3-7-2019

        Good Morning All,

              Hebrews 13:8; “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

     I must be getting old.  I detest it when stores have to rearrange things.  I finally figure out where everything is and then someone comes along and moves everything.  Why do they do that?  I am just getting comfortable with Microsoft Office 2003; why do I have to go to Office 2010?  It takes me two years to get my cell phone figured out; then it is time to get a new one and I have to start all over.  Why does everything have to change all the time?

    Life is filled with change.  Some people love change; they love anything that is different than it was before and in many respects change can be good.  That cell phone that drives me nuts also makes it easier to contact me or for me to contact someone else.  I don’t have to look for a pay phone somewhere.  The version of word processor I use, along with email, makes these devotions possible.  Without changes in the medical field some of us would probably not be here right now.  Without changes in agriculture, food would be a lot more expensive.  Not all change is bad but it isn’t all good either.

    If your boss keeps changing what you must do to get a raise, it can be very frustrating.  If you are going to school and they change your program or even drop it in the middle of your education; that can be very disappointing.  When the doctor keeps telling you that you’ll go home tomorrow and four tomorrows later you are still in the hospital; it can be very discouraging. 

    Some change can be devastating.  A young man who looks down for a minute while driving his car and swerves into the oncoming lane and meets a truck head on and leaves a young wife and a couple of kids causes a change for her and the children that can be hard to overcome.  A soldier who lets down her guard for a minute to talk to a child might not see the bomb in the road and her life is changed forever.  Sometimes change is like a board to the back of the head.  In these two examples, like hundreds of others, everything changes.  Their lives change, their relationships with others change.  The soldier’s family and friends may withdraw; not sure of how to cope.  The young widow may be so overwhelmed that she isn’t sure which way to turn.  In the midst of wild changes in our life; God does not change; Jesus’ love does not change.

     For the Lord does not change.  From the beginning God loves us and cherishes us and desires to hold us close.  That has never changed and never will.  God is a steady, constant force who loves us and provides for us.  He always has and always will.  God isn’t some wishy- washy being that changes his mind on whim.  From before the foundation of the earth was laid, God loves you.  The Psalmist calls us the “apple of his eye.” God looks upon us and loves us greater than any parent or grandparent could love a child or grandchild.  The love of the Father is deeper than we can measure; it always was, it always is and it always will be.  For the Lord does not change.

Eternal Lord Jesus, we come before you seeking your blessing on all your people especially those who are seeing painful change.  Guard and protect them.  Send your Spirit of comfort and peace that they may trust in you for all their comfort and peace.  We thank you Father for those who are experiencing joyful change and that you would continue to guide them and bless them throughout their lives.  This we ask in your precious name, amen. 

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret         

3-6-2019

Good Morning All,

       Romans 8:27; “And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

     There are a few portions of Scripture which, in a few short verses, have a tremendously powerful message:  Isaiah 52:13- Isaiah 53: 12 is one, Jeremiah 31: 31-36 is one, Matthew 28: 1-10 is one, John 3:1-21 is one, Ephesians 2:1-10 is one and Romans 8: 18-39 is one and there are others.  For me, Romans 8: 18-39 is one of my favorites; it offers us comfort to the highest level.  It is as pure a “Gospel” (the teaching of forgiveness and God’s comfort) as there is.  If any of you who listen to my sermons, I’ll let you in on a secret; if I ever get stumped or lose my train of thought in a sermon, we’ll end up in Romans 8:18-39.  I could have, and probably will eventually use most of that passage for devotions but for today we’ll look at verse 27.

    Think of a time when you felt totally weak and helpless.  For most of us it is when we watch a loved one die especially if it is from a lengthy illness or debilitating disease.  We are helpless to stop it; we struggle to give comfort and we don’t know what to do or even how we should pray.  Perhaps you experienced this with your own visits to a doctor as you fought your own health battles.  Perhaps you have experienced pain from the damage to a relationship with a loved one.  This can be especially difficult if the loved one is experiencing pain of their own, either emotional or physical, and the lash out at us.  Suffering pain is difficult, whatever kind it is.  Watching someone who is in pain, whatever kind it is, is just as difficult if not more so.

     Sometimes it isn’t even pain; it is just the feeling of helplessness when you have no answers for someone.  I recently listened to a lady who had lost 5 nieces and nephews to drug and alcohol related events; she had just gotten the news that a sixth one was in a motorcycle accident.  She asked me,” What do I do to stop this?”  I felt a level of weakness because she wanted a five-point plan to resolve the issue to her desires and I didn’t have one for her.  But we did pray.  Sometimes her words were only groans and sighs, she prayed a lament of pain but the Holy Spirit prayed with her and more importantly prayed for her speaking her pain to the Father in the language and method that was needed.

     That fact can be a great source of comfort for us.  There are times when we don’t even know what or how to pray.  We get all the way to,” Dear Father” and then we are stuck; no words, no coherent thoughts, just a numbness within us.  The Spirit prays with us and for us speaking what we can’t.  This is part of God’s grace for his Church, the body of believers (us).  God sends his Spirit to us to pray for us and to comfort us even when the right words don’t come out; God hears our every word, our every thought, all the pain we have.  So, when you pray don’t worry about the words, whether they have a “churchy” enough quality or not.  God listens to the heart and sends comfort for the soul.

Dear Father in heaven, we pray for those who cannot pray for themselves.  For your children who are experiencing pain which they fear they cannot bear.  Hear them Lord, send your Spirit of Comfort and Hope that they may find peace in You.  Hear us as we pray for them and move us to be the hands of that comfort.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s peace,

Pastor Bret

3-5-2019

Good Morning All,

                 Matthew 6:33; “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

    What do we seek?  Where do we place our deepest desires and our greatest hopes?  For some it is wealth; for some it is fame.  These are two obvious ones and everyone sees them but what about us?  Most of us do not dream of becoming multi-millionaires or of having to worry if the twitter feed is going to worry about what we wore to the Academy Awards.  Yet sometimes we seek some things that may not be God pleasing.

    Perhaps we spend too much time trying to figure out ways that we can have control in a relationship instead of sharing in one.  Perhaps we spend too much time trying to figure out how to make our so-workers look bad so we look better.  Perhaps we spend too much time trying to butter up a neighbor to try and get his land before someone else does.  There are lots of ways to seek what is not in God’s favor.

     One of the most interesting facets of human life is that when we engage our sinful nature; it is never satisfied.  Very few people who seek great wealth ever think they have enough.  How else do we explain such incredible greed from people who already have billions of dollars and yet try to cheat people for more?  Those who seek fame, even when it is fleeting, never have enough.  How else do we explain all those “celebrity” reality shows?  Why else do we always seem to easily attack or run-down others?  If we cannot be the top dog of our circle; how can we put our self on the throne of God? 

     So we run in circles, like a dog that chases its own tail, until we cannot even stand.  We are exhausted and have gained nothing.  When we glory in God’s holy name; when we quit trying to take God’s place in life and receive His blessings and grace, our life becomes much easier.  We trust in God to love us and to care for us.  That he will richly provide for all our bodily needs.  When we trust God, we can rejoice because He has promised to take care of us.

     Some of us may be disappointed as we look at that.  What we need and what we want can be two very different situations.  Do we need a cell phone, or a big screen TV with satellite cable or a computer?  Do we need multiple vehicles or the place at the lake?  Perhaps we do, but perhaps we don’t.  The central thing is to remember that what we do have comes from God’s blessings.  We don’t worship the blessings or think that “we did it all.”  Rather, we give thanks to god for what he has given us and what he will give us tomorrow.  When our faith is in God, when we trust that he will take care of us and deliver us; then our hearts are seeking the Lord and we can rejoice in Him.

Gracious Lord, we are slow to see our deepest sinful desires, help us to see them and to repent of them that we may truly seek after you and that we may have that true peace which only comes from you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

3-4-2019

Good Morning All,

   Luke 9:32; “Peter and the men with him were sleeping soundly. When they woke up, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with him.”

    It was a time when it should have been obvious.  Jesus was standing with Moses and Elijah and was revealing some of his glory to Peter, James, and John.  They were witnessing the glory of God as it rested on the top of the mountain.  With all those miraculous interventions, there could be no doubt about God.

    Do you ever think, “If I could witness that; I would have absolutely no doubt, I would believe forever.”  Look at all the events that had happened how could you not believe in God?  If God would only do something big; it would change everything.

    The truth is it didn’t even change things then.  While Jesus was teaching the disciples, they squabbled about who was more important.  They judged each other and other people whom they met.  They believed in God but that didn’t stop them from rebelling against God.  Adam and Eve knew God but rebelled against him.  Cain knew God but rebelled and killed his brother.  Knowledge and faith aren’t necessarily the same thing.

    We claim that if God would only visibly show himself, we would believe in him but would we surrender to him or would we rebel just like the others?  The very crux of our Christian faith is found in the explanation to the second article where Luther writes,” I believe that Jesus Christ… is my LORD.”  That is what it is about; we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  These people saw God as God; they just didn’t want him to be their God.  There are many like that today, people who reject or rebel against God.  They want a God of action.  When the drought was on or the hurricane hit, or wars occur or any one of many calamities occur; they wonder, where is God?  Why doesn’t He act?

    The reason is because God has chosen a different way to interact with the world; He does it through the Church.  Jesus gave the Church the authority that he had on earth; the power to forgive sins, the mysteries of the sacraments and his Word, the truth of salvation, and the task of reconciling the world.  When you wonder where God is, where is that awe and majesty; it is in your hands entrusted to you by our Lord Jesus.  We are the living establishment of that majesty here on earth.  That is why Peter called us a peculiar or separate nation, set apart for God’s purpose.

    There are those who would still rebel but we have God’s grace and mercy, which we see every single day.  The obvious lives in us all the time, God’s Spirit resides in you to set you free, to give you the direction you should go, to give you comfort, peace and ultimately eternal life.  The glory of the Lord was seen on Mount Sinai now it should be seen in you.

Father of all grace, we are often slow to reflect your glory to those around us and we are slow to see that glory as well.  Give us the strength and the wisdom to go forth as your agents of change, your hands of mercy in a world that is so in need of your love.  All this we ask in the precious name of Jesus, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret     

3-3-2019

Good Morning All,

Psalm 1:3; “He is like a tree planted beside streams— a tree that produces fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither.  He succeeds in everything he does.”

    The Psalmist speaks of trees.  We, who live in South Dakota, should really appreciate the Psalmist use of trees.  Trees are about as plentiful in the land of Canaan as they are here.  There are a few places where they grow, like along rivers and streams but for the most part, they need to be planted and tended to.  Trees don’t just happen; we need to make them happen.

      There are many trees, like olive trees, are especially a lot of work.  Yet if tended properly it would produce olives for years to come.  If it didn’t, it would be uprooted and burned then replaced by a new tree.

      I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.  When we moved to the parsonage, I planted four new trees.  With the drought and the wind, it has been a constant battle trying to keep them going.  They did not survive the winter.  It would be nice to see them green and supple and full of leaves.  They looked more like beaten sticks.  In many ways, we are like that.  Without Jesus’ saving grace, we are just beaten up sticks which will not survive the winter.

    But because of God’s grace, we are green, supple and healthy trees.  We have the leaves and are producing the fruit, not because of what we are but because of the loving care which the Father gives to us.  He feeds us, He waters us, He weeds around us, and He keeps the soil fresh and mellow.  We are protected from the harsh elements under the protection of his wings, safe in his loving arms.

    We have a haven, a place which we can find safety, solace and peace.  We can trust in God’s steadfast love (mercy) to save us from all harm by the devil.  When the droughts and cares of this life would want to drain the life from us, we have a Savior who is tending to our every need.  We can grow strong in the safety of his house.  We can grow to produce fruit because of his saving will.  God guards us and provides for us.  We do not have to be like the tree rooted up, rather, we are blessed by God to be kind of tree that the Master wishes to keep. 

     The winds will howl and the droughts and insects and all the challenges of this life may come our way but we are safe in God’s loving arms; protected from all that the devil will throw.  Through him we have all good things.

Father of mercy, you give to us all that we need to support this body and life.  Keep us mindful of the wondrous gifts which we receive daily.  Keep us watered and nourished by your Word.  Lead us to produce fruit so that we may help to feed others.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

3-2-2019

Good Morning All,

       Psalm 112:4; “Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.”
    Have you ever experienced total darkness?  Not many of us have.  Even in the dark that we experience, there is usually some light.  Maybe you have a night light in the hall or in the bathroom or in a child’s room.  Maybe you always have a flashlight handy.  The darkest place I’ve ever been was a cave.  It was an old prospecting cave in the Black Hills.  It was so narrow and small in places we weren’t sure that we would fit.  After we got in about 50 feet, we turned our flashlights off.  That lasted about 20 seconds before we couldn’t take it.  It felt like the mountain was going to swallow us.  Even though nothing had changed in that 20 second period; it was hard to breathe and you felt like you were spinning.  I was with three others and they felt the same thing.  We had more cave to explore but we agreed that we had seen enough.

     The worst part was all those “things” which come out in the dark.  There are things; things that run across your shoes, things that crawl up your arm, things that hang in your face or buzz in your ear, things that we cannot see but we feel and experience them anyway.  Then there are the sounds, sounds that seem to amplify in the dark, things that sound like moans and groans or hideous laughter.  

    That is sort of how the people in the text would have felt.  When sin entered the world, man no longer “saw” God.  Adam and Eve walked with God but sin veiled their eyes and plugged their ears.  Soon man’s relationship with God just kept deteriorating.  In our blindness, we just kept spinning out of control.  We wandered in the dark and were more lost all the time.  We walked away from God and His light and kept going further and further into the darkness, suffering the whole way.  “But God beheld our wretched state.”  Out of His unfathomable love God sent Jesus into the world to be that “Light”.  The light which dawns in the darkness.  In the most wretched place, God took sin and destroyed it.

    Jesus came to live and die and rise again so that we could return to the Light.  God used Jesus’ sacrifice to serve as ours so now we get to have His Light, the Spirit, live within us.  The devil will try to block the light or even use the light to blind us but God, in his grace and mercy, is always there to correct the problem and keep us moving.  Sometimes we wish that the light we have would light up more of our path ahead but we can trust God to lead us on that path that will lead us to our eternal home.  Then along the way, we are to “let our light shine” for others to see the wondrous blessing of the light and then listen to the call of the Spirit into their hearts as well.

   Father of all Light, we praise you for the gift of the Light which illumines our way.  Keep our light, our faith, burning bright in this dark, cold world that knows only pain and sadness.  Cause our light to shine brightly so that others may come to know You as the one true God.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

3-1-2019

 Good Morning All,

       Mark 1:35; “In the morning, long before sunrise, Jesus went to a place where he could be alone to pray.”

     Have you ever noticed how often in the Gospels we are told that Jesus went away, alone, to pray?  He does it frequently; often enough that the disciples noticed and asked him to teach them how to pray.  Jesus would take certain times and go by himself and pray.  We should to.

    While Scriptures tells us to pray constantly; it also tells us to set aside times of the day to pray.  The early Church, drawing on its Jewish background, encouraged believers to pray the Lord’s Prayer three times a day.  Even in the Middle Ages, people would stop what they were doing many times a day to pray.  When most of the activity in a community was within earshot of the church or monastery bell, the bell would ring once an hour to signal the start of the Lord’s Prayer, once after the fourth petition and once at the end to signal it was over and time to go back to work.  Daily prayer was a very important part of the believer’s life. 

     Somewhere along the way, some have lost this habit.  Even though we know that prayer is a powerful tool or force in our lives; too often we let it slide by.  Martin Luther encouraged people to pray three times a day.  You were to pray once when you got up, at the noon meal and then once before you went to bed.  While this was to encourage the habit of praying, he also wanted us to see and feel the benefit of prayer.

     Luther had a simple formula for those he taught.  You are to rise and make the sign of the cross in remembrance of your Baptism.  You were to invoke the Trinity (In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit) say the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer then the Morning Prayer.  Then he added this little note.  “Then go joyfully to your work, singing a hymn.”  We find such contentment from our regular prayer life that we can joyfully go to our work comforted and strengthened by God’s grace.

     Then in the evening, you would follow the same basic formula except you would say the Evening Prayer instead of the Morning Prayer.  Here Luther added that we should, “go to sleep at once and in good cheer.”  The contentment of our regular prayer life gives us the comfort to get a good night sleep.  How many times do we toss and turn and worry the night away because we do not take advantage of one of God’s greatest blessing in life- prayer? 

      We have the tools we need to live this life in peace and contentment, in confidence and in comfort.  We only need to take advantage of what God freely gives us.  Like the hymn tells us, “take it to the Lord in prayer”.

Father of all good things; move us to be closer to you.  Encourage us and lead us to pray to you with all boldness and confidence that you truly do answer prayers.  Give us that due sense of comfort that we receive from calling on your name.  This we ask in Jesus’ precious name, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret