2-25-2018

Good Morning All,

            Hebrews 12:3; “So keep your mind on Jesus, who put up with many insults from sinners. Then you won’t get discouraged and give up.”

    There is a trick that you can play on your friends.  Place a length of 2X4 on the floor and have them try to walk the length of it.  Often times, they will take a few steps and then stumble off.  You can then get on and walk from one end to the other without any trouble.  The secret is where to look. 

     If you try to walk a straight line on a board or even just a marked path; if you look down at where you are walking you with tumble and stumble.  If you look up and out at a point ahead of you and keep your eyes focused on that spot; you can walk a straight path.  By focusing on our goal the walk will be straighter than if we focus on each step.

     Back in the days when farmers plowed, the straightest plow furrow came from the farmer looking off into the distance and focusing on a tree or a fence post and then driving straight at it.  It is important to see the goal when we strike out on our path.  This is true of any journey.  If you don’t know where you are going; it is easy to get lost along the way but how do you know you are lost if you have no destination to go to?

    Our spiritual life is the same way.  As we walk along if we look down we will stumble.  If we keep focusing on the world around us it will destroy us.  The world will always question us about our faith and it will ask questions which we cannot answer.  We all experience or observe things which make no sense to us and which we cannot change.  We continually ask why; why do these events occur?  Some may be big events; why do people die when they are so young?  Why do they die when they are so young?  Why do we see these senseless events?  Why?

      People often decide to blame God at this point.  It is easy to do; he is God he can fix it.  This is true but when we say it; we always quietly add that qualifier to the end; and fix it like I want it.  There is where we really begin to stumble because the devil has us replacing God with our selves.  There is a lot of pain in this world and you and I can never solve all of it.  We can only attempt to comfort those around us and to bear each other.

     One thing we often do which gets us into trouble is that we look to the wrong thing.  We need to look up and look to Jesus; we need to keep our mind and our faith in Jesus.  The terrible events of the world do not reveal God to us but reveal the world to us.  God reveals himself to us through the cross and the empty tomb.  He is our hope and our salvation.  We will experience pain and sorrow; that is the lot of mankind.  But we know that a brighter day awaits and in that our hope is laid.

Dear Father, the world would have us look around and demand from you the mysteries of the universe.  Forgive us when we question you and your will.  Give us faith to trust; give us faith to look only to you and give us the hope of eternal life and the resurrection for which we wait.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret         

2-24-2018

    Good Morning All,

      Zechariah 7:10; “do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 

    It is the question which man has asked since the time when Cain killed Abel.  It comes in various forms but it is the same question.  Cain asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The lawyer who questioned Jesus wondered, “Who is my neighbor?”  What do I owe my neighbor?  How am I supposed to treat others?  What are the expectations and demands?

    God’s law requires us to treat others, all others, well.  We are never ever to treat them with disdain or ill will.  We are to love one another and this is how we are to display it.  God introduces this to the Israelites on Mount Sinai with the 10 Commandments.  With the commandments, God gives us to levels of action.  The first is the vertical relationship we have with God.  This is a liturgical or worshipful relationship we have with God.  We owe to God our praise, thanksgiving, honor, reverence; we owe him our love.

    The second level of relationship we have is on a horizontal level which we share with other people.  Here God tells us to live an ethical relationship with our neighbor.  This involves what we should not do to our fellow man but it also includes what we should do for our fellow man.  God reminds the children of Israel that they were once the suppressed, oppressed people.  God chose them to be his people.  Through them, God will bless the nations of the world.

    This now applies to us as God’s chosen children.  He tells us that we are not to oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner (alien) the poor or anyone else.  We are to love them.  We too, were once oppressed; not by men but by the devil and our sinful nature.  We too, were once enslaved and we are to remember this and not enslave others.  We are to be God’s freeing agents.  We are to free men from the enslavement by the devil.  We do this by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus to them but our commitment to our neighbor does not stop there.  We are to aid, comfort, defend and protect those who are unable to do so themselves.  This is the message from many of Jesus’ parables.

    The parable of the Good Samaritan, the unforgiving servant, the rich man and Lazarus, the rich farmer all play to this theme.  We are to take care of our neighbor.  So as we look at this theme we can see the answer to these questions: am I my brother’s keeper? Yes.  Who is my neighbor? Anyone in need.  The color of their skin, their gender, their socio-economic status, their wealth or power, none of these are to be factors in who we help.  We are to come to the aid of any who need it. 

    This can be a daunting task but it is one which God calls us to, which God will enable us to do and to which the world needs so desperately.  Follow God’s will to treat others ethically and with his love; just as he treats you with mercy that we do not deserve.

Gracious Father, your wondrous mercy flows over us like a river.  Grant us the strength and wisdom to love those whom you have placed into our lives and who are in need of the mercy we show because of your Spirit and will.  Bless those who obey your will through your love and grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret             

2-23-2018

Good Morning All,

              Psalm 147:3; “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds”.

    Many older houses have some cracks in them.  They can show up because the house settles and the foundation shifts a little.  Sometimes they can occur because of the temperature differences between inside and out.  The difference causes stress on the wall which can then cause the wall to crack.  These stresses can cause the wall to crack.  The crack is not the intent rather it is the result.  Some would call this collateral damage.

    Collateral damage occurs in our life as well.  Stress and strain which occurs elsewhere can show up in other places.  Many have experienced it.  Many have experienced from both sides.  Perhaps the stress of work can cause the problem.  Maybe it is the stress of fighting the weather both physically and emotionally.  This stress can cause us to lash out and hurt others for the stress we feel.  We lash out at our spouses, children, friends and we cause cracks in our relationships.

    Perhaps you experience the collateral damage, those cracks.  Maybe you feel the pain of an unloving spouse, a rebellious child or a boss that makes your job painful.  These cracks hurt.  They can cause us all sorts of problems to us.  If we experience one crack in our life; we may fear a new one.  An experience as a child may continue to hurt as an adult.  If you were hurt by a parent; you may struggle with being a parent.  The cracks can affect us for a long time.  Some may try to fix the cracks; we cover them up but they will often re-appear when those stresses to the foundation occur again.  Ultimately, the only way to fix the crack is to fix the foundation.

    We need to see what our foundation is set upon.  Jesus tells us that a house built upon the sand will not stand up in a storm.  We need to be built upon the rock which is faith in Jesus.  Yet perhaps the greatest gift we have is that even though we sin and sometimes our foundation is not that solid; God forgives us.  He heals our broken heart and binds up our wounds.  He restores our soul; he fixes our foundation.  He also fixes those cracks in our walls; those blemishes which can show in our lives. 

     We need to trust in God’s promise so that we see past the stresses.  We need to keep our hope in his unending grace.  This is our only hope.  Only by trusting in God and his mercy can we stand up to the stresses of life.  Only faith in him can heal the cracks in our lives.

Dear Father, we face the challenges of life and when we face them on our own strength we crumble and crack.  Give us the strength to stand tall by your grace and power.  Keep us held in your arms.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret