11-6-2018

 Good Morning All,

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

     Do you remember S&H Green stamps? I remember them from many years ago.  You used to get them when you bought stuff.  I remember it mostly from gas stations and a few grocery stores.  I can remember the sales clerk putting her finger in the right number and then spinning the coupon dispenser and you would get a handful of stamps.  Then you would go home, lick the stamps, put them in a book and then look at a catalog to see what you could get for a certain number of books.  It seemed like it took a million stamps to fill a book.  (No, it wasn’t that much but when you were 5 or 6 and trying to figure out if you could finagle a toy out of the deal it did.) 

    I remember looking at the catalog and wondering how on earth anyone could possibly save that many stamps in order to redeem that many books of stamps and get some of that stuff.  It could take a hundred or more books for some of that stuff.  How on earth could anyone do that?  What did they buy that gave them that many stamps?  Of course, I was uninformed about “double stamp” days and promotions like that but still; that was a lot of stamps.  Yet the basic concept was good.  The retailer gave you stamps as a reward for shopping at their store.  After you had enough stamps, you could trade them in (redeem them) for something you wanted.  It could be a fancy set of steak knives or stainless steel mixing bowls or a bow and arrow set or any number of things.

    This is what God did for you.  He redeemed you.  He traded Jesus’ life for yours.  He gave up the life of his only Son so that you can live.  Rather amazing if you stop and think about it.  Jesus, the king of kings, the Word Incarnate, the active creative agent of the Father, was traded for you and for me.  Yet this shows us how much the Father loves us.  He traded so much for us; he must value us greatly and he does.

    The great thing about this is that our salvation was complete with that trade.  You and I don’t have to make it work anymore than that salad bowl or fondue set did when the green stamps were exchanged.  It is the value that the redeemer places on the item that matters and when God redeems us he places an extraordinary value on us.  His desire is to have us live with him in eternal life.  His desire is for you to live in his loving kingdom.  His desire is for you to be his own dear child.  So he traded the life of Jesus for yours.  He redeemed you from the consequences of sin. He freed you from eternal damnation and he gave you life.  So you have been traded for, you have been redeemed.

Gracious Father, you sent Jesus to redeem me, a lost and condemned creature.  Through the wonders of your mercy, you chose to save me from my earned punishment.  Give me the strength to live as a redeemed child, trusting only in your grace.  Guide me and keep me safe.  Be with those who do not experience the joy of this redemption.  Bring them to the saving knowledge of your love.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

11-5-2018

Good Morning All,

                  Jeremiah 29:11; “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

     If you receive an ad or an offer in the mail in which you can buy something you need for a discounted price, do you take full advantage of the offer or not?  If you get the chance to buy 10 gallons of gasoline for $2.00 a gallon, would you buy all 10 gallons or would you only buy 5 gallons?  It may seem like a silly question yet, is it?  If you had in your possession a winning lottery ticket, would you settle for less than the full amount that you were entitled to?  Again, it sounds silly, but is it?

    Yet so often that is what we do with our faith.  We take just a little and live with it rather than live it. We go to church, most of the time anyway.  We go to a Bible Study class, once in a while.  We may even read the Bible on our own, if the satellite TV isn’t working right.  We pray, when all else has been done.  We believe that God forgives our sins but we don’t let it or maybe don’t want it to change our lives.

    God has a great and wonderful life planned out for you.  He gives us all we need to live it and live it to the fullest that he gives us.  Jesus told his disciples that he came to give life and give it abundantly; yet too often we only take advantage of a portion of it.  We fail to grab onto the wonderful life of love that he gives to us.  We hold back, thinking that the things of this world are so wonderful and, like a moth gets drawn to the flame, it entices us until we get burned, sometimes seriously burned. 

    God gives us the gift of life eternal and with that we need to understand that our life here on earth is but a twinkling of the eye when measured against eternity.  Yet he gives us the tools to face this life.  He gives us his Word both spoken and then the held and eaten Word.  Jesus nourishes us with his precious body and blood.  We have the adoption of sons of God.  We can call upon his name for hope, for comfort, for direction, for peace or for any one of a myriad of things that we need to support this body and life.  God gives us all we need, he gives us the desire to trust in his promise but we have to trust that promise.  When we hold back, we lose.  When we hold back, we are showing a weakening of faith and it is faith that truly makes us strong.

    So pray for faith and more faith.  Use the tools that God gives you.  Go to worship and really listen and experience God’s love spoken to you.  You can hear it in the hymns, you can hear it in the liturgy, you can hear it in the absolution, you can hear it in the sermon, you can taste it in the sacrament.  You can hear the voices join together in God’s praise and then you can take it with you and use it throughout the rest of the week.  God has great plans for you; grab them and live!!

Father of all grace, you give us life.  You have wondrous plans for us to give us life and hope.  Guide us by your Spirit to live that life in faith that we may enjoy the sweetness of your love.  Be with those who are lost and missing the tenderness of your mercy.  Bring them home safely.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen 

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

11-4-2018

Good Morning All,

        Matthew 5:16; “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

      Did you ever see the movie “Mr. Holland’s Opus”?  It was in the mid 1990’s and starred Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland.  He was a musician who became a teacher so he could have time to spend with his new wife and then have time to write the one great musical masterpiece which would give him worldwide acclaim and lots of money.  During the span of his teaching career, he never gets this great musical piece written.  Through all these years though he has an impact on the children of the school and the lives that they lead after graduation.

     As the thirty-year career ends, he is invited into the arena area where dozens of his former students are gathered to play in his band, including the governor of the state.  It is at this time that he realizes that the opus (great work) that he was trying to write was being written in and by the lives of the young people who he touched and influenced.  It is a rather heartwarming movie.

    It also can and should describe our lives as well.  Let your light so shine is not so much about being a blazing searchlight as a gentle flashlight that points the way.  Through our interactions with others, our faith should show through.  We, as Christians, know what is important and what isn’t quite so important.  So when those around us point the wrong way we can gently point the right way.

    There are many ways to do this.  The most prevalent is to act as a mentor/coach to a younger person.  It might be the new guy at work or the high school kids down the street.  You do this by coaching or organizing events or just being there to help with homework if you can.  It isn’t very often that we are to be huge, bright spotlights; we are to be gentle flashlights that point the way to a more peaceful and contented life.  So when those around you seem to be off kilter over some minor event, you can interject some sanity.  We know what is right, true and important.  We know that it is our saving faith in Jesus that gives us the confidence to trust in God’s mercy in our life.  That is what matters, everything else comes in second maybe even fifth or sixth.

    Let your light shine and let others be drawn to this light.  Let them see the comfort that you have from your faith.  Let them know that the courage you have is not your own but from God.  Let them know that above everything else, you are a redeemed child of God and that trumps everything else.  God’s grace is alive in you, let it out.  Give this grace a place to show and let it show to those most closely around you.  Show it to your family, your friends, your neighbors and your fellow Christians.  Let your light shine, be someone’s opus.

Merciful Father, in you we have forgiveness.  Give to us the courage to shine into the light of the world.  Give to us the strength to let our light shine.  Help us to change people’s lives by living the life which you have laid out for us.  Help us to show your love so that they may see your glory.  Bring them to faith, dear Lord.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, we pray. Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret