7-8-2019

Good Morning All,

    Luke 2:9; “An angel from the Lord suddenly appeared to them. The glory of the Lord filled the area with light, and they were terrified.”

    Why don’t we see this anymore?  Smoke and fire, bright lights, thunder, the shaking of the earth; where are they?  Why don’t we see this miraculous display of God’s majesty?  When we think of the story that surrounds the plagues of Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the leading through the wilderness with the pillar of cloud and fire; when we think of the awe and majesty of God’s very presence at Mount Sinai we think, “now that is what God should be like.”  “I could believe in a God like that very easily.  I would never leave a God like that.”  “Just give me a God with thunderbolts and lightening and make Him very, very frightening to all His (my) enemies.”

   You would think that wouldn’t you?  It must have been so easy for those early Israelites to believe in God; they saw Him and the mighty works that He did.  Yet, a few chapters after God reveals himself in power and majesty on Mount Sinai, the Israelites make and worship a golden calf for an idol.  The shepherds, after going to see the newborn Jesus, pretty much went back to work, just another day.  Too often, our pleas for God to do something, is really a call for God to do what I want, when I want and to whom I want it done.  Ultimately, we don’t want God to show His power so we can have faith; we want God to show His power so we can try and control God to do our will.  We are trying to trade places with God and place ourselves on His holy throne and rule all.  That is too often the “proof “we seek.

     Fortunately, God knows better than all of us.  He acts in ways that are designed to reconcile back to Him with love and not total fear.  He doesn’t try to scare us into faith; rather He leads us back to Him with “a still, quiet voice” a voice that offers hope and comfort.  God’s majesty is all around; all we need to do is look.  The psalms express this often with cries that speak to the grandeur of God’s creation; the sun, moon, stars, mountains, and creatures.  This is to have us re-focus on who God is and on who we are; God is the Creator and we are the created.  So when we come to the altar of God in prayer, we do so in a humble way and with a penitent heart, seeking God’s mercy and knowing fully that God can do whatever He desires.  We come asking God, not demanding but asking for his grace which he has promised to provide.  God’s love is revealed to us in the empty tomb of Christ.  We should then respond to the world with love, as God does to us, and leave the “thunderbolts and lightening” to old rock songs.

God of power and might, we give you thanks for your great power but we especially give you thanks for your great love.  Move us to share that love with one person today.  In the precious Name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

7-7-2019

  Good Morning All,

    Ephesians 4: 4-6; “There is one body and one Spirit. In the same way you were called to share one hope.  There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over everything, through everything, and in everything.”

    Why is it that we always seem to look for the differences at first?  Why do we seek those things which we use to divide and separate?  It often starts out innocent enough: it is how we identify individuals.  We see Suzy as the short, blonde girl and Billy as the tall red head.  But all too soon we take those differences and use them to hold others down or try to push them back; all in an effort to get to the front.  So, we take those differences and we begin to categorize people.  This group is greedy; this group is lazy, this group is selfish, this group is made up of criminals.  (I didn’t list who but you probably filled in the blanks).  Instead of looking at what we have in common and try and build on that; we build walls to keep some back from us or out of our sight or away from us.

    Yet when God looks at people He sees one thing, a sinful creature.  Before God we are all the same.  There is no difference; we are all sinners deserving eternal punishment.  But by God’s grace, God sees only righteousness and holiness when He looks at His redeemed children.  All God sees is Christ’s atoning sacrifice.  He sees us as one in Christ, holy and undefiled.  We are not male or female, tall or short, fat or skinny, black, brown, white, yellow, purple or orange; we are the redeemed children of God.  That is how God sees us and that is how we should see our fellow believer.  We are all the same.  We are forgiven sinners who live by God’s grace and mercy.  We need to tear down the walls we build and see what God sees, forgiven creatures.

    We can do this best by remembering who we are; we are the redeemed, baptized children of God.  This is our identity; this is who we are and thus we are all the same.  The differences that may exist are only external and temporary but the true identity as redeemed children of God lasts forever.  When we look in the mirror, God invites us to see a redeemed, baptized child of God; loved, cherished and given into the eternal kingdom of God by grace.  That is how we should look at our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, with those same eyes.

    The devil wants separation, disunity and agitation.  God desires that his people live in peace and harmony.  We all share in the same gift and hope; the hope of everlasting life in Jesus.

 Father in heaven, too often we let our sinful nature lead us into prejudice and suspicion.  Forgive us our sin.  Guide us Lord to remove the walls and the barriers which we build between us and our fellow believers.  Cause us to see them as our brothers in Christ and to feel their pain and to share in their joy to your glory here on earth.  In Jesus’ precious Name we pray, Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

7-6-2019

Good Morning All,

1 Thessalonians 4:18; “So then, comfort each other with these words!”

    The gift of giving comfort is a remarkable gift.  Some just know how to do it; some learn it.  We usually learn it the best when we experience life as this passage describes.  We experience some pain in life and we are comforted by someone who has experienced a similar event earlier.  The person who most often gives the greatest comfort at the time of the death of a spouse is someone who has already lost a spouse.  The person who offers the greatest comfort at the time of illness is someone who has experienced that same illness.  But we can all offer comfort for we have all experienced some pain somewhere along the way and received comfort.  We have all been touched and comforted by someone who, to us at that time, was the “mask of God”.  We thought it was a neighbor or a friend but it was God working through that person to comfort you.

    Our verse is part of a longer passage where Paul is offering comfort to the believers in Thessalonica who were worried about their loved ones who had died.  Some early Christians believed that they would not die before Jesus returned; when they did, their loved ones wondered what it meant.  Paul offers comfort with the words of Jesus and the hope of the resurrection of the dead when Christ returns.  It is this same hope that we cling to today.  It is to build each other up when something bad, in this case death, occurs to a Christian.  Our hope, our comfort is always in Jesus.

    This is why God wants us to always be ready to offer comfort.  It may be in the form of a hug or a kind word; it might just be that being present without a word spoken brings that sense of comfort.  In that way, we are the “mask of God”; the people will see you but it is God, through His Spirit in you that is reaching out to offer this person comfort.  Jesus told his disciples that the Father would “send the Comforter to them”.  This Comforter, the Holy Spirit, works through the redeemed children of God to bring comfort to each other and to this lost world which so desperately needs to be comforted.

   So, as we look back on what God has done in our lives, it should help to strengthen our faith for what God will continue to do into the future.  While God does not promise us a life without difficulties; He does promise that He will always be with us.  We should never place conditions on the comfort that we give for God places no conditions on the comfort that we receive.  Always remember that our ultimate comfort is knowing that someday we will be with God for eternity.

God of all comfort, we often fall short of bringing peace and comfort to this world; forgive us when we fail.  Give us courage and confidence to be a comforter to those around us; especially those who we know and see are hurting.  Do not let us walk by but break our hearts and move us with compassion to love those who you have called your own especially the least of these my brothers.  In the Precious Name of Jesus we pray,  Amen        

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

7-5-2019

 Good Morning All,

     Psalm 34:4; “I went to the Lord for help.  He answered me and rescued me from all my fears.”

     Many nights, I stay up late and search out a good western to watch.  Most of the good ones are from the late 1930’s until early 1960’s.  The first good guy kisses the horse and rides off into the sunset and the second good guy gets the girl and the bad guys get what they deserve.  It doesn’t matter if it is John Wayne or Glen Ford or Audie Murphy or Lash LaRue (ask your dad or granddad); the basic story was the same in each genre of western movies.  I like the ones that are about the early cavalry riders and the settlement of the west.  One of the biggest impacts on the settling of the west was the introduction of the Sharp’s repeating rifle in the Civil War.  This allowed a mounted soldier to fire multiple shots without reloading.  There are many movies about how the army is trying to stop these repeating rifles from getting into the hands of renegade warriors or banditos or whomever.  At about the ¾ mark of the movie, we always have the good guys pinned down, under fire, in a box canyon, running out of water and ammunition.  One brave soul rides out to get help and just in the nick of time, usually the second good guy is wounded and about to die; you hear the faint sound of a trumpet and then the sound of horses running and then we see a cloud of dust and the cavalry and help have arrived!!  The bad guys are chased away and all is safe again.

    How many times in your life have you been waiting for the cavalry to arrive?  Most of us have had this experience.  We realize that events are out of our hands and out of our control.  Maybe it was when a loved one was severely ill.  Maybe it was when you looked outside to see it didn’t rain, again.  Maybe your employer is “downsizing” or “going a different direction” both of which means you are no longer working for them.  Then it seems that as one of these happens; other things pile on.  It isn’t raining and your landlord wants more rent.  You lose your job and the car quits running.  You spouse is ill and the insurance isn’t quite as good as promised.  There are times when it seems like we are pinned down, under fire, in a box canyon, running out of water, ammunition and hope.  We look around and where does our help come from?

    Our help comes from the Lord.  It doesn’t come from the cavalry rather it comes from Mt. Calvary.  Jesus supplies us with our needs.  It is at times like these that we best see that our salvation comes from outside of our lives.  It comes from God and is given to us because of his great love and mercy.  We never merit saving; we never deserve the cavalry; we never deserve Calvary but God delivers to us our salvation, our hope.  Situations here on earth and in our lives may change; we may work somewhere else next year.  We may no longer have a living spouse but we always have God’s promise of eternal life and the comfort of His love to surround us.  That is where our help comes from.  The God of grace and mercy provides.

 Gracious Father, you save us from the evil of the devil even though we are not worthy of it.  For this we are forever grateful.  Keep us safe and give us that peace that only You can provide and help us to share that peace with those around us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

7-4-2019

Good Morning All,

     Deut. 7:6; “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”

    I think the story of the incredible flooding that has occurred this year throughout the Midwest is amazing.  There was a story of a family who was told to evacuate their home because a dam upstream looked like it would fail.  A couple hours after they left, flood waters destroyed their home and farm.  The family took what they could but that wasn’t much.  What do you take? 

    What becomes your most valued possessions?  Most people take family pictures, family heirlooms; the things that they view as irreplaceable, things that have more sentimental value than monetary.  Some take valuables that are rare like quality art or collectibles but usually the items that we take have more value to us than they do to others.  We might save some things that others would just toss into the garbage.  We see value or quality that only we can.

    In many ways that is what the LORD has done for us.  He chose us to be his treasured possessions.  Anybody else would look at this rag tag bunch and pick a new team.  Yet God doesn’t do this.  He chose us because he loves us.  The world looks at the Church and often laughs at its makeup.  We are too old, too young, not too bright, funny looking, funny talking; we don’t take orders well, and we argue amongst ourselves as much as we don’t.  In short, we are an imperfect group with no discernible worth.  Thanks be to God that He sees us differently!!  He sees the precious pinnacle of his creation and wants to return them back to the relationship that we had prior to Adam’s sin.  Because of the atonement of Jesus’ blood, God sees us as perfect.  

    God, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, reconciled the world back to him.  He took us, his treasured possessions, out of the path of the fire out of the path of destruction and placed us under his wing.  This whole great process begins in our lives when the Spirit calls us out of the darkness of sin and into the light of salvation.  We observe this through Baptism.  Even if the world sees that possession as worthless or disposable, God, in his incredible love, takes that treasured possession and pulls it from the fire and takes it with him to safety.  Whatever condition we are in, whether we are ill or injured, worn out from stress and worry, whether we have reached a point where we feel we cannot stand it anymore; we are God’s treasured possession.  God knows our worries, He knows our needs.  We trust, through faith, that Hs promises are true.  No matter what happens, we are always God’s treasured possessions; He will always love us!

 Father of all mercy, we give you thanks for your great mercy.  You have treasured us when no one else would or could.  Keep us treasured.  Hold us close to your heart safe in your arms forever.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

7-3-2019

 Good Morning All,

     John 3:16; “God loved the world this way: He gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.”

    Many people take vacations in the summer.  They usually go to “see” something.  Perhaps we go see a professional baseball game or we go to a national park or perhaps we just go to an area of the country where we have not been to; just to see what it is like.  While what we are planning on seeing is important, for most of the way; what we see is out the window of our car.  That is why when I travel; I prefer to take the lesser roads and not the interstate.  Part of this was watching Charles Kuralt and his “On the Road” series as a kid and the desire to see what else is going on in the world.  We see the world go by and we see it as it is, warts and all.  We see the broken houses next to the new “Mcmansions” or the abandoned farm site with the leaning barn next to the multi-bin multi-shop immaculately kept farmsteads across the road.  It is how we see things, mostly through a window usually driving down the road somewhere.

    Our verse looks at the “ultimate love”.  We see what kind of love God has for us.  It is a love that the world does not understand nor can it reproduce it.  The world’s love is conditional.  It will love you as long as you behave and reciprocate.  It will love you as long as you have something to share or allow a gain for the other.  We see God’s love through a window; it is the window of the cross.  When we look into the window of the cross we see what kind of love the Father has given us.  We see God incarnate, Jesus, suffering and bearing the weight and the cost of our sins even as we were enemies with God.  Yet in His unfathomable grace, God made you his child.  He looked at you and claimed you just the way you were.  He washed you and fed you and clothed you with new clothes.  That is our God.  We see that by looking through the cross of Christ to see it. 

    As we travel through life we will pass by and through many events which we may or may not comprehend.  Those events may never add up.  Death, at times, makes no sense.  Life, at other times, makes no sense.  Suffering never makes sense.  We need to see the love of God, through the window of the cross, and then move to share that window seat with others who need it as well.  You and I cannot touch the whole world but we can touch one person and we need to do so.  Share the Gospel of Jesus with one person.  We are part of God’s solution; we are partners in the ministry of reconciliation.  Look through the window and see how much the Father loves us and then go and share that love with someone else.

 Gracious Lord, your grace rolls over us like a river and carries us into your loving arms and presence.  Use us to bring others into your river of life and mercy that they too will be able to look through the window of the cross and see how much the Father loves us.  In our Savior’s precious name we pray, Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

7-2-2019

       Good Morning All,

     Ephesians 2:10; “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

    It seems that each generation tries to make a movie that answers the age old question about the meaning of life.  Why are we here?  One generation watched “2001: A Space Odyssey” another one watched “The Matrix”.  Both are very deep and require a serious watching.  There are other movies and other stories.  Many offer some interesting views, some offer whimsical views and some offer some deep and insightful views.  But the question remains, why are we here?

    Most people, at one time or another, ask themselves this question.  Some go on long and intense personal quests to determine this.  There was a time, about when I was in college, that deep introspective meditation was supposed to “give you the answer.”  I remember a time in a psychology class when the instructor tried it.  One of the wags in class said the only he found was lint in his belly button.  The professor was flustered, the class erupted and we never tried it again. 

    The problem with this is that many presume that the question, “why am I here?” is a question that is subjective and dependent upon the individual.  While this may please our sinful nature, it goes against God’s plan and design.  God’s plan for you is to bring him glory in all that we do.  This includes your worship/devotional life, you family life, your interaction with your fellow believers and with those unbelievers.  Every action we take should bring God glory.  This is where we find our purpose in life, this is where we find the contentment in our life, it is where we find our peace.

    It is when we seek our own glory, our own selfish desires, our own foolishness that we scatter before God.  This is what causes us to run from God.  Yet God in his mercy calls brings us back from the four corners of the world to be his family.  It doesn’t matter what you were, what sins you committed, what caused you to run to the furthest corners of the world; God calls you back.  He calls you by name to be his own redeemed children.  That is who you are, a redeemed child of God. 

     The “why” you are here, is to bring glory to God by living the life that he has given to you, to walk in the paths and do the good works which he lays out for you.  This is our purpose; to live in God’s presence bringing him glory and giving us contentment.

Dearest Father, you bring us in from the furthest corners of the world and reclaim us as your people and children.  Give us the strength to see your will is our best and only hope.  Keep us close to you that we may be safe in your arms.  We ask that you especially call those brothers and sisters who are still at the ends of the earth; who are lost and struggling.  Bring them back to your grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret