6-17-2019

Good Morning All,

           Isaiah 40:9; “Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”
      Imagine, for a moment, that when you get your mail today; you receive a gift card to your favorite restaurant with a value of $5000.  It is a gift from an old acquaintance; quite a gift but a gift just the same.  What would you do? I don’t think you would just throw in a drawer and forget about it.   First you would go there a few times with your family and really enjoy it.  Next, you might think about sharing it with a few of your friends.

    Now perhaps you would call all the same friends.  You really enjoy their company and this would be a great way to celebrate.  Or would you think about some friends that you haven’t seen in a while?  Maybe when you children were in an activity you became close to some of those parents but now it has been a while.  This would give you a chance to reconnect.  Perhaps you might invite some people you just met.  Perhaps you would mix and match.

    Now after you have taken your family a few times and some friends a few times; you might look at your neighbors.  Perhaps you take the widow down the block.  Her husband died last year and it has been real tough on her; she might really enjoy a little fun again.  You always enjoyed their company and it might feel good too.  Maybe the family down the road who just lost their job could use a little boost.  It really wouldn’t cost you anything; the card was free, they would have some fun and you would too. 

    We have the greatest gift ever given; we have the forgiveness of sins and the certainty of heaven awaiting us.  We have this incredible gift that God’s wants us to share.  Yet many of us just put it in a drawer.  God wants us to share this good news of salvation.  He wants us to share with our family and our friends.  People we know well and others not so well.  He especially wants us to share it with those who are struggling with life right now.  There is no better salve than God’s wonderful mercy. 

    We are God’s redeemed children and we have this tremendous gift that we can both benefit from and share at the same time.  God’s grace is overflowing us and we cannot possibly contain it all so we might as well share it.  Share it with your family and friends but especially share it with those who are hurting right now.  God’s grace will always bring comfort and hope.  You don’t have to have a long sermon written out; sometimes a simple act of love or kindness speaks the language better anyway.  God gives us a gift, a gift to share and this is easily done with a hug or an ear that listens or hands that carry dinner or supper to someone.  We are saved by grace through faith; it is a gift, a gift worth heralding to the world!

Gracious Lord, through your wonderful gift of forgiveness we have the hope for tomorrow and comfort for today.  Give us the desire to share this gift with those around us, especially those most in need of your comfort.  Open our hearts to them that we may be your ministers of reconciliation.  In Your most precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-16-2019

Good Morning All,

       1 John 1:5; “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."

    Have you ever experienced total and complete darkness?  I have a cave in the Black Hills when the lights were shut off another time we had a severe ice storm and a large area lost power.  The cave experience was contrived and lasted only a couple of minutes.  Now for sure, that was a long couple of minutes.  You couldn’t see anything around you.  It didn’t take long to become somewhat disoriented.  You had this eerie sensation that the world was moving and you couldn’t see it at all.  It was a strange experience to say the least but it was contrived, you knew it was coming so it wasn’t that big of a deal.

    The ice storm was different.  We didn’t know it was coming until it was here.  The morning after the storm, in the day light, you could see it would be a few days before power was restored.  There were broken power poles and downed wires everywhere you looked.  It was during that time that I really experienced darkness.  At night, when you went outside, you saw nothing, especially when it was cloudy.  I grew up in a time when almost every farm had a dawn to dusk night light.  Where I grew up, we had three different cooperative electrical associations within two miles of our house.  Even if one was without power, one of the other ones would still be going.  But this storm took out everything.  So, when you went out at night; it was completely dark.

    It was truly fascinating to look out and not see any of the lights that made it possible to have your bearings.  Once you were a few feet from the house, you had no clue where you were or what direction you were going.  I tried it a couple of times.  I walked 30 steps from the house and then tried to guess where I was.  As I turned on the flashlight, I was usually wrong.

    That is how our life is without Jesus as the light of our life.  For that is how the sinful world is; living in complete and total darkness.  The world has no real bearings or even the slightest idea where it is or where it is headed.  It will claim that east is west and north is south.  It will claim untruths to be accurate and the truth is “inconvenient.”  Into this mess Christ came to bring life and to be the light to the world.  His believers know the truth and can live according to that truth.  We can see the truth and we can see the failures of the world.  We might still fall for the darkness from time to time but God, in his mercy continues to shine his light upon us and keeps reclaiming us from the dark.  He continuously brings us into his marvelous light.

   Dearest Heavenly Father, you sent Jesus to be the light of the world.  He came to illuminate the darkness of the world.  Give us the strength to stay in the light and to live in the light of your grace and mercy.  Lead us to show this light to those in this world who still live in the darkness of sin.  Give us the courage to be that light.  Be with those who are especially living in the darkness and the coldness of this cruel world.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-15-2019

 Good Morning All,

Psalm 139:10; “even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.”

    We often call them “bear hugs”.  This is where you sort of wrap your arms all the way around someone and pull them close to your chest.  Most of the time, we do it in a humorous fashion.  We will pick up a child and growl and they will squeal in delight.  We might come towards them with our arms open wide trying to get them in a corner and then hemming them in and then grabbing them.  They will usually squeal with delight.

     But sometimes, that hug isn’t a game; it is real.  Have you ever had a close call; like a car accident or a serious medical emergency?  When it was over, what did you do?  I know what I did, I grabbed the person and held onto them as close as I could.  There were a lot of emotions going on, the release of pent up fear and anxiety, and a strong desire to let the other person know that I really loved them.

     Sometimes you hug like this because you want to protect and shield the other person.  Perhaps when the other person is receiving painful news and you are trying to shield them from it.  Or perhaps you do this when you have no words to say.  We let our emotions speak for us and a hug works well in this situation.

     In our verse, the Psalmist is speaking about how God and his love interact with us.  God comes to us and surrounds us with his love.  It is an all-encompassing love that envelops us with a peace that will give us comfort and consolation.  It is the kind of hug that, when you receive it, you know that the other person loves you with a totality that brings a sigh of contentment.  This is what God gives us in this world.  He gives us contentment.  The world always wants us to think we need more and to take our happiness and contentment away.  The world only seeks to make us sad and miserable. 

    God comes to us and surrounds us with his mercy and holds us tight in the embrace that will never let us go.  He holds us as close to him as we have need of.  He will never let us go.  He hems us in with the grace and mercy.  He comforts us and shields us from the arrows that the devil throws.  God is our only source of comfort and hope.  Through him we have the strength to face each day and we can face it with confidence because of what his love for us does.  It shields us and protects us.  We are forever held in a bear hug by God our Father.  We cling to him and him alone. 

    Dearest Father, you embrace us with your steadfast love and mercy.  We only need to cling to you.  Give us the faith to cling only to you and to see that you are our only source of love.  Make us to show that same love to those around us and to give them the same hope that you shower upon us.  Be with those who are suffering at this time.  Encompass them with your unending grace.  All this we ask in Jesus’ precious name, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-14-2019

 Good Morning All,

               1 John 1:7; “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

    Have you ever gone into a darkened room and try to find the light switch?  There was a room in a gymnasium at college where the light switch was at the other end of the room.  If you accessed the room from the office, the switch was by the door.  If you came in through the gym you were on the wrong side.  The room had no windows so when the door closed it was pitch dark.  So, in order to find the light switch you would run your hand along the wall and then carefully slide your feet along the floor.  You would have to go slow just in case there was a chair or a ball or something on the floor. You would also slowly slide your hand up and down to be sure that you found the switch.

     Sometimes you would get all the way to the other door and finally realize that you were too far and have to slide back and then try to begin the process all over again.  The really frustrating thing was that you knew where the light switch was.  You knew it was on the wall about 30 inches off the floor.  It should be so easy to find but it usually took a few tries and more than a little frustration.

    Our life is a lot like that.  We can never fully see where we are going.  So many of our life experiences are really just felt out in the darkness.  When I listen to some of the high school kids and we talk about the future and what they want to do, many don’t really know and their options are such that they really don’t know.  I visited with a young gal as she was talking about what she thought she would look for in a future husband.  The more she talked the more confused she sounded; then she asked me, “How do you ever know?” 

     That is a question that can perplex us to no end.  We go through life and we make decisions everyday but how do you ever know?  We are given choices but often we don’t know the full range of consequences to those actions.  So, we feel our way along trying to find our way.

     We need to always remember that, above everything else, we are God’s redeemed children and he is with us.  He is there to offer us guidance and hope.  We may have options that we cannot see the end to but we need to always remember that God loves us and wants us to be contented and live our life in peace and in hope.  So whatever decisions we make, we can make them confident of God’s love.  His love for us is always there; he will not abandon us. 

We live our life in faith, trusting in his mercy at all times.  Some of our choices may not always be the best but no matter how dark the hall, God is always near us.  His grace never leaves his redeemed children and you are one.

Dearest Father, we look at life and often only see darkness and we feel our way along the wall.  Give us the faith to trust in your mercy and grace for our life.  Give us the strength to trust that all things work to the good for those whom you love.  Give us your peace especially those who feel that their lives are completely lost in the dark.  Show them your grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace

Pastor Bret

6-13-2019

Good Morning All,

Malachi 4:2; ““The Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings for you people who fear my name. You will go out and leap like calves let out of a stall.”

     When I was a kid, I used to watch the doctor shows on TV.  I used to like Dr. Kildare and Dr. Ben Casey.  They could always fix everything in under an hour.  That is the way to be a doctor.  Walk into a room, look at the patient and know in an instant that they have contracted some rare disease that only 15 people in the world have.  So, the fantasy of the show was a little over the top but it was nice to see good triumph.

    I guess we like to watch these type of shows because reality can be a lot less clear cut.  One of the speakers at a past National Youth Gathering was a young lady named Jessica Stevens.  She was bitten by a tick and developed Lyme’s disease.  Then it got real ugly. She developed a very rare condition.  It's called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy" or RSD for short.  The condition causes your nerves to malfunction constantly sending pain signals to the brain which responds by releasing powerful chemicals that burn unbearably painful sores into the skin.  Any type of stimulus, sight, sound, touch, anything would cause her to feel excruciating pain.  The chemicals which her body released caused huge open ulcer sores all over her body.  She was like this for two years.  At that point, she wanted to die.  Yet her mother refused to give in and told her that God would decide that and that they needed to trust God.

    Eventually, she received a radical form of treatment, she was placed into a coma for a week to “re-boot” her brain.  This happened twice and the second time it has seemed to take hold.  She is now in her 30’s and was 18 when it started.  She credits God with guiding her doctors and keeping her safe.

    Most of us will never face what this young lady faced but we will face our own challenges.  There will be times when it will seem almost as painful as what she faced and we will be hurt and lost; maybe feeling like we want to die.  Our hearts will be broken by the pain of sin and all the world dumps on us.  Families in turmoil, jobs disappearing, health failing, or any of a number of events occurring can cause us to be brokenhearted.  God comes to us through his Word and Sacrament to bring us forgiveness and to heal us.  He fixes our broken souls and retrieves us from the desolation that sin leaves us in.  God, through Jesus, heals us and brings us back to him.  It is through his atoning sacrifice that we find the healing balm to cure our wounds.  In this healing, we are made whole; righteous before God.  God is the healer of the brokenhearted; even yours.

Dearest Father, we are brokenhearted and in pain so often.  You heal us with your tender love and mercy.  By your grace, you sustain and renew us.   Give us the courage to trust in you and your amazing love.  Be with those whose hearts are broken and whose souls are lost.  Guide and protect your children with your loving kindness.  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

6-12-2019

Good Morning All,

Psalm 52:9; “I will give thanks to you forever for what you have done.  In the presence of your godly people, I will wait with hope in your good name.”

“Thank you.”  This is probably the first “manner” that we teach our children.  Just as soon as they can speak we begin to hammer it home.  “What do you tell Grandma?”  “Thank you.”  If we don’t hear it; we ask again and then we begin with no more presents, don’t you love her, that’s not how we raised you, etc.  If we hear it then we say “good boy”.  Maybe that is part of our problem, we have made thanks an act of the law, a requirement; rather than a heartfelt expression. 

   I can remember times when I gave a gift and heard no “thank you” but the look in their eyes and the expression on their faces said it all.  I got my thank you.  Sometimes the best “thank you” is to see someone actually use the gift that you gave them.  Saying thank you can take many forms.

   Our verse is about giving thanks forever but includes the idea of waiting. So, we want to look a little look at how this applies to our prayer life.  We give thanks for what God has done and what He promises to do.  Then we wait; we wait with the certain expectation that God will keep his promises.  We wait, knowing that God keeps his promises that he makes to his people and we can live with the joyful expectation of knowing that while God may not give us what we want; he definitely gives us what we need.

    Giving thanks to God should be an integral part of our prayer/devotional life.  This should be part of the conversation rhythm that we have with God.  We read and study his Word to hear God speak to us.  We listen to the absolution where we hear God’s forgiveness for us, we hear him call us back home.  We, in turn, speak to God with our concerns and fears for sure.  God tells us to call upon him in the day of trouble; this is part of God comforting us and giving us peace.  Yet we should also give thanks for the gifts we have and will get in this life and the next.  Thanks should be a natural part of our prayer.

    This can help live out our prayer life, especially our thank you.  Take your prayer life and live it.  We can do this by how we live, by how we use the gifts we are given.  God gives you life and wants to have a loving relationship with you.  He wants to have a long and loving conversation with you.  He wants to talk to you and have you listen to him. He wants you to talk to him as he listens to you as well.

Dearest Father, we struggle with thank you as we are so overwhelmed by your gifts.  Even as our lives are chaotic and worrisome, your wonderful grace is always present.  Give us the faith to see this and to give you thanks and live our lives for you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret         

6-11-2019

 Good Morning All,

     Hebrews 11:11; “Faith enabled Abraham to become a father, even though he was old and Sarah had never been able to have children. Abraham trusted that God would keep his promise”

    We all love heroes.  We love to watch the parades and the homecoming and the celebrations.  We love to cheer for our heroes.  So, who are your heroes?  Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, maybe Sally Ride or Christa McAuliffe, maybe Babe Ruth or Harmon Killebrew, maybe Audie Murphy or Sergeant York, maybe your parents or grandparents, who are your heroes?  One problem we have with heroes is that when the truth about them comes out, they aren’t always so heroic.  Franklin Roosevelt was a womanizer, Babe Ruth was a drunken lout. 

    Our verse for today is from Hebrews 11.  It is often referred to as the “Hall of Faith.”  It lists many of the Old Testament characters who lived their life by faith.  It is really a shame that we look at this chapter and think “Oh, if I were only like them; then all would be fine and dandy.”  We often think that because when we talk of these people of faith, we only speak of their greatness.  Abraham was going to offer Isaac, his son his only son, as a sacrifice to God.  Noah built the ark in spite of all of the taunting that he received.  Abraham lied about his wife because he didn’t trust God.  He also used a handmaiden to give him the son that God hadn’t delivered yet.  As soon as Noah got off the ark, he got drunk and laid naked in his tent.  Some heroes.

    Yet that is the exact point.  These “great” people of the Bible weren’t that great.  They were people on whom God looked with grace.  One of the best verses in Genesis is 6:8 “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord”.  That is what this verse and the entire bible is about.  You and I are not perfect; far from it.  We all have skeletons in our closet that would make any type of hero worship of us flounder in a hurry.  God looks upon you with his love with his grace and gives you that faith to get you through the day’s events.

    Grace finds us in God’s eye.  It seeks us out and searches the depths of our depraved world to bring us hope, to bring us peace and to give us God’s undeserved love.  That is what put Abraham in the “Hall of Faith” and that is what puts you there as well.  None of us are perfect; we are all sinners.  We all have the remnants of sin in our past that cause us to never feel worthy of God’s grace.  Fortunately, we don’t have to be worthy.  We are made worthy by Jesus; we are made worthy because of God’s grace poured out upon us.  We, just as those listed in the “Hall of Faith,” live by faith.  Yes, we are sinful beings but through God’s grace, we live in his wondrous mercy; trusting that he will take care of us and protect us until we reach our heavenly home.

Father of all mercies, through Jesus we find grace in your eyes.  We are brought into your marvelous family and given the peace and strength to battle this world’s woes.  Guard us by your mighty arm and give to those who struggle the most your Spirit of comfort.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret