8-27-2014

Good Morning All,

           Matthew 6:6; “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

      When you were a child, did you ever play game “Truth or Dare”?  The premise of the game was that a group of friends would sit together and then each person would get a choice of being asked a “truth” or given a dare.  The questions are somewhat embarrassing; of course the dares are as well.  It used to be popular at the first “boy/girl” party.  It has been known to send many a young lad or lass home crying with embarrassment.  Yet what do we expect; most people, young or old, have some things that they just want to keep quiet about.   

    This is what our verse for today is really about.  Too many read this and think that prayer is something that we need to hide or to keep away from others.  Some read it as something to be embarrassed about.  It actually is quite the opposite.  In this verse, we are told to be honest and truthful.  It is not a dare or a challenge; it is a chance to free yourself from pain and sadness.

    God knows all that is in your life; ha will never need to have you tell him what you fear, desire or know.  God already knows.  The reason that we are to go into our room and close the door is to remove our inhibitions.  There are just some things in our life that we do not want many, if any, to know.  There are thoughts, desires and dreams that are too often beyond what we want others to know about.  These are the worst kinds.  They are the ones we try to hide or deny; yet deep down we know they are there.

    These are the ones that the devil loves to torment us with.  These are the little, yet persistent sinful desires that nag at us and keep getting in the way of our complete trust in God.  These are the doubts that the devil throws at us.  These are the things that open the door to hearing the devil whisper to you, “Did God really say?” or worse “when God finally sees what you really are, he will throw you out.”  So we sit and wonder, sometimes all alone, if that is true.  Sometimes, when we are facing a struggle or a challenge in life, those whispers get a little louder as the devil tries to tell you that God is “getting” you for something.

    These are lies pure and simple.  They are designed to draw us from God’s grace and into a place of despair and a place of hopelessness.  They are designed to leave us in fear.  Yet we don’t need to be there.  God wants us to be close to him.  God wants us to be near him so that we can rest safely in his arms.  God wants us near so that we can know and experience his peace.  This is why God invites us to close the door; he wants us to speak from the depths of our heart, in whispers of confidence that he has already wiped away those sins.  He wants us to speak truthfully from the heart so that we may free ourselves of the sins that the devil uses to taunt us with.  When you lose the sin, the devil loses his ammo.

Dearest Father, lead me to close the door and to speak to you with all my heart and all my focus.  Lead me to know the greatness of your love and the heights of your forgiveness.  Lead me to trust in your grace to always protect me.  Help those who struggle in the darkness of the devil’s lies.  Lead them to the light and warmth of your mercy.  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

8-26-2014

  Good Morning All,

        2 Corinthians 5:19; “ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

          One of the most popular genres in movies is the one where two people who been long apart from each other are reunited together again.  It is most common in the Christmas movies.  Someone, a long lost daughter or a long lost son, returns home.  It might be because a parent is sick or the family business is in trouble.  Sometimes it is that the long lost soul has run out of options and has no choice but to come home.  Sometimes it gets the double and the long lost soul also reconnects with the long lost love interest.  So we can have the reconciliation of child and parent, the renewed love interest and the first snow for Christmas.  It is an instant classic!

    Ok, that maybe was a little sarcastic but most of us like a story where people get back together.  One of the more popular MASH shows was when Hawkeye and Radar reconnect two Korean brothers, one North Korean and one South Korean, so they can talk to each other.  People loved the way that love of family trumped politics.  Most of us enjoy when people get back together.

    So if you enjoy those types of stories, the Bible is the book for you.  The entire Bible is one long continuing story of God reconciling man to himself and to other men.  It starts with everything perfect; man in perfect harmony with God and each other.  Yet soon sin entered the world and man was soon split apart from God and from each other.  Then we read of all the pain and the problems that exist in this world because we do not care for our fellow man.  We read how greed, envy, jealousy, lust and other selfish passions soon rule man and lead him even farther from God and his mercy.

    Yet God chooses to reconcile man, to bring man back into fellowship with him.  He does this by having Jesus come into this world and begin the healing process.  This process includes Jesus’ death and resurrection, as a payment and a guarantee that the reconciliation is under way.  Each day it gets closer to completion.  So as we go along the journey, we have opportunities to reconcile with our fellow man and to tell them how they can be reconciled to Jesus.  This is part of our goal in this life to bring people back together; first with God and then with each other.

    This reconciliation is a major part of the Bible.  It is a major theme throughout Scriptures.  Think of the parables, the lost sheep, the lost coin, the Prodigal Son are all about reconciliation.   The man who fields the pearl is about God reconciling with you.  God wants us back together as a happy family.  So be part of God’s plan, rejoice in the reconciliation to God and seek to reconcile with your brothers and sisters.  It will bring contentment to your life.

Father, guide us as we reconnect with those in our lives with whom we are at odds.  Help us to restore one another to the peaceful and loving family which you first created.  Guide with your Spirit of peace and hope.  Be with those who are especially hurt by the estrangement of this world.  Give them your peace.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret        

8-25-2014

Good Morning All,

          Psalm 116: 1-2; “I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.  Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live”

       “Hello? is anybody out there?” This was a tag line from a “Twilight Zone.”  Like many of the episodes, it was predicated on a nuclear attack between the United States and the Soviet Union.  In this episode, Burgess Meredith was a man who hated people.  He never wanted to interact with people; his only passion was his books.  He loved books.  He was in his basement when he heard the civil defense sirens.  After the explosion, he waited a few weeks and then went out to look at the city.  As he wandered, he found that he was all alone; there was no sign of life anywhere.  He wandered until he found what he wanted to find; he found the library and he found most of the building and the books were intact.  He was ecstatic; he had all those books and no one to bother him.  As he sat down, he stumbled.  His glasses fell off and broke.  He could no longer read.  So he set off, with a book in his hand, looking for someone to help him read his book.  

     Most of us never seek this kind of solitude.  There may be times when we seek a little alone time but we rarely want to be completely alone.  This is especially true when we are hurting or lost.  At times like that we usually look for someone to hear us and more importantly to listen to us.

    It is one of the devil’s greatest ploys.  He puffs us up when something seems to be going good.  He tells us that it is all because of our talent, our skill, and just the fact that we just deserve some good luck.  He tells us that we accomplished this on our own without any help from anyone.  He tells us we are self-made.  He tells us that we are invincible.  Then he leaves and we are left to strut on our own.  All is fine until trouble strikes.  Maybe it is an illness, maybe it is a job related setback, or it may be a health issue; something happens and then we find that we are alone.

    We try to fix the problem on our own but it only gets worse.  We call out for help but the devil, who puffed us up, is long gone and laughing at our pain.  People, some we may have pushed away, are too far away to hear us.  We are left alone, lost and crying for help.  The pain and the sorrow become too great for us to bear.  The suffering weighs us down like a stone.  Soon we are completely defeated; all alone and suffering immensely.

    Yet God hears our cries and he rescues us from the suffering.  He listens to us and knows our pain.  He knows our fears and our deepest concerns.  He comes to us with his Spirit of comfort and he comes to us with his words of comfort and hope.  He brings into our lives the people whom he has to speak to us and to comfort us and to ease our pain.  God is always listening, inclining his ear to hear each whispered word; to hear each hushed sigh of pain.  God is always listening and offering us hope through his love and through his promise of salvation.  It is ours to hold.

Father, you hear us as we cry.  Give us the certainty that you listen and give us the peace that we so desperately need.  Cradle us in your loving arms.  In Jesus name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret               

8-24-2014

 Good Morning All,

         Romans 12:12; “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

                This past week, I have been trying to correct a mistake in my health insurance.  So I called the toll free number and was told that my call was important to them but that all available representatives were currently assisting other callers so would I please hold onto the line.  I heard that four times before I got a real person.  I told him this call was in response to a letter that I had received.  He asked me to hold while he found that letter.  A few minutes later he came back on and couldn’t find the letter so we started over.  I had to fill out an entire new form for him.  I told him what had happened.  He told me that he hadn’t heard of that so he needed to ask someone else and could I hold.

    My beautiful blushing bride got me a fresh cup of coffee as I sighed and sat down on my chair.  Then this very polite man came back on the line on said this is what we are going to do.  So he began the process, again.  I gave him my name, my address, my birthdate, my social security number and then we agreed to the wording of the brief reason for the correspondence.  He then began this conversation; “Ok, Mr. Bierman, we are almost done all I have to do is send this and…NO, NO, NO, NO, Oh NO, please no.”  There were a few moments of silence and then he came back on the line and said, “I hit delete instead of send and lost all our data, WE have to start over again.”  I sighed; again, my patience in tribulation was being tested.

    I can do the first part; I can rejoice in hope.  I have that down but patient in tribulation; that one I struggle with.  And struggle I do, partly, because I am supposed to be the calming voice; partly because I need to learn patience.  Yet this is most difficult and not just for me for many that I minister to.  Often times, as we set in a hospital room, the phrase, “if they would only give me some explanation as to why this is happening, I could live with it.  It is not knowing that is hard.” 

    Even though it is hard, we don’t need to see the entire route of the journey that we travel.  Knowing may actually make the journey more difficult as we may travel it with sadness.  We know that God is leading us down the path.  He is providing for the needs that we will have as we go.  He places the people that we need to be there and, above all, we have his Word to give us the comforting words of hope and salvation that he gives us.  He gives us his Spirit to guide and protect us.  God promises us that the tribulation will not overtake us.  He is always there with us.

    Part of faith is trusting that God will never leave us.  Part of faith is knowing that God will see us through the trials of this life and give us victory in the end.  Part of faith is being patient in this life while we are waiting for Christ to return.     

Gracious Father, help me to be patient.  Give me the ability to remain calm and faithful in the face of this world.  Send me your Spirit of peace that I may live in peace.  Give me the strength to be patient in the face of tribulation.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret