Fell like giving up? Choose worship.

“Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?  But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.  Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.  But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” 1 Peter 3:13-16

I don’t know how old you happen to be or what challenges along your journey have left you with emotional and physical scars and bruises.  I can tell you from firsthand experience that following Christ is not for weaklings, wimps, or the faint of heart.  You and these Haitian school children probably know that by now. 

What is it costing you to follow Christ?  Unlike many believers around the world and these kids in Haiti, you may not live in an area where you face violent oppression daily.  But our sin filled world seems to be conjuring up new varieties of sin every day that challenge our faith walk.  It doesn’t matter where you happen to be from, when you’re faced with challenges because of your faith, it’s natural to feel afraid.  So how do you get rid of the fear of the challenges on this side of Paradise?  You need to be filled with God’s love.

In the above verses, Peter encourages us that when we feel pressured to be quiet about your faith, you have a choice: You can worry, or you can worship.  Choose worship.  That means either you panic or you pray; you focus on the challenge, pressure, and persecution, or you focus on God.  Choose to worship; because focusing on God is essentially worship.  Next time you face challenges to your faith, choose to worship instead of worry.

Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Do you fell pressured?

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.  Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Matthew 5:9-13

I read news from the online site of Christian Broadcast Network (CBN) and recently it seems like more and more, people speaking the Truth and sharing their faith are openly in the crosshairs of this fallen world.  Have you found yourself being opposed recently for speaking the Truth?  Do you feel pressured to just keep silent or walk away?

I read a devotion last week that said when we feel pressured by the sin filled world because we are children of God and love Jesus and other people don’t, there are three things to remember.  First, facing opposition can make you more like Jesus.  If you’re going to mature and be like Jesus Christ, you’re going to have to go through the things Jesus went through, including loneliness, discouragement, stress, and temptation.  Why would God spare you when he didn’t spare his own Son from those things?  Be more Christlike.

Next, facing and confronting opposition will deepen your faith.  Your faith is like a muscle.  A muscle doesn’t grow when you sit in your recliner and eat popcorn.  A muscle grows by being stretched, strained, and tested.  Be in the Word.  You’re never going to grow a muscle if no weight is ever pulling in the opposite direction.  If you don’t have opposition in your life, your faith is not growing.  The strongest believers in the world right now are those who are having their faith tested the most.  The school kids in Haiti who are benefiting from a Trinity HOPE meal daily are growing muscle for their future test in restarting a new Haiti.

And lastly, opposition will lead to eternal rewards.  Get ready for Eternity.  Our Heavenly Father is going to bless everyone who’s been persecuted for living for him.  You will not get rewarded for being rude or obnoxious.  You get rewarded for being like Jesus.  When you live out your faith, do it with gentleness and respect, just like Jesus, and you will be rewarded for it one day in Heaven.

Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Living in His Light.

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3

Do you find yourself living in His Light or your light.  It seems to me that the greater majority of people in our country these days totally enjoy their own light.  Check posts on Facebook.  They pay no attention to or ever say much about eternity.  They’re living for themselves, here and now, which really is a waste.  Everything that’s “here and now” isn’t going to matter in the blink of an eye, or in just five minutes, much less 50 years; and certainly not for eternity.  How far is eternity?  I read that if you were to stretch a rope from California to Tokyo, and that distance represented all of eternity, your life on Earth would be represented by less than one millimeter along that rope.  So, are you living in His Light of Eternity or your light of the here and now?  My friend, how do you live in Light of Eternity?  You live for God’s glory, because He’s going to share His glory with you in Heaven.  Living on this side of Paradise, you don’t get to choose what’s going to happen to you, on the other side of the rest of your life.  But you do get to choose how you respond.

You can face the future as a cynic, as a critic, as a pessimist, or as a doubter.  You can face the future expecting the worst and experiencing the worst.  You can face your future being ungracious to other people, and you can live for your own glory.  Or you can face the future with gratitude, generosity, and graciousness and live for God’s glory.  Living in His Light will make you happier.  Living in His Light will bring a smile to God and the angels will rejoice in Paradise.

We were created for a purpose; His Purpose.  Our Heavenly Father wants you to spend eternity with his family.  He wants to spend eternity with you, these Haitian kids and me!

Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Special hymns.

“On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”  By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive.  Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” John 7:37-39

Good Monday morning.  Just a week ago, I happened to be the Elder of the Day at my Church in Bloomington, IL.  In my announcements after the service, I always thank the members who served that day; greeters, readers, ushers, guest Pastor and organist.  I thanked Trudy for her pre-service music and also the music during the service to help us sing along with the hymns and liturgy.  I mentioned that the older I get, it seems harder to carry a tune and quite often, God whispers in my ear to “Just read the words”. 

Trudy and I talked after the service and she mentioned that are several hymns that she doesn’t sing because the words are too emotional; tears flow and she just reads the words.  The sermon hymn last week happened to be ‘Come Holy Ghost. God and Lord’ and it was written by Martin Luther in 1524.  You may think that I’m slacking off today, but please just read the words from this hymn today.

“Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord!  Be all Thy graces now outpoured on each believer’s mind and heart; Thy fervent love to them impart.  Lord, by the brightness of Thy light Thou in the faith dost men unite.  Of every land and every tongue; this to Thy praise, O Lord, our God, be sung.  Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  Thou holy light, guide divine, oh, cause the Word of life to shine!
Teach us to know our God aright and call Him Father with delight.  From every error keep us free; let none but Christ our Master be that we in living faith abide, in Him, our Lord, with all our might confide.  Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  Thou holy fire, comfort true, grant us the will Thy work to do and in Thy service to abide; let trials turn us not aside.  Lord, by Thy power prepare each heart and to our weakness strength impart that bravely here we may contend, through life and death to Thee, our Lord, ascend.  Hallelujah! Hallelujah!”

The third verse really grabbed my attention.  ‘Thou Holy Fire, comfort true, grant US the WILL Thy Work To Do and in Thy service to Abide; let trials turn us not aside.  Lord, by Thy power prepare each heart and to our weakness Strength impart that Bravely HERE we may contend, through life and death to Thee, our Lord, ascend.’  Thank you Martin Luther; may we dwell upon your words this day.  Lord, prepare our hearts today.

Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Prayer guide for June

Trinity HOPE

Prayer Guide for June – 2023

We begin our prayer time in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. + Amen.

‘Adoration’

Psalm 84:1-2; “How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!  My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”

On this side of Heaven, it is truly amazing to sit and gaze at the many plants in the garden and crops in field, stretching upwards with the abundant rain and sunshine that comes from our Heavenly Father.  On this side of Heaven, it is truly humbling to consider how God has used our lives for His purpose in the lives of others; family, friends, co-workers, strangers in the store and school children in Haiti.  Yes…on this side of Heaven, facing many challenges, there are miracles from HIM taking place, every day, right before our eyes.

  A time of ‘Adoration’ to our Heavenly Father.    

·       Please take time to sit quietly and gaze at His creation and feel His presence in your life.

·       Think about the provisions, protection, hope and love that surround you because of His unfailing love for you.

·       Give thanks for where God has placed you and the gifts that you were given to use for Him along your journey.

·       Try to grasp the immense work that our Creator is doing in the lives of each Haitian child who attended a Christian school this past year.

 ‘Confession’

Romans 10:9-10; “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

We were born, sinful and unclean, through no fault of our own, but because of the sins of our parents, grandparents…Adam and Eve. 

God sent His only Son to die for our sins. Jesus did everything right while he was here on this earth. He loves you with a love that cannot be measured.  He gave to the world when no thanks were returned to Him.  He healed when there was no hope, and He died without complaint.  Jesus did nothing wrong and everything right; all this for you.  He lived for you and died for you.  Our sins nailed Him to the cross on Calvary and kept Him there until His life on earth had ended.

·       A time of personal confession.

Our sins are placed at the base of the Calvary cross...His cross, and we give thanks that the times we have fallen short in the eyes of our Heavenly Father have been washed clean and we have been forgiven through the Blood of our Risen Savior Jesus Christ.

 ‘Thanksgiving’

During this past year of challenges from gangs, vodou and cholera, we give thanks that God has used us as a part of His immense blessing to continue feeding over 62,400 Haitian School children with a Trinity HOPE meal and opened the door for more schools.  The lives of these children are sharing the reason for their Hope that is found only in Jesus with others; believers and un-believers, within their family and throughout their neighborhoods.   

Psalm 106:1: “Praise the Lord.  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

Heavenly Father, we come to You now with hearts, minds and words filled with ‘Thanksgiving’.”

·       We give thanks for our Creator, Redeemer and Holy Spirit.

·       We give thanks for over 62,400 children who are receiving a daily meal from Trinity HOPE this year.

·       We give thanks our providence; monetary, food, clothing, timely moisture and shelter.  As we give of our first fruits may we also give a portion of our best to His children in Haiti who need the assistance we can provide because of You.

‘Supplications’

Acts 8:26-31; “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza."  This is a desert place.  And he rose and went.  And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure.  He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.  And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot."  So, Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?"   And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.”

As you read these verses from the 8th chapter of Acts, it is really interesting to think about how God chose Philip to go and meet with the Ethiopian eunuch who was traveling through the desert on his way home.  Philip and the Eunuch have a little Bible study over Isaiah, the man gets baptized, and the Holy Spirit grabs Philip and takes him away.  All that work just to make a single believer on this side of Heaven…far from home.  God is doing similar work through Trinity HOPE and you and me, as He takes our donations and uses that to provide one bowl of rice and beans to thousands of Haitian children and through them, the Gospel message is shared with countless un-believers; mission accomplished.  This modern-day miracle takes place 62,400 times each day on this side of Heaven.

Heavenly Father, we bring our supplications before You;

·       Heavenly Father, please continue to lead and bless Trinity HOPE with Your loving hand; may the number of children in the coming school year increase and may we always strive to accomplish Your will.

·       Lord of the Harvest, please bless the efforts of the Haitian farmers, may their gardens and homes be protected from storms this summer.

·       Heavenly Father, please protect Your neighborhood heroes in Haiti who are courageously bringing an end to the gangs that seek to bring harm to the innocent.

·       Father, please protect the children in Christian schools throughout Haiti and continue to provide them with food and may they be Your witnesses to those who living without Hope. 

Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed.  Make it a Word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith.  May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You sent it; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

2 Corinthians 13:11-14; “Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.  Greet one another with a holy kiss.  All the saints send their greetings.  May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

May God go before you to guide you; may His arms be beneath you to support you, around you to protect you and above you to bless you.  And may the blessings of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you always dear sister and brother in Christ,

In His love, Jay Brinkmeyer

Your choice.

“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you, life and death, blessings and curses.  Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.  For the Lord is your life, and He will give you many years in the land He swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Saturday.  Freedom for the weekend.  Freedom to choose to do what you want to do.  Grandkids have baseball and softball games that I choose to attend.  Freedom from what?  Freedom to make bad choices, hopefully not too often.  I wish I could guarantee that all of us would have complete freedom from sin 365 days a year; but that is not possible on this side of Paradise.  But the good news is that we don't have to sin on a constant, day-after-day basis.  Grace has freed us to obey Christ.  We talked about that a few days ago.

Let’s choose righteousness.  By choosing righteousness, we enjoy a lifestyle marked by God's blessings, stability, and strength.  Grace frees us to choose.  We can decide to walk with God and draw strength from Him to face whatever life throws at us along our journey.  Or we can decide to walk away from God and face the many temptations in this fallen world.  The next time you are tempted to yield to the old sinful task master, remember this: you are a child of God and Grace invites you to return and find forgiveness, but it doesn't automatically erase the scars that accompany sin; some could stay with you for life.  We live in a fallen world and it judges us.  Too many in our world don’t acknowledge who is the Real Living Judge.  Choose righteousness because of His Grace.  You, a child of God are free to do that this weekend and always on this side of Paradise.

Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Be prepared.

“Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.  For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7-8

Earlier this week, I suggested that you turn off The View and it turns out, a few you watch it regularly and there was some push back.  Anything that we watch, read or listen to from the entertainment industry in this fallen world may harm you.  When it sucks you into believing its okay, once in a while, there should be an Emergency Alert banner scroll before your eyes.  This week, you read the Great Commission and if you want God to use you the way He intended to use you, then you need to fortify your faith.

When you rise in the morning do you think to yourself, “I get to exercise today!”  I don’t.  My first thought when my feet touch the floor is ‘OUCH’! We all need both physical and spiritual exercise to be at your best.  To get the most out of our spiritual exercise, I remember a Max Lucado study that listed the following four spiritual habits that will fortify your faith.

First, study the Bible.  Did you start reading Romans?  Your Bible study needs to be personal.  You can’t depend on somebody else’s study of the Bible to fortify your faith.  You have to do it yourself.  God’s Word is the “Get Ready” manual for life.  If you want to get ready to be used by God, you’ve got to study the Bible.

Next, read Christian books, devotionals or watch video driven Bible studies.  You learn a lot more when you read books or watch resources that help you grow spiritually. 

And then, write out your personal testimony.  We are always to be ready to answer everyone who asks us to explain about the hope we have.  Just like nobody else can study for you, nobody else can tell your story.  We are a unique creature; a one-of-a-kind child of God.  There are four parts to a testimony: what your life was like before you came to Christ, how you realized you needed Christ in your life, how you committed your life to Christ, and what your life is like now.

And lastly, join a small Bible study group at a home or at Church.  When it comes to fortifying your faith, few things compare to regular contact with a small group.  If you are not in a small group, find people you can share life experiences with and who will support you as you grow in faith.  Thanks Max.  These four habits will help you stay spiritually fit so that you’re ready for God to use you as you accomplish the work He prepared for you to do on this side of Paradise.

Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Grace.

“For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.  The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.  In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” Romans 6:9-12

If you haven’t read the Book of Romans recently, read it this summer.  There are so many pearls of Wisdom from the Apostle Paul in this letter.  Here, in the sixth chapter of Romans, Paul shares with us three ways for living by grace on this side of Paradise. 

Paul tells us to KNOW that our old self was crucified with Christ, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.  We are set free by the Blood of Jesus.  He continues to tell us to CONSIDER ourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  We are saved by Grace.  And lastly, PRESENT yourselves to God as those alive from the dead.  As we follow the Great Commission, doing His work prepared for us, do your tasks as His children.  That is who we are.  My church has been in vacancy since September 2021 and one of our guest Pastors shared a greeting that we should always use.  Pastor Tom Wirsing introduced himself; “Hi, I’m Tom and I’m a child of God!”  Whenever he leads our worship service, we introduce ourselves in that manner.

One last thing about Grace.  Back in the day at my home congregation in Lincoln, our DCO Phil Johnson share the acronym for Grace.  God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.  The Blood of Jesus has saved us and set us free.  I’m sure that you have a few well-meaning Christians who teach about crucifying oneself.  But there is good news for you: that has already been done.  You are in Christ.  You have His grace.  He was crucified once for all.  He died for you so you never need to die again.  Stay in His Word; live in His Grace.

Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Yay or Nay.

“So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left.  Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.” Deuteronomy 5:33

Back in the Day, while teaching Midweek Confirmation classes to 7th and 8th kids in Nebraska, there were several intelligent young souls that didn’t like all of the ‘don’t do this’ in the Catechism.  They didn’t like to be told what they could or couldn’t do.  They might have been your child.  This type of thinking could easily be us.  Adam and Eve.

The Ten Commandments are a perfect example for those of us struggling with the authorities.  Ten ‘Thou Shall Not…’ that God intended to be obeyed without hesitation or question.  And there is no wiggle room in any of them.  God gave them to us to improve the quality of our life.  I encouraged those young confirmands and you as well on this side of Paradise to guide your life by any and all Scripture with all of your heart, regardless of how anyone else may respond.  When challenges that may seem to not be specified in Scripture darken your path, it then becomes a matter of one's personal preference or convictions.

We have freedom in Christ, which means not only freedom from sin and shame but also a freedom in lifestyle, so that we can become models of His grace.  Others will notice you living in His grace.  Remember the scripture from Monday; The Great Commission.  We have freedom in Christ.  Yay to His Word and Nay to the wisdom of this fallen world.  Drown dry.

Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay

Integrity.

“Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.  Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.  On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.  And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.  The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:1-4

I watched an Andy Stanley session about ‘Integrity’ on YouTube yesterday.  It was interesting, insightful and impacted my thoughts about ‘Integrity’.  I jotted down a few notes like a good Lutheran always does when doing a sermon outline.  Thought that I would share them with you this Tuesday so that you might consider them this week. 

Integrity demands that every area of your life be treated with the same intensity; throughout every waking moment.  You have the same commitment to excellence in your marriage as you do in your career.  You have the same commitment to excellence in ministry as you do in your parenting.

There were a few points that should help a child of God to become a person of integrity.  First, keep your promises.  Please, don’t model your life by more and more of the politicians of our time.  My friends, God’s people of integrity keep their word.  If they say they’ll do it, they do it; they will pray about it.  If they say they’ll be there, they show up.

Next, don’t gossip.  Turn off the View or any other media programs that cause us to think gossiping in our time is how we are to conduct our lives.  Our Heavenly Father is looking for men and women of integrity who know how to keep a secret and not pass it around on social media.  I am an Elder in my church and there are things that I keep in confidence.  Don’t talk about people behind their back and don’t even listen to that stuff.

Next, be faithful in tithing.  You can’t serve two masters.  Wherever you put your money first is what’s most important to you.  Ten-ten-eighty rule.  Tithe ten percent, save ten percent and live on eighty percent.  And when the kids leave the shed and you rule the roost, your ten percent tithe will prayerfully grow to fifteen or twenty percent, serving the Lord in other areas of this fallen world.

And lastly, be who is the real you with others.  A person of integrity doesn’t act one way in church and another way after they leave the parking lot and head home or to the golf course.  God created you for His purpose.  God wants you to be His 24/7 in this world.  Have a great week.

Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay