11-07-2022

Good Morning All,

       Luke 8:17; “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”

     I was reading an article the other day about the world economies and how the Chinese economy was starting to slow and wane.  The author of this article wrote that he expected India to advance up to the top of the fast-growing economies.  I remember when India was the place with all the starving children.  If you didn’t eat all your peas or carrots, you were reminded that there were starving kids in India.  I remember watching a news show where they showed all these starving people while hundreds, if not thousands, of cattle just roamed around.  They were starving and all that meat was just standing there looking at them. 

    In India cattle were, and still are, considered sacred.  Since many believe in re-incarnation, they view eating a Hereford like eating a Henry.  I don’t think I would make it there.  But it was so ironic, these starving people refused to give up on their sacred cows and many starved while the cattle walked on by.

    Sometimes we have sacred cows in our life.  We have those things which we will not give up even though it would be better if we did.  Sometimes we have those sins that we just don’t want to let go off.  Maybe we are jealous of our neighbor, just a little envious.  We know that God wants us to love our neighbor and be truly happy that God has blessed him.  But we don’t want to give up that sacred cow.  We will be double good somewhere else, and we’ll keep this little sin hidden away so we can bring it back at the right time.  Maybe we have a co-worker who we would like to see brought down a peg or two; it would serve them right.  Maybe a sibling or a sibling-in-law needs a comeuppance.  We know that God wants us to love one another.  We know it in our mind, but we keep that sacred cow hidden in our heart; refusing to give it up.  We think it tastes better especially when someone else, a different neighbor or co-worker shares our feeling about the first person.  All we need is someone to feed our sacred cow and it will get real fat in a hurry.

    Our own personal prejudices are about as sacred as they get.  There are certain people we like and certain ones who we do not.  Rather than ask God to help us overcome these sins; we hold on to these hidden sacred cows.  We’ll let God into other parts of our lives but not into this part.  Yet when we do this, we lock God away from us in all of our life and soon we no longer feel the comfort of the Savior.  When we keep those sinful sacred cows, we deny our own forgiveness; we say that there are some things in life that it is OK to not forgive. 

     So, we need to go to the Father and ask for His help and guidance in losing those sacred cows.  They are only blocking us from enjoying all of the love and grace that God wants us to have.  God’s gentle mercies call us; listen to his call.

 Gracious and eternal Father, your mercies are new every day.  Help us to eliminate all those sacred cows in our lives that cause a separation with you; that stand in our way of your grace.  Help us to eliminate all those sacred cows which we do not even know we have.  Bing them out of the darkness into the light that we may see our sin and confess and release them.  Continue to mold and shape us, Father.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

11-06-2022

 Good Morning All,

       John 10:29; “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

    One of the most famous sermons ever given in American history was given by a man by the name of Jonathan Edwards.  In 1741, during one of the Great Awakening revivals, he gave a sermon entitled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”  The general theme was that God was as angry at the living wicked as He was at those who were in torment in hell.  At any time, God could allow Satan to take anyone who deserved to go to hell and God was holding them in his hands and he is angry.  The unrepentant were on a slippery slope held up only by the arbitrary, sovereign nature of God; they were sinners in the hands of an angry God.

    Yikes!!  The reaction was one of great fear.  Many cried and cried out “what shall I do to be saved?”  Not a lot of hope or comfort there.  This sermon pretty much defines fire and brimstone preaching.  The theory was to scare the worshiper into straightening up.  I don’t know if it worked or not, I would kind of doubt it.

     God’s actions in the Bible do not show an angry God.  God wants all to be saved and cries for the lost.  The fact that God sent his son, his only son to die, all alone, on a cross so that you and I might have eternal life doesn’t look like an angry God.  That looks like a God that really loves you.  This is why John, in his epistles, stresses God’s love.  This is what it means when we say this is how we know God loves us for while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  This is what pure love looks like.  God didn’t wait for us to show any remorse or any type of reconciliation we were and are incapable of doing this.  We don’t meet God halfway.  God comes all the way to where you are and lifts you up, washes you off, feeds you and clothes you and gives you the promise of eternal life.  This is the hope that we have.  We look to and forward to what God is doing.  He is molding us into the disciples that he wants us to be and leading us down the journey that he has laid out for us.  All the while God holds us in his hands.  There are times when we feel like we are in the hands of an angry God but in truth, an angry God would just let us fall, all alone and never give us hope of getting back up.  Yet time after time, we sin, and God picks us up and cleans us off and gently takes our hand and leads us on our path.  God holds us in his hands with all the love that we will ever need and guards us with His mercy and grace.  So, we are not sinners in the hands of an angry God.  We are sainted sinners held gently yet firmly in the hands of our heavenly Father protected from all the devil will throw at us.  Rest secure in God’s grace.

Eternal and loving God, by your grace we are kept safe.  We pray for all of our brothers and sisters who do not feel the security which you give us.  Wrap them with your Spirit of comfort and peace and give them the true sense of your love for hem in their lives.  All this we ask in Jesus’ precious name, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

11-05-2022

Good Morning All,

       Matthew 1:23; “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us)”

     One of the great challenges in life is when you have your children, and you have to name them.  Sometimes it can lead to fights as one parent wants to honor their parents and the other new parent has a different idea.  Sometimes we look at names that are in the news.  After the space shuttle Challenger, carrying the teacher Christa McAuliffe, exploded there were a lot of girls named Christa.  We see a lot of cause and effect on naming a child.  Sometimes the name has a special meaning that the family wishes to preserve.  Sometimes the name is a combination of two other names to keep a branch of the family alive.  I would venture that very few of us had the Holy Spirit whisper a special name into our ear but that is what happened to Joseph.

    As Joseph dreamed one night long ago, the Holy Spirit came to him and told Joseph that one of the names that Jesus would be known as was Immanuel.  Immanuel is probably not at the top of the list for many families today but at this time in Israel, this name had great significance.  This had significance which went all the way back to the Exodus.

    As the Israelites left Egypt, they were led by a visible presence of God.  The Israelites saw a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.  When they set up the tabernacle, God’s very presence was in the Holy of Holies.  In fact, the word “tabernacle” means to make camp with or to stay with.  So, the next time you go to the lake or river, you are “tabernacling” at the lake, not camping.  You are making your residence with the person who is there.  It is a close relationship that you form with those whom you tabernacle with.

    The Israelites felt safe as long as they could see and sense this presence of God.  But through the years, they lost this sense or this very presence.  They had lost the Ark of the Covenant; they had lost Solomon’s Temple; they had lost most of the land as well.  They longed for the day when the Messiah would come and restore the kingdom, rebuild the Temple, bring peace and cause “Immanuel” (God is with us).  They longed for that day when everything would be put right.

    Fortunately for us, we don’t have to wait for all those conditions to be met.  We already have “Immanuel” through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus and then through the power of Baptism; we have that communion with Christ.  His spirit lives within us, dwelling in our hearts and in our lives, tabernacling at our table and in our homes.  God is with us every step of the way, through every storm or struggle, through the happy times or sad; we have Immanuel for God is truly with us.

Gracious Father, you come to us through your Word and sacraments.  You strengthen us, preserve us, and protect from the devil and his ways.  Lead us; encourage us and use us to further your holy kingdom.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen   

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

11-04-2022

Good Morning All,

         Psalm 103:12; “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”

    If you look to the western sky in the evening, we see a star called Spica.  If you look in the morning to the east, we see a star called Bellatrix.  You can barely see them and yet there are stars to the west of them and to the east of them.  There are stars so far apart that we can’t measure how far they are from each other.  As far as the east is from the west, that is a long, long ways.  Yet that is how far God removes our transgressions from us. 

    We no longer have to bear the weight or the burden of our sins.  We don’t have to make atone for them.  We don’t have to sacrifice a young ram or be sprinkled with blood.  God removes our sins.  He takes our sins and removes them from us.  God takes our sins, puts them in a box and then covers that box with the cloak of Christ’s righteousness.  Our sins have been dealt with.  They are resolved.  They are no longer a problem in our lives; or are they?

    Why is it that when our sins are forgiven, we never really feel that way?  This incredible weight has been removed from us and we still act like we are weighted down.  Mostly it is because the devil and our sinful nature don’t want us to let go of these sins.  The devil likes us to keep that weight; it is easier for the devil to try and separate us from God, as long as we feel guilty.  The devil keeps whispering in our ear that God won’t forget that sin.  In a way, the devil is right.  The sin is not forgotten but it was charged to someone else who paid the debt of that sin for us.  Those sins were nailed to the cross with Jesus who paid for our sin.

    So those sins are gone if we let go of them.  This is why true confession is so valuable to a Christian.  To stand with your fellow believers and confess that, “I, a poor, miserable sinner confess unto you all my sins and iniquities.”  We aren’t telling God anything He doesn’t know; we’re telling God things that the devil doesn’t want us to admit.  For when we release those sins which we either think are too small to matter or too big to forgive, God has already removed them as far as the east is from the west. 

     So why do we not always feel forgiven, the devil and our sinful nature want to keep it that way.  God forgives our sins and gives this forgiveness to us, all out of his love for us.  Receive the gift of forgiveness and let it free you from the whispers of the devil; that is really the only tool he has.  Don’t listen to the devil’s whispers; listen to the loud cry of God for you to come home.

 Dear Father in heaven, your mercies are new every day.  We thank you for the forgiveness of sins which we in no way deserve.  We thank you for sending Jesus to take our place to pay our debt.  Drive away our fears and our guilt and our doubts that we may live the life which you created us to live.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

11-03-2022

 Good Morning All,

          Gal. 4:6; “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

    Every so often, we find a verse in the Bible that says so much to us in so few words.  This is one of those verses.  In verse 4 we read where God sent Jesus at just the right time, born of a woman (human nature), born under the law (he was subject to the law of God and man).  In verse 5 we read the why; to redeem us so that we might receive the adoption of sons (we’re in the family again).  But in a lot of ways, those two verses are just technicalities.  These two verses tell us when, why, and what but they don’t tell us: so, what?  So, what if God did this, what is the benefit for me?

    Verse 6 is the meat and potatoes of Christianity.  It speaks to the heart of our faith and to the center of our hope.  Paul uses a form of logic that makes the case plainly and yet sometimes we miss it.  Since Jesus died under the law, he redeemed us, and we are adopted as sons of God.  Therefore, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying ABBA!! FATHER!!.  God has restored, through faith, our place in his kingdom.  When you look through the Old Testament and you look at the prayers in the Old Testament, you see prayers made to God Almighty, to the Lord our peace, to the Lord our righteousness; all kinds of prayer but not prayers to Our Father who art in heaven.  The faithful of the Old Testament prayed.  They prayed with earnestness and in faithfulness, but they prayed to a God that was removed from them.  God sustained them and protected them, but He was at a distance because God is holy and pure; the people were not.

    So, the people had to have a priest offer a sacrifice and pray on their behalf and they prayed to this faithful God from a distance.  But all that changed for us and for all believers.  Remember in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ death, the first thing Matthew records is the tearing of the temple curtain from top to bottom.  That heavy piece of cloth kept the people from the Altar of God, kept them from coming directly to God.  But when Jesus, the perfect, ultimate sacrifice died, God ripped the curtain, threw it open and called to us come back, come in and let’s talk.

     The perfect conversation that Adam and Eve had, when they walked with God in the cool of the morning, is restored through Jesus.  Now you and I, as God’s children, can come to him and cry our Father, Father. 

     Scripture tells us that God leans in to hear what we say and just like any loving parent or grandparent when that little one does not quite know what to say, we know what they mean.  God knows what we mean.  He knows our needs and our wants even before we do, and He listens even more intently than any parent or grandparent could ever listen.  We are family, we are the apple of God’s eye, he leans in to hear us, but do we take advantage of this?  We can pray whenever and wherever we want, God wants us to pray, He wants us to call on him; He wants us to continue this loving conversation of grace and mercy.  God is listening; start talking.

 Abba, we too often fail to come to you as we should.  Too often we bear the weight of fear and sin upon our shoulders when you have already removed them.  Be with us, strengthen our faith that we may boldly come to you with all of our petitions.  We are your sons, Father, we ask that you continue to bless and guard us for Jesus’ sake, in whose precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

11-02-2022

Good Morning All,

      Mark 1:1; “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

   It is always interesting how different writers start out their books.  The first sentence usually gives you a good idea about whether you want to keep reading or not.  How a book starts has even led to a contest.  It is called the Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest.  It is designed to have the worst introducing sentence possible.  It is named after Edward Bulwer-Lytton who wrote the infamous beginning,” It was a dark and stormy night-except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by violent gusts…”  You get the picture.  This first sentence went down in history as one of, if not the, worst opening lines in all of literature.  Yet most of us can recite the opening lines to many famous poems and stories because of the impact of these lines.  “Listen my children and you shall hear…” or “Call me Ishmael.”  Or “It was the best of times it was the worst of times…”

     The Books of the Bible have interesting opening lines as well.  Unfortunately, we don’t always read them, but some are really quite fascinating.  Our verse for today is one of those verses.  “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”  Short, concise and to the point, this is about as plain as it gets.  There is a certain amount of irony in that beginning.  Even though it calls Jesus the “Son of God,” that rarely happens in the Book of Mark.  Peter calls him that, the centurion at the crucifixion does, the demons do but most people are left asking the question,” Who is this man?”  He is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Every time the question is asked, it has already been answered.

     The other thing to notice is that it is the beginning of the gospel.  The Gospel of Jesus is not over in any way or anyhow.  So, if the Gospel of Mark is only the beginning; then that means that the story continues, and it does.  Mark weaves the story of Jesus through the use of miracles and the people ask,” Who is this man?”  It occurs so often; you almost want to scream at the Bible “IT IS JESUS” get a clue.  Yet Mark answered the question before it was even asked.

      So as this Gospel is just the beginning, it continues today through us.  We know the answer to the question; it is Jesus.  We can have confidence in God’s amazing love because that love is revealed in the Scriptures, especially here in Mark.  Jesus shows his power over the weather, the demons, sickness, and then his power over death itself.  The Book of Mark reveals Jesus as the powerful God who loved his creation so much that He took on the form of man.  Jesus enters our dirty, infested lives because He loves us, and this is only the beginning. 

         We are only beginning to experience God’s love.  We get just a little taste of that great banquet when we join in the Lord’s Supper.  We get just a little taste of it through God’s grace.  We live within the Church, which is grace, as God molds us into His disciples until we are given the gift of heaven; when grace is completed, and glory is ours.    

Father of grace, your mercies are new to us each day.  We give you thanks that this is only the beginning of the love that you have for us.  The peace which you give keeps us safe within your arms.  You guard and protect us from all of the devil’s ways.  Keep us safe this day and use us as your hands to carry your grace throughout the world.  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

11-01-2022

Good Morning All,

      John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

      Just a little peace and quiet, that is usually what most people want.  I just want a little peace and quiet so I can rest a little; just five minutes.  You get home from work, another stress-filled day, the mental stress of making things last a little longer because you can’t afford to replace them now, the emotional stress we feel when relationships are wounded are all things that make us seek some peace and quiet.  I remember watching a news program shortly after the 9/11 attacks and they showed some National Guard members who were stationed at various airports around the country.  The stress that was displayed in their faces as they waited and watched for something they neither knew nor understood.  The news program showed how most of them slept while leaning against a wall for a few minutes at a time; they so desperately wanted some peace and quiet.

    In our lives we often seek peace and quiet, but we often look to the wrong places.  Too often we look to the world for our peace but to the world peace means not fighting.  Peace to the world is like halftime of a football game.  It is time to reassess the situation and try to exploit the weaknesses of your opponent.  Too often we look to ourselves and then we begin to fear and to worry and we let our hearts be troubled.  Twice in the 14^th chapter of John, Jesus tells his disciples to “not let your hearts be troubled.”  Because of the salvation that Jesus earned and then gave to us we have hope for eternal life.  But Jesus made another promise to his disciples; he promised to send His Spirit to them.

    The Greek word used for “Helper” is paraclete.  We do not have a good English equivalent for this word.  It means the one who travels with you or beside you.  We have different names in different translations.  The Spirit is called the Advocate, the Helper, the Consoler.  My personal favorite is the King James Version where the Spirit is called the Comforter.  Jesus tells his disciples (that includes you and me),” I will send the Comforter.  For me there is no better symbol of peace.  On those cold winter days, I find my favorite blanket and wrap up in it and I can sleep as peacefully as possible.  That is the image that we should see.  Whenever we lack peace, whenever we need peace God sends his Spirit the Comforter to wrap you up and to give you peace.  We receive the kind of peace that lets us rest that allows “our hearts to not be troubled.”  One of the many blessing that God gives to his redeemed children is peace, peace with God.  We will still face struggles and challenges, but we face them knowing that God is for us.  We have His promise to rely on.  We have His peace; we have His Comforter.

 Almighty Father, through your Spirit we are given peace and comfort.  Lead us to trust in your Word that this is true.  Give us the faith to trust in this promise and to hold firmly to it.  Teach me to live at peace with You, to make peace with others and even with myself.  Send your Spirit of Comfort to all those who are in pain or in sorrow.  Bless them with your mercy and use us as your hands to deliver this love.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret