12-27-2016

Good Morning All,

           Romans 5:2; “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

    One of my past times is to watch movies.  I like most kinds but I really enjoy comedies, westerns, pirate movies, movies about knights, action movies and space movies.  If you can combine two or three of these, I really like them.  One of my favorites is a movie called “Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail”.  It is a very absurd comedy that makes fun of the knights of the Roundtable who are searching for the Holy Grail.  It spoofs the entire genre of knight movies.  One part that always made me chuckle was when the knights come to a bridge that they need to cross and a troll stops them and demands that they answer three questions or they can’t pass.  The scene ends with the troll being asked to clarify a question, he can’t, so the troupe passes on by.

    There is always a scene in movies like this where in order to have access to a bridge or a room our hero needs to know the access code.  It might be a test of courage or bravery.  It might take skill and cunning.  It might take possessing a key or some other device but there is usually a major part of the movie that turns on having a way to access an important place.  Without this access our hero will fail and either the pretty girl will die or the kingdom will fail; one of those dramatic events will occur.  So having access is crucial.

    Our faith life is just like that.  Sin caused us to have an “access denied” sign flash in front of us.  We could no longer have access to God because we lacked the access code or the key for entrance.  We were no longer perfect; we were sinful beings whose sin had caused us to lose the key to God.  We lost it to the point that we could never get access again.

    So God showed his grace to us by having Jesus pay the price for our sin.  By doing so and by giving us the desire (faith) to trust that promise we now have access to God’s grace.  It is here that we rejoice in hope (certainty) of the glory of God.  God sent Jesus to give you back the access that our sinned took away.  God did this out of love for you.  God continues to do this for us every minute of every day.

    So now we have total access to God.  We can come to him at any time and in any state of trouble or fear.  We can come in any time of joy or celebration.  God invites us to use this free access at all times.  God invites us to use prayer to access him.  He invites us to worship him to hear his Words of forgiveness and acceptance.  God has given you access; use it continually.

Father of all mercy, through your grace we are given access to your love continually.  Give us the wisdom to use this gift often.  Give us the strength to trust in your free access to guide us through life’s struggles.  Be with those who seem to have lost their access to you.  Give them the faith to again access you and your grace.  All this we ask in Jesus’ precious name, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

12-26-2016

      Good Morning All,

      Matthew 9:36; “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” 

    Have you ever felt like sheep without a shepherd?  The imagery that Matthew is using here is very powerful.  This isn’t just a few sheep wandering around aimlessly; this is a whole flock which has been battered and bruised.  They are bloodied and beat up from the attack of wolves and thieves.  They are bloodied from a shearer who doesn’t know how to properly shear the sheep and he doesn’t care.  They have been chased from one valley to another by other shepherds protecting their own grazing land and by the dogs that harassed them night and day.  They have no one to turn to and no one to protect them; they are lost and scattered; beaten and bloodied.  Have you ever felt like that?

    When we feel like that, when our life is in complete turmoil; we have a place to go, we have a place of refuge.  Jesus is our good shepherd to lead us, protect us, guard us and heal us.  We can take great comfort in this verse.  Yet it has a much larger meaning to us as well.

     This verse occurs right before Jesus sends the 12 disciples out on their first missionary trip.  He tells them to pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send more laborers in the harvest.  So in this verse, Jesus is beginning the work of the church, to minister to the lost, the bloodied, the beaten up and the beaten down.  This is part of the reconciliation which the church (that’s us) is to be engaged in.  Every other false hope has led to disaster and the only hope is found in the true Shepherd, in the saving redemptive act of Christ’s death and resurrection. 

    Now that you and I find our comfort and hope in Jesus, we have the certainty of our salvation.  Jesus tells us to pray for workers.  Then he empowers us to be those workers, going about with the same compassion which He had for the people.  We are to pray for the workers of the harvest and we are to trust in his divine authority to act on his command.

     We as Christians, as the Church, are to have compassion on the people, on the harassed and helpless sheep.  Matthew makes it clear that the mission of the Church is the extension of Jesus’ own ministry here on earth.  We are to continue this ministry until Christ returns.  This is part of our life here on earth with our fellow man.  We share what Christ has given to us with those around us.  God uses us to minister to the people of this world and he uses the people of his church to minster to each other.  When we are the harassed, Jesus comes to us through the hands of his church.  When we see others who are harassed we are those hands.  God empowers us, as his church, to shepherd the lost and to bring them to redemption.

Dear Father in heaven, we give you thanks for the ministry of your holy church to bring comfort and compassion into the world.  Give us that comfort when we need it Lord and use us to bring comfort to those around us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret      

12-25-2016

Good Morning All,

      Merry Christmas!!

           Isaiah 9:6; “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

      I had a friend a few years ago who decided to run for the county commission.  I thought he would be a good candidate as he was very conscientious and knowledgeable and seemed to be calm in times of trouble.  He won the election fairly easily but the three year term he served was the most miserable time for him.  Every decision he made would rack him for days and weeks of self -doubt and worry.  The commission would meet in a morning session and it would be two days that he could not sleep.  He agonized over every single decision.  I talked to him about it one day and I asked him why he put so much stress upon himself.  He explained how he thought each decision made had such far reaching consequences.  Should we spend money to upgrade this road over that road?  What, if down the road, we upgraded the wrong road?  It would be a waste of money and an inconvenience for many people.  He thought the same about upgrading the computer equipment and other items.  He seemed to carry the weight of the entire government upon his shoulders and he crumbled beneath that weight. 

    The weight of the world can really drag you down; wondering if there is any way forward.  Worrying that decisions being made are right or wrong and what will happen next.  This weight will always keep us up at nights and cause us to worry about events that are out of our control.

    That is part of the amazing grace that is ours because of Jesus.  “And the government shall be upon his shoulder.”  It is all on Jesus.  Our righteousness before God is based on Jesus.  Our ability to stand before God in the manner we are supposed to stand is because of Jesus.  It is his coming that brings about this wonderful news.  Now we can place all our cares and worries upon Jesus.  Our future is secure and our hope guaranteed.  We are freed from the weight of guilt and the struggle of sin.  Jesus comes to give us hope, peace, joy and love.  We are freed from the snare of sin and given new life in Jesus.  This is the good news that is for all people; we no longer need to carry the burden of our sin or the weight of its guilt.  Jesus frees us from this and carries it on his shoulders all the way to Calvary.  It never has to rest on our shoulders again; we are free to live our life as it was designed, loving each other and praising God for his goodness. 

Father of all mercy, we give you thanks for the gift of life that is ours in Jesus.  We thank you for the compassion that Jesus gave so that our burden is relieved and our sins forgiven.  Lead us to ever trust in your love that we may know your peace.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-24-2016

Good Morning All,

      Colossians 3:16; “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

      Her mom and dad are trying; her grandma and grandpa are trying to help; her aunts and uncles are trying to help as well.  Everyone is trying to teach my granddaughter manners.  We are working on “please” and “thank you”.  She is pretty good.  She only has a few lapses here and there.  For her age, she does pretty well.  Of course she is just over 2 so the “mine” and “get me this” and the “I want” come through loud and clear but the “please” and the “thank you” are getting there.  It is kind of funny how we have to teach, re-teach and then reinforce manners and civility while selfishness and rudeness comes so naturally.

     Yet learn and relearn them, throughout much of our life.  When we take the high school kids out somewhere, we remind them of their manners.  Most of them, most of the time; do just fine.  Most of us, most of the time, do just fine.  Yet if we would only practice it more, we might find our lives more content.  If we were to strengthen our thankfulness, we would feel the warmth of God in our heart.  Yet even as adults, we need to practice.

    One thing to try is to keep a journal of people you are thankful for.  It might be a neighbor, your spouse, a friend or co-worker.  It might be the person at the grocery store who helps you find the things you need.  At the end of each day, try and list everyone who you are thankful for.  List each person who did something for you, said something kind to you, or made your day easier. 

    Send one letter a week to someone who you truly are thankful for.  It might be a nurse or nurse’s aide who helped you in the hospital.  It might be the kid down the street who helps keep your yard clean.  It might be the person who gave you a ride last week.  Yet each week select one person to thank in a special way.  It can help you see what you have to be thankful for.

    A third way is to be sure to include the names of the people who you are thankful for in your daily prayers.  By speaking these names to God, we are bringing them to mind and we are offering their names up to God.  We continue to list, to remember and to give thanks to God for the people and the actions in our life.  Give thanks to God for the people that he places into your life who make your life easier, more enjoyable or who bring contentment to your life.  When we pay attention to the many people and things that we have to be thankful for will be joy to our heart and contentment to our souls.

Father of all mercy; guide us by your Spirit to be thankful for the many blessings that you bestow upon us.  Lead us to tell those around us that we are thankful for them.  Let us never forget those whom you use to bless our lives.  Give us contented souls and thankful hearts.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

12-23-2016

      Good Morning All,

      1 Peter 3:18; “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,”

    It is a very simple phrase; yet it can strike fear in the hearts of parents everywhere, especially at Christmas time.  We try and watch for it but sometimes it just slips by us.  When the little ones open the package, that phrase is there as big as life; some assembly required!  That is a phrase to make most shudder.  First, the instructions are always in six different languages; none are English.  I am never sure if it is a flap or a slot.  Sometimes I don’t have enough parts; usually I have parts left over.  In fact, I have a whole drawer full of “essential” parts some are almost thirty years old.

    It is when you try to “quick fix” it.  This is where you “sort of” put it together so the kids can play with it.  The problem is that once assembled; slot “A” doesn’t always pull back from flap “B”.  Sometimes it sticks together even if it is wrong.

    Because of sin we are in the situation of “some assembly required.”  Because of sin, we are broken and we need to be re-assembled.  If we try it on our own, we will either come up short pieces or have pieces left that we don’t know what to do with them.  Either way, we still don’t “work” right.  We are still broken and non-operational.  We are still dead before God.

    That is why God sent Jesus to die for us.  He makes us right.  He assembles us properly and puts our brokenness aright.  Jesus picks up the broken pieces and heals us.  He does this out of love.  We can go forward as a new piece, a new creation.  All the assembly is complete. 

    The devil will try to disassemble us.  He will try and take us apart and pull us from God and his grace.  The devil will try to make you feel empty, like you are missing some pieces of your life.  He will want you to feel separated from God and his family.  At other times the devil will want you to feel like there are pieces left over, that your life is so complicated and overwhelming.  He wants you to drown in the mess of confusion and pain.

    Yet we don’t have to struggle with these fears.  God has made us whole and complete.  He has taken the brokenness that our sinful life was and recreated it to the newness of life that He desires for us.  It is this newness, the required assembly that gives us hope.  We are saved through His grace.  We are put together by his mercy.  We may face some battles but we don’t have to fall apart; we don’t have to let the devil disassemble us.  God and his mercy will hold us together.

Father of all goodness, we give you thanks that you have made us new and made us whole. Give us the certainty of the knowledge of your love.  Give us the strength to withstand the devil’s assaults.  We especially pray for those who are being attacked at this time.  Give them the constancy of your Spirit that they may withstand and prevail.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret