9-27-2017

Good Morning All,

             1 Peter 3: 8-9; “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.  Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing”

    Yikes! It’s getting ugly out there!  It is amazing what we think is an acceptable way to talk to each other.  It seems like the only way to respond is to call the other person by a repugnant name as if that will win the debate.  It would be somewhat humorous if it were not so destructive.  The really sad thing is that often times you and I, as God’s redeemed children, are right in the middle of it and sadly, sometimes we find ourselves participating in it and that really needs to stop.

    Some very well-meaning Christians like to point to Matthew 16:23 where Jesus addresses Peter and says, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block!” and point to that as justification for them calling other people names.  The problem with this theory is that we are not Jesus and we should not assume to speak like we are.  Jesus, as true God, knew and knows what to say exactly but we, usually, not so much.  We are sinful broken people who live by God’s grace and His grace alone.  Therefore, we should live as He directs to live according to His will.

    This is why we need to see this but to also live this truth.  God calls us to respect others.  We may not agree with them, we may even strongly disagree with them but we need to show them honor and respect that is owed to all of God’s human creatures.  The human truly is a special creature.  It was created in God’s image and though fallen and corrupted by sin; it is still the creature that God sent his Son to die for.  For this reason alone, we own respect to each other.  We owe respect and civility.  We owe respect and civility because all human life has value and dignity.  We see this in God’s actions towards us and we should live according to his will.

    This is a part of what we often call Christian ethics.  Christian ethics means we live according to God’s revealed will in an intentional attempt to show God’s love, grace and mercy to the world.  It is to reveal to the world the righteousness that is poured out upon us by the all availing sacrifice of Jesus.  God pours righteousness into us and we, in turn, show that righteousness to others.  God pours his love into us and we, in turn, show that love to others and the list goes on through mercy, patience, compassion, sympathy and so on.  This is what we are called to do.

    So if you find yourself one of the name callers, try to repent and seek God’s guidance and then intentionally try to do better.  The best place to start is with your family and friends and let it flow from there.  There will be slips and failures along the way but you are forgiven and encouraged to try again another day.  It will take time and an intentional effort but it will be worth it.

Father of all peace, lead us by your Spirit that we may be a people of peace and unity.  Guide us by your grace to love as you have love.  Keep us safe from the evil one.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret 

9-26-2017

Good Morning All,

              John 21:4; “Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.”

    Are you expecting Jesus?  The disciples in our verse weren’t expecting him.  Our story begins with seven of the disciples (probably the fishermen of the group) were at the Sea of Galilee and Peter announces to the rest that he is going fishing.  The rest agree to go with him.  We aren’t told why Peter made this statement.  Perhaps he thought it was time to get back to work; it was time to earn a living again.  Perhaps he wanted to use the time of fishing to think and try and figure out all that has happened in the last few days.  Perhaps he was nervous and just needed something to do to keep his mind occupied.  These or other reasons might be why Peter decided to go fishing; we are never told.

    Yet as they had been out all night and were unsuccessful; they were coming back to shore.  A guy on the beach asked them if they caught anything and they answered “no.”  This guy on the beach told them to drop their nets on the right side and they would catch some fish.   Soon they had so many they could barely pull in the net.  One of the other disciples recognized Jesus but it was Peter who jumped in the water and made his way to shore.  The disciples recognized that it was Jesus who spoke to them and was now standing in their presence making breakfast for them.

    The disciples were not expecting Jesus to be standing on the shore as they came in from their evening of work but he was there.  Do you expect to meet Jesus when you are working?  Do you even think about him at work?  Or are you a “suit coat Christian”?  A few years ago, when men always wore suits to church; most would put the suit coat on as they left for church and took it off as soon as they were home and didn’t put it back on until the next Sunday.  Some of us do that with our faith.  We put it on as we go to church but we take it off and leave it in the closet the rest of the week.  Our faith doesn’t seem to have much impact on our “real” life and that is unfortunate.  For there are many times when expressing our faith could impact someone we are working with, someone who is hurting or lost and in need of God’s mercy in their life.

    God wants us to live our faith every day.  First, so that we may always know and remember the comfort and the security of his love and grace that he has for us.  This is to give us the certainty of our salvation through Jesus.  Secondly, it is to keep us aware of those around us who are in need.  They may need an ear to listen or a shoulder to lean on or they may need a word of encouragement; whatever the need, when we keep our faith on at all times we can be ready.  We can be ready to meet Jesus standing on our shore as we finish our daily work.

Gracious Lord, give me the wisdom to always wear my faith.  Keep me close to you so that I will always know your grace.  Give me the courage to speak your truth to those around me.  Lead me to be merciful to the ones who are in pain or are suffering that I may share your grace with them this day.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

9-25-2017

Good Morning All,

       Philippians 2:7; “but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

       I was standing with a friend outside an auditorium where a convention was going on.  We were talking about life in general when a lady came up and asked one of us (not sure who), “Are you someone important?”  I still am not sure how one should answer this question.  Most of us were raised to be somewhat modest.  We read the story in the Bible where Jesus speaks of taking a seat in the back instead of one of the prime seats.  If you are important the host will move you up but if you are not that important the host will move you back.  Most want to be moved up and not moved back; being moved back would be humiliating.  So are you someone important?  

     That can be tricky to answer.  We were made someone important.  Jesus left his great throne in heaven, left behind his glory and became a man.  He emptied himself of the majesty that was his in order that he could move back and so you and I could move forward.  We move forward to a place of honor, to the place where only the sons sit at the banquet.  Because of what Jesus did for us, his death on the cross, we are lifted up before God.  We are lifted up from the depths of the pit.  We are lifted up before God to be his beloved, redeemed children.  All because Jesus emptied himself and became a servant, the servant who suffered all.

    So God has made us to be important before him; he has declared that we are holy and we are his children.  We are now heirs to the kingdom of God; we are heirs to eternal life.  We are given the keys to the heavenly kingdom.  We are important; God sent his only son to die for you and for me; he wouldn’t have done that for someone who wasn’t important.  He did it for someone he loved.  Now, as someone who God loves, we are entrusted with the rights of the family and with some of the responsibilities.

    God calls us to be his ambassadors.  We are to tell the world of Jesus and his love for us.  We are to demonstrate that love to the world.  We are to show the same mercy that he showed to us to those around us.  Just as Jesus brought healing into this world; we are to bring healing into this broken and fractured world.  We are to serve just as Jesus served.  We are to love our neighbors with the same Godly that he gives to us every day.  We are to love because we are first loved by him.

Gracious heavenly Father, your mercies are new to us each day.  You lowered Jesus so that we might be elevated.  You brought us out of the pit because you love us.  Lead us in your truth.  Lead us to know your eternal love.  Lead us to show your love.  Lead us to be your people.  Guide us by your Spirit.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret