4-27-2018

Good Morning All,

    Job 30:20: “I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me”.

    In the mid 1960’s, Simon and Garfunkel released a song entitled “Sounds of Silence”.  It is a haunting, plaintive song.  The singer is trapped in silence as those he wants to talk to can’t or won’t hear him.  So he is left with only the cries and the nightmares in his head.

                                                   People talking without speaking
                                                   People hearing without listening
                                                   People writing songs that voices never shared  

    Have you ever felt like this?  Have you ever felt like you were talking and no one was listening?  If you have ever dealt with teenagers you sort of have an understanding.  There are lots of times when we talk to people and they don’t listen or don’t hear us.  In the end, we usually get to think with a smirk “I told you but you wouldn’t listen”.  But what happens when we end up feeling like Job.  We look at our world all around us crumbling and we pray to God and we don’t get a response.

    Have you ever prayed for a child to survive, only to plan the funeral in a couple days?  Have you ever asked God, “Why doesn’t my spouse love me anymore?”  Or “Why does my daughter-in-law hate me?”  Or have you ever prayed, “If you won’t heal her, then let her die.”  Or “Why doesn’t anybody like me?”  We cry to God and hear nothing.  Sometimes, we even feel a loss of faith.  C. S. Lewis, in his book “A Grief Observed” wrote “Where is God? …Go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is in vain and what do you find? A door slammed in your face.”

    Most of us have felt that way once or twice and that is ok.  At the end of the day, you are still a redeemed child of God.  We come to God and we fail to receive an answer.  Usually, we don’t receive the answer that we want. We pray “Thy will be done” as long as “THY” will is “MY” will.  One of the most difficult thing to remember is that God gives us what we need but not always what we want.  But God always hears us when we pray and he sorrows with us and he knows our pain.  He seeks to comfort us and to give us hope.  When we cry to God, he hears and he has big shoulders to take our anger which comes from our sorrow.  Eventually, that comfort will overtake the excruciating pain and it will take time but God is a God that loves you and seeks to give you this love.  These times of pain often show us that there really is no other source of hope or comfort; it resides only in God and in the hope he gives us.

   Dear Father, at those times when I feel no answer, send your Spirit of comfort to me.  Use those around me to be the arms and hands to show your love and compassion.  Remind me that your grace is sufficient for me.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

4-26-2018

Good Morning All,

    Matthew 6:26; “Look at the birds. They don’t plant, harvest, or gather the harvest into barns. Yet, your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?”

     Why do we do it to ourselves?  Why do we worry about everything?  It is either too wet or too dry.  When we are at work, we worry about being behind in our work or else we worry that there is not enough work and we may get laid off.  We worry about everything.  I used to be fascinated by the young men who played baseball for me.  It seemed some were more comfortable striking out than getting a hit.  If they got a hit; everyone expected them to do it again and they were worried that they wouldn’t.  Some preachers worry about when they get a complement on a sermon that now the next one has to be better!

   I have listened to people who worry about something bad going to happen because they have enjoyed such blessings lately.  It is almost that we feel that every good blessing earns a little punishment; why do we do that?  Why do we punish our self and for absolutely nothing?

    This is what Jesus is addressing in this verse.  Look at the birds; seriously take a look at them.  They have absolutely no worries.  They fly around, eat and chirp.  They don’t worry about the boss or the banker or the government.  They have no worries.  Yet they have no worries because they don’t know any different; what about us?  We do know better, shouldn’t we worry?

    Jesus addresses this in the second half of the verse.  Aren’t you worth more than a bird?  Of course you are!  If God takes care of the birds; how much more will he gladly take care of you!  We have no need to worry; God will provide for our needs.  Worry is the tool of the devil.  The devil uses it to inflict pain and discomfort to us.  Think about what happens when we worry; we don’t sleep right, we don’t eat right, we get crabby and short with others, we fail to act and we can often begin to question God.  Once we do this, the devil smiles.

   When worry hits you, stop, drop and pray!  Ask God to help you and to remove your worry about something.  This will help in all these areas.  Prayer will drive the devil away and we will begin to see a little more clearly what God wants for us.  We will see that it is not others causing us problems but it is our own lack of faith.  We lose sight of God’s grace and mercy. 

We begin to look inward for our answers instead of looking to God as the source of all our needs.  You are worth more than any bird; God sent his Son to die for you in order to redeem you.  He did this because he loves you and values you deeply.

Dear Jesus, you have saved us because you love us.  Give us the courage to trust you to take care of all of our needs.  Be with those who are suffering at this time.  Send your healing Spirit into their lives and into their hearts that they may know your peace.  In your precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

4-25-2018

Good Morning All,

       2 Corinthians 1:20; “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory”.

     I think, for many of us, the most exciting word is “yes”!  This word is so full of potential and so full of promise.  Think back to your dating years.  You would agonize over calling; what if they say no?  Do you remember the relief and excitement when they said, “Yes, I would love to go.”  Do you remember later when the marriage proposal was there, would I get asked, would they accept?  The thrill of hearing “yes” sent you into ecstasy. 

    When you applied for your job or tried to rent or buy some land, being told “yes” gave you a lift and a joy.  Maybe even more to the point; remember when you looked at the doctor questioning and he said, “Yes, she will be fine in a couple of days.”  You breathed a sigh of relief and the world suddenly looked brighter.  We love being told “yes”.

    When I was in high school, one of my favorite Christian song was called “And God said YES”.  It spoke of God saying ‘yes’ to his people whom he had redeemed and saved from the reign of sin.  This is what our verse today tells us; God says “yes” to you and to me.

    You and I were nothing more that lost people with no hope, no future and with nothing to offer anyone else.  Yet in the depth of our despair, God saw us.  He sent His Son Jesus to pay the price that we owe.  In doing so, he picked us up, cleaned us off, fed us, gave us new clothes, held us tightly in his arms and said “YES”.  “Yes, I will keep this one as my dear child.”  There is no better way for you and me to hear the word “YES”.

    This is what Easter is all about.  God looked at you and said “yes, I will save him (or her)”.  Easter is God’s ultimate YES.  It means to you and to me life eternal.  God’s YES at Easter means those who have died in their faith will have their Easter as well.  God’s looks at you and says “YES, you are my child!”

   Yes, you are redeemed.  Yes, you are saved.  Yes, you are valued by the Father as a dearly loved child of God.  Yes, He means this.  Yes, he has forgiven all of your sins, even the really, really bad ones.  Yes, He wants you to take comfort and to have hope because God looked at you and said “YES.”  We have all the comfort and hope we can ever need.  God, through Jesus, says “YES” to us every day.  His love, his grace and his mercy say “Yes” to us each day.  No matter how often the world tells you “no”; God’s love is always “YES!!”

 Dear Father, through Jesus you tell me “yes.”  I am loved and treasured by you and I receive your wonderful grace and mercy.  You sustain and give me hope.  Help me to share this wonderful news with those around us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret