10-9-2016

Good Morning All!!

      Psalm 42:1; “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God”.

 As some of you know, I do a little umpiring.  I umpired a game a couple of years ago and the heat index was 115 degrees.  It was probably the hottest game I have ever worked and hope it stays that way.  I made sure I drank a lot of water but the catchers for both teams must not have done so; both of them had to leave the game.  I drank a lot of water but after the game I was panting for more.

    That is always one of the hard part of watching when a drought hits an area; when you watch the animals looking for water.  You can see them panting as they search for water.  Many of the animals die because they cannot find the water.  At best a human can go about 8-10 days without water before they die.  Water is an essential element for our life.  All creatures need water to survive.  When we go without water, even for short periods, we suffer greatly for it.

    Our verse for today compares the longing of our soul for God and his mercy with a deer that pants for water that it cannot find.  As we think of this panting deer searching for water, desperately going from place to place.  It is almost delirious from its searching; its tongue is hanging out and its eyes are hollow and sunken.  It is gaunt and weak.  Now compare that image to the image from the 23^rd Psalm.  There we are led to still waters.  There we see the image of the sheep contented with the water it needs to support its life.  What a contrast!

    We are just like that in our live.  Whenever we stay from God’s grace, our very substance for our existence, we suffer and we suffer greatly.  That suffering can come in the form of anxiety or worry or exhaustion or that uneasy feeling that about tomorrow.  If, or when, you experience these feeling, you are thirsting for God and his mercy. Perhaps you felt you could deal with the stresses of the devil and his attacks but now you are panting for God’s grace.  We need God’s grace just like we need water or air.  We need the comfort and the consolation that we receive from God’s infinite mercy.

     Our life here in this sinful, broken world can only be nourished by God’s grace and it is not only nourished but it is given all the food and water that it needs even to the point of it being sated.  God’s grace sates our soul with his mercy.  He gives us the life sustaining nourishment that we so desperately need.  He comes to us when we are so parched that we cannot see or walk straight.  He comes to us in the love of the Father and gives us life.  God wondrous mercy quenches our soul.  He gives us the life giving waters of his grace to give us the peace that our soul seeks.

Dearest Father, through your grace we are given the life giving elixir of your merciful forgiveness.  We ask that you continue to quench our soul that we may face this world’s pain, suffering and brokenness.  Guard us with your Spirit and give us the renewal we so desperately need.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

10-8-2016

      Good Morning All!!

         Hebrews 6:19; “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,”

      A few days ago, I was watching one of the old swashbuckling movies about a pirate who really wasn’t a pirate.  He was really a member of the English navy who had attacked some Spanish ships but it turned out that England and Spain were no longer at war so he was branded a pirate.  He was trying to get to England to clear his name.  During a key moment in the movie, our hero ties himself to the deck of the ship so he could steer the ship during a huge storm.  He had them tie him to supports for the steering system and then fastened a rope to the floor and then a chain was attached to his leg and it was fastened to the ship.  In the end he made it through the storm and guided the ship through the dangerous shoals.

    I don’t know if you have ever faced a time in your life when the wind and the rain and the huge waves of life are buffeting you about but if you have; you know the feeling of hopelessness.  There are few feelings in this world that leave us as empty and as lost as feeling that we have no hope.  There is no greater sense of loss.  There is no greater sense of being completely isolated and alone than when we feel a situation is hopeless.  It can be a job that disappears, it can be a relationship that is crumbling, it can be health issues that are overwhelming us, it can be a summer of no rain; there are many ways to experience hopelessness but there is only one way to have hope.

   The writer of the Book of Hebrews uses this logic for our hope.  God made a promise to Abraham and God took an oath upon himself to keep that promise.  Now we know that God is unchangeable so any promise that he makes; he keeps.  He made a promise to Noah, He made a promise to Abraham and he made a promise to you.  The promise to you was that of eternal salvation with him.  It is also a promise of love right now.  We don’t have to wait until we die for God’s promise to give us comfort, to give us hope.

    We can, and should, tie our self to God’s promise.  We can anchor our self in God’s perfect grace, his promised mercy to us, and his amazing love to give us hope.  No matter what we face, no matter what we fear, God’s perfect promise is there for us.  We are never alone and our life is never hopeless.  God has promised to care for you as a Father cares for his children.  His love for you knows no bounds.  His love for you has no limits.  We can always turn to this promise; we can cling to this promise; we can rely on this promise to give us his grace and mercy.  God’s promise will never fail you; it never has and it never will.

Father, help us to keep our anchor in you.  Help us to keep our hope secure.  Though the devil attacks us, keep us attached to you.  Be with those who are fighting the battles of life, especially those who feel that they are losing the battle, give them the hope of your comfort and grace. Give them your loving and precious peace. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

10-7-2016

      Good Morning All!!

                    Philippians 4:13; “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

    Do you remember the story of the little train that could?  This was the little train that made it over the mountain by saying, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.”  Then when it made it over the mountain it said, “I thought I could, I thought I could.”  This is one of the first stories that children read and it is designed to encourage children to try new things and to have confidence in their ability to succeed.

    I used to use the contrarian version of this when I coached baseball.  I would tell my players that if they thought that they would fail then they would fail.  If a batter thought he would strike out then he would more than likely strike out.  It is similar in the idea that you have to have confidence in your ability to succeed.  If you lack confidence then you can almost guarantee that you will fail.

    Paul is telling us something similar.  When we read “I can do all things” it might be better to read it as “I can endure all things”.  Paul isn’t telling us that we are the little engine that could.  There are things we cannot do.  I cannot swim or run a mile in 5 minutes.  This is not what Paul is telling us.  He doesn’t mean that with enough determination we will be successful; he means that by clinging to our faith, we can endure everything that the devil and this world can throw at us.  We will endure until the end when we receive our crown of righteousness.

    God gives us the power to endure.  It might not be the power to avoid.  We may experience some of the worst things that the world will throw at us.  It might be health problems or relationship problems or any one of a myriad of other events and tragedies.  The world is still a broken place and still suffers from the ravages of sin.  Pain still occurs but we know that through it all, we will endure.  Our eternal hope is secure because of Jesus and his sacrifice.  Because of that we can endure everything for it is through Christ’s atoning work that we have salvation. 

    No matter what the devil throws at us, no matter how much he may try and torment you with his whispers of doubt and lies of despair. We can endure it through the strength of Christ.  We can do all things through him who strengthens us.  We can endure, persevere and then prevail.  God has promised us the eternal success of our salvation.  We will be restored, body and soul, when Christ returns.  But until we meet him in glory, we will wait and we will endure for God’s grace goes with us.

Father of all grace and mercy, because of your undying love we will endure.  You have promised to restore us to perfection with you.  We wait in your loving arms.  Be with those who feel that they are at the end of their strength.  Be with those who are wavering under the weight of the devil’s attacks. Protect those who face the danger of the hurricane.   In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

10-6-2016

Good Morning All!!

              Isaiah 53:7; “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”

      I remember watching an old gangster movie.  There was a turf war between three rival gang families.  During the middle of this gang war, one of the members of one of the families turned over and became a member of a different family gang.  The first family met and decided that they could not allow this to happen so they decided to have the man killed.  If they let one man defect then who knows how many more would try.  They could not allow this so they decided to make an example of the defector.  “It was nothing personal” the head of the gang even kind of liked him but, “this was business.”

    “Nothing personal, just business”; how often have we heard or used that phrase in our conversations?  It is designed to put distance between the people involved.  If we can distance our self from the consequences of our actions, it makes it easier to continue on in a guilt free manner.  After all, what we do for the sake of business is just that; it is business, it is never personal even if that business is murdering a former friend.  We may not go to that extreme but we may not think twice about sabotaging a co-worker’s reputation or undermining a neighbor’s chance at expanding his business.

     We like to have things as business and not personal but when it comes to the death of Jesus, it is extremely personal.  He was betrayed with a kiss on the cheek, up close and personal.  He was abandoned by his closest and best friends at the time of his greatest need.  He was beaten with fists and rods and with a whip; his attackers were close enough that his blood splattered on them in an up close and personal manner.  The nails were driven in his hands by someone else’s hands.  It was all personal; driven by anger, jealousy and hatred.

    It was personal; Jesus’ death was very personal.  It occurred because Jesus personally loves you.  He loves you enough to have taken up the odious task of dying for you.  He loves you enough to have taken the greatest step anyone can take; he died for you.  He died for the sins which you committed that have taken you away from God’s perfect garden.  By his death, he has restored you to the rightful place in his kingdom.  By his death, he personally saved you.  It wasn’t business or an obligation; it was a greater love than we can ever fathom.

Gracious Father, your mercies are new to us every day.  Because of your great love for me, because you personally chose me to be your child, you sent Jesus to die for me and to bring me salvation.  In your grace, you give me hope.  Keep me strong in my faith that I may ever hold fast to you.  Keep me strong in my allegiance to you that I may ever serve you in your kingdom everlasting.  In the precious name of Jesus our risen Savior we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

10-5-2016

Good Morning All!!

          Luke 21:13; “This will be your opportunity to bear witness.”

    There are many ways to clear a roomful of people. You can announce that donuts and coffee are now available in the lounge.  You can tell them that free tickets to the Super Bowl are at the front office.  You can tell them that a naked person just ran down the hallway.  You can tell them that there is a fire truck and an ambulance in the next parking lot.  Of course the absolute best way to clear a room is to announce that the next item on the agenda is to discuss the upcoming evangelism program and that we will assign lists to those present.  This will definitely clear the room and leave a deafening silence.  Hopefully, no one gets hurt in the mad rush for the door.  I think most people would rather have a root canal without anesthesia than be part of an evangelism program.

    I know a lot of Christians who feel guilty over this.  In all truth, we shouldn’t.  Evangelism was never meant to be a “program.”  It was never meant to be a “Hello, Mrs. Fill in the blank.  May I take this opportunity to discuss the many blessings that Our Church of Perpetual Motion has to offer?”  Everyone hates these and there is a far better way.

    Our faith is built on our relationship with God.  The Apostle Paul tells us that “God was in Christ reconciling us to himself.”  Here we see where God reconnected the brokenness of our relationship with him by forgiving our sins on account of Christ.  It is a relationship.  This reconciliation places us in a relationship with our fellow believers because we are in a relationship with Jesus and they are in a relationship with Jesus.  We were designed to be a creature of relationships.  The reason many evangelism programs suffer and people despise being part of them is because, often times, there is no relationship between the “evangelizer” and the “evangelize”.

   Jesus tells us that our life, our whole life is a witness.  Our best and most effective witnesses are to our families, our neighbors, our co-workers, the people we know and see every day.  This is our opportunity to bear witness.  We can offer comfort to the sad, rest to the weary, hope for the hopeless.  We can offer them the same hope, comfort and joy that we know because of Jesus.  Many times you don’t have to have a plan; just listen and answer as best you can.  Invite them to your church, to meet and talk with your pastor.  You don’t have to answer all the intricacies of systematic theology; you simply tell them how you get comfort and hope from knowing that your sins have been forgiven and that by having this righteousness you are a child of God.  This is your opportunity to bear witness; take hold and trust God’s guidance.

Father, lead me to be your witness.  Lead me to those in my life who are in need of your mercy.  Lead me to those who are hurting and in need of your comfort.  Open my heart to the needs of my neighbor.  Lead me to my opportunity to witness.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret