7-7-2022

Good Morning!    

                2 Timothy 4:3; “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions”

    It is always amazing how people react to hearing what they do not want to hear.  Some young children will stick their fingers in their ears and make blathering noises to drown out what is being said.  I have had confirmation students who, when faced with facts they don’t want, will bring up a fact that has absolutely nothing to do with the topic.  Their goal is to confuse the situation.  When they become adults, their answer is to claim that they have a different set of facts to counter the other set of facts.

    One of my favorite quotes is, “sir you are entitled to your own opinions, but you are not entitled to your own facts.”  There is a lot or truth in that statement.  We often want to have our own truth, our own set of facts.  This is what Paul means when he talks about itching ears.  We hear the truth, but we filter it and hear what we want in the way that we want.  We do this because our sinful nature wants to have its own truth.

    Our sinful nature wants us to have a different set of facts.  It wants us to believe that we are better off hearing what we want to hear.  It wants to tell us that our truth, whatever that is, however it changes, is the best truth.  Of course, this is also why we end up lost, hurt, lonely, and in a state of hopelessness.  When our ears itch and filter God’s truth and try to spin the “facts” to lead us astray, that is how the world, and our sinful nature tries to control us.

     This is why it is so critical that we listen closely to God’s voice, to his Word.  The world will tell us to worry about no one but our self.  God calls upon us to love our neighbor.  The world tells us that everything is ours to take yet God created us to take care of creation, to have dominion not domination.  Our life is better when we live according to God’s will.  This is not because of some enforced law but because we, like any other created thing, are best fit to serve the purpose for which we were designed.  God created us to worship and praise him, to love one another and to take care of the creation.  We are most content when we live that life.  This is the rhythm which best suits us.  It is when we seek a different truth that we again have itching ears.

    So, as we look for truth, we know that the source of all truth is Jesus.  We know his word is true, his actions are true, we know his love for us is true.  We know his promise of salvation is true.  This is what we hold on to.  This is the truth that we need.  Our ears will still itch from time to time, but God’s truth will sound through if we have faith and faith comes through hearing God’s Word, the true Word.

Father of love and mercy, your Word is truth, and it moves us to follow you, to trust in you, to live our lives holding onto the promise of salvation.  Keep us from itching ears.  Give us the faith and the courage to hold onto your incredible grace.  Be with those who are struggling with life today.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

7-6-2022

Good Morning!    

            Psalm 3:5; “I lay down and slept, I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.”

    So, did you get a good night’s sleep last night?  How about the night before? Not so much? Well, you are in good company.  Over 62% of adults state that they experience sleep problems a “few nights” a week.  Almost a third claim they get less than 6 hours of sleep a night.  This leads to all sorts of problems.  People often fall asleep when they are trying to work or even drive.  Over 1500 people die each year because someone fell asleep while driving.

    Along with this, there is trouble with concentrating, problems doing finances, remembering things, or just plain remembering what to do next.  The estimated cost to the economy is over $18 billion per year.  The non-dollar cost is even harder to calculate.  People tend to be irritable, quick-tempered, and easily hurt.  This puts strains on relationships of all kinds, especially with family and often times with God as well.

    So, what are the things that keep you from getting a good night sleep?  Maybe it is the weather that seems rather ferocious this year.  Maybe you worry about the cost of things like gas or groceries.  Maybe you stress over work that never seems to get done or the lack of work which has cut your hours and your pay.  Maybe you wrestle with how you are getting along with your spouse; they seem so distant now.  Maybe you stress about your children; they seem to have so little to say to you and never want to be with you.  Maybe the stress is from too many doctor’s appointments that seem to give few answers and no clarity.  There are many things that keep us from getting a good night’s sleep.

     One of the reasons we don’t sleep is that we try to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders.  We try to be God.  But we don’t have to.  We have a God who loves us, who cherishes us, who will sustain us.  We have a God who redeemed us with the death of his Son and who has given us the promise of salvation and the promise of comfort today.  We have a God of grace who blesses us more than we can conceive of. 

    Most of our stress filled sleepless nights are the result of our own sinful nature, actions, and desires.  Yet God offers to us a good night’s sleep.  He gives to us the promise to love us, to comfort us and to keep us.  He gives us his Spirit to be with us.  He gives us his Church, our fellow believers, to be his hands and arms to bring us the comfort and consolation that he offers to us.  We may still experience the stresses, but we know that God will lead us through as we go by faith.  His grace will sustain us.  His love will never fail us.

Father of all mercies, you sustain us and give us rest.  Give us the strength to trust in you that we may find comfort in your arms.  Bless us with your grace that we may face all of life’s challenges, safe in the knowledge of your incredible love.  Be with those who are struggling this night and give them the peace that they may know your rest.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

7-5-2022

Good Morning!    

               Matthew 9:9; “As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.”

    Despicable.  That is really the only way most people would describe Matthew.  He was the traitor of traitors.  He was working for the Romans against his own people.  He was a Jew, and he was collecting taxes, actually extorting money from his own people and he was doing it face to face probably with a smirk. 

    There were two kinds of tax collectors.  There were the chief tax collectors, these were the higher ups who didn’t get their hands dirty.  Then there were the regular tax collectors like Matthew.  He would have sat at the toll booths by the entrances to the city or by the central marketplace.  He would have enforced tariffs or value taxes.  He would have collected taxes for the exchange of money or for the tax on import or export goods.  These rates were “flexible” depending on how much he felt he could extract from the other person.  He would have had a few “enforcers” behind him to help persuade the taxpayer to pay his tax.

    He always had to extract a little more than what was called for.  He had to turn in the tax money, pay the bribe to the chief tax collector, pay the hired muscle, and still make a living for himself.  But he didn’t need to live that good and he was working for the Romans; the government that was repressing his people.  He was handling their filthy lucre and he was dealing with those unclean gentiles.  He would never be clean enough to go into the Temple.  Every good Jew would ignore him, or even spit on him in passing him on the street.  So, his friends were of no value to the Jewish society either.  His friends were other tax collectors, the thugs they hired, maybe a few prostitutes would have been the extent of his friends as well.  He was the lowest of the lowest, the absolute bottom of the barrel.

    Yet Jesus called and he listened.  Jesus called and Matthew walked away from his booth.  He walked away from all the money.  As soon as he left, one of the thugs or other tax collectors would have taken over.  His job was gone, for good or ill, his source of income dried up as he stood up.  The fact that Jesus even spoke to him speaks of how great his love is.  So, what do we learn from the calling of Matthew?

    There is never, ever someone who is too bad to be called to the saving grace that Jesus gives to you.  There is no way that you are ever beyond hope.  There is nothing we can do that will ever turn God’s love from us.  God desires you just as much as he did Matthew.  God desires to have you as part of his kingdom.  God pours out his grace upon you.  You may be bad, but you are no more despicable than Matthew.  Jesus called Matthew into his kingdom; he is calling you as well.

Gracious Father, many times I feel lower than Matthew. I feel there is no way you could ever love me and yet your mercy speaks to me each day.  Your grace is poured out on me every single moment.  Strengthen me that I may live knowing the certainty of your grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

7-4-2022

Good Morning!    

           John 15:13; “The greatest love you can show is to give your life for your friends.”

     Have you ever seen the movies Armageddon?  It starred Bruce Willis.  It was about an attempt to head off an asteroid that is heading toward earth.  The plot is that a team of oil drilling specialists will land on the asteroid, drill a hole into the asteroid, and place a nuclear bomb in the hole and blow the asteroid up. There are all sorts of troubles; in the end the switch for the bomb malfunctions so someone has to stay on the asteroid and manually set it off.  Bruce Willis, the hero, stays behind to set off the bomb and saves the world.  Everyone sees him as the greatest hero ever.  He gave his life so that the rest of the world could live.

    This is usually how we view our heroes.  They end up larger than life and die in order for others to live.  He might be a soldier who attacks the enemy to save his platoon.  It might be the guy who jumps on the grenade or the person who jumps in front of someone else when the bullets start flying.  This is how we see this verse playing out.  Yet when we do, we are really missing a great point that Scriptures make about our lives.  The vast majority of us will never face a situation where our life is in danger of ending but this verse still applies to us.  This is because God calls us to give up our life for others.

    The way that most of us will face this is by giving up our life in a different fashion.  We “give up our life” when we put aside our own selfish desires out of love for those around us.  The most obvious time this occurs is in marriage.  Both partners have to be willing to “give up their life” for the other in order for the marriage to be healthy and successful.  Each has to remember that a decision affects more than just themselves.  A new job offer should be discussed before being accepted.  The purchase of a major item should be discussed before it occurs.  We also see it when children enter the family.  The needs of the child can’t be left for the desires of the parents.  These are the more obvious but what about the lesser ones?

     God calls us to give up our lives for our friends.  If your friends are in need of help, do you give up some of your selfish desires to help them?  God calls us to do this.  Do we give up some luxury in order to give someone else a need that they have?  Maybe you like to buy a fancy cup of coffee every day for lunch.  If you gave up one $4.00 cup of coffee a week, you could give $200 towards a local food bank.  This is just one example, very simple, of “giving up your life” in order to help others.  It doesn’t have to be you jumping on a grenade, it might just be giving up a small luxury for someone who has a need right now.  Can you do that?

Gracious Father, you sent Jesus to give up his life that we might have salvation.  Help me to give up some of the things that I do not need that I may help someone who is in need.  Father, there are many who have great needs today, use me to be your arms to embrace them with your grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

7-3-2022

Good Morning!    
               John 16:33; “I’ve told you this so that my peace will be with you. In the world you’ll have trouble. But cheer up! I have overcome the world.”

    “Hush little baby don’t you cry, you know your mama was born to die.  All my trials, Lord, soon be over!”  This is the first verse of a social protest song from the 1950’s and the 1960’s.  It was based off of a Bahamian folk song that is supposed to be a mother lying in a bed and dying and she is trying to comfort her children with the knowledge that her trials, the struggles of her life, will soon be over.

    This is always a tricky thing to think about.  How do we, as Christians, view death?  Some look forward to it but in reality, death is still our enemy.  We were not designed to die but sin brought about death, and it is still the final enemy.  Yet what do you do, especially when you watch a loved one waste away in a slow agonizing fashion?  Even though we are supposed to; we ask “why?”  I have had many Christians ask if it is ok to ask God to let someone die or to even actively ask God to “take them”.  What do we say?

    I never encourage praying for death; it is asking that the enemy win.  I do encourage everyone to pray for healing.  Pray that God would relieve the suffering and to heal those who are afflicted.  I also encourage them to remember that this healing, which will certainly occur, may not always occur on this side of the grave.  So, we don’t pray for death; we pray for healing, and we know that God’s mercy is sure, and that healing will occur; but it could be in heaven rather than here. 

    Some may see this as splitting hairs but what we are asking God to do is to show his love for us and to show his mercy for us.  If that is what you mean if you pray for someone’s death, God will understand.  Yet I think, in the long run, the devil will have less of a playground in your mind if you pray for God to heal rather than for God to kill.  Remember our prayers are as much about us and our healing as they are for those for whom we pray.  God uses our prayers to bring us peace, comfort, and hope.

    So, as we go through life, we pray for an end to all the trials and suffering.  We pray for an end of all pain.  Yet even if someone dies (and we might) we know that victory still belongs to Christ and thus is given to us.  While death is the enemy, the tomb is only a door for us to God’s glory.  The tomb will not hold us.  It cannot hold us.  Christ, in his mercy, holds us and gives us the certainty that the pain of this world will not defeat us.  We have victory through Christ so soon all of our trials will be over.

Father of all comfort, through you we have hope.  Through you all of our trials will end, and we will end in your loving arms.  Through Jesus’ death, you give me the certainty of salvation.  Give me the courage to trust in your promise and to know that, while the world seems to have a hold on us, it is only for a little while and that your wonderful grace will carry us through all of our trials.  Send healing to those who are in most need.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

7-2-2022

Good Morning!    

              1 Timothy 1:15; “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost”.

   Here is a little story for you.

 

We are all Beggars before God

 

I am but a poor, humble beggar who was sitting in a gutter along the side of the road, lost, dirty and weighted down having no hope; then along came Jesus.  He reached down and took me by the hand, pulled me up and out of the mud and the filth and the mire.  He took the weight off of my shoulders and placed it on his own.  He washed me; fed me and gave a new set of clothes worthy of the finest banquet.  As he took me by the hand, we continued to walk down the street finding other poor, humble beggars.  He allows me to help him.  They are washed, just like me, with water and his Spirit, They are fed, just to me, with his body and blood.  They get the same new clothes and are going to the same banquet.  Some are already there.  But the rest of us just keep walking down the road with Jesus as our guide, our strength, our comfort, and our hope.  Unfortunately, some don’t want to travel with us and some who did went a different way.  We continue to travel down the road together, trying to bring this same cleansing, this same wonderful meal to all that we meet.  I am a poor, humble beggar, worthy of nothing but receiving the greatest gifts of joy, hope and blessing; I am a poor, humble beggar cleansed by the blood of the Lamb of God.     

 

     As we go through life, we are truly all beggars before God.  The wonder of this is that God specifically looks for the downtrodden, the hurt, the suffering.  In the Gospels it was the lepers, the tax collectors, the outcasts, the lost; all the people who the world despised that Jesus sought out.  So, when you feel like a leper or an outcast, like a beggar; know that Jesus died for you, and he seeks you out.  He calls to you with the power of his love and grace.  He calls to you with his body and blood.  He calls to you with his Church to give you comfort and consolation.  He calls to you with his Word to give you the words of forgiveness, the words of hope the words of promise of your salvation.  He wants you to be part of his family.  He wants you to be saved.  Trust this promise for your salvation.

Gracious Father, all that I have is from you.  I was lost and blind, but you rescued me and now you give me hope.  Guard and protect me as I journey on toward you.  Be with those who are lost and hurt.  Be with those who have lost their way and are struggling with life.  Give them your Word of forgiveness and salvation.  Bring them hope and peace.  All this we ask in the precious name of Jesus, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

7-1-2022

Good Morning!    

             Genesis 21:17; “God heard the boy crying, and the Messenger of God called to Hagar from heaven. “What’s the matter, Hagar?” he asked her. “Don’t be afraid! God has heard the boy crying from the bushes.”

    “After all, I am not the chosen one.”  That is what she told me.  “She” was a lady dealing with her aging parents and their health and well-being be discussed.  She was the youngest.  She had a sister two years older and her brother (the chosen one) was the oldest.  Her parents owned a small hardware store in a small town.  It was going to her brother; she and her sisters were going to be lucky to receive some of mom’s China.  Everything was going to the brother (the chosen one).  She described her brother as a ne’er do well.  He could do no wrong in his parents’ eyes (her description).  They always bailed him out, always gave him money, always had excuses for his failures (her description).  He was the chosen one and she wasn’t.

    Our verse is part of a story about Hagar and Ishmael.  Ishmael was Abraham’s oldest son and Hagar was his mother.  When Sarah gave birth to Isaac, she got jealous of Hagar and told Abraham to drive her away.  So, Hagar and Ishmael were banished to the desert.  Abraham gave her a loaf of bread and a jug of water.  Ishmael wasn’t the chosen one, so he was sent away.  As they got into the desert, out of food and out of water, Hagar laid Ishmael under a bush and then she walked a short distance away so she wouldn’t have to watch him die. 

    There are times in our lives when we may feel like we aren’t “the chosen one.”  Maybe the one you loved decided to marry someone else.  Maybe the job you thought was yours has suddenly gone to someone else.  Maybe the land you farmed for years now is someone else’s.  Maybe you used to feel important and now you feel worthless and left on the sidelines watching.  There are times when we feel like we are not “the chosen one.”

    But God heard the cry of Hagar and her son and rescued them because he loved them.  God hears your cry as well.  We may feel like we are not “the chosen one” and the world will tell us we are nothing and have nothing left and nothing to offer.  The world will tell us to lie under the bush and die.  Yet God always calls out to you and offers you hope and salvation.  It may come on a form different than you wanted or wished for, but he will graciously support you.  His love for you protects you and gives you the grace to live the life of contentment that he offers to us.  We live by his mercy, and He gives to us the nourishment and the sustenance that we need.

Father of mercy, your love sustains us, and we are your chosen one. You chose us to be your child.  You have redeemed us by the blood of Jesus.  We ask that you be with those who especially feel the weight of feeling left out, who feel they are not the chosen one.  Guard them with your love and give them the certainty that you have chosen them.  This we ask because of the precious blood of Jesus, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret