5-19-2025

Good Morning All,

  Galatians 3:28; “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ.”

   Why is it that we always seem to look for the differences at first?  Why do we seek those things which we use to divide and separate?  It often starts out innocently enough: it is how we identify individuals.  We see Suzy as the short, blonde girl and Billy as the tall red head.  But all too soon we take those differences and use them to hold others down or try to push them back; all in an effort to get to the front.  So, we take those differences, and we begin to categorize people.  This group is greedy; this group is lazy, this group is selfish, this group is made up of criminals.  (I didn’t list who, but you probably filled in the blanks).  Instead of looking at what we have in common and trying and building on that; we build walls to keep some back from us or out of our sight or away from us.

    This is always the tool of the devil. He tries to divide, to separate and then to conquer. He isolates us so that we no longer see value in other people. This leads us to see no value in ourselves. This leads to hopelessness. People do not often see the path which the devil takes; he is the “father of all lies” after all, but by leading us to be divisive and hateful, we separate ourselves from others and we separate ourselves from God’s community. This emptiness leads to despair and the devil has a field day with this. He torments, attacks, confuses and causes us to bury ourselves in our own empty thoughts.

    Yet when God looks at people, He sees one thing, a sinful creature.  Before God we are all the same.  There is no difference; we are all sinners deserving eternal punishment.  But by God’s grace, God sees only righteousness and holiness when He looks at His redeemed children.  All God sees is Christ’s atoning sacrifice.  He sees us as one in Christ, holy and undefiled.  We are not male or female, tall or short, fat or skinny, black, brown, white, yellow, purple or orange; we are the redeemed children of God.  That is how God sees us and that is how we should see our fellow believer.  We are all the same.  We are forgiven sinners who live by God’s grace and mercy.  We need to tear down the walls we build and see what God sees, forgiven creatures.

    This is why God leads us to walk with him and with all his children. We are a community of believers. We are all redeemed, baptized children of God. We all share the same fate. We deserve death but we have been given life by our Savior Jesus. We are one in the same and when we walk in this truth, we walk in God’s holy truth and will.

Father in heaven, too often we let our sinful nature lead us into prejudice and suspicion.  Forgive us our sin.  Guide us Lord to remove the walls and the barriers which we build between us and our fellow believers.  Cause us to see them as our brothers in Christ and to feel their pain and to share in their joy to your glory here on earth.  In Jesus’ precious Name we pray, Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-18-2025

Good Morning All,

         Exodus 24:17: “Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.”

    Why don’t we see this anymore?  Why don’t we see this miraculous display of God’s majesty?  When we think of the story that surrounds the plagues of Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the leading through the wilderness with the pillar of cloud and fire; when we think of the awe and majesty of God’s very presence at Mount Sinai we think, “now that is what God should be like.”  “I could believe in a God like that really easy.  I would never leave a God like that.”  “Just give me a God with thunderbolts and lightning and make Him very, very frightening to all my (His) enemies.”

   You would think that wouldn’t you?  It must have been so easy for those early Israelites to believe in God; they saw Him and the mighty works that He did. They saw the Egyptians drown in the Red Sea, They ate the manna, they experienced the water from the rocks; it should have been easy. Yet a mere 8 chapters later in Exodus, in chapter 32, while they are still camping at the bottom of Mt. Sinai, they fall away and worship a golden calf.  Too often, our pleas for God to do something, is really a call for God to do what I want, when I want and to whom I want it done.  Ultimately, we don’t want God to show His power so we can have faith; we want God to show His power so we can try and control God to do our will.  We are trying to trade places with God and place ourselves on His holy throne and rule all.  That is too often the “proof “we seek.

    We see this in the New Testament with Jesus as the crowds gather not to learn but to be entertained and fed. They wanted a show not a God. One wonders how many times the crowds attend church, not to be fed on God’s Word but to be entertained and to see the show. We know better, we confess better but if only God would throw a lightning bolt or a little thunder at the right time during the sermon for that “perfect” effect. That would show them, our God is an awesome God and with the snap of my fingers, I will show you.

     Fortunately, God knows better than all of us.  He acts in ways that are designed to reconcile back to Him with love and not total fear.  He doesn’t try to scare us into faith; rather He leads us back to Him with “a still, quiet voice” a voice that offers hope and comfort.  God’s majesty is all around; all we need to do is look.  God’s love is revealed to us in the empty tomb of Christ. There really is no more powerful message than that. Jesus died and rose again to give you life, the greatest gift of all! We should then respond to the world with love, as God did to us, and leave the “thunderbolts and lightning” to old rock songs.

God of power and might, we give you thanks for your great power, but we especially give you thanks for your great love.  Move us to share that love with one person today.  In the precious Name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-17-2025

Good Morning All,

     Proverbs 27:1; "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring".

     Are you the type of person who has planned for all your work to begin tomorrow?  Will you begin to exercise more and eat less tomorrow?  Are you going to get up early and read the Bible, tomorrow?  Are you going to show more patience to your children or love for your spouse tomorrow?  Are you going to visit a lonely neighbor tomorrow?  We put a lot on our plate; we plan a full day as long as it is tomorrow.  Sometimes, we actually do plan to do it tomorrow, but something comes up; an activity or event that was unplanned suddenly changes everything.  I may plan to take the kids to the park tomorrow but if it rains, then what?  Well, there is the next tomorrow.  I may plan to visit my sick, elderly member tomorrow but if the Lord calls her home tonight, then what?  There is no tomorrow.  Tomorrow is gone and all my boasting about tomorrow is lost.

   We live in a time when business and commerce go on 24 hours a day and that is unfortunate. It breaks us from the natural rhythm that creation gives us. We may struggle with the idea that there is no tomorrow only today, but God gives us comfort and hope in that truth. But rather than worry about tomorrow, God invites us to remember that He has already taken care of tomorrow. We only need to live our lives for today. This means to live without fear, but it is also a call to action. WE need not fear tomorrow but we shouldn’t plan on it either.  We need to share God's love with those around us in the same fashion.  Remember that there is a time and a place for love; it is at any time and in any place.  God's love for us is overwhelming and is an everyday occurrence.  We should show this same love to those around us especially those whom God has given to us as family, friends, neighbors, and fellow church members.  We are God's children, He has plans for us, a purpose for our lives.  We should live our lives on purpose, not just by accident.  Time is a gift we never get back and should never waste so you it to the fullest, show God's love to others as freely as He has showed it to you.

    God’s blessing for us is that we need not fear but only trust. We trust his promise of life and salvation and then live our lives in a fashion that actual trusts God to keep his promises. There may be a tomorrow and there may not be a tomorrow; of this we are always unsure. Yet our certainty comes from the truth that Jesus has conquered all our enemies. Sin, death, and the devil will not conquer us. This is God’s truth delivered at the cross. That victory is ours so we trust, not in “tomorrow” but in the sure and certain hope that life is ours today, so we should live today and live it in God’s beloved care and sharing his love with those around us.

Father in heaven, give us the wisdom and courage to share your love with those around us today.  Let us speak the kind word, let us be the friendly face to those who may be in need.  Move us to love as if it is our last day here on this earth.  Move us to show Your compassion on all.  In Jesus' Precious Name we pray, Amen.

God's Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-16-2025

Good Morning All,

   Gen. 1:1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

     There are a handful of verses from the Bible that most people, who any biblical knowledge at all, can quote from memory.  This is one of those verses.  Yet it is one of the most ignored verses in the Bible.  In the first verse of the entire Bible, we see what our relationship with God should be.  God is the creator, and we are the created; we are the creatures that fit into the creation.  Yet most people are truly offended if you tell them this.  Try and tell someone who is commenting on how great mankind is and how we can do anything if we just put our mind to it.  Tell them that we are creatures in God’s creation but in this simple verse, 10 words long, that is exactly what we declare.

    Now it is true that God created humans with a special purpose, to care for creation and to serve God, and given something that the animals do not have, a living soul, God created us to be the “image-bearers” for him here on earth.  Humans were supposed to tend the creation, to have dominion over it, and to be in worshipful fellowship with God.  But man couldn’t live with this.  Remember what the serpent told Eve, “you will be like God” so Eve ate, and Adam did too.  Sin entered the world because Adam and Eve were not happy being the creature; they wanted to be like the creator. The First Commandment springs from this verse.  Why should we have no other gods before Him?  Because He is the Creator God who made everything out of nothing.  All sin is a sin against the First Commandment. 

    In the Book of Revelations, there is a description of the Throne of God.  As you and I go through life, our struggle with the devil is who is sitting on that throne?  Do I see God on that throne, or do I place myself on that throne?  Do I see God as the Sovereign God who rules over all He has created, or do I have a “different” theory.  No matter what that theory is, evolution, aliens, new age religions, everything else is about me sitting on God’s throne and refusing to accept that God is there.  In essence, we are rejecting our own human creaturely status and have lost everything.

    God, in His mercy, sent Jesus to die to reconcile us back to Him.  God continually calls us back to Himself, out of love, to return to our true nature to be the “image-bearer” in this world.  Since sin is still prevalent, God calls His Church to be partners or helpers in this reconciliation process.  He empowers us through the Holy Spirit to again be the “image-bearer” for Him in this broken world.  We continually fall short, but God continues to call.  This cycle or rhythm is what some call worship.  God calls us and pronounces us forgiven, we rejoice in His forgiveness and go forth only to fall short again.  We repeat this cycle until the Lord returns.  “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” He is the creator, and we are the creature.  It really is that simple.

O Holy Creator God, we, your poor creatures, continually fail to serve You as we should.  We ask for Your mercy.  We celebrate because of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice; we know we are forgiven.  Lead us, empower us, and give us the will to serve as your “image-bearer” to a world of pain and suffering.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-15-2025

Good Morning All,

   1 John 3:1: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

    Many people take vacations in the summer.  They usually go to “see” something.  Perhaps we go see a professional baseball game or we go to a national park or perhaps we just go to an area of the country where we have not been to; just to see what it is like.  While what we are planning on seeing is important, for most of the way; what we see is out the window of our car.  That is why when I travel, I prefer to take the lesser roads and not the interstate.  Part of this was watching Charles Kuralt and his “On the Road” series as a kid and the desire to see what else is going on in the world.  We see the world go by and we see it as it is, warts and all.  We see the broken houses next to the new “Mcmansions” or the abandoned farm site with the leaning barn next to the multi-bin multi-shop immaculately kept farmsteads across the road.  It is how we see things, mostly through a window, usually driving down the road somewhere.

    Our passage for this morning speaks of seeing.  We see what kind of love God has for us.  It is a love that the world does not understand, nor can it reproduce it.  The world’s love is conditional.  It will love you as long as you behave and reciprocate.  It will love you as long as you have something to share or allow a gain for the other.  We see God’s love through a window; it is the window of the cross.  When we look into the window of the cross, we see what kind of love the Father has given us.  We see God incarnate, Jesus, suffering and bearing the weight and the cost of our sins even as we were enemies with God.  Yet in His unfathomable grace, God made you, his child.  He looked at you and claimed you just the way you were.  He washed you and fed you and clothed you with new clothes.  That is our God.  We see that by looking through the cross of Christ to see it. 

    As we travel through life we will pass by and through many events which we may or may not comprehend.  Those events may never add up.  Death, at times, makes no sense.  Life, at other times, makes no sense.  Suffering never makes sense.  We need to see the love of God, through the window of the cross, and then move to share that window seat with others who need it as well.  You and I cannot touch the whole world, but we can touch one person, and we need to do so.  Share the Gospel of Jesus with one person.  We are part of God’s solution; we are partners in the ministry of reconciliation.  Look through the window and see how much the Father loves us and then go and share that love with someone else.

 Gracious Lord, your grace rolls over us like a river and carries us into your loving arms and presence.  Use us to bring others into your river of life and mercy so that they too will be able to look through the window of the cross and see how much the Father loves us.  In our Savior’s precious name we pray, Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-14-2025

Good Morning All,

   Acts 2: 11; “We hear these men in our own languages as they tell about the miracles that God has done.”   

    I am, what you might call, a low-end shopper.  I am a Wal-Mart, Shopko, K-Mart, Thrift store kind of guy.  I am always tempted by those “one size fits all” outfits.  I will walk away a few times but eventually succumb to the temptation.  After all, I don’t have to figure out if I am a large, an extra-large, an extra-large long, or whatever; after all, one size fits all.

     I know this never works; but once, just once, it should.  Yet when I get it home, the one size that fits all either will fit 6-8 people in it comfortably or it looks like I’ve been stuffed in sausage casings!  (Trust me, this is NOT a good look for me.)  Yet in this world, we go more and more for the idea that “one size fits all.”  We see it in the “cookie cutter” style of housing, food preparation, fashion, or any of a number of things.  One size fits all and the world wants us to be satisfied with this.  If you are a little different, well that is tough just force yourself to fit in and either wear something that is way too tight or way too big.

     The world will tell you that your faith is the same way, but God tells you something very different.  God does not make you have a “one size fits all” relationship.  God has a very personal and loving relationship with you.  He is YOUR God.  He knows how many hairs are on the top of your head and He speaks your language.  He knows your needs even before you do. He sees you as a unique creature, whom He loves with a deep and compassionate love that knows no end or limit.

    When we go to God, he already knows what we need and how he will answer us.  God speaks to us in our own language and addresses our own specific needs.  We don’t have to take a number, or schedule a time, or make our needs, our pain or fear fit into some “one size fits all.”  God comes to you, with his love and grace, with all his tender mercy.  He comes to you, as you are but he doesn’t leave you as you were.  Rather, he redeems us, fixes us up and sets us back on the path which he has laid out for us.  This is one of God’s great promises to us, that we may be healed and restored. We may know his compassion and mercy. We will continue to struggle; that is what a sinful world gives us.  It is marked by evil, sorrow, pain, and suffering. It does so because the devil still has sway and control. Yet we do not struggle alone; we don’t face the tests alone.  God is there for us in each battle, in each personal struggle; God is there in a personal way giving us his eternal love, telling us that this battle or struggle does not define who we are. God defines us and he calls us his dear children whom He has redeemed and brought back into his loving kingdom.

Dearest Father, in a world where one size does not fit all you come to me with your personal love and grace.  Guard and protect me from the struggles of this day.  Keep me safe within your loving arms, in Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

5-13-2025

Good Morning All,

   Psalm 77:1; “I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.”

    When I was in college, I took a class on Medieval History.  I know it sounds bad, but I have always been interested in knights and chivalry.  We spent quite a bit of time looking at the court of the king and/or queen.  The first thing that struck all of us in the class (all 6) was the incredibly mercurial nature of the court.  Sometimes it read worse than a group of junior high girls.  One day you were the top of the court the next day you were in prison.  This had a tendency to keep every lord and lady on his or her toes.

    But there was one character that was often immune to the king’s anger, and this was the court jester.  The jester served two purposes.  First, he would, carefully, poke fun at the king.  His second function was far more important.  He would often serve as the king’s confessor.  This was the person who the king would speak to honestly.  The king would tell his confessor his fears, his concerns, who he trusted and who he didn’t, and so on and so forth.  There were times and kings who trusted no one but the court jester. 

    All of us need someone in our life to be our confessor, our court jester.  We need someone who we can talk to.  We need to voice our fears, our hopes, and dreams.  We need someone who we can turn to.  When we face the struggles of this life, when we experience the pain that a sinful world causes; we need someone to cry to, to vent, and to cry out “why?” We may have friends or family that we can go to but the Psalmist in our verse today tells us who will hear our cry and actually be capable to do something about it and that is God.

    This is something that many of us are uncomfortable to do.  We somehow thing that crying to God in lament is wrong.  We somehow feel that God will be angry or reject our pleas.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  This is part of the promise that he makes to us.  He is OUR GOD; he is there to hear us.  We can come to him freely with our cries.  We don’t need any form of sacrifice or payment; that has already been made.  God wants us to cry to him, to lament, to complain if you want.  God has big shoulders and a big heart.  He wants to comfort and console us; he wants to bring us the compassion we need.

    Every time we face problems; we don’t have to experience them by ourselves.  We don’t have to live through the pain and the fear in a solitary fashion.  We can cry to God.  We can cry out, “Father help me, comfort me bring me solace for the day.”  God wants to hear our cry even if that cry only comes out as sighs or moans or just as sobs.  Cry unto the Lord let him hear your cries of pain for he will comfort you.

Dearest Father, we cry to you with our pain and sorrow.  You do not turn us away but listen and then comfort us with your grace.  Bring into our lives those who can comfort us with your mercy.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret