1-8-2015

 Good Morning All,

         Romans 8: 26; “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

       I was watching the news the other day.  One of the stories was of a set of parents whose teen aged daughter had gone to school and did not come home.  They were anguished with the details.  They were pretty sure that she had run away.  They thought that she was in trouble somehow and had fled.  She may have been in the company of a man twice her age.  The pain in their eyes, in their voice and even in their posture as the stood and talked to the news reporter was evident.  They leaned on each other, wondering and suffering.

    There are times when we see this.  It often occurs when something happens that we simply cannot comprehend.  I hear it in the voice of those whose loved ones are suffering and the doctor’s prognosis is not good.  I hear it in the voice of those whose loved ones have laid suffering for years and yet are not called home.  I hear it in the voice of the person whose spouse just walked away without even a good bye or an explanation.  I hear it in the voice of children who feel unloved.  We see the pain, the suffering and the confusion.

    How do we approach this?  How do we offer comfort?  How do we receive comfort?  Many question this.  Where is our comfort?  We know that our comfort, our only comfort and hope is Jesus.  We know that Jesus is our hope far more than just offering it or providing it; Jesus is our hope.  He is our only hope but when we suffer, how do we access that hope?

    Scriptures tells us to “stay in the Word.”  We do this by prayer and by the reading/hearing God’s Word.  Yet, if we are like the parents looking for their daughter, what do we ask?  Probably the best thing to ask for is God’s peace.  We may not know where to turn but we know that we are in turmoil and what we need is for that turmoil to end.  It ends where God’s peace begins.  It begins when we see that, as God’s children, we remain his beloved family.

    The God who loves you like that will never close His ear or turn His head.  He mourns alongside you and laughs with your joy.   He seeks to enfold you and those whom you love, even when you have wandered away.  He loves you in a way beyond what we will never understand and He will answer your cries. Even as we cry, maybe without even knowing what or how to cry, God hears our spirit and our heart.  He hears your sorrow and sends you his peace.  It may be painful but it will not last forever; only God’s love lasts forever.

Father, there are so many times when I do not know what or how to pray; yet you hear me.  You send your Spirit to comfort me.  You send your Spirit to bring me peace.  It is your peace that I need and it is your peace that I desire.  Be with those who are especially troubled in their heart and in their life.  Send them your Spirit we pray.  Give to them and to all your healing.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

1-7-2015

 Good Morning All,

         1 Corinthians 1: 21; “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.”

     I think most people have one.  Most of us have that one friend that, for whatever reason, makes us smile.  Whenever we see him, our hearts are lifted and our day is brightened.  This friend can usually elicit a smile if not a total laugh from us.  This friend always seems to have an aura of lightheartedness about them.  They seem to lift us from the doldrums upon their appearance.  Which leads to my question; do we have a playful God?

    As I look back over the years; I am always amazed at how someone would come along at just the right moment to restore my spirit.  It might have been a phone call or a letter; it might have been an email or even a real in the flesh moment when someone near and dear or even someone seldom known would help to lift me up would.  As you think of that, think back to your own life and how often someone comes along to offer a lift to our mood or spirit.  Perhaps, if we are truly honest and observant, there were times when we didn’t want to have our spirits lifted and we brushed off the attempt.

    It is somewhat of a sad truth in that many times we would rather stay in our sorrows and doldrums than be lifted out of them.  We would rather wallow in self-pity rather than enjoy God’s gracious world.  The devil will feed into this and so do some of those who like to aid him.  Yet God offers us something better. He offers us some joy and contentment when the world and the devil want us to be sorrowful.

    The devil and the world will always try to use complicated ways to bring you down.  They will always try and tie all the pain together into one long chain and then fasten that chain to you in order to bring you down and to cast a pall over your life.  Yet God offers us a different way and, sometimes, he delivers it through a smile or a joke or a kind word from a friend.  God uses the beauty of a sunrise or sunset in order to provide us with a sense of peace.

    So God takes the simplicity of his creation, a smile or a kind word to overcome the confusion and anger that the devil tries to cause.  The more confusion that the devil can cause; the more he likes it.  This draws more people down, causes sadness and sorrow.  This gives the devil what he wants; gloom, doom, pain and suffering.  Yet God comes to us with the simple laugh of a child or a smile from a friend to give us a lift of joy in this world.

    We can receive this gift from God because it is built on his eternal truth; nothing can separate us form his love.  Nothing can pull us out of his loving hands.  There is nothing on this earth, above or below it that can pull us from God’s incredible love.  Because this is true, God does not need the complex because the simple is so true.   Through all this the devil gets more and more complicated to deceive you; maybe God is playful after all.

Father, you lift me up with the simple joys of life.  Guard and protect me from the devil that I might always enjoy the life you give me.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret        

1-6-2015

Good Morning All,

          Luke 15:8; “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?”

      It happens every Christmas.  My mother-in-law is very generous in her gift giving.  Yet rather than buying something she isn’t sure about, she gives cash.  Every year, when the unwrapping is done and all the paper is gathered up and in the garbage bag; someone panics.  Someone is missing the money from Grandma.  The frightened party changes from year to year but the expression is the same, sheer panic.  Soon everything is turned upside down.  All of the garbage bags are dumped out and gone through carefully.  We go through every piece, until, someone excitedly shouts, “I found it!” Another Christmas is salvaged.

    Perhaps you have done this as well.  Most of us have.  We have misplaced or lost something of value or of importance so we scour the place, we empty trash bags, turn pockets inside out, dump drawers; we search until we find it.  The greater the value, the harder we search.  If it holds some sentimental value, like a keepsake, we will go to all lengths to find it and retrieve the item.

    Our verse speaks of such a situation.  The coins here probably refer to the marriage headdress that a woman would wear.  So in essence, this woman has lost her wedding ring.  She was desperate to find it.  So she swept her house until she found it.  She would have gone to any lengths to find it and she would have been ecstatic when she found it.

    This verse also describes the search that God does for his lost children.  He will overturn every drawer, empty every garbage bag, sweep every speck up to find you and to claim you as his child.  He sent Jesus to pay the way and then he began the search for you.  He looks every place that you hide.  He looks in every corner that there is.  He knows your pain and your fear and he seeks you out.  He will not stop until he finds you because you are of such great value to him.

    God loves you so much that nothing will deter him from seeking after you.  No matter how many times you get yourself “lost” God will keep looking for you.  He seeks you out and calls you back.  He looks in all the places where we fall.  He looks in the painful times and in the sorrowful times to seek you out, to pick you up and to place you back on your path.  No matter how lost or dirty or how much self-destruction that you have caused; God never stops loving you and looking for you and cleaning until he finds you.  You are more precious than jewels to him.  His love never ends.

God of all mercy, we are often lost and harmed.  We inflict upon ourselves much pain and sorrow.  We hurt others, we deny you and we make a mess of our life.  By your mercy, restore us we pray.  Be with those who do not believe that you seek them out.  There are none so lost that you do not constantly seek them.  Bring them to the full knowledge of your mercy.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

1-5-2015

 Good Morning All,

          Joel 2:27; “You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else.  And my people shall never again be put to shame.”

      While watching the many football games over the past few days, I was intrigued by the number of times the success or failure of a team was deemed to be with one player.  The announcers would go on and on about how this player or that player was hurt so the success of this team was certainly hindered by the absence of the player.  The announcers were convinced that without this player in the midst of the huddle; the team would most likely lose.  Sometimes they would almost wax poetic about how the team would have certainly won if that one certain player would have played.

    If you want to insure victory, it is important to have a champion.  It is important to have the one who will bring about certain victory.  This champion must always be in the game for without him victory will never be grasped.  The sweet taste of victory can be ours if we have that one great champion in our midst.  As long as this champion is in our midst, fighting for us, we will never be ashamed.

    At the time that our verse was written, the Israelites were suffering from humiliation and defeat.  There lands were taken; their crops were taken or destroyed.   They were a defeated people but God had not forgotten them.  In their misery, God did not leave them to simply twist in the wind.  He sent the champion to free them from their oppressors.  He does the same for us.  He sent Jesus to be our champion

    We were being humiliated by the devil and the world and our sinful nature.  This evil group set out to torment us, to leave us in as much pain as possible.  This group was entertained by our suffering and we are unable to defeat this group on our own.  So God sent Jesus to be our champion.  God sent Jesus to guarantee our victory in this fight.  God sent Jesus so that we would never have to suffer the humiliation or the torment of the devil again.  We have the sweet taste of victory because of Jesus and the victory that he gives us over sin, death and the power of the devil.

    The only tools that the devil has left in his arsenal are the lies that he tells us in order to deceive us.  He can only whisper his lies in order to cause us to doubt.  That is all he really has, lies and doubts.  God has given us the victory over the devil.  God has given us the promise of eternal life.  We have the great champion Jesus to insure our victory.  We will never be put to shame.

Gracious Father, because of your great love we have the victory over the devil and death.  These no longer hold us for we are in your hands.  You give us the blessings of this life and the promise of a greater tomorrow.  Be with those who are in pain at this time.  Give them the comfort of your Spirit that they may know the certainty of your presence in their midst.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret