2-13-2021

   Good Morning All,   

         Psalm 86:5; “For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.”

       Given that so many people are using their cell phones and other PED’s today, it is rapidly becoming a thing of the past.   “It” is the family calendar.  Ours is always on the refrigerator.  On it we put important events that are up coming.  We put down doctor appointments, accountant appointments, special church events, scheduled babysitting events, or any one of several things.  This is to keep us from putting two things on the same night.  We were going to spend one weekend with family celebrating a wedding anniversary until we looked at the calendar and saw that we were already committed to a wedding. 

    One of the time-honored traditions with the family calendar was to take the important dates, like anniversaries, birthdays, special party days was to circle the date.  Many would take a red marker and circle the date so that everyone would see and remember how important it was.  This one usually had the time written on it as well.  Yet it was circled to mark it as the priority date.  It was what we waited for or knew was important and we did not or should not miss it.

   When something is of major importance, we circle it.  It is having a huge impact on what we are doing or experiencing.  We should do that with our faith life as well.  At the end of the day, think of the worst part of today and think of the best part of today.  In your prayers, give thanks for the best thing of today and ask God to remove, alleviate, correct or in some other manner “fix” the problem.  Take the highs and the lows, circle them, and then speak them to God in prayer.

    This is a good form of family devotional time.  Gather your family together and have each share the low point and the high point of the day.  Then join in prayer together, praising God for the good and asking for help with the bad.  This does two things. First, we remember that, in spite of what we think sometimes, there is always something good in our day and we should give thanks.  Secondly, we need to remember to “give to God” our pain and not hold onto it and focus on it.  Sometimes, the devil wants us to focus on what is sad, bad, or painful in order to cloud our vision of God.  This helps us to look up, call upon God, in both the good and the bad, just as He wants us to. 

   So, try this in your prayers, especially with your family, it can help to draw you to focus on God’s grace both in good times and in tough times.  This can be one way to help build your faith.  By focusing on God’s steadfast love for you, it can make the difficult bearable and the joyous more gratifying.

Gracious Father, we call upon your holy Name that we might be blessed by you.  Draw us closer to you; strengthen our faith so that we may ever praise your name.  Help us to see the wonderful things in our life far out -weigh the sadness.  Lead us to seek your mercy and grace in all things.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret   

2-12-2021

 Good Morning All,   

               Mark 1: 17; “And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

    It is always interesting to talk to people who enjoy fishing.  They love to talk about the type of fish they catch and whether the fish were “keepers” or not.   A “keeper” is a fish that you keep and not throw back so it can grow more.  A “keeper” is a successful catch; a “keeper” is the goal of every fisherman. 

     That is what we are to do as “fishers of men”; we are to catch keepers.  The thing is, to God, all are keepers.  God wants all to be saved.  No matter what has occurred in your life; to God you are a keeper.  If you have betrayed a marriage or ended a pregnancy or stole or killed; it does not matter; you are a keeper.  If you have been abused and made to feel worthless and unlovable; God sees you as a keeper.  God sees all his children as keepers.  He wants them all caught and brought to him.  He sends out believers to “catch” those who are still waiting.

    So as God sends us out to be the fishermen, we need to see that all are keepers.  We need to lose our own selfish views that same are unworthy or are too bad for God to want to keep.  We need to understand that the only reason we are a keeper is because of God’s love and not our own self value.   We, by nature, are not worth keeping.  We are only worth keeping because of God’s great mercy.  Yet we are made worth keeping because of Jesus sacrifice for us.

    So, you are worth keeping and I am worth keeping; so is the homeless guy or the unwed mother.  The guy with the addiction is a keeper.  The lady that no one speaks kindly to is a keeper.  In God’s eyes, we are all keepers and isn’t that what really matters?  What really matters is that you are a keeper to God.  You have value to God; his love for you is beyond measure and he wants to keep you in his loving family.

    So, as we go out today, try and see people as God sees them.  Try and see them as your brothers and sisters, as someone that is a keeper to God ad should be a keeper to us as well.  Look past the shallowness of the world and see someone who God loves so much that he sent his Son to die for them just as he sent his Son to die for you.  To the world, no one is a keeper but to God we all are.  So free yourself from the sadness and the guilt of believing that you are not worth keeping because you are worth keeping.  Just remember that those people who you see each day are worth keeping as well and that God desires that you “catch” them.  God desires that you share with them God’s love and mercy.  Show them the kindness and love that God shows you.

Father of all mercy, you desire to keep all people saved.  Keep us safe in your loving arms.  Guide us to those who are in most need of your mercy.  Guide us to those who are in need of your gracious forgiveness.  Help us to bring them peace.  In the precious name of Jesus, our Risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret           

2-11-2021

      Good Morning All,   

        Luke 7:12; “As he (Jesus) drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her.”

      I have never experienced a real traffic jam.  I am not saddened by this; being in a traffic jam is not on my “bucket list” but I am fascinated by them.  I cannot ever imagine how they ever get untangled from them.  It looks like one big mess and as the bottleneck occurs, more vehicles come in from the rear and just keep it more bottled up.  It looks like it would be a time of great frustration and anger.  It looks like a mess.

    That is what our verse is about, a traffic jam.  We have two large crowds of people, one a funeral procession heading out the gate of the city.  This procession would have had the mother, the only relative, family and friends, some from the local synagogue, perhaps a few professional mourners.  They would have been heading out to the burial site which was outside the city walls.  It would have been a sad procession.

    On the same road, going through the same gate was a different procession.  This one had Jesus, the disciples, some of the other followers, some from the outlying region who heard Jesus was in the area.  This procession would have been very lively, full of excitement and wonderment.  These two very different processions would have met at the gate of the city and a huge traffic jam would have occurred.  The funeral procession, with its wailers and mourners would be packing through the gate to get out and those following Jesus would be talking and singing trying to get in the gate; what a jam.

    The truly amazing part is that the woman, the mother who had just lost her only son, who would have been completely despondent and lost would have met face to face with Jesus as he led his procession into town.  The hopeless met the source of hope.  The sad and downhearted met the great Comforter.  The broken heart met the great Physician.  Jesus looked at her and had compassion.  He raised the boy back to life and gave him back to his mother.

    When you or I are burdened by the battles of this life, it can feel like we are in a funeral procession being marched out of town.  There is so much pain and sadness.  There can seem to be no comfort, nowhere to turn, just no hope.  We are being hustled out because no one wants to deal with us, and the devil is leading the procession to the burial site where he plans to leave you among the dead.

     Blessedly, we are met at the gate by Jesus, who stops the devil’s procession.  He stops the veritable stampede to death and gives us life.  Jesus stops our rush to pain and sadness, to an emptiness that cannot be filled.  He fills us with his Spirit so we can trust in his wonderful promise of salvation and we can live in hope.

Father, guide us to the gate where Jesus is.  Guide us so that we may know the compassion of our Savior.  Guide us so that we will always be a person of hope.  Help us to be a comfort to those whom we meet at the gate.  Help us to bring them the good news of your grace and mercy.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret  

 

2-10-2021

 Good Morning All,   

              Luke 13:13; “And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.”

    There was a lady who suffered from a disabling spirit.  She suffered for eighteen years.  Jesus saw her suffering and he touched her and healed her.  Eighteen years, that is a long time to be all bent over, unable to stand up straight, always in pain; eighteen years is a long time indeed.   It is hard to imagine suffering like this for eighteen years; it is even harder to imagine the joy that this woman must have felt.  She was in pain all that time.  She probably never had a good night’s sleep; she probably did not interact with her neighbors much; she probably had few friends.  She did not really live; it was more of an existence wondering if tomorrow would be any easier than today.  She lived like that for eighteen years before she was healed.

    How long have we lived in pain?  How long have we let the weight of a past sin keep us awake at night?  Perhaps it has changed the way you have interacted with other people.  If the pain is from a fight or argument with a family member, some had to “choose” who they “sided” with.  If you battle substance abuse, and lost, you may have lost a spouse or parent or child through the painful event.  Maybe you said something, took something, left something, or just ran in a moment of panic and left everything a shamble.  It has played on your mind and weighed on your heart the whole time.

    The devil loves those times and events.  He loves to keep telling you that you have gone too far.  He loves to tell you that there is no way back.  He loves for you to have a disabled spirit, one that knows no healing, one that knows no hope.  The devil wants you to suffer from this condition for years; actually, he wants you to suffer your whole life.  He wants your spirit disabled so that you will not listen to God.  The devil wants you to think that what God is saying is not for you.

    Yet God is speaking to you, through his Word and through his sacrament, he is reaching to you with his words of healing.  Those words, “you are forgiven.”  God offers you those healing words and no matter what the sin, what the past painful event, God forgives you and wants you to be healed.  He wants your spirit to be enabled to hear his words and to trust his promise.  He wants your spirit to live in harmony and communion with His Holy Spirit.  God wants to renew in you that clean heart.  God seeks to give you the power to heal the wounds that exist in our lives and in our relationships.

    No matter how long you have suffered from the pain of sin, no matter how long you have been weighed down; God forgives your sins, all of them, whether you have carried them for eight days or eighty years; God forgives you.  Trust his promise and stand upright and throw off the weight of sin that disables your spirit.  Live in God’s mercy.

Father, by your great mercy we have hope.  Because of your unfailing love we fear no sin.  Lead us to trust in your unquenchable desire to have us live with you in your kingdom.  Guide and protect us.  Be with those who are still burdened by the weight of sin.  Bring them healing and hope.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret     

2-9-2021

 Good Morning All,   

      Hebrews 7:22; “This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.”

    A few years ago, I had a neighbor who was trying to sell some bred cows.  He advertised them at a certain price.  Someone from a fair distance away came and wanted to buy them.  The man gave him 10% of the price as a down payment.  He told him he would pay the balance when he came back to get the cows.  The man never came back so my neighbor still had the cows plus he had the 10% down payment.  The first man guaranteed he would pay the balance, when he did not, he forfeited the down payment.

    This is part of how we view Baptism.  In Baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit as a down payment towards our salvation and Jesus is the one who guarantees the payment.  Jesus has already paid the price for our salvation and, in Baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit as the down payment for the completion of our salvation; that is eternal life with our glorified body.  That is the promise that we have.  That is why we ae encouraged to “remember our Baptism”.  It is the sign of God’s grace; active and alive in our hearts and lives right now today.

    We live in this Baptismal grace, this undeserved promise of God’s eternal love and mercy.  We always have it.  No matter what we did or said.  No matter how we treated others or our own body; nothing we have ever done can separate us from God’s love and mercy.  No matter how terrible things were or are, we live in God’s grace.  We simply trust in his mercy to sustain us.

    I remember talking with a friend who was counselling a young woman.  She was about 30 at the time and she had had an abortion when she was 15.  Her parents, her boyfriend’s parents, her boyfriend at the time; all told her it was the right thing to do, it was easy, and she could just go on with her life.  It was easy for everyone but her.  For years, she was racked by guilt and shame.  When she finally started to talk to my friend, he wanted her to join his church.  She declined, finally telling him her story.  She was convinced that he would turn away in disgust but instead he pronounced God’s forgiveness on her.  He told her that she is a baptized, redeemed child of God and that God has forgiven her.  She was elated, the weight of years of pain and agony were being lifted from her shoulders and she finally looked forward to the coming day.

    You may or may not have an experience like that in your life but, if you are baptized, you have that same Baptismal grace in your life.  Nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, for he is the guarantee of that love.  He is the proof of that love.  God invites you to free yourself of that pain; hear his promise so come and take it in your heart and life.

Gracious Father, your amazing love carries me through this turbulent life.  As the storms gather, I trust in your unchanging love and find shelter in you.  Be with those who are struggling with the pains and sorrows of life.  Keep them mindful of your mercy given to them in your Baptism.  Help them to cling to your grace and favor as your dear children.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret     

2-8-2021

 Good Morning All,   

        Philippians 3:13; “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,”

     One of the current “buzzwords” that is popular multi-tasking.  It is a word that means we are doing more than one task at a time.  Many equate this with using the phone, the computer and maybe carrying on a conversation at the same time.  It is supposed to be a sign of a harried yet skilled management of time.  According to many psychologists, it cannot happen.  You cannot multi-task.

    The reason for this statement is that our attention is singular; you pay attention to one thing at a time.  If you are using the phone, using the computer, and carrying on a conversation, psychologists will tell you that you do one of these and ignore the other two while you perform that task.  You may have all three (or more) activities on in front of you, but you focus on one at a time.  Your focus may be short, as little as a few seconds, but that focus is one at a time.  You focus on one activity and then the next and then back, but it is one at a time.

     Why is this a question?  Because as Christians we need to be focused on moving forward and we need to forget the past.  We cannot keep looking back at our past sins and past pains and keep moving forward.  When you look back, you stop going forward.  When you look back, the devil and the world have you looking back at the pain.  You focus on the pain and the devil tries to convince you that you should stay focused on the pain.  The devil wants you to stay in the past, in the pain and sorrow.

    This is why the Apostle Paul tells us to forget what is behind us.  We need to forget the past and move forward by God’s grace.  When we focus on the past, all of our past failures and shortcomings remain the focus.  The devil wants you to remember the pain you caused to your neighbor or your friend or to you family member.  He wants you to remember the pain you experienced.  He wants you in the past separated from God’s grace, alone in the pain and uncertainty.

    This is why Jesus came to forgive your sins, to put the past behind us forever.  The past that is full of sorrow and disappointment is to be left behind.  Jesus came to give you forgiveness and to give you the certainty and the hope for tomorrow.  Jesus gives us the reason to look forward; the certainty of life everlasting is waiting for us.  Our promised life in eternal joy and bliss waits.  So, look forward and forget the past; this is the secret to our joy.

Gracious Father, in you we have our hope for tomorrow.  Help us to leave the past behind and to go forward in the certainty of our salvation.  Be with those who are always looking back and suffering in the past.  Guide them by your Spirit to find the comfort in looking forward to the certainty of their salvation.  Help all your children to live in the joy of your wonderful, bountiful grace.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

2-7-2021

 Good Morning All,   

               Galatians 3:1; “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified”.

     Who has bewitched you?  It is something that happens; something like a moth is attracted to a flame or a light bulb.  It is hard for those who are bewitched to pull away, even when we know better.  That is what Paul was telling the Galatians when he wrote them this letter.  Who has bewitched you that you have strayed from the true Gospel of Jesus?

    The Galatians had fallen and followed a twisted view of the Gospel.  The Galatians had become legalistic Christians.  They added some requirements to their faith.  Some were the reintroduction of Jewish traditions and the requirements of “Thou shalt do this”; failure meant that you were somewhat less of a Christian.

    It is fascinating that the struggles of Christians in the 1^st century are not a whole lot different that Christians in the 21^st century.  Both generations live in a society that is predominated by unbelief and paganism.  It is easier; the decisions are far simpler, but the path is very slippery.  To constantly say, “you have to do this” or “you can’t do that” makes the freedom that Christ gave us unattainable.

    Often times, legalistic Christians suffer.  We suffer because we swing from a self-centered, self-induced pride in our actions.  We thank God we are not like those sinners and then expect God to “deliver” on the list of goods we determine we deserve.  Then we suffer from a painful realization that we have failed to live the perfect life and we suffer in despair because we see our shortcomings as a cause for God to “zap” us with trials, troubles, and difficulties.

    We are often bewitched by the thought that everything is earned instead of it being a truly free gift.  We are bewitched by the thought “nothing is free” and “there has to be a catch”.  These worldly bewitching thoughts are the flame that draws us to the fire of pain and sadness.  This is just another way for the devil to beset us with his yoke of slavery.

    Jesus freed us from this yoke; do not put it back on.  Do not let “have to” and “can’t” rule your life.  Rather let God’s love lead you.  Do you have to attend church? Not to be saved.  Do you have to attend communion? Not to be saved.  Do you have to do a set number of “righteous works” to please God?  Our works fall far short of being pleasing to God.  What pleases God is love; love for Him by placing our trust in him and his promise over everything and in loving one another.  This occurs when the love that God shows to us flows through us because of his Spirit living in us.

    We do not “have to” but we should “want to” do things that show God our love and gratitude for his amazing grace and love.  If we fall short, we are still redeemed children of God washed by the blood of the Lamb.  If we do show love, God’s love will prevail.

Father, help me to keep love for you as my guiding decision.  Lead me to act in love and not in judgment or anger.  Help those who struggle and despair when they fail to keep your law and see that it is by faith we are saved.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace

Pastor Bret