2-10-2025

Good Morning All,

    Matthew 20:16; “So the last will be first, and the first last.”

    Do you remember the TV show “Maude”?  It starred Bea Arthur and Bill Macy.  Maude was supposed to be Edith Bunker’s cousin.  She was the knee-jerk liberal to Archie Bunker’s blind-sided conservatism.  Maude’s “catch phrase” was “God will get you for that.”  Anytime one of the other characters would get a leg up on her; that was her response.

    That is a phrase that many Christians like.  They may not say it out loud, but they think it.  We like to think that God is keeping score of all the little slights that have occurred against us.  We like to think that, in the end, God will “get even” for us.  That is why many people really like this verse; the last will be first and the first will be last.  We might even call this verse “the great even-er” or maybe “the equalizer.”  We want it to be something that shows we win.  All those people who ever slighted me, “dissed” me, showed me too little respect, laughed at me, or in some other way put me down; well, “God will get them for that.”  At least that is how I see it.

    The trouble with seeing it this way is that somewhere; there is a Christian who wants me brought down a peg or two and there is a Christian who thinks the same about you.  The real trouble is that we have God keeping score; that is keeping track of sin.  I don’t think we really want that to happen; we can only lose that deal.  Yet we really don’t want to read this verse this way.  I think if we really want to read it properly, we look not at what is said but at who is saying it.

    Jesus tells his disciples this after the parable of the vineyard workers who all get paid the same thing regardless of how long they worked and right before the mother of James and John asks Jesus to let her sons rule with him.  Yet what Jesus is talking about here is not equality of saints but of the plan of salvation.

    Jesus is God’s Son who laid aside his majesty and glory and humbled himself to be a man even unto death on a cross.  Jesus, the firstborn of the kingdom, became last, the bearer of all sins.  Jesus, the first became last so that you and I, the last among all because of our sin and failings, might become first; forgiven of our sins.  We are among the first to get our heavenly rewards.  Not by time or by rank but by grace we are God’s holy people, a royal priesthood, and a chosen nation.  We are the apple of God’s eye.

    This verse is really a snapshot of Christianity.  We, who should be last, are first because He who was first chose to be last to save us.

Dear Father, we give you thanks for your grace and mercy.  We thank you that Jesus gave up his glory to humble himself to save us and exalt us.  Help us to share this wondrous message with all those around us.  Be with those who are being tested and keep them strong.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.            

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-9-2025

Good Morning All,

    Romans 8:28; “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” 

    There is a TV show on the Food Channel called “Chopped.”  The premise of the show is that they start with 4 chefs and give them a basket of ingredients.  They have 20-30 minutes to make a course for a meal using all the ingredients in the basket.  After each round one of the chefs is “chopped” until there is one winner of the prize.  The twist is what they put in the basket.  One time the ingredients were octopus, duck, mustard flavored soda, and animal crackers.  They had to use these three, plus whatever ingredients were in the kitchen and make an appetizer.  

     While the four chefs were struggling with this, the judges were critiquing and criticizing everything the chefs did.  Of course, the judges are a bunch of smug, know-it-alls and you would really like to see one of the chefs throw the basket at the judges and tell them good luck.  What they cook looks palatable, even quite appealing, but you never taste or smell it, so you never know. 

    Life is a lot like an episode of “Chopped.”  Some days you get up and you wonder what the world has in store for you.  We can head out the door without a care or problem only to have someone become ill, in a car accident, lose a job, a house, a friendship, a life.  Sometimes they just sort of mash together.  Trying to cook with octopus, duck and animal crackers may sound tough but try going to bed after you realize that you are now a single parent, with two small children, who now have no father, and you have no real marketable skills.  Perhaps you wake up in hospital bed with no clue how or why you are there.  You can think clearly but the words come out garbled and your one side is numb.  Some of the events that the world throws in a basket for us to experience can really cause our heads to spin and our hearts to faint.

    Yet God promises to be there for us.  He tells us that all things work together for good.  It doesn’t say all things are good but that they will work together for good.  God takes the events of our lives and molds and shapes us to be his disciples.  Sometimes that molding and shaping can hurt; we may not even see how it can possibly work to our good, but God has promised to do so.  In the end, we will have eternal life.  Through all our trials and challenges, God reminds us that his grace is sufficient for us.  He reminds us to cling to him and him alone.  God alone is the source of our righteousness, of our salvation.

    Our hope is always with God.  He alone will save us.  He alone can; all other earthly props will fail.  While it can be painful to live through, God will strengthen us by is grace and sustain us by his love.  No matter what the events of this life hold for us; our salvation is assured through Jesus our Lord.

Father, we watch and see so many events and wonder why.  We experience so many events and wonder why me.  Give us your comfort, your hope, your Spirit of consolation.  Hold us close to your heart so that we may know the safety and security of your love.  Protect those who are being tested now.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-8-2025

Good Morning All,

     2 Corinthians 13:11; “Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.”

    I am fascinated by people who restore old cars, trucks, tractors or anything like that.  They can spend years removing the rust and the years of neglect that the vehicle had as it was sitting in someone’s trees.  Or you watch those people who take old houses and restore them to their original beauty.  The time and effort and the cost of these restorations can be phenomenal.

     It takes a lot of patience to restore something to its original shape, luster and quality.  The love and care displayed by the one doing the restoration is apparent.  Even if it takes a lifetime to accomplish; the labor of love is obvious.

    This is what God is doing to us.  He is restoring us back to being ‘human”; back to what we were designed to be before sin corrupted us.  When God created man, He created us to live in his presence with thanksgiving and praise; we were to take care of creation, and we were to take care of each other.  That pretty much sums up what it means to be human. 

     God began to restore mankind immediately after man’s fall into sin.  This process began with the promise of a Savior.  The chosen people of God believed in the promise of a Savior and their redemption.  Then Jesus came and began the new testament or covenant.  Here we cling, not to the promise of a Savior, but to the promise of God that our sins are forgiven because of that Savior.  The restoration of mankind and all creation will be complete when Christ returns.  But until that day comes; Jesus gave the task of continuing the message of salvation and repentance to the church.

    Just as Christ was reconciling the world to himself; he calls upon his church to do this ministry of reconciliation.  Paul tells us in this verse to live the life which God created us to live and then sent Jesus to restore us to live.  First and foremost, we are to rejoice.  Our eternal destiny is set, decided by the blood of Jesus on the cross given to us as a gift from our loving Father in heaven.  We are to aim for restoration.  This is a lifelong process.  God has restored us and gives to us the task of restoring our relationships with others and of witnessing to others our restored relationship with God.  This isn’t done in a day or for a day; it takes a lifetime of love to continue this process.

    Through it all, God’s spirit resides in us and with us.  He is there to strengthen us, to encourage us, to remind us of what Jesus said, to guide us, to gather us, and to enlighten us.  It is through God’s Spirit that we are able to do this lifelong restoration project.  It is through his peace that we are able to have peace with others.  So, until Jesus returns or until our task here on earth is completed; we are to aim for restoration, and we live with and in God’s love and peace.         

Gracious Father, we give you thanks for the gift of redemption through Jesus.  Guard us and guide us as we go about the restoring which you have called us to do.  Move us by your Spirit to comfort each other and to live in peace.  All this we ask in Jesus’ precious name, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-7-2025

Good Morning All,

     Isaiah 55:1; “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

     Oh, to be invited to a party!  We all love parties.  We love the atmosphere, we love the conversations, we love the people and we especially love the food.  We usually enjoy the food the most because we didn’t, buy it, cook it, or have anything to do with it but eat it.

     Despite what we may think, Americans did not invent the party.  Parties go back as far as mankind does.  Our parties and festivities pale in comparison.  Often times parties would last days at a time with the host even providing sleeping quarters and a change of clothes for the guests.  Wedding parties could last up to a week.  So, when the Bible makes references to parties or celebrations, the original reader had a greater understanding than we may.

    This verse is the start of a chapter where we hear of God’s great mercy.  Here we hear how he is restoring Israel to its place of honor.  In the previous chapter we read of the covenant of peace; here we see the fruits of that peace.  God invites us to come; come to the celebration.  This wondrous celebration will be a daily occurrence when we live in the Lord’s Presence.  If we are thirsty we will come to the waters; even if we have no money we can buy food and drink and not just any food and drink but the really good stuff.  We won’t have to pay because it will already be bought.     

    This verse can actually be read God inviting us to hear His Word of redemption; the forgiveness of sins which frees us from the terror of the devil.  He compares us to those who thirst for the word who seek to hear the truth that they are thirsting after it.  They are longing for a little good news and God gives them a lot of good news.  The hearing of this good news is free, and we are to come and savor it, we are to luxuriate in it.  The good news of your salvation is the greatest celebration that you can ever have, and you receive it freely.

      Just like the finest wines and meats are very expensive so was the cost of your salvation.  Yet someone else paid for it and someone else gave it to you so you can enjoy it, so you can have the benefit of it.  So, we see that our salvation and the news of our salvation and the hearing of the news of our salvation are like a party that lasts forever. 

      We no longer need to worry about struggles and the trials of this world.  These are dealt with by our Lord.  These trials can never defeat us.  God stands triumphant over any and all things that the world and the devil can throw at us.  We have reason to celebrate and to enjoy the wonderful news of our salvation of our hope.  God invites us to enjoy and to celebrate this wonderful joyous event.  Come and drink and buy with no money the finest wines and milk.  Savor the honey and the meats.  Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Dear Father, You feed us with the finest foods and drinks.  You bless us with your Spirit but above all we have the gift of salvation from your gracious hand.  For this we give you our praise and thanksgiving.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

2-6-2025

Good Morning All,

        John 14:3; “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

    “I shall return.”  As many of you know this was the phrase uttered by Gen. MacArthur as he was leaving the Philippines.  The Japanese Imperial Army was conquering the islands, and the general had to evacuate or be captured.  As he left, he made this now famous statement.  His opponents saw it as false bravado; his supporters saw it as an attempt to bolster the morale of the troops and native Philippines.

     Many of the people left behind actually did find some comfort in his statement.  Even through the darkest days of the occupation by the Japanese, it gave them hope.  The people left behind kept hope because they believed that the general would keep his promise so they struggled and battled as best they could.  They believed that eventually he would return and bring with him the necessary army to drive out the Japanese.  These islanders faced many hardships while he was gone but eventually, they were liberated.  The general returned to the islands.

    Jesus made the promise to us to return.  He told his disciples that as he was going to prepare a place for them.  He went back to His heavenly Father to prepare a place, to prepare the way for us.  Then he told them that he would come again and take them with him.  This promise is what we cling to and what we wait for.  We wait for the return of Jesus.  It is what we cling to even in the darkest hours; it is the hope that we hold onto.

    We look forward to Christ’s return; it is what we hope for.  Until he returns, we wait in a world which is still full of pain, still full of sorrow.  The world is still infected by sin and as a result we still have some dark times ahead.  We may face health troubles, or job troubles or relationship troubles or a myriad of other events.  Yet we know that the time will soon come when Jesus returns and rescues us from this tyranny.  He will return to destroy all the evil which the devil does.  When Jesus returns, he will restore creation back to its perfect “very good” form.

    When Jesus returns as king, the creation will be restored.  The rift between heaven and earth will be fixed.  The King of Kings and Lord of Lords will once again walk in the cool of the morning with man.  This is his promise; I will come again and take you to myself.  We will be liberated from the tyranny of the devil forever.  In those days and at that time we will see Jesus face to face and celebrate with him and with all those who have gone before us in faith.  We will enjoy true peace and true joy.  We will celebrate the joyous feast forever when Jesus returns.  Jesus promised to return and to take you to him.  This is a promise we can rely on.

Dear Father, you sent Jesus to pay for our sins and He promised to return to bring us to him.  Give to us the certainty of this hope, whatever befalls us keep us strong and certain of your grace.  Come Lord, Jesus, come.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret          

2-5-2025

Good Morning All,

      Revelation 21:3; “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” 

    We all like it when the story ends the way it should.  The nice guy marries the nice girl.  The bad guys are punished.  The guy who has to overcome insurmountable odds wins in the end.  The cowboy kisses his horse and rides off into the sunset.  There is something about these stories which have a sense of completion for us.  Even if you watch a movie or read a novel and early on you can see on the story is going to end, we keep watching or reading because we want to see the story end the way it should.  We want the story to end the way it should.  We don’t like loose ends; we don’t want any unfinished business.  It should end with no loose ends but in a neat and tidy finish.  We get that also with the Bible.

    The last two or three chapters of Revelation fix what gets broken in the first two or three chapters in Genesis.  We can really see this if we think of heaven, not as a place, but as an existence.  Heaven is living in the visual, physical presence of God.  Adam and Eve lived in heaven when they lived in the Garden of Eden.  They would walk with God in the cool of the morning and be in complete and total communion with him.  However, sin ripped that in two and heaven and earth were separated.  Creation, which was perfect, now became chaotic and frustrated by man’s sin. 

     Yet with Jesus’ death and resurrection, the change begins.  The sinful realm and reign are still here but so is God’s reign of grace.  We are saved from our sins but not yet perfected.  We are getting closer with each passing moment but until this happens; God is giving those who do not believe time to repent, and he is giving us time to reach out to them so that the Spirit will be seen by them through us.  So, we wait for Jesus to return.  We wait and watch eagerly for that time.

     Because when that time comes, all will be perfected.  When Jesus returns, heaven will again be on earth.  All of creation will be restored.  The chaos and the frustration will be gone.  We will once again be able to walk with God in the cool of the morning.  We too, will be perfected.  Just as the world went out of control when man sinned, so it will return to control when Jesus returns.  Just as man destroyed our existence with God with our sin, God restores our existence with God and makes us whole with Him once again.

     This is the ending we look forward to, the restoration of creation, the return to life in an Eden-like existence.  We will live perfectly in the presence of God in complete joy and peace, with all the other believers.  Heaven and earth are united again in perfect union.   

 Gracious Father, we wait with eager anticipation for the completion of this age.  Give to us the courage and faith to sustain us until Jesus does return.  Keep us in your hands and guard and protect us with your mighty arm.  Bring peace and comfort to those who do not know it.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-4-2025

Good Morning All,

       Luke 21: 3-4; “And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them.  For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

    This is a portion of the story that is often called “The Widow’s Mite.”  Jesus, along with his disciples and a few other onlookers, are watching as people are putting their offerings into the treasury.  The rich are putting in a lot of money and this poor widow puts in a couple of copper coins. 

    For us today, we might ask the question; who gave more?  What if Bill Gates or Warren Buffet or T. Denny Sanford donates $5 million dollars to a cause and then what if a widowed lady who only has social security to live on and she gives $800?   Who gave more?  Obviously the $5 million is numerically greater than $800 but who gave a larger share of what they had? 

   We often struggle with lessons like this one.  By any measure, the people of the United States are wealthier than most of the rest of the world can even dream.  So how do we balance this?  Do we give to God only out of our abundance?  Do we ever give like the widow, who put it all in?  Now before you think this is another plea for a lot of money, this lesson goes far deeper than a few more shekels in the collection plate; this lesson is about our faith.

    The rich in the Bible story (probably Pharisees and Sadducees) gave a lot of money.  They did it with a lot of show, but they kept a lot back.  They gave but they always had a reserve because they lacked the trust, they lacked the faith to go totally in with God.  It is when you don’t totally place your faith in God that you get in trouble.

    Adam and Eve lost that faith, and they looked for a better way.  They held back on the trust that God was able to provide entirely for them.  They held back and decided that they could do a better job directing their lives than God could.  They wanted an alternate plan; they wanted to keep their options open.  They figured that they could do better.

    We often do as well.  We hold back on trusting God fully.  We will give him a portion of our life, a portion of our faith, but we hold back some; we keep some in reserve.  Yet this is what causes us the most pain.  We hold back; we look away from the only true source of our hope and salvation.  We keep some in reserve only to make our life worse.

    God calls us to complete faith; he wants us to go all in; to trust fully in Him.  God calls upon us to completely lay down our sinful lives and to live as his redeemed children.  He wants us to keep nothing back; nothing of the sins we hold to so tightly especially the sin of thinking our way is better.  Trust God to deliver you.  Give yourself fully to him and have faith in His promises.

Dear Father, too often we refuse to give our complete self to you.  We hold back out of fear and out of foolish sinful pride.  Strengthen us through your grace and give us faith to trust you completely.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret