5-5-2025

 Good Morning All,

   Romans 5:6; “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” 

   The man’s name was Tom Johnson.  He was young, but his eyes showed a hardness that a life of bad choices could give.  It was serious this time.  He had tried to rob a 7-11.  He kept blaming the clerk.  “All he had to do was give me the money; nobody likes a hero.”  The young clerk had pushed the alarm button and Tom startled, shot him.  The young clerk died. 

   Tom had turned to run and right then two police cruisers pulled up and blocked his escape.  He was taken downtown and placed in a cell.  He already had a history of being in jail.  He had other convictions, and all this added up to a long stretch ahead of him.  He would talk to his “lawyer” tomorrow.  Some poor, public defender whose law degree still had wet ink on it would be his attorney.  It didn’t matter to Tom.  It wasn’t his fault; it never was.

    As he walked into the courtroom, he saw the judge and kind of recognized him.  “Must have had him before,” thought Tom.  His “lawyer” moaned under his breath, “Oh, no.”  Tom looked at him.  “That is Judge Johansen,” said the lawyer.  He looked at Tom and said, “You’re screwed; he’ll throw the book at you…then the gavel, and the table!”  Tom was worried.  He should have been.  The trial was short. He was found guilty of murder, murder while committing a felony, and attempted robbery. 

    The judge looked at him and sentenced him to death and never batted an eye.  Tom hung his head and as the bailiff went to take him out of the courtroom; the judge stopped them.  Everyone turned to look at the judge.  He had removed his robe and was coming down from the bench.  He came up to the young man and the bailiff.  He told the bailiff to release the young man.  The judge then told the bailiff, “take me instead and let him go.”  No one said a word.  The judge looked at the young man and told him, “you are free, I’ll pay the debt, I’ll take the punishment.”  With that the judge was escorted to the cell and was executed 2 months later. 

     That is a story you will never hear on the news. Yet that is exactly what Jesus did for us.  We are far worse than Tom.  Our sins rise before God with a stench that cannot be described.  Yet God stepped down from his holy bench and through Jesus took our punishment and set us free.  Notice Tom didn’t say thank you or even promise to change.  He did absolutely nothing to earn this act of mercy.  Neither have we; yet God forgives us anyway because He loves us.  This is a love that we cannot even fathom.  Someone dying for me and not demanding anything out of me first is beyond our understanding.

     We don’t know about Tom and how his story ends but what about you?  God promises us salvation and gives us freedom.  Do you believe this?  Has this changed your life?  God reaches down and grabs you up into a huge hug.  You can fight or you can, by faith, hug back.  Go ahead and hug back.  Your Father has embraced you with all of his love; embrace it back and savor its goodness and blessing.

Dear Father, you sent Jesus to die for us even when we were completely unworthy and undeserving.  Give me the power to hug you back and to be your child, safe in your arms today and always.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

5-4-2025

Good Morning All,

   Isaiah 43:4a; “Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you,”

    Are you a better shopper than I am?  It never fails as soon as I finally decide it is time to buy something next week it is on sale for less.  It doesn’t matter whether it is a computer or a piece of furniture or an article of clothing; if I buy it today you might as well just wait a week and then you can buy it cheaper.  That is why I never look at prices after I buy something, it only causes me anguish.

     Yet there is a difference between cost and value.  Something that you use every day can cost a lot more than something that you use once or twice a year but still be of great value to you.  A livestock producer who feeds his cattle everyday can pay a large price for the tractor that he uses every day.  The clothes that you wear every day can be of better quality and have higher prices because if the way that we use them.  The value of an object is dependent upon the one who owns the object.

     There are some objects that I own that I could never put a price on.  I have a pocket watch which was given to my grandfather as a confirmation gift.  It is almost 100 years old.  I don’t think you could pay me enough for it, but I look forward to giving it to one of my grandchildren someday.  Its value is not in the watch itself but rather it is in what the watch means.  It is a connection to my grandfather and the value of it is immeasurable. 

     I have the Bible that I was given when I was a child.  It is a King James Thompson Chain Reference.  I don’t use it much anymore; I tend to use newer translations which are more accurate and some of the pages are falling out.  Yet it contains all the markings from when I was confirmed.  All the verses that we learned and studied are marked as a silent message of words spoken a long time ago.  It also contains some precious mementos, handmade bookmarks, a love letter from my wife, some things which are so valuable you can never place a price on them.

    This is how God looks upon us.  We are precious in his eyes.  We have value to God.  We have such value that God was willing to pay an awful price, the death of his only son, to possess us.  We are precious in God’s eyes even if we do not feel that we are precious in anyone else’s eyes.  In your darkest moments, never forget the value that God places on you.  We know that anything of value we always protect; God does the same for us.  God loves us with all that he has so that we may be his.  We are precious in his sight; Jesus loves all the children of the world. 

     So, we can take comfort in this.  We can find solace in this.  We can find wonders untold in this.  We are precious in God’s eyes.  He has redeemed us and called us his own.  We truly have nothing to fear or really worry about.  God is our refuge and strength.  He will defend against all that will assail us.  You are precious in the eyes of God.

Dear Father in heaven, your mercies are new to us each day and they roll over us like a river.  Grant us the comfort of your hand.  Guard us with your benevolent heart and give us the peace to trust in you fully.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-3-2025

Good Morning All,

    Jonah 1:3; “But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish.”

    I have always liked to read the Book of Jonah.  It is only four chapters, but we get introduced to some intriguing characters and events.  The book ends with one of the most interesting endings.  It asks a question and gives no answer.  It is as if God wants you to answer it.  But here we have something different.  The prophet, the author of the book, is given a command by God.  Everywhere else in the Old Testament; the prophets answer the call of God.  Some are less than excited but they do as God instructs.  But not Jonah; he hightails it and runs as far as he can.

    We know the rest of the story.  Jonah ran.  God stopped him with a big fish.  After that it was history.  Jonah did go to Nineveh.  He preached; they repented; he hated it and was mad at God for it.

    This is an interesting verse because I think most people at one moment or another try to run from God.  It may not be a full fledge run to Tarshish, but it might be hiding in the closet.  It might be that we are just trying to avoid God which is really sad.  God is the One that we should never run from.

    We run because we are afraid.  Think when you tried to run or hide from your parents, or a teacher or maybe even the police.  We run because we fear punishment.  We run because we fear the consequences.  We run because the devil and our sinful nature tell us to.  We run, for all the wrong reasons, away from God.  We run because the devil tells us that God will not and cannot love us.  We are deceived by those lies and we run.  We run to Tarshish or Timbuktu or to a closet.  We listen to the lies.

    Yet God comes after us.  He never stops finding us.  Sometimes this is very scary, but it should be comforting.  The devil is the one who brings us pain; God brings us comfort.  But we run because of our fear when it is God who calms our fear.  We need to stand and have faith.  God gives us the forgiveness of sins.  It is already done, done on the cross on Calvary.  We don’t need to run; God wants us to be his children and to give us the comfort and consolation of his incredible grace. 

     Don’t be like Jonah, who sought to run from God.  Rather we need to cling to his promise, cling to his guarantee of forgiveness.  Instead of running to Tarshish, we should run to God. 

Dearest Father, too often we run from you instead of to you.  Forgive us when we try and run.  Keep us in your saving arms and defend us from the evil of the devil and his ways.  Give your comfort to those who need it the most.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

5-2-2025

Good Morning All,

   1 Samuel 7:12b; “for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.”

    Have you ever watched some of the “underdog’ movies like “Rocky” or “Dodgeball” or even “The Karate Kid”?  In these movies, and dozens more like it, we have the wise old guy who tutors and then gives advice to the young upstart who is taking on the world.  We could even add “Star Wars” to this list.  Sometimes our hero comes in already beaten up and in need of help and sometimes our hero doesn’t even know he is the hero until the old guy explains it to him.

    The thing about these movies is that the old guy has the answers for the new guy.  It might be a trick or an insight or a way to deal with your opponent or it might be an insight into the new guy himself.  Part of the plot twist is that somewhere along the line the new upstart guy either loses confidence or the girl or a skirmish along the way.  Just when it seems hopeless, the old wise guy whispers the secret to all, and the good guy wins in the end.

    In the end, the new upstart guy pays homage to the old wise guy in some way, shape, or form and the wise old guy smiles back.  In many ways this is what is going on in our verse.  Samuel is telling the young upstart Israelites that the reason for their success is God and his benevolent hand.  In the passages right before this verse, the Israelites defeated a superior Philistine army.  They did it because God caused it to happen.  That is how we win as well; God causes it to happen.

    God caused Israel to win because he loved them not because they deserved it.  They didn’t deserve it.  God causes us to win because he loves us not because we deserve it; we don’t.  This is God’s mercy and grace at work.  We benefit because, so far, God has helped us.  This makes it seem somewhat conditional; it really isn’t.  It really is about God’s faithfulness to us.  This is about God keeping his promises to us.

    God has made promises to us and has kept each one of them.  Right up until this moment; God has kept every promise that he has made to you.  Can you say that you have kept every promise you have made?  I know that I can’t.  I have broken many promises throughout my life and usually they were made to my closest family members, my wife, my sons, my parents, and sisters.  Sometimes we make such cavalier promises that we never even realize we break them.  “Call me if you need something;” then they call and oops I am busy.  God is never busy.  God is always there for us.  God is always speaking to us with his words of comfort, hope, and forgiveness.

    Right up until now God has helped us.  It is when we refuse to see the help and accept the help that we begin to howl.  We complain that God isn’t helping; he isn’t listening, but the truth is we are the ones who aren’t listening; God is always speaking.  God offers us his love in Jesus for us to hold on to.  Right up until now God has saved you, redeemed you and preserved you.  He will continue this same promise forever.

Dearest Lord Jesus, you have redeemed us with your blood and righteousness.  Keep us as your dear ones and hold us safely in your arms.  Make us to see the comfort and hope which you give each day through your precious Words of forgiveness and salvation.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret        

5-1-2025

Good Morning All,

    Exodus 6:7; “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” 

    There are a couple of weddings in the not-too-distant future.  Of the “extra” duties that I get to do; weddings are my second favorite.  My absolute favorite thing is doing a Baptism.  There is nothing quite like it.  Yet weddings are a close second; when people choose to involve you in their special times and events it is very exciting and rewarding.  So, as I was reading this passage this morning, I was struck by how much it sounds like a wedding.

    The wedding is: I take you to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer… until death us do part…I pledge my faithfulness.  Doesn’t that sound a lot like what God is saying here?  You see that one of the most important parts of the Bible that we don’t often talk about is that of forming relationships.

     When God created everything, man was to live in a perfect relationship with everything.  God would walk with man in the cool of the morning, a perfect relationship.  Man and woman loved each other completely and perfectly.  Even man’s relationship was perfect with no thorns or thistles to cause a man’s labor to be hard.  This all blew up when man sinned.  We walked away from God and the perfect relationship.  Soon, creation was no longer in a perfect relationship with man either as thorns and thistles and labor that was long and hard.  Plus, the anger and the failure of man’s relationship to man and woman erupted quickly.

    So, God did what only God could do.  He formed a new relationship with man.  He did it with his grace.  Notice that it was God who took man to be his people not the other way around.  God came and rescued his people and then made them his own.  He formed the relationship to bring us back to him.

    God does that with us as well.  He rebuilds this relationship every day with his forgiveness.  He rebuilds this relationship out of his love and for the sake of Jesus.  He rebuilds this relationship for us; to heal us, to restore us and to make us whole.  We move into the “there- but not yet” We are in his kingdom, the kingdom of grace (church) waiting to move into the kingdom of glory (heaven).  While we are “there- but not yet” we live in his gracious love guiding us and leading us while we face the travails and trials of this world. 

    God takes you as you are, but he doesn’t leave you that way.  He cleans us up and feeds us with his body and blood and gives you hope.  He gives you hope for tomorrow and comfort for today.  He is a God of love who desires that you return to being the child that he created you to be.

Dearest Father, through Jesus, you make us your own and we are your people.  Lead us in the path of your grace and righteousness and keep us yours until life eternal.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.  

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

4-30-2025

Good Morning All,

    Acts 2:42; “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” 

    Do you remember that little ditty you used to say in nursery class or for your grandmother?  “Here is the church and here is the steeple; open up the door and look at all the people!” It is so easy to make a church when you are 3 or 4; why is it so difficult when you are 30 or 40?

    First you have to canvass the area and see if there is a need for the church.  Then you have to have a mission committee.  Then, a church can be planted.  Of course, after that comes the articles of incorporation, which need to be passed by the congregation, Then we are a church!!

     Unfortunately, this is how many people view it.  It is all mechanical in nature; it is all about the physical or visual effect.  It is about numbers; about how big or how many or how often events in the church occur.  Some go so far as to be everything to everyone and to have everything go on at the church.  Unfortunately, this makes the church just one big social club.  This is not the true church at all.

    The true Church that is the body of Christ, has nothing to do with a building or even a human plan.  It has everything to do with the Spirit of God and how the Spirit expresses himself in the world through the physical hands of believers. Notice what the believers do; they pray, they celebrate fellowship with the breaking of bread (communion) and studying the Bible. 

    The true Church is God’s people at work but what is our work?  First it is studying the Word of God and praying.  This is the holy conversation we have with God.  We listen (the Word) then we speak (prayer).  This interaction keeps us actively engaged with God.  Yet that is only part, we need to meet in fellowship and the breaking of bread in order to stay connected to our fellow Christians.  This is how we get the support of the Holy Spirit; this is how the Word becomes flesh now.  The Spirit moves our Christian brothers and sisters to admonish, comfort, console and uplift us.  We do this, not by some 8-point plan, but by the love we express because of our prayers, our devotion to the Word and to our fellowship together.  By being filled with the Spirit, God will move us to serve him. 

    All of this isn’t meant to completely demean church plans, committees, or programs.  It is meant to ask a question; why do we do it?  We should do them because we have prayerfully considered the needs around us and how God wants to use us to meet these needs.  Above all we need to pray, pray first, for all those in need.  They we pray that God will lead us to the way we should help those in pain.  We don’t do programs to make us look good but to respond to God’s grace.  Above all, pray for each other, pray for those in need.  Pray with some of your friends during the week if you can.  Try and meet to pray and study God’s Word; to engage in this holy conversation.  It can be in your home, at coffee one day, in a break room but try to pray with each other in fellowship together.

Dearest Father, build your Church through us.  Use us to be your hands and your voice in a world that so desperately needs to hear you.  Keep us close to you through your Word drawing us to pray to you.  This we ask in Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.        

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

4-29-2025

Good Morning All,

    Isaiah 40:1; “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.”

    Comfort is something that we all seek and need once in a while.  We use this word in many different ways.  We want to wear our jeans in comfort.  We want to wear our shoes in comfort.  We like to work in an atmosphere of comfort.  When we are sad, we want comfort.  When we are afraid, we want comfort.  We even have comfort food. 

     When we look at the Old Testament, especially Isaiah, we read a lot about comfort.  Our verse for today is among one of the better-known verses.  “Comfort, comfort my people;” but what does this mean?  Is God giving us a good pair of jeans and some meatloaf?  There are some out there who would think that way.  But this phrase has far more power than that.

     When Isaiah talks about comfort, he is talking about being restored.  So, when Isaiah speaks of comfort for the people, he is telling them that Israel will be restored.  After the Babylonian captivity is done; Israel, specifically Jerusalem, will be restored.  The beautiful city will be restored, and the Temple will be as well.  This is what the captives long for.  They want to return to Jerusalem to the restored city.  All they remember is that as they are marched off into captivity is that the city was burning and in utter ruin.  They dreamed of the day when it was restored to its original shine and luster.

     So how does this affect us?  We certainly aren’t waiting for Jerusalem to be restored.  What does this mean to us and why should we even find joy in this statement?  What it means to us means that God’s promise of restoration applies to us as well.  Not to the land and Jerusalem but to God’s holy family.  We see this story not as land but as faith.

    We were taken off into the captivity of sin.  Think of when Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, how sad that must have been.  They were leaving behind a place of perfection and total joy, and they were leaving because of what they had done (sinned) and because of what they didn’t do (have faith).  They must have been crushed and burdened with the weight of knowing what they had and that they so carelessly threw it away.  So, through them, we gained a life full of pain, sorrow, sadness.  These are the burdens of sin in our life.  We are saddled with pain, fear, sorrow, loneliness; all that stuff that makes life so unpleasant.

    There was and is nothing we can do to change this; so, God did.  By having Jesus take our place and receive the punishment that we deserve; we are restored.  We are restored double for our sin.  We receive more restoration than we have sinned.  The restoration is accomplished.  We live with the promise of the final restoration on Judgment day.  We wait eagerly for that day. 

    But until then, we can live knowing that God is comforting us; he is restoring us to his family.  Even as we keep falling away, he keeps restoring us in double fashion.  Even as the pain and suffering of this world tries to beat us down; God restores us to his family.  We can take comfort in our restoration for it is when we see that we are truly God’s children that we can take refuge and comfort in Him.

Dearest Father, you have restored us to your family.  We live with the knowledge and comfort of your restorative love.  Give us the certainty of this hope and the certainty of our salvation.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret