5-7-2019

Good Morning All,

      Psalm 29:11; “The Lord will give power to his people.  The Lord will bless his people with peace."

    Peace, the ever-elusive dream.  Take a second and think of all the songs, poems, novels, etc. that have been written about peace and the desire for peace.  If you were to ask most adults; peace would be one of the top five wishes or dreams that they have.  Yet as we speak of our hope for peace, what is it that we are really wanting?  What is peace and how do we get it?

    Too often, we look for peace in the world or in our nation or community.  As we look for this; we look outward to other people or other situations in order to find peace.  The truth is that we have to find peace in our selves first.  Unless we have inner peace, we’ll never have external peace.

     For most of us, inner peace is hard to find because of stress.  The stress we find in our lives can make peace seem like a distant, foggy dream.  We stress about our jobs, our children and grandchildren, our health, our loved ones’ health, we stress about the weather, the price of crops, the cost of health care, how things are going in the community or church and the list just keeps growing.  Sometimes we look at it and think that all this must be some sort of sign of the times.

    We often look at the events of the world and see it as a sign of the times; a sign of the coming of the end times.  We look at the Bible and Jesus never spoke of stress so now that we experience stress that must be proof, right?  Jesus may not have spoken of stress but he did speak of trials and tribulation, burdens, pains.  What we call stress, Jesus referred to in other ways.  In other words, stress isn’t a sign of the times; stress is a sign of life. 

    Stress exists because sin exists.  Sin causes the stress and the worry we experience.  Sin causes us to fail to trust in God’s promises of comfort, of sustaining us, of maintaining us, of giving us peace.  Peace will never come from the outside.  Peace will only come when we trust God and have faith in his promise.  True peace comes to us from God and we have it because of faith that God will take care of us.  We will still face the stresses of this world; that is just life.  Yet we can live in peace with God because of Jesus.  Because of the peace with God, we know the stresses of this world will not prevail.  We will still experience them but we can have inner peace from God.  Even as the world seems to spin out of control, we can have peace as a blessing from God.

Gracious Lord, we long for peace but rarely find it.  We often look in the wrong places.  Forgive us when we fail.  Bring us into your wondrous light and peace.  Guard us and protect us from the devil’s aim to disrupt our peace.  All this we ask in Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret                  

5-6-2019

Good Morning All,

                1 Peter 5:2; “Be shepherds over the flock God has entrusted to you. Watch over it as God does: Don’t do this because you have to, but because you want to. Don’t do it out of greed, but out of a desire to serve.”

     For many years, I coached baseball.  From little T-ballers through teeners, I coached them.  There are many things which go into coaching kids, patience helps, and a sense of humor helps but probably one of the most important is being able to count.  If you take a team of 12 to a game, you want to bring 12 home.  You might snicker at that but I’ve seen it happen.  We were at a midget tournament.  It was for ages 12 and under.  There was a team from about 75 miles away and about an hour after the rest of the team left; we saw this youngster with that team uniform.  This was before cell phones.  I am not sure how it turned out but the hosts of the tournament were scurrying around trying to figure it out.

     Sometimes, the most important thing a coach can do is make sure everyone is on the bus on the ride home.  Sometimes, you must bandage up a scraped-up knee.  Sometimes, you must be sure no one is getting too hot.  Sometimes, you must buy supper for someone who forgot their money.  Sometimes, you just have to have a pair of ears.  The most important quality a coach can ever have is not how many games he wins; it is to know the condition of his flock.

     The same can be said of the Church.  Many people think that the church is worried about buildings.  Many think the church worries about how much money comes in or about how many people are in the church on any given service.  Many think that the church is more concerned with exercising power and influence or how it looks and ranks in the community.  It may be true that some churches are worried about the image it projects, how many games it wins.  Yet the true Church truly pays attention to the condition of the flock.

     This is because this is what Jesus did; he worried about his flock.  He is the Good Shepherd looking after you.  He is the Shepherd who left the 99 to look for the 1 lost sheep.  He is the Shepherd who gave up his life for the sheep.  He is the Shepherd who knows his sheep and his sheep know him and they know him by his voice.  Isn’t that a wonderful image, knowing someone by their voice.  We know our Savior as we hear him speak to us.  We hear his voice whenever we hear the Gospel expressed when we hear the good news of the forgiveness of our sins.  We hear his voice when we share in Holy Communion with our fellow believers.  This care, this concern, this knowledge of the condition of the flock; Jesus has given to the Church to attend to while we wait for Christ to return.

     So, if you are a member of Christ’s Church, a true believer, God calls on you to know the condition of the flock.  Know how your fellow believers are feeling and what they are experiencing.  Love your fellow believer as Christ loves you.  This is how we help each other to survive and to thrive in God’s loving grace.

Dearest Lord Jesus, you love your flock and call them your own.  Give us the ability to love as you love and move us to care for your flock.  Guard us from all harm and bring your hope to those who do not know it.  In your precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

5-5-2019

Good Morning All,

          Joshua 1:9; “I have commanded you, ‘Be strong and courageous! Don’t tremble or be terrified, because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go’”

    Courage is always a trait in a movie that the hero has.  The hero runs through the attack of bullets from the enemy to get help.  The hero dives back into the icy cold water to save the last passenger on the ship.  The hero carries his wounded buddy for many miles to save his friend. 

     We also admire courage in real life.  The fireman who saves a life; the policeman who saves a life; the serviceman who shows courage under fire are all heroes to us.  We look to the people like Riley Howell, the UNC Charlotte student who tackled the gunman.  We look at Captain Sullenberger who landed the airplane in the Hudson safely.  We go back even further to Audie Murphy or even further to Alvin York.  We all admire courage.  We admire that willingness to risk body and limb to protect or save another person.

     One thing about courage is that there really are two types of courage.  There is the “burst” type of courage.  This is the one that we read about and often have the deepest admiration for.  The thing about the “burst” type is that it is quick, often engaged in without a lot of thought or preparation.  The person often just reacts to a situation.  The heroic nature is truly there and is deserving of our adulation but there another type of courage which, in many respects, should be admired as well.

     This type of courage is often quieter and more subtle but is still an act of courage.  This type is when you stand for what is right no matter what.  The student who refuses to cheat on a test even though everyone else does.  The person who refuses to take shortcuts on his or her taxes.  It takes courage to take a stand.  It takes courage to stand up for your faith.  When others attack or run down another person, it takes courage to walk away from the conversation.  It takes courage to stand with that person after he has ridiculed.  It takes courage to do the right thing.  It takes courage to point out the unfairness of an action against someone who isn’t as popular as everyone else.

    Yet it is this kind of courage that our verse is talking about.  It is talking about the courage to live your life in faith and not hide it.  It takes courage to tell the coffee klatch that it wasn’t luck that brought the rain; it was God’s grace.  It takes courage to invite your new neighbor to church with you.  It takes courage to choose going to worship over a basketball tournament.  It takes courage the courage which God gives us to live the life He has called us to live as a light to the world.  Have that courage; trust God’s grace to sustain you and help you exhibit this kind of courage.

Dear Father, we are weak but you are strong.  Give us the courage to stand tall for you to stand for your downcast and beaten people who need a voice.  Move us to be that voice, those hands or those shoulders in order that we may serve you in your kingdom.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

5-4-2019

 Good Morning All,

          Proverbs 2:2; “making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;”

    How old were you when you first were told, “You have two ears and one mouth, use them in that ratio”?  Many elementary students hear it often; at least a variation of it any way.  It may sound cute or quaint but it is an accurate view of life. 

    St. Francis of Assisi, in one of his many prayers, asked that he may, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood”.  This is the kind of advice to take; this is the kind of prayer to pray.  When we are faced with a challenging situation, listening is almost always the most difficult thing.  We usually are spending our time trying to formulate our response.  We fail to really hear what the other person is saying and this causes a tremendous problem in our communications.

    One of my professors at the seminary would tell his students to always answer any question about doctrine or theology with the question, “Why do you want to know?”  Initially this seems somewhat abrupt but the goal is to get to the real question, to listen to what someone really wants to know and getting to what a person is really asking or saying is crucial in addressing problems.

    This issue comes to mind as I listen to the national debate about some gun control issues or climate change or border walls.  It truly seems like both sides aren’t really listening to each other.  They spend more time talking about and at each other than with each other.  Both sides are driven by fear and until both sides listen to the true fear of the other there will never be any resolution.

    We see the same in the Church.  When issues or concerns are raised, do we listen and truly hear the concerns or are we looking for some pat answer?  Do we truly see the needs of our fellow man?  We often fail to listen; fortunately for us our heavenly Father listens to us and hears our cries clearly.

    God has promised to hear our prayers to hear our cries.  He hears our words even before we speak them.  Even though our communications with our fellow man may be broken; God hears us and listens to us.  And as he listens to us; he promises to answer us.  God will listen and answer our prayers.  He does this out of his love for us and he calls us to listen to the cries and the needs of our fellow men of our neighbors.  He calls us to continue the ministry of reconciliation of our neighbors.  In order to do this, we have to speak; we need to speak the Gospel of Jesus; the forgiveness of sins for the sake of Jesus.

     Yet as we speak, we also need to listen, truly listen to the needs of our neighbors especially those who are hurting.  If they come to you in pain or sorrow, give them a shoulder, a hug, a sympathetic ear; give them God’s comfort.  Listen close and give them the answer of God’s undying, unending love.  This is what they need and what we can give to them.

Dear Father, give us the wisdom to listen to our neighbor.  Give us the ability to hear the cries of our fellow man and to give to them the comfort and the grace which you give to us and call us to share with those around us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-3-2019

Good Morning All,

Psalm 27:5; “For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock”

    We are in the process of changing seasons.  We are approaching the season of tornadoes and thunderstorms.  They have already begun in the southern part of the country and they will move north with the warming of the days.  Yet the calls go out; get your weather alert radio, practice your severe weather drills, know where to go for shelter when the storms are coming.  For most of us, that shelter is in the basement in a corner or perhaps under the steps.  If you don’t have a basement, it is usually the bathroom with something to cover yourself.  We know the drill or routine when bad weather strikes; do you know the drill for when the devil attacks and wants to drive you with fear from God?  Where is your shelter?  Where are you safe?

    God give us faith for that very reason.  It is our shelter.  Through faith, we trust the great promises that God has made to us.  He shelters us from the storms of life.  The storms will rage and howl but we are safe in his shelter; his loving grace poured out upon us on the cross by Jesus.  This shelter is for us to remain safe in and, just like a storm shelter, we need to remain in it while the storm rages.  No one leaves the storm shelter to see how the storm in blowing and we need to stay in the shelter as well.  We must also prepare for the storms just as we should prepare our storm shelter.

    We prepare for our life storms by remaining in prayer with God.  When I teach this to the confirmation kids, I draw a triangle and place the number 1 on top, the number 2 at the bottom left corner and the number 3 at the lower right corner.  The numbers correspond to the first three commandments.  “You shall have no other gods” is on top because it is the prime commandment.  The second is about using God’s holy Name properly; this is done with prayer.  Prayer is the proper use of God’s Name.  The number three is the third commandment and this is about hearing God’s Word or reading the Bible.  Prayer is us talking to God and Reading and hearing God’s Word preached is us listening to God.  Commandments 2 and 3 are our “holy conversation” with God.  This triangle represents the shelter under which we remain safe.  Through prayer and devotional reading of Scriptures our faith can be strengthened, our hearts uplifted and our confidence in Jesus elevated.

    Now, when the storms of this life occur, and the devil whispers “be very afraid”; we can respond that we “fear not” because God is our refuge and our strength.  God is our shelter and nothing will prevail against it not even the very gates of hell.  Jesus has overcome the world.  He is our strength and hope; he is our shelter.  So, remain safe within the loving arms of our Savior.  He is our shelter forever and ever.  

Father of all mercies, shelter us from the storms of life.  Strengthen within us the certainty of your loving and strong arm.  Be with those who are experiencing the howls of the storms at this time.  Send them your Spirit that they may know your peace.  In the precious name of our Risen Savior we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-2-2019

Good Morning All,

   Isaiah 35: 4-6; “…He will come and save you.” ⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; ⁶ then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.  For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;”

    I remember watching a movie about the Civil War a few years ago.  I don’t remember the name or even the general plot line.  I just remember one scene in the movie where they showed a bucolic scene of sunlight dancing through the leaves of the trees filled with birds and there was a hedge lined road with a rabbit hopping along the road.  Then came the line of soldiers, but not the regular army, these were the maimed, the wounded, those who had lost an arm or a leg or were blind and were heading home from the war.  The contrast of the beauty of the day and the scenery was shattered by the tattered bodies trying to go home.

    In many ways, this image can haunt us often.  When you watch the news, you see the bodies of blown up soldiers returning home.  You see communities destroyed by fire or storm.  You see unimaginable events, indescribable pain and hopeless remorse.  We see the lame and those who have been driven away.

    Many times, we are those who are lame or driven away.  The cares of this world, the pain of broken relationships, the fear of tomorrow, can cause us to feel like we have had limbs ripped from us.  There is something that is missing in our lives and we feel the effect of it every day.

    Sometimes these events can have the effect on us where we look aimlessly into the distance, not at anything in particular, but with that vacant, lost look of someone who has lost everything.  We have the look of someone who has no hope.  You see that look often.  There is that picture of an Okie farm wife from the Great Depression that really sums up the pain of an entire generation with that vacant hopelessness.  That look is on many people’s faces today as well.

    The problem is that too often we look for hope, for truth, for comfort, for our sense of security in all the wrong places and just like the soldier who steps on a landmine; we are blown back, blown away and blown apart.  Our sin destroys us to our very core down to our very being.  We are lost; left to limp our way back to what we think and hope is home.

    Into this mess, God comes with his words of comfort, his words of promise, and his words of hope.  God comes to rescue you and me from all that the world has done to us, from all that we have done to ourselves.  Jesus came to proclaim the good news of reconciliation.  Jesus came to proclaim the good news of forgiveness of sins.  Jesus came to pay the debt that you and I cannot. 

    Through our Baptism, God calls us, the lame, the blind, those who were driven away, back into his family.  We are called back to live in his saving grace under his watchful eye, safe in his loving arms.  In that day, we are assembled in His grace waiting for the final day when we will be ultimately assembled before the throne of heavenly glory.        

Dear Father of all grace, your mercies are new to us every day.  Heal us, your wounded and broken people with your wondrous love.  Give us hope and give us courage to withstand the devil’s attacks and keep us safely in your arms.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret              

5-1-2019

Good Morning All,

   Psalm 94:14; “For the Lord will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage;”
        There is a TV show on the Food Channel called “Chopped”.  The premise of the show is that they start with 4 chefs and give them a basket of ingredients.  They have 20-30 minutes to make a course for a meal using all the ingredients in the basket.  After each round one of the chefs is “chopped” until there is one winner of the prize.  The twist is what they put in the basket.  One time the ingredients were octopus, duck and animal crackers.  They had to use these three, plus whatever ingredients were in the kitchen and make an appetizer.  

     While the four chefs were struggling with this, the judges were critiquing everything the chefs did.  Of course, the judges are a bunch of smug, know-it-alls and you would really like to see one of the chefs throw the basket at the judges and tell them good luck.  What they cook looks palatable, even quite appealing, but you never taste or smell it so you never know. 

    Life is a lot like an episode of “Chopped”.  Some days you get up and you wonder what the world has in store for you.  We can head out the door without a care or problem only to have someone become ill, in a car accident, lose a job, a house, a friendship, a life.  Sometimes they just sort of mash together.  Trying to cook with octopus, duck and animal crackers may sound tough but try going to bed after you realize that you are now a single parent, with two small children, who now have no father, and you have no real marketable skills.  Perhaps you wake up in hospital bed with no clue how or why you are there.  You can think clearly but the words come out garbled and your one side is numb.  Some of the events that the world throws in a basket for us to experience can really cause our head to spin and our hearts to faint.

    Yet God promises to be there for us.  He tells us that all things work together for good.  It doesn’t say all things are good but that they will work together for good.  God takes the events of our lives and molds and shapes us to be his disciples.  Sometimes that molding and shaping can hurt; we may not even see how it can possibly work to our good but God has promised to do so.  In the end, we will have eternal life.  Through all our trials and challenges, God reminds us that his grace is sufficient for us.  He reminds us to cling to him and him alone.  God alone is the source of our righteousness, of our salvation.

    Our hope is always with God.  He alone will save us.  He alone can; all other earthly props will fail.  While it can be painful to live through, God will strengthen us by is grace and sustain us by his love.  No matter what the events of this life hold for us; our salvation is assured through Jesus our Lord.

Father, we watch and see so many events and wonder why.  We experience so many events and wonder why me.  Give us your comfort, your hope, your Spirit of consolation.  Hold us close to your heart so that we may know the safety and security of your love.  Protect those who are being tested now.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret