2-3-2025

Good Morning All,

       Ephesians 3:20; “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.”  

    When you were younger, did you use to imagine about the world?  Did you ask or get asked, “If you could be anything in the world; what would you be?”  How about, “If you could go anywhere; where would you go?”  Most of us had some wonderful dreams and wishes.  Some were fanciful; some were heroic.  So where did you want to go or what did you want to be?  Was it some exotic faraway place?  Did you want to be an astronaut or a famous doctor?  Did you dream of your successful business?  What did you dream?

    In the Bible, many people dreamed to.  Isaac and Rebekah dreamed of a child, so did Hannah and Elizabeth.  Samuel dreamed of a godly king.  Ruth dreamed of a husband.  Many people dreamed of something that they longed for.  They hoped for something; they held the desire in their heart.  Yet these had one more element; they prayed for God’s help and answer.

     Maybe praying to be an astronaut might have been a stretch (but then maybe not); yet we do not often pray for God’s help.  We may think we are unworthy, we may think that what we pray for is not important to God.  Maybe we doubt that God can or wants to answer our prayers.  Whatever the reason, we often miss out on one of God’s greatest blessings.  Yet when we pray in a faithful fashion, God promises to hear and to answer our prayers.  We hear that over and over in the Bible; Matthew, Luke, John are just a few that repeatedly tells u to ask or to call upon his name.  So, do we?

    Look at our verse, far more than we ask or think.  God wants to bless you far more than you can ever imagine.  He wants you to call upon his name and trust that he will answer.  He wants you to be happy, he wants you to be content; yet we continue to falter, and we continue to miss out on his grace.  Too often we look too short and fall even shorter.  Yet God continues to invite you to call upon his name and to ask of him.

    The promise of answered prayers; the promise to work in us and through us.  God’s love for us exceeds anything we can ever imagine or dream.  Yet we limit ourselves because we limit our faith.  We have God’s promise to answer our prayers beyond anything we could ever dream or imagine, and we turn away from it.  Trust God, have faith in his promise to you.  Receive his blessings for your life.
 Dear Father, your mercies are new every day.  Forgive us when we fail to call upon your name.  Forgive us when we fail to trust you fully.  Give us the faith to trust you.  Give us the holy desire to seek your blessings.  Keep us close to you, send your spirit of comfort to those who are in the most need of your comfort.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

2-2-2025

Good Morning All,

       Psalm 40:2; “He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.”

    I was watching a movie the other night.  It was a war movie in which one scene was shot during a rain-soaked period of time.  Everything was wet and slippery.  The mud was everywhere, and walking was tough, and driving was even more difficult.  The enemy was about to attack so they tried to move all the equipment.  Of course, as the enemy is coming, one of the jeeps gets stuck and it takes a heroic effort to save the day.  

    It seems that rescuing the hero at the last minute is a common theme in many movies.  Sometimes the villain dies while the hero gets saved.  The scene is frequent, and the result is often the same.  This seems to occur because in many ways; we recognize that we need to be rescued in our own lives.

    Man has long known that he was in desperate shape.  We see this from his earliest fears.  We recognize it by our earliest refusal to care about others.  Our only thought was to self-survival and no thought to others, hence Cain and Abel.  This is partially why we tend to show hatred to others; it is the fear that we need to be rescued and that there isn’t enough help to go around.  It is this need to be rescued that causes us to build walls around ourselves to protect ourselves and to feel a little bit secure.  We separate ourselves from others in an attempt to feel safe and secure in a slippery pit.

    Martin Luther King once commented, “People often hate each other because they fear each other, they fear each other because they don’t each other, they don’t know each other because they cannot communicate, they cannot communicate because they are separated.” This seems to be an accurate description of our human existence.  We fear so we hate.

    There is no way for us to solve this crisis.  On our own, we can only fail.  We soon see that relying on our own skills, our own power, on our own self sense of right and wrong; we soon fall into the pit of destruction.  That slippery slope just leads down, pulling us into the quagmire of total despair.  Our hope is lost, the light is gone and we sink slowly out of sight.

    Yet God, in his mercy, pulls us from the miry bogs.  He brings us from the pit of complete despair.  God pulls us out through the blood of Jesus.  He sets our feet upon a rock.  So, we can face the world with confidence and hope.  There is nothing that the world can throw at us that God cannot or will not pull us through.  The trials of this life are just that, trials.  Through them we can see God’s hand protecting us and giving to us the blessed certainty of life eternal.         

Dear Father, you pull us from the pit and give us the certainty of hope.  Within you is our salvation.  Keep us safe within your arms and guard us with your tender mercy.  Keep us aware that all things work for good for those whom you love according to your purposes.  Bless us with your peace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-1-2025

 Good Morning All,

  John 2:5; “(Jesus’) mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”  

    In front of a small rural church, the minister used to list the sermon titles for the next two weeks.  He had them listed like this:

                                                                     Jan. 20th- Jesus walks on the water

                                                                     Jan. 27^th- Searching for Jesus

 

    I don’t think this is exactly the message he meant to convey but he did.  Many people are, or at least claim to be, searching for Jesus.  They claim to be looking and listening for Jesus.  They profess to pray to him and to believe in him and yet, do they?

    Many people search for Jesus but are really searching for a way or method to obtain the things of this world which they want.  They are like teenagers with Dad’s credit card.  All you have to do is swipe it in the machine and just like that you get what you want.  It couldn’t be easier.  They have no idea as to the cost or the process of how this works.  They simply demand and get.

    There is the story of two friends who rarely attended church.  One of them got a very aggressive form of cancer.  So, these two friends sat down each day and read the Bible.  Yet when the one who got cancer died; the second friend decided that there was no God because he didn’t heal his friend.  This man had a vision of God, and it was that God was to do what the man demanded.  He was searching for a God who would cover his expenses and fulfill his demands.

    Our verse is from the story of the wedding at Cana.  Jesus’ mother tells him that the host is out of wine and that he should fix it.  Even here, Mary is trying to use Jesus for mundane and selfish purposes, but she believes that Jesus can do something, so she tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do.  The servants comply and fill water jugs with water and then draw from those jugs wine for the feast.  The servants, who did what Jesus asked, knew what had happened.  Most of the others had no clue; they only knew they got more wine.

     We should be like those servants; do whatever Jesus tells us.  It isn’t that hard.  Jesus tells us to repent and to believe.  We are to believe in his promise and assurance that our sins are forgiven and that we will share in eternal life with him.  That is pretty much it.  He encourages us to take advantage of the blessings which he bestows on us: prayer, Communion, the gathering with fellow believers to name a few.  Yet he calls upon us to repent and to believe.  Do whatever he asks of you.  Trust in his words of hope and promise.  He will never forsake you.  Do whatever he asks of you; live your life in his hope and comfort.  Then all that you seek will be given to you.

Dear Father, too often we do not do as you ask; we go our own way and fall and fail.  Forgive us our sins and cleanse us and bring us back to you.  Guard us from all evil and give your holy comfort to those in need of your care.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

1-31-2025

Good Morning All,

  Matthew 27: 4-5; “(Judas) saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.”

    Have you ever felt sorry for doing something?  Did it help or did you feel just as bad?  We often realize that we have done something wrong and then we feel bad.  We have a hard time getting over it and often we don’t.  We continue to feel guilty with little, if any, sense of relief or respite.

     Which brings up a question, if feeling sorry for your sins doesn’t make you feel better; then what does?  Many will tell you that repentance means to feel sorry for your sins.  That is only a small part of the story.  This is also why, when we feel sorry for our sins, we still feel empty of forgiveness and still burdened by sin.

    It is always interesting to me that Judas felt sorry for his sins.  After he betrayed Jesus and saw that Jesus was soon to die; Judas felt tremendous remorse.  He went to the Temple and threw the money back to the Scribes.  “I have betrayed innocent blood!!”  The regret and the remorse which he felt were incredible; yet he went out and hung himself.  He felt bad; he felt terrible; he felt the greatest sense of remorse and yet he received nothing from it. 

    So how does repentance work?  It is more than feeling sorry; it is the knowledge that God has forgiven our sins.  When we repent, we look to God for forgiveness and then we have faith in his promise to forgive.  You see, Judas real problem was he went to the wrong priest.  He should have gone to Jesus, our true high priest.  He should have gone to Jesus trusting in His promise to forgive our sins.  Remorse is only part of repentance, and it really doesn’t matter if you are sorry because you are afraid of punishment or sad because you feel guilty about your sin; the critical part is that you truly believe that your sins are forgiven.

    Our comfort doesn’t come from feeling sorry; our comfort comes from knowing that God has mercifully forgiven us of all our sins.  Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, our debt for our sins has been paid.  We don’t do anything to “re do” this, once was sufficient.  We only benefit from his gracious gift.  We receive this wondrous gift by faith alone; that desire to trust and to believe in God’s promise.  Our comfort doesn’t come because we feel bad.  Our comfort comes from what God has done: He forgives our sins that is our comfort.

Dear Father, to you alone belong the glory.  We come to you as a broken people; we are broken by sin and its guilt.  Yet through all of our failures, you forgive us because of your love for us.  We pray for those in our community who have watched loved ones return to you.  Be with them and give them your comforting Spirit.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

1-30-2025

Good Morning All,

  Exodus 3:8; “and I have come down…to bring them to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey,” 

    So how much would this land sell for? How do we decide the value of land? Is it the proximity to us, is it the productivity, can there be sentimental value? What is it worth?  Much of the land has higher taxes now than the original purchase price.  So, as we were talking about land and what determines its value.  Why does land, or a house, or a car sell for the price that it does?  What are the factors that play into the value of the item?  If the item is being auctioned, it really comes down to a very simple answer: two people want it.  If those two people have enough money, it can be very expensive indeed.

    Yet when you get done, there has to be some level of intrinsic value of the item sold.  Land that is rich and highly productive or is easily developed and can be sold that way, cause the value of the land to be influenced.  So why was the land of Canaan called a land flowing with milk and honey? If you look at the topography of the land it is not that great.  The rainfall isn’t ideal; they usually have to trap rainwater in cistern-like things in order to preserve water.  The land produced food and fiber but the land of Egypt along the Nile was more productive or the land along the Tigris and the Euphrates in Babylon was more productive.  Why was this land so special?

    The real value of the land wasn’t in the land; it was in the company.  The land to which God is referring here is the land where God’s people live trusting in the gracious providence of God.  It is where the people of God live as contented children of their heavenly Father.  The land flowing with milk and honey is more about your relationship with God than the productivity of the land.  This applies to all of our life situations.

    God encourages us to be content and happy with his gifts.  He supplies with all that we have need of.  He even gives us more than we need; yet we often fail to see this.  Too often we see God’s blessings as our entitlements.  We see them as something which God owes to us.  This sinful nature view of God’s gift is what causes us to be restless, to be dissatisfied with God’s gifts for us. 

     God blesses us every day and in every way which we can imagine and many which we cannot.  The Creator-Redeemer provides, protects, sustains and delivers to us and for us every day in every way.  All of which we are to only thank and praise, serve and obey him.  The Lord brings you into his family into a land flowing with milk and honey.  Let us feast and enjoy his bounty.

Gracious Father, your mercies overwhelm us in depth and volume.  You bring to us the things we need, especially our Savior who brings to us life.  Guard and protect us and give us that sense of contentment which we need.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

1-29-2025

Good Morning All,

  Haggai 2:5; “My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.”

    Have you ever seen any of the children’s book series “Where’s Waldo?”  It is a series of books where the main character Waldo dresses in red and white stripes.  He is hiding in a picture, and you have to find him.  It is not as easy as it sounds.  The artist uses a combination of colors and hues to give the illusion of Waldo when it isn’t really him.  You can spend hours on a book trying to find Waldo in the different areas of the picture.

    Looking for something has been part of the human experience for a long time.  The Greek cynic Diogenes carried a lantern and searched for an honest man.  Peter, Paul, and Mary asked the musical question, “Where have all the flowers Gone?”  Whether it was the truth, true love or just a really good cheeseburger; people have searched for something that they couldn’t find.

    There are many times in our lives when we feel like we can’t find God.  We look around and see troubles in the world, in our nation even in our lives and we feel like we are looking for Waldo.  We see violence throughout the world.  We see hatred.  We see part of the world with more money, food, and power than it could ever need or use while another part lives on pennies a day with little food and no way to control their own destiny.  We look at our nation and see a people divided on virtually every issue that exists.  We look at our own lives and see pain and problems.  We see job troubles, relationships, even our own inner peace.

    One of our biggest problems is the same as when we look for Waldo, we are easily misled, and we end up looking in all the wrong places.  We look to drugs and alcohol; we look to crackpot self-help gurus; we look to our own strength and wisdom.  All these lead us down the wrong path; toward the path of destruction.  We tend to look to anything besides God. 

     The wondrous thing is that even though we look away from God; he never looks away from us.  He remains in our midst; offering us the peace and the hope to survive this world.  He is always right where He said He would be, in His Word and His sacraments. He is always there to lead through the difficult times; never abandoning us but always there to offer us comfort and hope.

     He does this through the creation which he has made.  He does this through the Church which he formed.  He does this through you and me whom he has redeemed.   God is always in our midst, so we never have to fear.  We are never alone, even when facing our darkest fears; god is there to comfort us.  He is in our midst, and we have nothing to fear. For the victory over sin, death, and the devil has been secured, by Christ, and given to us, by that same Christ. Have no fear little flock, our Savior is protecting us!

Dear Father, you graciously live in our midst and protect us from all the devil’s ways.  Keep us safe and cause us to see that our comfort is in you alone.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

1-28-2025

Good Morning All,

   Romans 12:21;” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

    As I watch some of the NFL playoff games, I am reminded of the old adage that the second guy to throw a punch is the one that gets the penalty.  It seems that when one player gets away with a late or cheap hit, the second player usually gets mad and retaliates and gets caught.  We see this occur all the time in sports, but we also see it in life.

    Whenever we deal with very difficult people, those people to whom ethics seem like a word for others to know and someone else to have; it becomes difficult to stay true to ourselves.  It is very tempting to use some of his own tactics back at him.  This is especially true when you know what his tactics are and what he is trying to do.  We can see the trap he is placing in front of us, and we can avoid it.  But what do we do when we don’t see the trap and then we fall into it?

    This is when our anger can get the best of, and we become what we despise.  We can become wicked, deceitful, deceptive, petty, and underhanded.  This not only plays into the hands of those who hate us and look to discredit Christians.  It makes it harder to witness to our faith when we have engaged in this kind of deceit.  It can be especially destructive if it “works” one time, and we feel that we experience some worldly success.  This tempts us to believe that we can get away with it again.  It can tempt us to think that we are “above” God’s law and will.  This temptation takes us back to the Garden where the devil tempted Eve with the promise to be “like God”.

    This type of action really serves the devil’s purpose.  It draws us away from God and ensnares us into the devil’s trap.  Whenever we engage in this type of activity, we will be overcome by evil; we cannot beat the devil at his own game.   

    Our only chance is to follow God’s direction.  This is one of those verses that give us some very practical advice as well as theological teaching.  We, as God’s redeemed children, are never able to battle the devil especially on his turf and on his terms.  We must always cling to God, His promises, and His justice.  We may never see what we feel will be “justice.”  Yet by our staying true to our faith, we are witnessing to God’s grace and truth.  When we repay evil with good, we confound the ones who commit the evil.  More importantly, we are speaking the words of God’s precise Gospel message.  We show love to those who hate us just as Christ did and instructs us to.

Dear Father in heaven, temptation is all around us.  We try to stand up to it and fail miserably.  Give us wisdom to rely on you and your strength and not our own.  Give us the strength to stand to our foes and that by your grace; we may show your glory to the world.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret