4-27-2014

Good Morning All,

         Ephesians 2:8; “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”

    I want you to imagine for a moment that you have just received a gift card to your favorite restaurant for $1000.  You get excited and you and your spouse and your family go out for supper.  You order expensive food and enjoy the meal thoroughly.  You laugh and talk freely because the meal is free.  After you use the card there is some leftover so you decide to come back again next week.  When you return, you find out that no money has been taken off the card account.  So you have another large meal with your family.  The next week you come back and the same thing happens; the card never runs out of money.

   Now you are excited.  Maybe you could invite a friend or two to come along but who would you invite?  Would you invite your neighbors or would you invite someone that used to be very important in your life at one time but you both moved on, perhaps a former co-worker or someone you used to go to school with.  Would you invite the new person at work that you just met?  Wouldn’t it be exciting?  You wouldn’t have to pay for supper, they wouldn’t have to pay for supper; the entire evening meal would be already paid for, a gift from some kind benefactor.  The really fun thing is that next time, you can either bring a whole new set of people or you can bring the same ones you brought this time.

   Would you spend time trying to match up people you know so they could now have some new friends?  Maybe, just maybe, you could call a few of those people with whom you have had a falling out and try to fix it so that you are friends again.  That would be nice.  Think of all the things you could do with a great gift like that.

    You have a great gift like that.  God has given you the gift of salvation, an everlasting gift that never runs out.  God pours his grace on you, over you and in you.  He pours so much grace upon you that there is more than enough to share; so do you?  Do you share God’s grace with those around you or do you try and hide it away?

    We share God’s grace by telling others about the love and peace we have through Jesus.  We also share that grace by treating people as God treats us and that is with more care and understanding than we deserve.  We share God’s grace by giving a smile and a kind word rather than a growl.  We share God’s grace by speaking softly to deflect anger and being calm instead of agitated.  We show God’s grace by being patient with the store clerk who is doing the best that he can.  God showers you with more grace than you can ever envision; share a little with those around you.  

Father of all grace, you pour your love out upon us like a river.  Give us the wisdom to share that same grace with those around us. Help us to seek out those who are most in need of your grace.  Guide us to the hurt, the lonely and those of broken-spirit.  Deliver your grace to them.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

4-26-2014

 Good Morning All,

          Deuteronomy 10:18; “He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.”

      His name was William Wilberforce.  I would guess most of us do not know who he is.  He was a leading abolitionist in the United Kingdom.  He lived from 1759-1833.  He was a very influential leader who made it his total and sole ambition to rid the kingdom of slavery.  He was driven by his faith in God.  The truly amazing thing about him is that at the time of his death; his zeal had changed the debate within the kingdom, and the western world forever.

    The debate about helping people, those who were poor and homeless, those who were widows and orphans; that debate went from do we help to how do we help.  The debate was no longer do we, as a society or people, have an obligation to our fellow man.  The true question became the method to deliver this help.  It was truly a watershed time for most of western civilization.  Wilberforce’s compassion and his zeal for aiding the downtrodden moved the greatest kingdom at that time to become a more compassionate kingdom.

    This is exactly what God instructed the Children of Israel to do; to be compassionate.  They were to leave the gleanings (the leftovers from harvest), the edges of the field, and any grapes or olives that they dropped on the ground for the orphans, the widows and the alien (sojourner) in their land.  They were not only supposed to not hurt them but they were expected to care and show hospitality to them.

    When we read the writings of the prophets later on, when they are laying out the accusations of unfaithfulness that God states to them, it is often that they mistreated the poor and the underprivileged.  This action was the result of their overall unfaithfulness to God.  The sin of cheating others, especially those who were unable to defend themselves, was an outward sign of an inner corruption.

    That is how God views our good (or bad) works.  Our works are only the outward sign of what is truly in our heart.  When Jesus told his disciples that in their giving “the left hand not know what the right hand is doing.”  This is as much a call to have kindness and charity be such a part of life that it as familiar as breathing.  Our work, before God, is to reconcile with our fellow man and to care for each other and to really mean it.

    God calls us to action and not to lip service.  He calls us to show the love that we receive to those who we have content with.  We may debate how best to do it but we should never debate that it is the right thing to do.  Love one another; love your neighbor as yourself.  These are the new commands that Jesus gives us.  Now we need to act.

Father of love, give me a compassionate heart and a willing spirit.  Move me to help my neighbors with true love and not grudgingly.  Guide me to share the bounty of your gracious gifts.  Guide us to those who are in need of your bounty and in need of your grace.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

4-25-2014

 Good Morning All,

       Mark 9:24; “Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

     I am very blessed to have two of the greatest daughters-in-law in the world.  They are a great joy to be around and they are a definite “add” to the gene pool.  So as I was perusing the Facebook postings, one of them had posted this:

Just read the saddest words ever. On an obituary for a teenage boy, his parents wrote this: "He did a lot of good things in his short life, went to such-and-such a church, but like most teens struggled with his faith. We hope he's in a better place now..."     Talk about heartbreaking.

That phrase “struggled with his faith” is a very painful phrase.  Maybe you have a child or a spouse or maybe even you “struggle with your faith.”  Welcome to the club.  I think that there are times in every person’s life when they struggle with faith some struggles are longer or deeper than others but struggle we do.  It might be an event or two in our life; it might be something we hear or see; it might just be the frustration of life rearing its ugly head, but there are times when we all struggle with our faith.

    I believe this because the Bible constantly refers to people who are weak in faith.  The father in our verse for one.  Peter for one, Thomas the doubter for one, the Apostle Paul for one, me for one and, maybe, you for one.  God knows that faith is going to be a challenge.  There will be so many things attacking it and there will be days when we waver; there will be days that we struggle with our faith.

    That is even why God gave us the Bible.  St. John wrote, “…these things are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” is probably a more accurate translation of this verse.  So we can continue to believe.  God gives us the Bible as the place where we go to remind us that are saved and that He does all the work.

    If I could talk to these parents, I would tell them it is not the size or strength of his faith but it is entirely by God’s grace that this young man will see heaven.  Do you believe that your sins are forgiven? (YES) That’s it; not how much, not how well we understand it, not how well we can explain it just do you believe (YES) is all we need.  We will struggle, sometimes mightily, but that is the beauty of God’s grace; it is made perfect in our weakness.  God's grace alone saves and it is always big enough.

Father of mercy, help our unbelief.  Guide us by your perfect Spirit to trust your Word.  Even when we struggle, draw us back to your Word of comfort and hope.  Still our fears and our doubts but when they come protect us with your grace and mercy.  Be with those who are especially struggling with their faith at this time.  Gently return them to your loving arms.  Use us as the instruments of mercy to bring this about.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret