated heaven and earth.  Everything will be perfect.

    Yet we don’t want to miss today either.  Jesus told us that tomorrow will have enough worries so live today.  Too often we miss this.  We fail to see the beauty of today because we want the beauty of tomorrow.  Just like my friend missed so much because he wouldn’t see today; he only wanted to get to tomorrow.  He missed a lot of his children growing up because he was trying to hurry them into the next phase.  He missed a lot of companionship today because he was always hurrying to get to tomorrow.

    One of the wonderful gifts that God gives us in our faith is that we have the certainty of tomorrow so we can enjoy today.  We don’t have to wait until we live with Jesus; he already lives in us right now.  He is with us all the time and we can not only take comfort in this; we can revel in it.  We can thoroughly enjoy his presence in our lives right now.  Since we have his guarantee to live with us at all times, we can enjoy the fruits of our salvation right now.  We can see it in the beauty of a star-filled night even when it is cold.  We can see it in the beauty of the eyes of small children as they gaze with wonder and awe at the new things they see and learn.  We can see it in the love that an elderly couple still shares even after all these years.  We can see it all around but we have to stop, look, and rejoice in what God gives us today.  We have his grace to surround us so that we may be forever safe and secure in his loving arms.  Enjoy today for God has given it to you.

Father, lead me to see that each day is a gift from you for me to enjoy in your presence.  Lead me to celebrate my days of faith with you.  Lead me to savor your grace and to look to share it with those around me.  Help me to slow down and live in your mercy.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

8-30-2026

Good Morning!

           Acts 2:6; “And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.”

      “Undo, Undo!!”  That is the cry that occurs when you push the wrong button on your computer.  I remember being in a sem class many years ago, where we were all diligently typing a rather lengthy paper.  All of a sudden, one of the guys sitting behind me let out a shriek and started yelling “Undo, undo, undo!!”  His computer did something and his screen went blank.  Fortunately, he was able to recover his work; the undo button worked.

     I don’t know about you but there are times when I wish I had an “undo” button in my life.  There are times when I said or did something I regretted doing or things I regretted not doing and an “undo” button would have been nice.  Maybe you have had that experience as well.  Perhaps a decision or two in your life could have benefitted from an “undo” button.  Perhaps you may even feel that these decisions have negated any hope in your life.  I recently had a conversation with a man about coming to church and listening.  He looked at me and laughed a little and said he didn’t think our ceiling would hold up if he came to church; he had lived a life that he wished he could “undo” a whole lot.

    Our verse is about one of God’s “undos”.  As the Holy Spirit filled the room, people from all over the known world heard the apostles preaching in their own language.  Parthians, Medes, Cappadocians, people from Asia, Egypt, Crete; all over listened to these Galileans preach and could hear in their own language.  In essence, God was “undoing the Tower of Babel.  God’s Spirit is unifying his people, the exact opposite of sin dividing man at the time of Babel.

    This is only one example of God “undoing” man’s failures.  Jesus came to undo all that we have done so that we can stand with God and before God in peace.  Jesus’ death paid for all our sins to undo all the damage that we did and do to our relationship with God.  Jesus paid for all our sins so that he would undo the destructive effects of the devil and the world can have on us.  Jesus’ death gives us new life; we are a new creation; our life experiences an “undo” because of God’s incredible love for us.

   So, if you need an “undo”; God offers you one.  He gives you the chance to start over.  He gives us the chance to change our life from one of pain and sadness to one of peace, contentment and hope.  God “undos” your pain in order to give you new life in him.  Take hold of his promise to new life and hope for today.  God has displayed the way he “undos” our sins trust him to continue to do so.

Father, in you we have new life.  You change my life by forgiving and “undoing” the pain that I cause you.  Lead me by your Spirit to reach out to those around me that I have hurt or that are in any type of pain.  Lead all those in pain into the wonderful comfort of your merciful arms.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret     

8-29-2026

Good Morning!

              Matthew 1:1; “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”

     The last one chosen.  That was the fear of many children during playground games.  Lined up against the wall and two people began to choose.  One by one they get picked until the last few get picked.  It can be a somewhat humiliating situation.  Yet most of us go through it at some time in our life and we survive but at the time it is not real fun.  We always place importance on the right one being chosen.  The tall and lanky ones, who move with the grace of a leopard or a cheetah with all the strength and speed; they have the eye-hand coordination to accomplish just about anything.  They are the perfect player, the perfect teammate, the usually victorious one.  The last ones picked; they usually lost if they got to play at all.

    When we look at the genealogy of Jesus, we expect the names of kings, like David and Solomon or the great patriarchs like Abraham and Isaac.  Yet do we expect the names of Tamar and Rahab?  One acted as a harlot and one was a harlot.  What about names like Abijah? He was a rebellious son who attacked his father.  Certainly, these must have been the last ones chosen.  Certainly, there had to be better choices than these; certainly, there had to be more virtuous options.  Somewhere in the selection had to be the tall, lanky, svelte warriors. 

    The truth is that there are no virtuous people.  Abraham and Isaac lied, denied God, and turned their back on God’s covenant.  David and Solomon took a very “liberal” view of what adultery really was.  Now the world may view some of these people who are listed in this genealogy are great and some are not.  Yet before God, they are all the same.  They are those whom he has chosen to serve him in the manner that he has decided.  Their background, their previous life was of no consequence.  God had a need and a plan for them so he used them to accomplish his goal.

    This is still true today.  There is a place that God can and will use you in service to his kingdom.  Your past, your history is of no matter to God.  God only looks at your future.  You may have always been the last one to be chosen.  You may have been viewed as the biggest loser on the playground but in God’s eye you are someone to be loved, to be wanted, to be chosen as one to serve him in his kingdom.  Your past may be as varied as those in Jesus’ family tree: harlots, cheats, liars, thieves, drunkards, and rebels.  Their pasts were sinful and wicked but they were forgiven by God and claimed as his children.  He does the same for you and me.  Through our Baptism, we are members of Jesus family as well.  We are inheritors of his glorious kingdom.  We are saved by his grace alone and in that we can place all our hope.

Father, you don’t let my past stand in the way of your grace.  Lead me to not let my past stand in the way of my faith.  Lead me by your Spirit to trust in your grace and to live in your wonderful kingdom.  Lead us to be your children.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

8-28-2026

Good Morning!

     Exodus 3:1; “Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.”

    It is often called a “mountaintop experience.”   It is usually a spiritual experience where you “feel” closer to God.  It can be a very intense experience that can leave you excited, exhilarated, enthusiastic and full of life and a joy of knowing God.  It probably even draws its name from the Bible when Peter, James and John were on the mount of transfiguration with Jesus.  The disciples wanted to stay up on the mountaintop.

    It is easy to see why we think this way.  There are many stories in the Bible where God is on the mountaintop.  Abraham and Isaac had one; Moses had a few; Joshua and some of the judges had met with God on mountaintops.  Elijah met with God on the mountain of God like Moses.  Mountaintop experiences are the types of experiences that many people love to share; they love to relate the greatness, the grandeur and the elation that they experience when they have been to the mountaintop.  But what if there hasn’t been a mountaintop experience for you? 

    Many don’t have this experience.  Just as many cannot tell you the precise time and date that faith came into their life, many have not had a mountaintop experience.  We just live ordinary lives; we never know those real high moments nor do we know those really devastating low moments.  We don’t know the mountaintop but we don’t know the depth of the pit either; we are just plain people who live their life on the plain.

    Yet the joy of the Gospel is for us as well.  We may not ever experience the rapturous heights but we can know for certain that God’s promise of salvation is for us as well.  God gives us the peace and the calm to live the life that he has given us.  We can live with the certainty that God’s love for us is real.  You don’t have to have fallen into the depths of the pit and you do not have to have been on the mountaintop.  Your salvation, and the certainty of it, does not depend on how you feel but it depends on God’s grace and God’s grace alone.  There may be times when you don’t “feel” that god is close to you but he still is.  There may be times when you don’t “feel” his grace but it is continually poured out upon you.

    It is not your feelings that determine your salvation or faith.  It is the certainty of the knowledge that Jesus died for you, a fact an event that occurred in a place called Jerusalem many years ago.  It occurred in order that you might have salvation.  Whether you have been to the mountaintop, been to the depths lived your entire life on the plain or had all three, all that matters is that God loves you and has given to you salvation which we can hold onto by faith.

Father, I don’t always feel like I think I should.  I think that I should do something to make me be saved.  Give me the comfort in the knowledge that your grace comes from you freely.  Help me to know that it does not depend on me or my feelings.  Renew those who feel lost or adrift.  Give them the comfort of the certainty of your mercy.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

8-27-2026

Good Morning!

     Psalm 104:34; “May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.”

       As an aid to this devotion, I would encourage you to read all of Psalm 104 when you can.  This is an interesting psalm which teaches us a great truth.  It is a psalm of praise in which praise is given to God for creation.  The whole psalm leads us through creation and in it we see the power and majesty that is God.  It speaks of creation starting in verse 5 and going through verse 26.  We see where God laid the foundation, he caused the mountains to rise up, he waters the trees and so on.  This psalm not only speaks to the actual creation but to God continuing to work his creative force within creation.  We can see that in verses 27-31.  We see what a glorious creation that God has made.

    This is the type of psalm to read or remember when you are experiencing some of God’s exquisite beauty.  Think of it when you travel and see the majestic mountains, or beautiful lakes or rolling plains. It is the type of psalm that, as you read it, you can close your eyes and relive all those beautiful places on the earth that you have witnessed including the sunrises and moonrises, the sunsets and the moonsets, the stars and comets and all the celestial beauty which can cause us to shrink back from the incredible majesty that we see.  It continues to verse 34, our verse which seems like a logical end.  The logical end would be for me to meditate on God’s wonderful creation and enjoying it.  For not only does God provide for us but he abundantly provides for us and we can rejoice in it.

   Yet, the psalm ends with verse 35. “Let sinners be consumed from the earth and let the wicked be no more!”  This sounds almost like a cold slap in the face but it really the call of the Christian with respect to creation.  Our goal, our hope is not that we leave creation but rather that Christ returns and restores creation.  Our hope is for the perfected creation in which creation is no longer subjected to sin (Romans 8: 18-25).  We hope for, we eagerly wait for the freeing of creation (and that includes us) from the pain and the decay that sin brings.  We eagerly wait for Christ to return so that death, sin and decay and destruction will end.  We look forward to the King of kings completing the restorative work begun on Calvary.

   So, we as Christians do not see this world as something to be used and tossed aside rather, we see it as God’s precious possession in need of some fixing.  Some we can do but, ultimately, we can only wait for Jesus to return.  So, for you and me to see God in the beauty of his creation is normal or even expected.  Just as you see the nature of the artist in the beauty of the painting so we can see the beauty and the wonderment of God in his creation.  You and I, as humans, are placed in the midst to care for and enjoy this as God’s precious gift to us; so, enjoy and take care of God’s creation.

Father, the beauty of your creation speaks of your love.  Lead me to care for your creation and to enjoy it and to revel in the sights and sounds, the taste, and the texture of your world.  Come Lord Jesus, complete your work, and restore your world.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

8-26-2026

Good Morning!

     Matthew 11:28; “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

        Are you rested from the summer sports and leisure activities? The fall stuff has started with ball games, matches, music and what not. I hope you enjoyed your time of rest in between. Some people call it Thursday.  Are you rested or are you tired?  It seems that we are usually either tired or rested.  It usually seems that we are tired more often than when we are rested but once in a while we are rested.  Don’t you wish you could figure out the “being rested” part more than “being tired” part?

   One of the greatest dangers we face is that we take our eyes off of Jesus and we place our eyes, and our trust, somewhere else.  Maybe you experienced a childhood that left you feeling left out or passed by.  You may have felt tired as you grew up and so you sought out your own solace.  You relied on your skill and wit.  As you grew up you maybe came to see your family, your job, perhaps your marriage as your source of comfort and hope.  Yet trusting these things can leave you tired.  Placing our hope in the things of this world, like wealth, popularity, personal strength, or knowledge may seem like the right path but in the end, it leaves us tired.  It leaves us tired because these things always fall short.  There are always times when these will fail and we will have to figure out a way to make up for the shortfall.  So, the strength we think is here comes up short and we are left tired and empty.

    This is why Jesus invites us to, “come;” he invites us to come and rest.  He offers us the rest of a small baby as she lies against her mother’s chest, sleeping the deep and contented sleep.  She rests in the comfort and safety of her mother’s loving arms, hearing her mother’s heartbeat, feeling the gentle warmth of her mother’s touch.  She sleeps the deep sleep of total rest and comfort.  This is the rest that Jesus invites us to have.

    He invites us to the rest, which results from knowing that all our needs are met.  He invites us to the rest where we trust wholly in his love to bring us that rest.  We do not need to seek anything else for that comfort and rest; it is all in the hands and the loving arms of Jesus.  So, when other things or other people fail us and they will sometimes by selfish aim and sometime by no fault at all; they will fail.  The doctors can only do so much; our spouses and family can only do so much; our wealth can only go so far; eventually, everything else will fail but we will always have Jesus.  He will never fail us.  He never has and he never will.

    We can trust and take comfort, find our peace and our rest in his unfailing love; a love that saved you and me and gives us that hope that we seek and that rest that we desire.  Rest in his loving embrace.

Father of loving mercy, we come to you for rest.  We come because Jesus invites us to come to him for rest. Bring us by your Spirit to hear his invitation and to seek his rest.  Be with those who are tired from the cares of this world.  Give them your holy rest and peace.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, we pray, amen.

 God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

8-25-2026

Good Morning!

     Galatians 2:20; “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

        I always remember the line about how “there is no such thing as bad press.”  This usually pertains to entertainers and to the idea that as long as your name is in front of the people, as long as they think about you, then you are still famous.  The public may hear that you were picked up for drunk driving but at least you are still in the public eye.  This is especially true for the not so famous anymore who grasp for past glory.  “No such thing as bad press.”

     You and I may scoff and snicker at that but to a certain extent we are the same way.  We like people to think that we are important.  We like for people to seek us out and “need” us.  We may even harken back to previous experiences to remind people that we are important.  This is partly why people refer back to “scoring the winning point in a crucial game in high school” when they are 40 or 50 years old.  It is why people refer back to a time when they were on a board or served on some committee a few years back; we want people to think we are important and that we matter and that our opinion matters as well.

    We may even shape our relationships around the idea that we are important.  We may attempt to control relationships in this fashion.  When someone threatens to “leave” a friendship or other relationship unless their “needs” are met; they are saying to the world, “I am the important one here.”  These relationships are often toxic and seldom last very long; for when we take the attitude that any relationship is about “me first;” that relationship will suffer greatly.

    Here we need to see that a truly successful relationship has both parties “crucifying” the old selfish self and being reborn, through Baptism, as the new creation that is in Christ.  We see our relationships as Christ does and that is to look to love, to comfort, to aid others more than self.  We live, not to feed the selfish nature, but to be in Christ holy presence and to be Christ to the world; to be his hands and arms, to be his voice and his ear, to be his shoulder and arms.  We are to be the personification of Christ to the world.  We are to place Jesus first in all of our doings, in all of our actions, in all of our relationships.

    So, as we go forward, let us remember that we have crucified the “old me;” we have drowned the me that demands to be first and God has given birth to the new me which is filled with the desire to serve Christ and him alone.  It is not “me first” but “Jesus first.”  

Father of love and mercy, in you we have hope.  Lead me to see that the old me is crucified and that the new me is in Christ’s image and in his Spirit.  Lead me to love and not demand.  Lead me to love and not require others to serve me.  Lead me to be your servant by serving the needs of others.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

8-24-2026

 Good Morning!

     Deuteronomy 31:8; “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

   One of the worst experiences for us as humans is to feel all alone.  Many of our popular songs in some way or form lament about being alone.  It might be a country song or an old rock song, a folk song, or a new modern song.  We worry about being alone.  For many, this is a great fear and anxiety; they fear ending up alone.  I know that numerous times I have spoken to older couples and each party wants to be the first to die.  It is not that they seek death but they would rather die than live alone.  It is difficult for us to live alone.

    We, as humans, are really social and gregarious creatures.  We seek companionship and fellowship.  It is how we were created.  God made man and then made woman so that they would have companionship together.  They would love together and, together, this bond would be the basic bond or building block for our society and civilization.  The need for this bond is what drives men and women to seek companionship, to be inclusive in our gatherings, and to look after those around us.  We seek companionship, love, acceptance, being valued and treasured.  These are all part of what it means to be human; to be the creatures that God created us to be.

     It is also one of our weaknesses that the devil and our sinful nature attempt to attack and exploit.  It usually occurs in tandem with another stressful or painful event in our life.  We may have lost a spouse and suddenly we feel completely alone.  We may have lost a job or some other form of income and we are no longer able to be in our group of friends and now we are on the outside looking in and we feel alone.  We may have health issues which separate from the life we had and now we feel alone.  We feel we are facing the illness alone; we are facing a change in our life alone; we are facing each day without that person who has always been there and now we are alone.

    The devil takes stressful events, whispers in our ear, feeds our doubts and our uncertainties and with a practiced voice and meter begins to try and separate you from God.  He tries to lead you away from God’s family.  He fills your head with lies and your heart with anxiety.  He tells you that you are all alone and you fear and anxieties mount.  The lie is false; you are not alone God is with you but the anxiety and the fear are real; you feel the pain.

    So, keep your eyes focused on God; he will not abandon you.  He will comfort you and he will use those around you to do so.  Seek them out; they will not abandon you.  God’s Spirit will move them to you.  Experience God’s grace; know that his love for you knows no bounds.  He will never abandon you or leave you alone.  When that fear or anxiety strikes, turn it over to God and he will restore you.

Father of all goodness; keep me in your loving arms.  Hold me tightly to your chest so that I may never know the pain of loneliness.  And when the devil lies to me, give me the reassurance of your loving grace.  Send to me you Spirit to keep me comforted. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

8-23-2026

Good Morning!

     Galatians 4:5; “to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

      I remember watching a movie a few years back that was about the gangsters of the 1930’s.   It had these three men rob a bank.  Over the next few years, they ran and ran but everywhere they went; pretty soon a policeman from the town that had the bank that they robbed would show up and they would have to run again and again.  Eventually, at the end of the movie, there was the big shoot out scene and one of the brothers is killed and the other two are wounded but arrested.  As they are hauled away in the police car a narrator voice that sounded like a cross between Broderick Crawford and William Conrad said, “You can’t outrun the long arm of the law.”

    That phrase, “the long arm of the law” is really very old.  It goes back into the 1500’s and originally referred to the king’s ability to collect his taxes.  There was no place to hide from the long arm (or hands) of the king.  It later changed to the law in the United States.  It simply refers to the idea that you cannot get away with anything.  The law will always be after you and you will never have any peace.  You can run all you want but eventually you will get caught.

    This saying refers to using fear to accomplish its goal. The goal of this saying is to maintain order and to keep the law.  It uses fear and guilt to keep you obeying the law.  We are afraid of the punishment so we behave as desired.  In many ways, we can see the law of God the same way.  It has long arms as well.

     We may think that there are times or places where we can live away from God’s law but there truly isn’t.   Late at night, when no one is watching or even when we are completely alone in our thoughts, whenever and wherever sins creep or leap into our life the long arm of the law will be there.  It will be there to point out our faults and our sin.   It will be there as the weight for us to carry as we soon see our weaknesses and the distance between who we are and who we should be. 

     The wonder of God’s Gospel is that it has even longer arms than the law.  God’s Gospel message of forgiveness because of Jesus reaches for us no matter how great a depth or distance away from God that we feel we are; God’s love reaches us with his merciful words of forgiveness.  No matter how guilty we feel because of the law; God’s grace reaches farther and wraps us in his loving embrace to comfort and to forgive you and to bring you home.

Father of all love and mercy, when I feel beaten down by the law and my guilt and pain are great, you are there to give me the comfort of your love given to me through Jesus.  Lead me to see that your love changes my heart and my life.  Help me to change into the person that you desire me to be.  Help me to see that life in harmony with you rather than opposed to you brings peace and contentment to my life.  Open my eyes, dear Father.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

8-22-2026

Good Morning!

              Ecclesiastes 12:13; “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.^”   

         So, what are we supposed to do?  This is a question that gets asked often.  Sometimes it is asked when a group of people get together to help a neighbor who is sick.  They gather together to do a needed task; it might be a group of farmers to plant or harvest; it might be a group who gathers to paint a house or fix windows.  It is just a group of people who gather together to help someone else out.  Sometimes these events are spontaneously planned.   Everyone shows up at an agreed upon time and date.  Everyone looks around and then ask, “What are we supposed to do?”  Eventually, things get worked out and the action gets done.

    So, what do I do?  We may ask that in regard to our faith as well.  One day, we suddenly hear God’s Word.  We can hear his words of forgiveness as the exact thing we need to hear.  We may even feel as though a weight has been lifted from our shoulders.  Our sinful desire has been replaced with the desire of God’s Spirit.  Now what do we do?  Some think they have this long list of actions to perform.  Some think that payment is required.  Some think they are now required to behave a certain way or talk a certain way or change into someone they are not.  They think that “thees” and “thous” are the new norm. 

     The truth for many of us is that our life may not seem that much different.  We will have the same job, the same friends, the same family.  We will still owe on our credit cards and house payments.  On the outside, it may not seem like much change but on the inside we change.  We may still do much of the same things in life but we have a different motive and a different purpose.  Our desire is to love God and to live that love and to show that love.  Our newfound purpose is simple; fear God and keep his commandments. 

    We fear God by respecting Him and giving him and his name honor.  We do this by keeping his name holy, separate from the lowly uses.  We do not cheapen it with a carelessness in the specialness of his name but rather we cherish it for what it is, the name of the One who brings us hope, healing, comfort, and peace.  We keep his commandments by doing his will which is to show love and compassion on those around us; by showing this love and compassion to those who are hurting and in need.  We do this because of his great love for us; we do it as a form of thank you to God.  That is all we really do; we say thank you to God for all he does for us.  We show our thanks by how we live and how we deal with others.

Father, your love for us is beyond our measure or understanding.  Help me to show my thanks for your precious gift of salvation.  Help me to experience the joy of your healing and to share that great joy with those that you have placed on my journey that I may share your love with them.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

8-21-2026

Good Morning!

                Galatians 3:11; “ Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”

          The righteous shall live by faith; we hear that throughout the world in some way, shape or form.  We are told by many people, “just have faith.”  Maybe you have heard, “keep the faith.”  We hear all the time that faith has sustained me.  Maybe you have even heard the phrase, “you got to believe.”   We hear that a lot when a basketball team or a football team is way behind in the game and then they come up and win the ball game.  Many times, we can hear someone yell in the background, “you got to believe.”   But did you ever stop to think what that phrase really means?

    Unfortunately, in our world today, not many people really do know what this phrase means.  To many, it means just believing; it doesn’t really have any purpose.  It means that you just have to believe in something.  It might be luck that you believe in; it might be the way a cat walks down the road.  Many people do not think that it makes what you believe in as long as you believe in something.  This type of thought puts all of the power of faith in the believer’s hands or head.  It places the result on the skill, competence, endurance or will of the person who has the faith.  It places the object of the faith in the wrong direction.

    Faith, true faith, places its trust in something or someone outside of the person with faith.  You may have faith in your parents, your spouse, your boss or even in your pastor.  You may place your faith here but, down the road, at some time those people will fail you and let you down.  So will any earthly or human being, plan, or construct.  Just like the hymn says, “when every earthly prop gives way” and it will.  If we place our faith in the wrong thing or person, our faith will fail because the one in whom we placed our faith has failed.

    This is why our only true hope is God.  He is the only one who has never failed to keep his promises.  God alone has shown that when we have faith in him, when we embrace his love, mercy, and promise, we will never fall short.  We will never fall short because God will never fall short.  Our faith depends entirely on God and his grace.  It is not our power or might or will but it is the loving mercy of God our holy Father.  God alone is our hope and salvation; in him and only him will our faith rest assured.

Father of all hope, in you we place our trust and our hope.  In you we never fail for your Word is true.  Keep us safe in your wonder care.  Defend us from the attacks of the devil so that we may lead a peaceful and content life.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret              

8-20-2026

Good Morning!

     Gen. 1:1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

    There are a handful of verses from the Bible that most people, who any biblical knowledge at all, can quote from memory.  This is one of those verses.  Yet it is one of the most ignored verses in the Bible.  In the first verse of the entire Bible, we see what our relationship with God should be.  God is the creator and we are the created; we are the creatures that fit into the creation.  Yet most people are truly offended if you tell them this.  Try and tell someone who is commenting on how great mankind is and how we can do anything if we just put our mind to it.  Tell them that we are creatures in God’s creation but in this simple verse, 10 words long, that is exactly what we declare.

    Now it is true that God created humans with a special purpose, to care for creation and to serve God, and given something that the animals do not have, a living soul, God created us to be the “image-bearers” for him here on earth.  Humans were supposed to tend the creation, to have dominion over it, and to be in worshipful fellowship with God.  But man couldn’t live with this.  Remember what the serpent told Eve, “you will be like God” so Eve ate and Adam did too.  Sin entered the world because Adam and Eve were not happy being the creature; they wanted to be like the creator.  All sin reflects back to this verse.  The First Commandment springs from this verse.  Why should we have no other gods before Him?  Because He is the Creator God who made everything out of nothing.  All sin is a sin against the First Commandment. 

    In the Book of Revelations, there is a description of the Throne of God.  As you and I go through life, our struggle with the devil is who is sitting on that throne?  Do I see God on that throne or do I place myself on that throne?  Do I see God as the Sovereign God who rules over all He has created, or do I have a “different” theory.  In essence, we are rejecting our own human creaturely status and have lost everything.

    God, in His mercy, sent Jesus to die to reconcile us back to Him.  God continually calls us back to Himself, out of love, to return to our true nature to be the “image-bearer” in this world.  Since sin is still prevalent, God calls His Church to be partners or helpers in this reconciliation process.  He empowers us through the Holy Spirit to again be the “image-bearer” for Him in this broken world.  We continually fall short but God continues to call.  This cycle or rhythm is what some call worship.  God calls us and pronounces us forgiven; we rejoice in His forgiveness and go forth only to fall short again.  We repeat this cycle until the Lord returns.  “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” He is the creator and we are the creature.  It really is that simple. 

O Holy Creator God, we, your poor creatures, continually fail to serve You as we should.  We ask for Your mercy.  We celebrate because of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice; we know we are forgiven.  Lead us, empower us, and give us the will to serve as your “image-bearer” to a world of pain and suffering.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

8-19-2026

Good Morning!

     John 10:29; “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

     One of the most famous sermons ever given in American history was given by a man by the name of Jonathan Edwards.  In 1741, during one of the Great Awakening revivals, he gave a sermon entitled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”  The general theme was that God was as angry at the living wicked as He was at those who were in torment in hell.  At any time, God could allow Satan to take anyone who deserved to go to hell and God was holding them in his hands and he is angry.  The unrepentant were on a slippery slope held up only by the arbitrary, sovereign nature of God; they were sinners in the hands of an angry God.

    Yikes!!  The reaction was one of great fear.  Many cried and cried out “what shall I do to be saved?”  There is not a lot of hope or comfort there.  This sermon pretty much defines fire and brimstone preaching.  The theory was to scare the worshiper into straightening up.  I don’t know if it worked or not, I would kind of doubt it.

     God’s actions in the Bible do not show an angry God.  God wants all to be saved and cries for the lost.  The fact that God sent his son, his only son to die, all alone, on a cross so that you and I might have eternal life doesn’t look like an angry God.  That looks like a God that really loves you.  This is why John, in his epistles, stresses God’s love.  This is what it means when we say this is how we know God loves us for while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  This is what pure love looks like.  God didn’t wait for us to show any remorse or any type of reconciliation we were and are incapable of doing this.  We don’t meet God halfway.  God comes all the way to where you are and lifts you up, washes you off, feeds you and clothes you and gives you the promise of eternal life.  This is the hope that we have.  We look to and forward to what God is doing.  He is molding us into the disciples that he wants us to be and leading us down the journey that he has laid out for us.  All the while God holds us in his hands.  There are times when we feel like we are in the hands of an angry God but in truth, an angry God would just let us fall, all alone and never give us hope of getting back up.  Yet time after time, we sin and God picks us up and cleans us off and gently takes our hand and leads us on our path.  God holds us in his hands with all the love that we will ever need and guards us with His mercy and grace.  So, we are not sinners in the hands of an angry God.  We are sainted sinners held gently yet firmly in the hands of our heavenly Father protected from all the devil will throw at us.  Rest secure in God’s grace. 

Eternal and loving God, by your grace we are kept safe.  We pray for all of our brothers and sisters who do not feel the security which you give us.  Wrap them with your Spirit of comfort and peace and give them the true sense of your love for hem in their lives.  All this we ask in Jesus’ precious name, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

8-18-2026

Good Morning!

     Psalm 4:8: “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

    I don’t know how it works in your household, but it seems that when my wife or I catches a cold or the flu, the other one is destined to get it.  So, with the coughing and nose blowing and getting up to get a drink or take some medicine; a peaceful night’s sleep has been somewhat missing.  Yet in a couple of more days, they will return.  A cold or the flu only lasts so long and soon it gets back to its normal quietness.  Yet for many people in the world, a night of peaceful slumber is hard to come by.

    Many in this world so not sleep peacefully at night.  Some experience this discomfort because of the situation they are in.  They may be homeless or about to be.  They may be hungry or without a job.  They may be in a family where there is no love.  This may be the result of drunks, alcohol, uncontrolled anger or just plain worn out.  That does not count the millions of people who try to go to sleep at night in a part of the world that is at war.  There are a lot of reasons not to sleep.

    Some of those reasons are self-made and self-inflicted.  Taking a drunken swing at a police officer and then losing your job over it, is pretty much self-inflicted.  Cheating on your spouse is pretty much self-inflicted.  Deciding not to go to work and losing a job is pretty much self-inflicted.  These and dozens of other stories like them can cause you to not get any peaceful sleep.

    There are lots of reasons for nights without peaceful sleep but the primary reason is that we, as sinful beings, feel a rage within us that is not quenched.  It is always someone else’s fault that I have no peace.  The boss is a jerk, my spouse doesn’t understand me, it was all a big misunderstanding that they overreacted to.  It is not my fault; it is never my fault that I don’t have peace in this world.  Sometimes it isn’t your fault, but if you look really closely and honestly; often times it is.

    The reason most people have no peace is because they think peace comes from themselves or can be enforced.  The truth is that there is only one source of true peace and that is God and the knowledge of his forgiveness of our sins.  The only way to have peace is to receive that peace from God.  We receive that peace when we know that God, through his mercy, has forgiven our sins; we can face the new day with a fresh start.  It gives us the power and opportunity to try and amend our past mistakes.  It gives us the comfort to know that no matter what situation we are in, the situation does not define us; rather it is God’s grace that defines us as his redeemed children.  That is what gives us peace, God’s pure grace, and pure grace alone.

Father, I ask that tonight you give me your peaceful sleep.  Guide through the maze of the devil’s lies and tricks.  Help me to see in you the only true hope for peace exists.  Lead me to surrender to your mercy and cling to your grace.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

8-17-2026

Good Morning!

     Isaiah 21:12; “The watchman says: “Morning comes, and also the night.  If you will inquire, inquire; come back again.”

       Miss Stella, as she was known to everyone, had resided in the nursing home for over 25 years.  She moved in shortly after her husband had passed away.  She had already outlived all of her siblings, her husband’s siblings, and two of her children.  She had outlived all of those who were in her confirmation class and most of her contemporaries.  For many people in her situation, they would question their pastor as to why God was leaving them here; did he forget me?  Why won’t he take me home?  I have been alone long enough.  But not Miss Stella; she was on the other end of the spectrum.

    Whenever her pastor or anyone would visit, she would tell them, “God can’t take me yet; I still have too many people to pray for” and pray she did.  She prayed for dozens of people every day.  Many were the same but a few changed depending on the situation of their life.  She prayed for her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  She prayed for her pastor and those in her nursing facility who were ill or having a difficult time and those on her church prayer list.  One thing, anybody who knew Miss Stella; at some point in time, she prayed for you.  Most of her family and friends found that one simple fact very comforting.

    In her own way, Miss Stella was a watchman.  Watchman were essential in the times of the Old Testament as they would look out from the city towers and look for trouble coming from far off.  They would also watch out for the people of the city telling them what was coming and helping them make decisions about travel or trade.  Scriptures, especially Isaiah, has the watchman praying for the people.  Even though Miss Stella was frail and at times had a difficult time holding a fork; her hands were always strong enough to fold in prayer.  She knew that God was listening, so day in and day out she prayed for the people on her list asking God to come into their lives and assure them of his healing touch.

    Somewhere in your life, you have a watchman.  Someone is praying for you.  It may be a grandparent or parent, a spouse or just a friend but somewhere you have a watchman.  This is such a comforting fact that I hope it moves you to become a watchman for someone else.  Look around you and seek out those who you can pray for.  It is not hard; there are so many to choose from.  Yet commit yourself to pray for people that you know.  It can be your pastor or your church officers, it can be your grandchildren or your neighbors, it can be those kids down the street that never seem to have enough.  No matter how weak our hands may ever be; they are always strong enough to pray.

Father, lead me to pray for my family and friends.  Lead me to be a watchman.  Guide my intercessions that I may commit to praying for the welfare of these people.  Guide me that I may see the wonderful opportunity that I have to pray for those around me.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret