12-3-2017

Good Morning All,

                   2 Corinthians 9:7; “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

      God loves a cheerful giver; makes you want to grab your wallet and run sometimes, doesn’t it.  That is ok, you can feel that way.  For far too often this verse is used to “encourage” a bigger check in the offering plate.  This verse sometimes gets used because when people see the offering plate coming and they look in their wallet and they see a $20 bill, a $5 bill and a $1bill, they at least go past the single.  It is no wonder this verse causes us to clench up when we hear it or read it; it strikes us with guilt and usually that is the intent.

     I am not suggesting that you abandon the financial support of your church.  It costs a lot of money to operate a church, especially if you have an ongoing mission commitment either locally or nationally.  So be as generous as you can, however; that is between you and God.  This verse actually speaks to much more than just the monetary side of the church; it actually applies to how you live your Christian faith in the world around you.

    We know that God has given us everything and has given it to us beyond our need and even beyond our wants.  He has poured upon us his loving kindness far above what we deserve.  He has generously given us his grace.  He has restored us to the full standing within his family by redeeming us from sin.  We are all then co-heirs with Christ.  We are blessed with the gifts of the Spirit.  We have a lot to be cheerful about but are we cheerful when we share and use these gifts or are we stingy?

   The Apostle Paul lists those gifts as love, peace, joy, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness; elsewhere he writes of humility, compassion, bearing one another’s burdens.  God gives you these; are you stingy in giving of these gifts to those around you?  Are you grumpy and demanding?  Do you look the other way when you see someone in need?  Are we cheerful, generous believers or are we stingy with God’s gifts?

    God gives us these gifts so that we might be blessed and that we might be a blessing to others.  He desires that we use these gifts to offer healing and comfort in a world that is broken and in pain.  He gives us these gifts so that we might relieve the suffering of the world and to be a bright spot in the lives of so many around us.  It might be your spouse or neighbor or someone who works in the store where you shop.  It might be the single parent across the street or the lonely elderly person who sits next to you in church.  There are many people who need you to be a cheerful giver; go and be one today.

Gracious and loving Father, give me the will to do your will and to be a cheerful giver.  Lead us to those who are suffering and in pain.  Lead us to shine brightly in this dark world.  Lead us to those who are missing the joy of life.  Guide us by your grace to bring healing.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-2-2017

Good Morning All,

         Daniel 9:9; “To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him”

      There was once a class of school children who loved to go outside and have recess. Their teacher was very generous. If the class had been good and finished their work, the teacher would let them go outside for a few extra minutes. Usually the class was very good. They always finished their homework, always tried to be good and always looked forward to their reward. But one day the class was a bit unruly. Paper airplanes were flying. Hair was being pulled. Talking was nonstop, and homework was simply not getting done.

    All of a sudden, the teacher called everyone to attention and said, “Time to go out.” All of a sudden the students’ eyes fixed on their teacher, their mouths dropped a bit, and almost in unison said, “But why? We don’t deserve to go out. We’ve been terrible. We haven’t listened. We haven’t finished our homework. We don’t deserve to go out.” “I know,” said the teacher, “but I want to show you that sometimes in this world things are given to you even when you don’t deserve them. Sometimes things are given to us especially when we haven’t earned them.” And with that, the students slowly stood up and walked outside, still a bit confused and unsure about the new world they had just stepped into. For the first time, some of these students experienced what grace, what a gift, truly was. They were given something that wasn’t earned or deserved.

    This is the story of our life.  If we received what we deserved, we would die.  We would suffer horribly for all that we have done.  We never really behave well enough to deserve any blessings.  We are always misbehaving, even worse than the children in the story.  Ours are not childhood inappropriateness; ours are acts of anger, hatred, selfishness and greed.  Our actions destroy life.

    Yet, incredibly, God has chosen to forgive you.  His love for you surpasses all else.  He made a way for our salvation.  All of our punishment was poured out upon Jesus; because of this, when God looks at us, he only sees the righteousness of Jesus.  Because of this, he pours his love out upon us.  We receive the good things which we do not deserve; we receive the wonderful blessings of salvation, the comfort of today, the healing of now, the restoration which we seek and need.  We receive, undeserved as they are; all these gifts and more from God because of his love, because of his nature.  God blesses us every day even though we do not deserve it.

Father of all mercy, in you we have eternal hope.  We go through life never deserving the wonderful gifts ad blessings which you pour out upon us.  We give you thanks for these and all the love that you graciously give us.  Move us to share this love with those around us.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

12-1-2017

 Good Morning All,

                1 Thessalonians 4:9; “Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another”

        One of the “standby” plots in Christmas movies is the unwelcome, unwanted rude Christmas guest.  Normally this is some distant relative of your spouse and you mistakenly invited them for Christmas but you were just being nice and didn’t expect them to say yes.  Soon all sorts of havoc reigns and the movie ends with someone’s house on fire.

     It is somewhat ironic that the one thing most people claim to seek for Christmas, family around them, can be a great source of angst and worry.  We wonder if we have anything in common; we wonder if our tastes are even close.  So we fret about getting along; maybe we fret all year long.  Yet God wants us to live as his dear children and to love one another; here are a couple of ideas.

    First and foremost, pray for one another.  Take the time to honestly and earnestly pray for those whom you love.  Ask God to bless them and to give them the peace the need to live healthy and contented lives.  Another thing to try is to focus on engaging in small acts of kindness for one another.  Open the door, offer to get a cup of coffee, give a complement.  These small and simple acts can show another that you value them, first as a human but also as someone of importance in your life.  It is when we begin to get stingy with these small acts that we can tend to drift apart.  

    Another tool to use is to always pay attention to your “inner voice.”  If your inner voice, your conscience, God’s Spirit active in your heart and mind, tells you that you would not like experiencing the event that is occurring; then chances are the other person won’t enjoy them either.  This is part of God’s Spirit getting you to remember the “do unto others as you would have them do to you” scenario.  If you would not enjoy being treated the way you treat others; they don’t either.

    Another way is to try and help your loved one feel secure.  If our actions make the other person feel less secure in the relationship, be it a marriage, family setting or church family; the other person will often withdraw as a defense mechanism to avoid being hurt.  One way to address this is to express how much you value the other person’s worth in your life.  Express to them how much they make your life better and that you would feel less fulfilled without them in your life.

   One last way is to open yourself up and be vulnerable.  Opening yourself up to express your true feelings and experience the love and joy, the pain and sorrow of a relationship can make it easier for others to do so as well.  Above all, know that God’s will for us is to live in healthy relationships ad he gives us his Spirit to make them work.

Father, give to me the wisdom to love my brothers and sisters as you love me.  Open my eyes and my heart to the need for love in this broken world.  Open my spirit to giving this love without question.  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret