Happy Independence Day!

A blessed and happy 249th birthday to our great nation!

I hope you will have an encouraging celebration of July 4th. We truly live in the greatest country in the world. In this nation we are blessed with God-given rights and called by our Creator to use these rights in service to and for our neighbor. As we love and serve our neighbors (family and friends and even strangers) we are lifting others up so that they can use their God-given rights to do the same for you and others. While we call July 4th Independence Day and it is the freedom from tyranny under British rule, it is also a Dependence Day, first and foremost upon our Lord and then also upon each other.

Let me say a few words about this dependence. First, we know that our Lord is the provider of all that we have in this life. He gives us our talents and abilities to use for His glory. All that we do, that is good, comes from God. In the Explanation of the Small Catechism, the First Article of the Creed, Luther says, “I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.” (Luther’s Small Catechism). We are dependent on God for everything.

The Lord then uses citizens, neighbors, to fulfill this care and protection of you, His people. The farmer who grows the crops or raises the beef is caring for you by being a farmer. The stockperson at the grocery store, by doing their job, is actually taking care of you. The cook and waiter at the restaurant, the doctor and nurse, the police and firefighter, the sanitation collector, the neighbor who drives you to a doctor’s appointment or takes you to the gro- cery store, all of them are caring for you by living out their God-given rights and vocation that they have in this great nation. As we live out our certain unalienable rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” we are caring for others and that is all part of God’s care and plan for us.

May God bless and strengthen you the rest of this year, through our Lord Jesus Christ, so that you may live out your God-given rights and vocation to the best of your ability and in the process, you will be serving God by serving your neighbor.

Blessings,
Pastor Bryan E. Drebes

Rev. Bryan Drebes is Pastor at Pacific Hills Lutheran Church in Omaha Nebraska

Pastor Drebes attended Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, beginning in 1997.  He spent the summer of 1999 teaching English to Chinese middle school teachers in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.  He served a four-month vicarage at St. John Lutheran Church, Plymouth, Wisconsin, followed by eight months at Bethany Lutheran Church, Overland Park, Kansas. Pastor Drebes was ordained into the Office of the Holy Ministry at Zion Lutheran Church, Palmyra, Missouri on August 19, 2001, and installed as Associate Pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church, Overland Park, Kansas on September 9, 2001.  He served Bethany for 14 years.  Pastor Drebes accepted a Divine