12-15-2021

 

 Good Morning All!

            Matthew 1:1; “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."

    Trinity has a genealogy book that was put together many years ago by the husband of a former member. It is fascinating to see how inter-related most of the members are to each other. Of course, that is to those who are in the book; I would suspect that if you are not in the book, it is a little boring and of little consequence to you. I think that is true for most people.  I think that is why most of us skip the genealogies when we get to them in the Bible.

    It is ok; most of us skip the genealogy part. All the “begats” get a little old. So, we start reading Matthew at verse 18 of the first chapter and go from there. Yet, we should, at least, acknowledge they exist. There are many genealogies in the Bible. Noah has one, David has one. Most of the kings and prophets list at least a few ancestors. Yet have you ever thought about why this is? Why does this matter anyway? What are we to learn from this?

    One of the reasons for a genealogy is to show a logic to the legitimacy of the authority that the person is exercising. In the opening of the Old Testament prophet Zephaniah, he shows that he is a descendant of King Hezekiah and so he is someone who should be listened to. One of the reasons that Matthew lists Jesus as descending from Abraham through David was to address a concern that the Jews would have had, that the Messiah was a descendant of King David. But I think there is another reason why there are so many “begats” in the Bible and that is to show a relationship exists. God is a God who desires to have a relationship with us, and this relationship is not one of master to servant or even owner to slave but rather one of a father to his children.

    God is a God who created man to have a loving relationship with him. When God created man, it was to walk together in the cool of the morning. It was to be one where man looked to God for his needs to be met and for us to respond with thanksgiving and praise. It was to be a relationship where man could rest in the comfort of God’s loving arms to keep us safe in this world.

    Sin broke this down and caused us to walk from God instead of toward Him. Yet God, this loving father who desires to love us and to keep us, is patiently drawing us back into this loving relationship with Him. He calls to us daily in His Word and His sacraments to return home, “Return to the Lord your God” is a call back to the family. Come home through Jesus and you will be restored. God’s love for you knows no end and has no boundaries. There is nothing that God has not done to bring you home, even sending His only Son to receive the punishment that you deserved. That is love, love that only a father would give. A gift from a father that desires a relationship with you.

Father in heaven, your mercies are new every morning. Guide us by your great love to trust in your promises and to know only You as our God. Bring home the lost and the erring and give peace to the disheartened and hope to the suffering. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-14-2021

 Good Morning All!

    Isaiah 40:1; “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.”

    Comfort is something that we all seek and need once in a while. We use this word in many different ways. We want to wear our jeans in comfort. We want to wear our shoes in comfort. We like to work in an atmosphere of comfort. When we are sad, we want comfort. When we are afraid, we want comfort. We even have comfort food.

     When we look at the Old Testament, especially Isaiah, we read a lot about comfort. Our verse for today is among one of the better-known verses. “Comfort, comfort my people;” but what does this mean? Is God giving us a good pair of jeans and some meatloaf? There are some out there who would think that way. But this phrase has far more power than that.

     When Isaiah talks about comfort, he is talking about being restored. So, when Isaiah speaks of comfort for the people, he is telling them that Israel will be restored.  After the Babylonian captivity is done; Israel, specifically Jerusalem, will be restored. The beautiful city will be restored, and the Temple will be as well. This is what the captives long for. They want to return to Jerusalem to the restored city. All they remember is that as they are marched off into captivity is that the city was burning and in utter ruin. They dreamed of the day when it was restored to its original shine and luster.

     So how does this affect us? We certainly are not waiting for Jerusalem to be restored. What does this mean to us and why should we even find joy in this statement? What it means to us means that God’s promise of restoration applies to us as well. Not to the land and Jerusalem but to God’s holy family. We see this story not as land but as faith.

    We were taken off into the captivity of sin. Think of when Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, how sad that must have been. They were leaving behind a place of perfection and total joy, and they were leaving because of what they had did (sinned) and because of what they did not do (have faith). They must have been crushed and burdened with the weight of knowing what they had and that they so carelessly threw it away. So, through them, we gained a life full of pain, sorrow, sadness.  These are the burdens of sin in our life. We are saddled with pain, fear, sorrow, loneliness; all that stuff that makes life so unpleasant.

    There was and is nothing we can do to change this; so, God did. By having Jesus take our place and receive the punishment that we deserve; we are restored. We are restored double for our sin. We receive more restoration than we have sinned. The restoration is accomplished. We live with the promise of the final restoration at Judgment day. We wait eagerly for that day.

    But until then, we can live knowing that God is comforting us; he is restoring us to his family. Even as we keep falling away, he keeps restoring us in double fashion. Even as the pain and suffering of this world tries to beat us down; God restores us to his family. We can take comfort in our restoration for it is when we see that we are truly God’s children that we can take refuge and comfort in Him.

Dearest Father, you have restored us to your family. We live with the knowledge and comfort of your restorative love. Give us the certainty of this hope and the certainty of our salvation. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-13-2021

 Good Morning All!

            Proverbs 25:11; “A word rightly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.”

    The right word at the right time; that is a gift truly worth its weight in gold. Think of those times when the right word or even the wrong word comes out. I remember when I was on the school board that the superintendent used to go on and on about how important it was for the bus drivers to be cheerful in the morning. If the first voice a child hears in the morning is a cheerful bus driver, the student is more likely to have a positive day than if he faces a grumpy one. That was his theory. Granted, it does not always work out but there are times when it does as well.

    Think in your own life. Who would you rather face, a cheerful waiter/waitress or a grumpy one?  Who would you rather deal with, a cheerful checkout person or an angry one? How about when you meet the receptionist at the doctor’s office? A friendly face helps out a lot, doesn’t it?  This is true; some call it, “good business” or “proper etiquette” but for a Christian it can, and should, go much farther. It provides us with a golden opportunity to witness to our faith.

    The right word at the right time; that is a gift truly worth its weight in gold. For us, this occurs for us and to us before anything else. “At just the right time God sent Jesus to reconcile the world back to himself.”  As Jesus hung on the cross, he exclaimed, “It is finished!”  Just the right word at just the right time; this is a truly wonderful gift! We hear God’s words of forgiveness at just the right time. You may wonder when the right time is, and it is when we need it the most. After the devil beats us up with his attacks God reminds us that we are his children and that he loves us, and he tells us that at just the right time.

     Now, he wants us to offer the right word at the right time. God calls us to go to our neighbor and to offer the right word. He calls us to offer the same words to them that he offers to us. First it is important to forgive. We need to forgive all the failures, both big and small, all the offenses, all the faults, real or imagined; that our neighbor has caused us. We do this for two reasons. First, because God calls us to reconcile with our neighbor, we need to reach out to them. We cannot do this if we continue to hold onto the anger and the hurt. This not only harms our neighbor, but it also harms us. This is the second reason to forgive; it helps to heal you. The right word at the right time; that is a gift truly worth its weight in gold.

    That word may also be a word of compassion to a grieving friend, a hurt neighbor, a suffering brother, or sister. Sometimes this word is the hardest to speak; what should I say? The truly amazing thing is that God often gives us the right word to say and sometimes that word is said with a hug or a shared tear. The right word at the right time; that is a gift truly worth its weight in gold.

Dearest Father, your Word is spoken to us at just the right time, and you bring us to a new life in Christ and save us from death. Help us to proclaim that same word to all those around us. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

12-12-2021

 Good Morning All!

        Genesis 2:7; “then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”    

        There is always something interesting in making something for yourself. It really does not matter what it is; it might be a bookcase or a pie or a piece of pottery; we enjoy making things with our hands. Some of us find it therapeutic and relaxing. Making something with your hands gives you far more satisfaction that just going out and buying something like it instead. Using your hands tends to bring out a sense of purpose and comfort. It is like the carpenter. You know that you are watching a true carpenter when they get to the end of the project. Before they declare it done, they take their hand and gently run it up and down the finished project.

    As we look at our verse, I hope you notice how God is addressed in this passage. Here, and in the rest of the Bible, when we see God called “the LORD God” this refers to God’s proper name as “YAHWEH.”  This is the name by which God introduced himself to Moses the “I AM the I AM.”   YAHWEH is the Redeemer of Israel; this is the Name by which God personally rescued the children of Israel from Egypt. The thing that I want you to keep in mind is that by this name” YAHWEH” is the “hands on” God. 

    Notice how creation is described. The LORD God formed the man and breathed into his nostrils. YAHWEH got his hands dirty forming you. He formed you out of the dirt and then placed his mouth on that dirt and breathed into a life, a living creature, a soul. We can take so much comfort in this. YAHWEH is not a distant God who is averse to being near us. YAHWEH is a “hands on” God.  He gets into our dirty lives and breathes new life into them.

    When we hurt or fear or are lost, YAHWEH is there. He is there getting his hands dirty to redeem you. Think of Jesus, God in the flesh. He walked on dirty roads, he touched the skin of dirty people looked into the heart and soul of dirty people and made them whole; he made them clean.  God comes to you and picks you up out of the gutter and lifts you up with his loving arms into his bosom to hold us near and dear to him.

   As we go through life, we will face a lot of unpleasant things. We face the pain of broken marriages, lost children, angry parents, family dying way to soon or maybe watching one die way too late, but God gets his hands dirty for you to give you hope.  There is nothing dirtier than death on a cross; yet Jesus, our Redeemer, did just that. He did it because he loves you and if getting dirty is what he had to do then getting dirty is what he did. We do not have to think that God does not understand my life; he truly does. That is why Jesus became a “hands on” person who died a “hands on” death.  He did this so that you and I could keep our “hands on” eternal life.

Dearest Father, you reached down into my life at times when I felt that no one could or that no one cared. You saved me from the wretched pain of the devil and his snares. Continue to guard me with your Spirit and protect me this day. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-11-2021

 Good Morning All!

        Romans 8: 38-39; “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

   There is always a part of me that really wonders about our sports culture sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, I am a very strong advocate of sports. The values and life skills which young people can learn are invaluable. Maybe it is the adults that I wonder about. The true meaning of sports is to test yourself against yourself, but you use an opponent and usually some form of measured competitive format to accomplish this test; but at what point does the test lose its validity?

    There was a basketball team in Texas that lost 103-0. There was a team in Indiana that lost 107-2. There was a high school football team which lost 96-0 and the game was done by halftime. Another school scored 238 points in one game. I assume it was not much of a match!!  These are somewhat beyond a loss; this would constitute a total beat down, complete defeat for the losing team. If you are the coach, what do you say to these teams?

     If you are like me, there are days when it feels like I have been on the short end of an ugly game. There are days when it feels like I am totally defeated. A day like when it is muddy and rainy out and the big truck hits the big mud puddle just as you open your car door to get out and takes your door off and splashes mud and cold water on you and into your, now door less, vehicle. You and your spouse are in a struggle; one that, one or both of you, do not understand or can get a handle on. Your children look at you like you are an alien life form. Everyone from your boss to your friends to your co-workers see you as someone to step on and then over.

    This is why the death and resurrection of Jesus is so phenomenally valuable. When Adam and Eve walked in the Garden of Eden with God, they walked hand in hand with God. Sin pulled our hand from God’s hand, and we have spun out of control ever since. But when Jesus died and then was raised again, we became reconciled back to God. God took us by the hand again and better yet; he pulled us into a walk with his loving arm around our shoulder holding us close to him. Through this we have eternal life and the hope of the resurrection which is great for someday. But for now, we have the promise and the hope that God, with his arm around us, is caring for us. God, who knows what is best for us, who knows sees our pain and brings us through it. We may not enjoy it, that is a sinful world, but we never, ever go alone. Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Dearest Father, at times it feels like the world wins, and we are totally defeated; all our efforts are worthless. It is at these times that your wonderful grace holds itself out to us as our only hope, our only comfort. Continue to guard us and protect us from the arrows of the devil and bring to us that peace which only you can give to us. We ask this in the name of our precious risen Savior, amen,

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-10-2021

 Good Morning All!

         2 Timothy 1:5; “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.” 

    I watched a movie not too many nights ago about a young man who was trying to come to grips with the death of his father. The young man and his father had a strained relationship. They had had an argument and the young man stormed out of the house. A few years later, his father had died, and he returned home to find some answers.

    As he rummaged through his father’s house, he found a whole trunk full of letters which the father had written to himself. As the young man read the letters, he saw a side of his father which he had never seen. In the letters, the father could only praise the young man and all his efforts. Each letter ended with the father telling himself to be sure and tell the boy about this as well. The son saw that his father truly loved him but could not express in words, only in the letters which were hidden away. The last ones told of only pain as the old man died alone and without his son. It was a sad movie. But it was about things that rarely happen anymore. We rarely write real letters anymore. We text or email or do Facebook, but we never write letters anymore; Letters which express in wondrous prose, the depth and intensity of human emotion.

    2 Timothy is one of those letters. Paul writes this letter to his most beloved Timothy. Timothy is a young man who became a preacher under Paul’s careful tutelage. Paul fondness for Timothy grows until Paul considers him as his son. In this letter, his last letter, Paul writes to Timothy. Paul knows that he will soon be executed so he wrote Timothy with all the passion of a dying father to his son.

    He begins at the very beginning, noting that Timothy’s faith was begun out of the love for him by his grandmother and mother. It was nurtured by their faith which in turn taught and fed his. Timothy grew up and his faith was nurtured by his loving family, and he grew in faith and became one of the church’s earliest pastors.

   We all have a grandmother or a mother who was instrumental in our faith formation. Those who filled those roles may not have been blood relatives but within the church; someone filled these roles. It may have been a Sunday School teacher or a neighbor. It may have been a kindly member who showed you the kind of love which Christ had for her or him. It was this encouragement which God used to grow your faith.

    Now many of us have the chance to be the Eunice or Lois in a young person’s life. Be sure to take that role. God gives us the opportunity to witness our faith. For some it is halfway around the world but for most of us; it is with the little boy or girl that sits behind you in church and kicks the pew that you sit in. When God gives you opportunity; go ahead and try it.

Dearest Father, you have given us those people in our life who have formed and shaped our faith and we give you tremendous thanks. We ask that you help us to serve in that same way for others around us. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

12-9-2021

 Good Morning All!

           Luke 11:1; “Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

    One of the more entertaining parts of being the preacher is teaching junior high age confirmation class. They really keep you on your toes. I pretty much let almost any question be asked.  It used to be any question but a few years ago, “zombies” were put out of bounds. One of the interesting discussions usually involves prayer.

   It usually starts with the question, “what is the right way to pray?”  That brings lots of answers but usually they agree that it is with your hands folded and your head bowed. What if I stand like this? (I have both arms extended upward with my head looking up) They all shake their head, no. I tell them that this is how Solomon prayed to God in the Temple. They looked perplexed.

    Then I ask, “what about this?”  I kneel down on the floor and stretch out on the floor. (This gets harder to do every year!!)  They all shake their heads again, a little more emphatically. “This is how Joshua and Elijah and Jesus prayed; are you telling me that Joshua, Elijah and Jesus do not know how to pray?” (It’s a little mean but they really looked puzzled by now) So the question is asked again “what is the right way to pray?

    This is where we talk about the different postures of prayer in the Bible. The “right way to pray” is not about how you stand or hold your hands or even what, exactly, you say. The right way to pray is to just do it. Just pray. Take time to speak to God, to speak from your heart, and do it often throughout the day. If you can get yourself to find a pattern of a short devotion during the day and then praying to God during the day; you can receive some real comfort from this. It can help make a “crisis” more like a bump in the road. The truly wonderful thing is that as we continue in a devotional time and then a prayerful life; the Holy Spirit will remind us of different verses or passages to help us remember what God truly wants for us.

    If we feel fearful or anxious, he can bring up “cast all your anxieties on him for he cares for you.”  If we feel burdened by stress we can remember “Come to me all who are burdened, and I will give you rest!” If we feel completely abandoned, we have “Lo, I am with you even to the end of the age.”  If we feel defeated, we have, “God is for us, who can be against us?”  These can all come to mind if we keep a rhythm of speaking to and listening to God in our lives. This will provide us with the strength and comfort and hope to live this life.

Dearest Lord, you taught us to pray in the manner of being at one with the Father. In this way we can come close to you and to experience your grace and mercy. We can live in a life of hope in you and never feel abandoned. In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret