7-1-2019

Good Morning All,

     Matthew 16:24; “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

    So, I guess I am not the world’s greatest traveler.  I don’t ride along very well.  In fact, there are only about 7 or 8 people that I am comfortable riding with.  Outside of them, I can ride but I don’t ride comfortably.  I am usually tense on the ride.  Given the choice, I will drive over riding.  Riding makes me nervous.  I can never sleep in a car or even rest.  I have never been very good at being the passenger.

     Part of the problem is that I like to be in control.  It isn’t about trust; it is about control.  If a decision needs to be made, I at least want to be involved.  That is why I like to drive; I like to decide if we go faster or slower.  I like to decide if we bypass a town or go through it.  I decide when it is time to stop.  These all play a part in the process.  I like to have some control.

     There are probably many of you like this.  Maybe it isn’t about driving; it may be about how the house is maintained or how the home finances work.  Perhaps you like to have some control at your place of work.  It may be a small thing but we like to have a little control in life.  This is often why we often struggle with faith; we want control.

     When Jesus says, “come follow me!” it means he drives and we ride.  It doesn’t mean that we drive and listen to his direction; it means he drives.  We listen to him and follow him but how do we do this?  We do this by reading and hearing his Word and instruction.  When Jesus says feed the hungry; that is what it means.  When Jesus says give them something to drink; that is what it means.  Too often we make it complicated. We try to have control and change what is written to mean what we want it to mean.  We look to him, in faith, and then follow the path that he takes.  We are to be humble, thankful, generous and compassionate.  We are to love others.

     Love them; not just don’t be mean to them but to love them.  We are to reach out to them with God’s compassion.  We are to follow Jesus and the example that he set.  Following Jesus means taking the same path that he took.  It means laying down your life.  Now laying down your life doesn’t necessarily mean physically dying, it means placing your wants below the needs of your neighbor.  It means that you don’t get to drive; it means that Jesus gets to drive.  He picks the routes, he picks the speed, he picks the time to stop.  These may be different for different people but it is because Jesus is the driver and we are the passengers; we follow.

Dear Lord Jesus, your invitation to follow you sounds so simple yet we make it so complicated.  We try to lead when we should follow, we try to speak when we should only listen.  Give us the wisdom to listen and to follow.  Guide us through the path that you have chosen that we may become the fishers of men.  Guard us with your grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-30-2019

 Good Morning All,

     Romans 6:5; ^“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”       

    Baseball is in full swing.  If you are a Twins fan or a Dodger fan or a Yankee fan, you have had a lot to cheer about so far.  It is exciting to watch and you wonder if one of the new guys will become the player that can literally carry a team to a victory almost by his sheer will.  The last player the Twins had like that was probably Kirby Puckett.  After his death, some of his teammates were relating stories of him on a sports show.  They told of a time when Kirby told his teammates, “get on and ride me for a while.” That next game he went 4 for 5 with a homerun and a couple of amazing catches in the outfield.  The Yankees have had many of these through their illustrious history; Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Derek Jeter.  It seems that teams will get to a point in the season where their future is going to be determined by how well one key player plays.

    It is somewhat amazing that something like professional baseball, football or basketball can come down to how well one person plays.  Take a Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, or Michael Jordan or LeBron James off the team and see what is left; oftentimes, not much.  Yet it happens over and over even in our everyday lives.  A whole factory might wait as one trucker has to deliver the parts they need to continue.  Many cars wait while one person walks across the street so they can continue on their journey.  Our future may be tied to one person and we might not even know it.

    Yet our eternal future is known and is certain and we know the man it is tied to; it is tied to Jesus.  This is the great promise that Paul makes in Romans where he speaks of the power of Baptism.  We are connected directly to Christ through the wonder, the power and the Word of Baptism.  We are united to Jesus.  Our old Adam is drowned, daily, in order that we may stand before God in righteousness.  We go where Jesus goes.  We go through the death of our sinful nature in order to rise a new creation.  We are the declared righteous children of God who sees us through the glasses of Christ’s righteousness.

    This means that just as Jesus emerged from the tomb to defeat death; we too, will emerge victorious!  How do we know we will defeat death?  Because Jesus did!  Our entire destiny is built upon that singular truth, a truth that is totally dependent upon the mercy of God and not our doing.  We never worry if it is “enough”; God declares it so through the sight of the empty tomb.  Our destiny lays in the hands of our loving Savior who desires that all may be saved by his precious blood.  We are the victors indeed!

Gracious Father, in the blood of Jesus you have declared us your children and through the powers of Baptism you have washed us clean of our sins.  Keep us ever looking to you for our hope.  Guard our hearts and strengthen our spirit that we may ever rest in your peace.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-29-2019

Good Morning All,

     Psalm 131:2; “But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me."

      Do you remember the old Calgon commercials?  It always had this mother, her hair all frazzled, about 8-10 kids running around her yelling and screaming.  She would look to the camera and say, “Calgon, take me away.”  There were variations on this theme; there was the “Calgon moment” for a while.  There are actually many ads for some sort of “time out”.  There are the coffee ads where you see someone standing on a balcony looking out over a beautiful vista or mountain scene.  Some ads even suggest a candy bar will solve the problem. 

    The ad companies know us well.  They know that most people today feel incredibly rushed and frazzled.  Do you remember when computers were going to make our lives easier?  I am still waiting.  It seems like everything is in double speed and there is twice as much to do now.  We “know” everything so much faster that we often don’t really have time to consider the ramifications of what we “know”.  So now we get the benefit of those who think they “know” telling us how to react to what they “know” we “know” now.  No wonder we are lost.

     Most of us go through life with our head spinning and we can’t figure it out one bit.  The really sad part is that this is exactly how the devil wants us to live. He wants us harried, frazzled, confused and lost.  It is in this mayhem that the devil wants us to exist, not live, but exist.  When you are here, you are always tired, often confused, feeling like you are always worn out.  The devil loves this spot for you to try and ride along because you never will.  You will only suffer from this ride.

    This is why God speaks to us in this verse.  “Calm and quiet your soul.” In other words, spend some time in God’s Word and in prayer.  God is inviting you, actually he is begging you, to take a little time and rest.  Take a little time and spend it reading his Word, really reading it.  Listen to the words and to the hope that these words offer.  Take time to pray; speak to God with an honest and true prayer.  Speak your words of thanks, your words of fear, your words of questioning.  God will use this time to give you peace, maybe not the answers you seek, but peace knowing that God is listening and is loving you today and tomorrow.  God will use this time to slow you down and to see the world a little more clearly.  Most of what the world thinks you have to “know” isn’t worth a hill of beans.  Spend time with God, rest a little while enjoying hid Word to you.

Father of mercy, we need to take time and rest yet we often fail to do so.  We become frazzled and worn out and then are easy targets for the devil and his ways.  Give us the wisdom to rest in your grace.  Give us the courage to take time to rest in your Word and to hear your words of comfort and consolation.  We need you every hour, bless Father with your love.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-28-2019

Good Morning All,

     Psalm 103:14; “For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.”
   So how well do you know the people closest to you?  Do you know their eye color, birthdate, favorite color, favorite meal, their dream vacation?  There is a lot to know about people if you think about it and what happens when what you thought you know changes?  Some people can be totally afraid of a thunderstorm only to become accustomed to it later on.  Some people can be convinced that they hate broccoli until they try it and then it changes.  There was a time when I liked a certain food.  Once, after I ate it, I became sick and was convinced that the food made me sick; I don’t eat that food anymore.  I changed so how would you know what I liked?

     The true test of knowing someone is when you respond even when you are not asked.  If you ask a friend, “What’s wrong?” and they respond, “nothing.” But you hug them anyway; that is knowing them.  When someone just shows up and starts to help, or just sits and listens; that is truly knowing someone.  Because in the ultimate sense “to know me is to love me.”  That is how the old song goes and it is true.  For those we know best we know because we love them.  That is why and how we know them by the love that we share.

    Our heavenly Father truly knows us.  Our verse speaks of God as knowing us in an intricate and implicate manner.  The psalms are full of references where the psalmist confesses that God knows him better than anyone, even himself.  This may sound like something spectacular but it goes much deeper than some form of generic knowledge.  The reason that God knows this isn’t just because he is all knowing; rather it is because he is all loving.  He knows this because he loves us.  The greatness of God is shown, not by his power but by his love; a love that allowed Jesus to die upon the cross for you.  So thus, God knows you.

     As God knows about you, what color your eyes are or how many hairs you have; he knows the content of you.  He knows your fears, he knows your pains, he knows your needs before you do.  He comes to you with his love to comfort you, to offer you hope.  God knows you because he loves you.  It is an understanding love, it is an all-encompassing comprehension of the struggles in your life and hope ad knowledge that through it all; God’s incredible love is there for us.

    God knows how many hairs you have, not for inventory, but for the loving nature that brings you back into his family.  None of us are so bruised or damaged that God does not want you back; he always has and always will.  Trust in God’s mercy to see you through.

  Dear Father, you know me.  You know my fears, you know my pain, you know my joys and sorrows.  Give me the strength to stand up I the face of life’s struggles and keep me secure in the knowledge that you are with me.  You are there to comfort and console, to guide and to counsel.  Keep me safe.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-27-2019

Good Morning All,

     Psalm 37:24; “though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.”

     Have you ever been in a situation where you had no idea what to do or where to go?  One time I looked out our window at saw a reddish glow.  It was about sundown.  I got into my pickup and drove toward the glow.  It ended up that I had to stop, and then climbed over a couple of fences to see it.  A neighbor was burning out a junk hole and it was slowly dying.  As I turned to go back to the pickup, I realized it was no longer dusk, it was dark.  It was cloudy so there was no moon or stars.  I was so intent on the glow that I didn’t pay that close attention to how I got there and now couldn’t figure out how to get back.  I was completely lost.  I only saw one yard light so I headed for it.  It was about a two and a half mile walk.  It was dark.  I ran into fences, I tripped into holes, I tripped over weeds; I had no clue where I was or where I was going until I walked up to the door and realized where I was.  For a while, I was completely and totally lost.

     There are times when we can know where we are and still feel that way.  It might be in the waiting room as a loved one is in surgery.  It might be when a loved one leaves in an angry fashion and doesn’t come back.  It might be when your child is ill and the doctors have no answers.  At times like this, we can feel lost and unsure of what to think or say.  Yet there are even tougher times as well.  What do you pray when a member of your family, who has struggled with life and health for a long time, goes into the hospital?  Do you pray that he comes back to your home or do you pray that God would heal him and take him to heaven?  How do we pray when our understanding sees one thing but our faith sees something else?  What do we pray when we don’t see a clear path to pray for?

    There are many times in our lives when we don’t know how to pray.  Do we pray that God strengthens a relationship or pray to let it die before it gets to serious?  How do we pray when we have no idea what to say?  These are examples of what the Holy Spirit does for us.  He prays for us.  So when you don’t know what to pray, we really only need to pray for help.  We can pray, “Father, help!”  We don’t need a page long liturgical statement; we only need “Father, help!” and He will pick us up.  God knows our needs, our worries, our struggles and how we fit into his will.  We need to trust God’s love and the grace he has for our life.

Dear Father, there are so many times when we feel intimidated when we pray.  There are so many times we don’t know what to say.  So Father, we say help!  Help our unbelief, our slowness to trust, our inability to love our neighbor.  Father help us to be your children.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-26-2019

 Good Morning All,

  Proverbs 3:5; “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding."

    The pressure is on.  Have you ever watched an athlete perform under pressure?  Maybe the field goal kicker when his team is behind by 2 points with: 02 seconds left in the game?  Or how about the guy/gal trying to make two free throws with the same: 02 seconds?  Everybody is watching; everybody sees.  If you have never been in a situation like this, there is no way to explain the pressure that you feel.  You can feel every hair on your arm begin to rise; you hear every drop of sweat fall to the floor; you feel each heartbeat in your temple.  It is an adrenalin rush like nothing else. 

    One thing that is for sure is that we all feel some sort of pressure in our life.  It might be because of some job-related issue.  It may be because it isn’t raining enough or it is raining too much.  It may be that you are approaching retirement and you don’t know what you will do.  It may be the coldness in a family relationship or it may be health related.  We all face some sort of pressure in our life; it takes away our sleep, it takes away our comfort; it takes away our contentment. 

    Pressure is a two-edged sword.  On the one side, it sharpens your awareness to your surroundings.  To the athlete, this means to focus on his training and practice.  On the other hand, it can cause to cave under the weight of the event.  Sweaty palms and shallow breathing can kick in.  This is always the balance for the athlete and for us as well.

    When you begin to experience this pressure or stress in your life, you can become aware of what you are experiencing.  Sleeplessness, restlessness, depressed or any other negative emotion should trigger your awareness.  Yet instead of focusing on your own skill or talent; we need to look to God.  God is watching and fully aware of what we are experiencing.  He knows that we will cave to the pressure if left on our own.  God’s eyes are watching us all the time and he listens to our prayers.  When we experience these stresses or pressure. We need to turn to our rock and that is Jesus.

    We will always battle stress; that is part and parcel to a broken, sin-filled world.  But we don’t have to battle it all alone.  God offers to comfort us.  He uses His Word and His sacraments and he uses His church.  He uses his church to be the flesh and blood touch for us as we go through the troubles and travails of life.  We will face them just not alone.  We really don’t have to battle the weight of fear or loneliness or sadness or worry by our self; Jesus has already won those battles and offers us his grace and comfort fort this life.

Gracious Lord, as we battle with the stress of everyday life; we do not face it alone.  Give us the wisdom to see our struggles and to trust in you to give us the strength to stand up in your grace.  We ask that you especially see those who are struggling mightily and feel as though they are going to cave.  Bless them with your Spirit of peace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-25-2019

Good Morning All,

John 9:8; “The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?”

   Have you ever watched the news when they show relief work done in a region where people are starving?  The people all look gaunt, even emaciated; each holding out a cup.  Into that cup is poured some type of porridge that is usually high in protein and carbohydrates.  Yet the one thing that you see is that everyone just waits, with their cup held out.  When you look at them, you can’t tell if one is a rich man and the next is a poor man.  You can’t tell if the woman is a mother, a widow or a princess.  They all stand in line, no sense of rank or entitlement, just waiting for their meager ration.  It is never a lot, only enough for the day.

    In our verse, we read about one of the more pitiful people in the Bible.  We have a blind beggar.  Imagine his living condition.  He would sit beside the road, probably dressed in rags, probably dirty from the dust of the road.  He was probably hassled by the thugs and bullies who saw him as a good target.  Some of the kids would have made fun of him because he was blind.  The Pharisees blamed him for his circumstance and offered no compassion.  What a sorrowful life this was.

    You and I are like that beggar.  We are the pitiful, blind beggar and it doesn’t matter if you go to church every Sunday and sit up front or if you don’t remember the last time you saw the inside of a church; you are a beggar.  We have no other way to view it.  We are completely at the mercy of God and his love.  The world and the devil love to taunt us, to bully us and to even look down upon us; for we are beggars.  We can only stand before God and ask for help.  Our only hope is from God, without his love we are pitiful, blind beggars. 

    The wonder of God’s love is that he has compassion on us.  We are not anything special; we are just us.  How often do you sit and think, “if only people knew what I am really like?”  Do you feel the devil knocking you down with that?  How often do you think, “If God really knows me; I don’t have a chance”.  Do you feel the dirt and the grime from the road?  Jesus died for you and me and we stand in line together, holding out the cup, looking for a day’s ration.  That is all we need; one day of God’s grace.  It will get us through until tomorrow when we will get one more day’s ration of grace. 

    That is really all we need, one day’s ration of grace.   One simple fill up and we can face the day’s struggle.  The devil and the world will still bully us, situations may leave us feeling dirty but God gives us that day’s ration of grace.  We are all beggars before God; but thanks be to God that he has compassion on us!

Gracious Father, we are humble before you.  We have nothing and we have no way to ever get anything.  All we can do is beg of you.  We beg for your forgiveness, we beg for your mercy, we beg for your grace and you supply it.  We give you thanks!!  In Jesus precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret