4-26-2016

 Good Morning All!! 

        1 John 2:1; “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

    As far as I know, there is no “Grandma Handbook.”  There is no manual that is handed out upon the birth of a grandchild with instructions.  The vast majority of grandmothers pretty much just start doing it.  They start as soon as they can and they carry on until, well they just carry on.  I have listened to grandmothers both new and seasoned.  I have listened as they tell of what they do for their grandchildren.  They bake them cookies.  They pick them up or take them to daycare.  They give them gifts, some needed items and just some wanted items.  They attend their school programs and little league games and junior volleyball matches.  There is no manual to follow but the greatest percentage do a fine job.

    As I looked a little closer, I asked them why they did what they did. Were they afraid of failing the “grandmother exam”? Were they afraid of disappointing someone?  The answer I received over and over again was a very simple one; the grandmothers loved their grandchildren and did what they did for their grandchildren because they were motivated by love.  They were motivated by a grandmother’s love for their grandchild.

     This is somewhat like our life as Christians should be.  We are to keep the commandments.  We are to keep them because they are God’s law and when we keep them our life goes more smoothly and we are more contented in our life.  Yet our greatest motivation should be love.  We keep the commandments because it is the best way for us to show God our love for him.  Our loving response is to keep his commandments; to live our life according to God’s holy plans and design.

     You hear some who say they keep the commandments because they are afraid of what will happen to them if they don’t.  Yet fear is never the pure desire.  Fear is what leads us to look for loopholes and to find excuses and to rationalize our actions.  Fear is what makes us hide.  It is love and the desire to show love that moves us to act in the pureness that God desires.  Loves motivates, stirs compassion and feeds hope.  Fear causes divisions, seeks to self-serve and is driven by a lack of hope.  Love lifts up while fear beats down.  Love directs us to God’s heart and to the essence of his being and of ours.  We seek to keep God’s commandments because we love him and when we fall short; we have Jesus there to advocate for us to forgive us and to give us the certainty of hope in our salvation.

Father, lead me to love as you love me.  Lead me to desire your heart and will.  Lead me to see that the purest form of love is found in your commands.  Keep me in your loving arms that I may show this love to the entire world especially those who are hurting, sad and lost.  Make me a beacon of hope and a light of mercy.  Guide me by your Spirit.  In the precious name of Jesus our risen Savior we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

4-25-2016

Good Morning All!! 

      Ephesians 2:10; “God has made us what we are. He has created us in Christ Jesus to live lives filled with good works that he has prepared for us to do”.

   Sometimes we have to have “hard conversations.”  You know those conversations that you have with members or people who come to you for help or advice.  Most thought it was the conversation you have when someone is told that there is nothing the doctors can do any more.  It might be them or a spouse or parent or child involved.  That one is very hard.  Yet you rely on what you have, God’s mercy found in the cross.  We always look to the cross for God’s perfect example of his love for us.  I don’t look forward to those conversations but you can work through them.  The conversation that I have the most trouble with is when someone, usually an elderly member, asks, “Why am I still here?”

    That one is hard.  You can see and hear the sadness in their voice and in their eyes.  They usually sigh and are tired.  The ironic thing is that this statement is rarely, if ever, based in some fatalistic gloom.  It is usually based in faith.  They have usually been quite active and now see their roles as diminished even nonexistent.  They sit in their room and wonder “what can I do?” anymore.  Am I just a burden?  And it isn’t always older people who can be overwhelmed by this feeling.  It is easy to look around the world and wonder “what good am I?”

    This is the verse I like to use.  I like to use it when I feel overwhelmed and passed by as well.  God made us; he gave us a path and he placed good works in that path for us to do.  You don’t have to solve the world’s problems or even do what you did a few years ago; you need to look to today.  Maybe you used to lead the church choir but now you only sing with a grandchild; isn’t that just as important?  Maybe you used to teach dozens and now only a couple; aren’t they just as important?  God uses us according to his plan and his will.  Don’t try to understand it; you will only get a headache or even some heartache. 

    God has a plan and is guiding us down that path and the opportunities might be different, even less in the world’s view, but it is part of God’s plan.  So instead of reaching dozens or influencing hundreds; touch the life of one person today.  It might be your spouse, your child, the neighbor, the young man who mows the lawn; whoever God places in your path today; touch them with God’s grace.  Share God’s love with them.  Enjoy God’s love for you.  Take time to think about all that God has done for you today and what that means for tomorrow.  As we reflect about what God has done, what he is doing and what he promises to do for tomorrow.  God gives us the path and he gives us the tools and he gives us the opportunities to do those works which he lays out for us.  Why are you still here? Because God still has wonders for you to experience.

Dearest Father, so often we feel overwhelmed by life; by our struggles with the way we feel our life proceeds.  Give us the understanding to see and the patience to trust in your gracious will.  Give your special love to those who are truly wondering why they are here.  Give them that true peace and comfort which only you can give.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray; amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

4-26-2016

Good Morning All!! 

     John 14:16; “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper who will be with you forever”

   When our sons were much younger and learning to ride their bikes, it was always an interesting time for us.  First, we would start with the training wheels.  We used to watch out the window as they rode and rode around the driveway.  More than once we laughed as they would ride over a low spot in the driveway so that the training wheels were on solid ground but the actual bike wheel was not.  More than once we would watch them pedal like crazy as the wind blew them backwards. 

    Then the fateful day would come.  The training wheels came off.  Each went through the same thing, very excited but scared to death.  So we would get them on the bike and hold it.  Then they would start pedaling and we started walking faster and faster as they went.  Then we would let go and try to run beside them.  We did this to catch them if they fell.  We did this if, all of a sudden, a tree was in their path.  We did this so they would know that we were there to keep them safe.

    Our verse for today tells us the same thing.  This is a those verse which is hard for us to translate.  The word used is “helper”.   Other translations use advocate, comforter, counselor, or assistant among others.  While these are close, they miss the essence of the word.  The word is actually “paraclete.”  About the closest we can get is “the one who goes along side and comes to the aid of.”  So the helper, the Holy Spirit, is the one who helps you learn to ride a bike.  He is there to get you going, to keep you out of trouble and to make you feel safe and secure.

    God sends his Spirit to guide us, protect us and to give us the comfort that God so desires us to have.  It is through the Spirit that we have faith.  So as we face so many struggles in this world, we know with complete certainty that we do not face them alone.  There are many times in our life when, suddenly, things change.  A new marriage or one that crumbles; a spouse that dies; financial ruin; health failures; or any of a myriad of problems can strike.  We may fear them greatly but we can face them with the confidence that the Spirit goes with us.  God grace leads us through.

    Our life is often like that first bike ride.  You may be pedaling and you may have your hands on the handlebars but you have no control over where you are going.  As we ride that life, remember that the Comforter, or advocate or helper; the Paraclete is right there beside you to guard and protect you and, when necessary, pick you up and put you back on the bike so you can ride again.  So with the Spirit at your side; enjoy the ride!

Holy Spirit, you are our helper and our guide.  You come to our aid each time we fall.  Create in us that certainty of hope and that constancy of faith that we may boldly go forth in our life and let others see your grace at work in us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

4-23-2016

Good Morning All!! 

Ephesians 2:14; “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility”

    In the mid 1960’s, Simon and Garfunkel released a song entitled “I am a Rock.”  It was about a person who was in love and then hurt as a result of it.  There is one verse that goes like this:

                       I've built walls, a fortress deep and mighty that none may penetrate

                      I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain. 

                    It's laughter and it's loving I disdain I am a rock, I am an island

    Many of us feel and live this way.  At some point in time, we were hurt so we refuse to ever feel again.  We believe that we can avoid pain by locking our self away from everyone and everything.  Initially, this may seem like a good idea but soon we find we are lost and without hope. 

     One of the real dangers is that we view all others as rivals and enemies.  We never trust anyone and we never let anyone close to us.  When we do this, we look at all the ways we are different from other people.  We focus on these differences and use them to support our “wall”.  By looking at how others are different makes it easier to build and fortify the walls.

    This makes us very easy prey for the devil.  He loves people who “wall” themselves off from others, especially if they try to wall themselves off from God.   People do this when they think they have all the answers to life and that they know what is best.  They have no need for anyone, including God.  So in our own selfish, sinful way; we build walls and reinforce them to keep others out, especially God.  In all these efforts, we make our selves enemies with our neighbor, our self and our God.

     God knew that there was no way we could survive behind our walls and that there was no way that we would ever try to dismantle these walls; that is if we even knew they existed. Jesus came to this world to bust it up.  He came to break down the walls that you and I built.  The walls behind which we hide and hold tightly to our heart all the anger, hatred and hostility; Jesus came to destroy the pain and the evil.  Through his atoning death on a cross, he smashed the walls that locked us from God.  We are now reconciled to God and we can be reconciled to each other. 

    God designed us to be social beings.  We are to be companions to each other.  Sin and the devil convinced us to build walls.  Thanks be to God that Jesus has destroyed these walls and we have hope.  We have new life in Christ; so, with those walls broken, try to reach out to someone this week that seems to have a wall still up.

Dearest Father, thank you for sending Jesus to destroy the walls of separation and hostility.  Give us the courage to leave the walls down and live in the love and fellowship that you want us to have.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,                          

Pastor Bret