5-4-2016

 Good Morning All!! 

        Mark 4:36; “And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.”

        I was watching one of my favorite old movies the other day.  Late at night there was a showing of the movie “Jaws.”  For those of you who do not know, the basic premise is that a huge Great White shark is terrorizing a resort and eventually our three heroes go out and try to kill it.  The shark is supposed to be between 25 and 30 feet long.  On the boat is the old sea dog, a veteran of WWII, a young upstart marine biologist and the reluctant town sheriff.  The old sea dog and the young upstart spend much time sniping at each other while the sheriff gets all the “junk” jobs on the boat.

     One of his jobs is to throw bloody fish guts and pieces over the side of the boat trying to draw the shark.  As he is kneeling down over the edge of the boat, the shark jumps out of the water near the boat.  He stands with a look of terror in his eyes; he backs into the cabin where the sea dog and the young upstart are arguing.  He looks at both of them and says, “you’re gonna need a bigger boat.”  He saw the shark, saw his boat and decided right away, “you’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

    In our verse, Jesus is crossing the Sea of Galilee when a storm hits.  He is asleep in his boat but the others, especially those on the little boats are terrified.  They are convinced that they are going to drown.  They wanted a bigger boat.  There have been many times in my life when I wished that I had been in a bigger boat.  There are always times in our lives when the storms seem so huge and the waves gigantic; we may even see sharks in the water.  There are times I wish I had a bigger boat.  Yet, if I had a bigger boat, would I just have more room for the junk that life tells me I need?

     The truth is that what we need is faith in Jesus to be there to calm the storm.  We also need to remember that “calming the storm’ may not mean removing the event but it does mean to remove the fear and the anxiety that we experience.  We may still face job problems, relational issues, health issues and the like but these events do not define who we are.  These events do not represent “failures” in our life rather they are to show us the wonder of God.  No matter what we face, Jesus is there to calm it down.  It is never about the size of the storm or the size of the boat but about the size of God’s love for us. 

    God’s love for you will always prevail.  Even in the tiniest boat, God’s love for you will always prevail.  The challenge for us is to always look at the waves and the storm through the eyes of faith.  Holding onto the truth that God is always there to guard us and protect us.  We don’t need a bigger boat because we already have the greatness of God.

Father, the storms cause us to fear and we look at the size of our boat and we question.  Give us the faith to trust in you.  Give us the sureness of your wondrous grace in our lives.  Help us to know that you will always calm the storms for us and give to us the peace that the world cannot give.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.           

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-3-2016

Good Morning All!! 

       Genesis 15:1; “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

     Fear is one of the most intense emotions that humans experience.  Fear causes increased heart rate and breathing rate.  Fear causes us to not think clearly and can often paralyze us into non-action.  I can remember times when fear grabbed me.  Looking back, a couple of those times are laughable but at the time; not so much.  I remember one time when I was about 12 or 13; I was watching a Vincent Price horror movie.  Even though I knew better and knew it was only play acting on TV, I slept (sort of) with the light on, covers pulled up tight.  Another time, when I was in high school, I was reading a book about the Manson murders.  My parents went visiting the neighbors for the evening and I was intently reading the book.  It was completely fascinating.  I was reading a part that told of how sometimes the Manson family would sneak into houses and move things around while the families slept.  Then it told how they would call some random phone numbers.  Just as I got to that part, the phone rang.  I threw the book to the ceiling and just stared at the phone for about three rings.  I was scared.

    Neither of these two events make and rational sense but fear rarely makes sense.  That is why it is one of the devil’s favorite tools.  He can twist it whichever way he wants and leads us around like we have a ring through our nose and he is pulling the lead rope.  Fear demoralizes, can cause disbelief, be destructive and harm our relationship with God because it can cause us to doubt God’s love and power.

    Yet, as a Christian, we need to see the difference between fear and concern.  As a parent, I am concerned about my children and grandchildren.  As a child, I am concerned about my parents.  As a pastor, I am concerned about the members of our congregations.  There is nothing wrong with being concerned so how do we tell the difference?

    Concern will motivate you to action.  Concern tends to increase productivity and focus the mind and seeks resolution and a positive change for the future.  Concern looks to God for direction and trust knowing that all things work to the good for those whom he loves.

   Fear will paralyze our action, decrease our productivity, cause us to lose our focus as our thoughts scatter and go with no direction or rational consideration.  Fear sees no answer and sees the future as the place where fears materialize into reality.  Fear takes us away from God.  An example would be of a young parent who lives near a lake and has a small child.  Concern will lead this parent to seek out a place to have the child take swimming lessons.  Fear will drive the parent to never let the child near the water and punish them if they ever go near it. 

    Don’t let the devil drive you to fear.  Trust in God’s grace to heal your concerns.

Father, in your arms I have no fears.  Keep me close to you.  Keep my eyes, my heart and my thoughts on things above.  Keep me focused on Jesus and his unfailing love and mercy.  Be with those who are living on fear.  Calm their hearts and minds.  Give them your holy rest.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

5-2-2016

Good Morning All!! 

            Numbers 25:12; “Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace”

     Do you remember the old Calgon commercials?  It involved a mother with a household of screaming and rambunctious children.  The mother would reach the point of desperation and then cry out “Calgon, take me away!”  The next thing we see is this mother relaxing in a bathtub full of bubble bath and all is quiet and right with the world.  This commercial introduced a new phrase that was used commonly when a stressful or tiring event occurred.  The person, usually a woman, would say they needed a “Calgon moment” and everyone understood what they were speaking of.  They wanted a little peace and quiet from the hubbub of their world.

    We all want peace and quiet.  We all want that sense of calmness and serenity.  Unfortunately, bath products do not provide us with this peace and quiet.  Neither do any of the other “self-help” attempts like drugs or alcohol, or withdrawn from a situation or anger at the other person or simply sitting there and seething at what has just happened.  All too often, we seek peace and quiet and never find it.  So we think that if we are strong enough, powerful enough or just plain stubborn; we can impose our version of peace and quiet on the world around us.

    We find that the peace that the world offers us does not give us any sort of serenity.  For the world, peace is often just a cessation of combat.  Just because I stopped arguing with someone does not mean that I have peace.  Peace, as explained within Scriptures, means a whole lot more. 

     Peace does not mean “not at war.”  Peace is more along the line of unity or wholeness.  Peace is being at one with the other person.  God sent Jesus to remove our sins so that we would have peace with Him.  We have a wholeness with God; a return to a unity of being.  Peace with God gives you a sense of contentment and serenity.  It gives you the quiet confidence that, in the end, you are victorious.  True peace does not necessarily remove from the world and its conflict but true peace gives us the certainty of knowing that because of Jesus, we too will overcome the world.

    Because of Jesus, you and I have peace.  We have true peace.  It is the peace that the world cannot comprehend or give.  It is one of God’s blessings to us.  We have peace, wholeness and oneness with God.  In this peace we know of our victory and in this wholeness we can have true rest and comfort.  We can trust in and rest in God’s unchanging love and mercy.  May God’s holy peace give you hope and rest.

Father 0of all mercies; give us the wisdom to cling to your promises that we may know your peace.  Be with all who do not know your peace. Send your Spirit to move their hearts that they may live in peace with you.   Keep us in your mercy.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

5-1-2016

      Good Morning All!! 

Psalm 1:3; “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.  In all that he does, he prospers.”

    It happens more often than we think it does.  You are calmly living your life and life is good.  Maybe you are married to the person that really completes and complements you.  Your job is fulfilling and challenging in a good way.  If you have children, they are growing nicely without any major issues.  Life is good; it might not spectacular but good.  We are content; for the most part.  We even go to church once in a while and even throw some money in for good measure.  Yet something is missing.

   Then things change.  These changes may occur over time or may be sudden but things change.  The new boss at work, or the new company which bought the old one out, makes the job more stressful and less enjoyable.  Maybe there is even a transfer to a new location and now you are away from longtime friends and family.  Maybe the kids don’t call home anymore and they don’t even have a church.  The person you are married to just seems so distant and out of sorts.  Life is not a lot of trouble just not a lot of contentment.

    There can be many reasons for this but one common reason is that we have an intellectual relationship with God.  We know God is; we know God has forgiven us and we even believe it but that is as far as it goes.  We talk a good game but we don’t really live it.  This is why it is so important to maintain a good devotional life.  We need to spend time with and in God’s Word.  It is possible to be saved yet miss many of God’s blessings here in this life.  We can be saved yet continue to think that we must bear the burdens of this life by ourselves.

    This is why God tells us to meditate on his law.  It is by reading his Word that he speaks to us.  It is by this daily meditation that the Words of God are brought to us so that we can remember them when we need them.  This is how we become trees planted by the water.  This imagery is to bring to mind the depth of the roots and the strength of the tree and its ability to produce abundant fruit.  If we aren’t planted by the streams, if we let the thoughts, ideas, plans and cares of the world surround us, we lose out on some of God’s blessings.  We end up more like a tree in the desert.  It still produces fruit but not as much; it is not quite as tall or strong.  It is easily bent and broken. 

     God calls us to be his children and he wants for his children to live a full, rich life.  He wants us to have the good gifts of this life but we only truly receive them if we are planted by the streams if we stay in daily contact with God.  Martin Luther suggested that we do it three times a day; when we get up, at the noon meal and when we go to bed.  The value of studying God’s Word and holding it close to our heart will lead to contentment in this world and contentment with those around us.

Dear Father, draw us closer to you that we may know the true peace which you offer to us.  Guide us by your Spirit into the life which you want us to live.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret