10-14-2022

Good Morning All,

        2 Cor. 1:3-4: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

     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.

    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

10-13-2022

 

Good Morning All,

       Ephesians 6:18: “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints”

     We, as God’s redeemed children, have access to the greatest source of power that the world cannot even fathom.  We have the power of prayer.  Prayer is one of the gifts that God gave to his Church; the “royal priesthood.”  Prayer, as a gift from God, comes with three elements to it.  It comes at God’s command.  It comes with His promise, and it comes with His blessing.

   God commands us to pray, and this is for our own good.  God knows that we need to be in constant contact with Him.  God knows that the devil, even though defeated, will continually poke and prod at us.  The devil will always whisper in our ears to try and cause doubt.  Prayer keeps us connected to God.  That is why we are to pray constantly; we are to be constantly connected to God.

   With this command comes a promise.  God promises to answer our prayers!!  The Creator of the universe takes the time to listen to us.  God the Father inclines his ear to us.  He leans down to listen closely to what we say, like a loving grandparent leans in close to hear every word of a grandchild.  We have that promise.

   With the promise to hear our prayers comes the blessing of answering our prayers.  These prayers are answered when we pray according to God’s will.  We are to pray to advance God’s will.  When we pray like that, God answers.  When we pray to move God’s will forward, when God’s house on earth, the church, is truly a house of prayer; heaven moves with all its potent plans as God’s people are clothed with the triumphant victory wardrobe and the world sees results.  Prayer is at the heart of the sanctified life with power to change the world.  The Word of God; in the hearts of men (and women) changes lives and that cannot be stopped.  We express this change through prayer.

    So, we pray; we pray for all the saints now and to come.  Just as the saints that went before us prayed for us; we need to pray for those who are to come as well.  Pray and see what happens. One suggestion made to me once was that we should write down what we pray for and then watch and see how God answers those prayers, maybe many years later. We can join with our fellow believers and set up a prayer group and agree to pray at the same time every day and share your prayers, the thanksgivings, the intercessions and the supplications.  Prayer is our greatest source of power, and we rarely use it. So, pray, and pray often with the confidence that God hears us and answers our prayers as we need according to His will.

 Lord Jesus, just as your disciples asked you to teach them to pray; we ask that you teach us.  And yet as they fell asleep and were unable to pray; we too fall asleep.  Forgive us our frailties and our weaknesses.  Empower us to go forward praying for our needs and the needs of all the saints that Your Holy Will shall advance.  In Your holy and powerful name, we pray, Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

10-12-2022

Good Morning All,

      Col. 2:6-7: “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 
rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

     Have you ever tried to pull or dig a bush out of the ground?  We have a couple of dying/almost dead bushes that we hope to get rid of along with a couple of dead trees as well.  It is going to be a bear to get rid of them.  The roots are deeper than the bush is tall.  We’ll pull and dig and probably rip up the lawn to dig it out.  It is rooted well.  It will probably come back next year.  It went down to find water and nutrients.  It did this in order to survive the dry summers and the tough falls.  It stores nutrients in the roots in order to survive the winters. 

    Scriptures tells us we are to be the same way when it comes to our faith.  We are to be like a tree planted by the waters with roots down deep trusting in God’s grace and mercy to see us though.  God’s Word and sacraments nourish us and sustain us.  Even in our lives, when we feel that we are in the greatest of droughts; God gives us the faith to pull through.  It is still a drought; it still gives us pain, but God sees us through.  When we are rooted deep in the Lord, we will survive.  The roots which we have because of faith will hold us secure.  The world may cause parts of us to be damaged, but we will survive.  Our faith is established and because of it we can live a life of thanksgiving.

     Too often we see each day as a lifetime.  What occurs in one day, we see as forever; yet it is only one day just a fraction of our life and an infinitesimal part of our eternal existence.  God looks at you and sees a child that he loves for eternity.  God laid the foundation of the earth after He prepared heaven for you.  We should give thanks for this and all of God’s blessings on us.  Most we take for granted; we don’t see them as gifts to be thankful for but as something we deserve.  God’s grace leads us on.  He keeps us rooted by faith in the living waters which flow from his mercy and nourishes us with his grace.

    We are rooted in Christ, by faith, so we can live the life that God gives to us.  A life that may have its challenges and its pains but a life that is rooted in the promise of life eternal with Him.  It is a life in which we may confidently and boldly walk before Him. It is a life where we may have peace with God because of His great mercy for us. We rest in the shadow of His wings, sheltered from the attacks of the devil. In Jesus we have hope, in Jesus we have strength, in Jesus we have the hope of eternal salvation.

     Father of all good gifts, we know that your will is done with or without us; yet you have given us the blessings of prayer.  We ask you to send your Spirit of comfort to those who are in pain and to those who are lost.  Keep us firmly rooted in Your Word always trusting in your promise.  All this we boldly ask in the Name of Jesus, Our Lord, Amen

God’s Peace ,

Pastor Bret

10-11-2022

Good Morning All,

      Psalm 91:1: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”

     When life becomes difficult, where do we go?  When you are a kid in school, you usually look for an older brother to look out for you and to keep the bullies at bay.  As you get older, you count on your friends to watch out for you.  You never get to far away from them especially when the tough guys are close by.  You hide in their shadow as much as possible in order to stay safe.

    When we get older, it can be a little more difficult. It can seem like we have to face the challenges by ourselves. If the boss calls you in to talk about your job performance, there aren’t many around to help. But what about the times when the devil, the world and our sinful nature gang up on us to inflict fear, pain or anxiety? What happens when you lie there, helpless to stop the struggles running through your head and heart?

    God offers us a similar safety but played for higher stakes.  Notice how the Psalmist uses two different names to describe God.  First the Psalmist uses the name Elyon (which means “Most High” or “Most exalted”) and then he uses the name Shaddai (which means “provider” or “all- sufficient”).  So, in the first part we dwell in the shelter of the Greatest God, the God above all other gods; the all-knowing, all-powerful, always-present, eternal God.  We stay in his tent.  We lounge at his table.  If you think of this in terms of a middle Eastern king, we would eat dates, fresh roasted lamb or the fatted calf, leeks, pomegranates, cucumbers, fresh bread, and the finest wines.  We would sleep on luxurious silk sheets and drink a mixture of milk and honey.  All with God’s love to invite us and encourage us and with His power to protect us from the devil’s harm.

    The unbeliever has no clue at the grace that God provides for us as long as we dwell in his shelter and abide in his shadow.  We only get in trouble when we leave the tent and go off on our own thinking we can stand up to the devil and the world.  We soon find out we are no match for these evil forces.  We are only safe when we dwell in the shelter of the Most High.  We are only protected while we abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  What a wonder gift!  What a wonderful promise!  We are to view this lavish meal (whatever yours is!!!) as just a small, microscopic hint to feast we will share in heaven.  Take the most elaborate meal you have ever seen or experienced, it isn’t even close.  We get what the unbeliever can’t even dream of.  Dwell safe in the shelter of the Most High, enjoy his meal and the time that you spend with Him through our prayers and praise. 

God of all Power, you speak and the world trembles and shakes.  Forgive us our sins.  Strengthen us so that we are ready for your hospitality; we are ready to dine with you.  As you nourish us with your heavenly meal; use our strength to serve in your kingdom.  Through Jesus Precious Name we pray, Amen

God’s Peace

Pastor Bret

10-10-2022

Good Morning All,

      Psalm 121:1-2: “I will lift up my eyes to the hills, From where does my help come?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” 

      I have been known to stay up late and watch a good Western. 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 has 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

10-09-2022

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.”

     As I watched the news about the hurricane in Florida and then thinking about this and other disasters where you are given a few hours to pack up and leave, knowing full well that when you returned, you house would probably be gone. 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

10-08-2022

Good Morning All,

      1 John 3:1: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

     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 passage for this morning speaks of seeing.  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