PastorBlastor

The Temple! – John 2:13-25 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 26, 2014 I have heard sermons where the speaker equates today’s church as the new temple of God, however, we no longer continually offer sacrifices of live animals, we do not burn incense to represent the prayers of the people to God, and we do not wash our hands and feet before coming into worship nor do we bow down before the altar of God. And of course nothing separates us from the presence of God: Neither curtain, priest, nor mercy seat can keep us from his presence! While some of the things we do remind us of the temple or tabernacle of God, the church is radically different from the temple. The Temple was an important part of the Jewish worship of God. It represented the presence of God with his people and a place where folks could come to pray, praise, and sacrifice to God. Now it was Passover which was kept on the fourteenth day of Nisan, in commemoration of the Lord's passing over any home that had its doorposts painte

The Wedding! -- John 2:1-12 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 19, 2014 According to a recent article by Kelsey Thibodeau of WGGB/CNN, “Marriage can be an expensive adventure. But can the size of your ring be a predictor of how long that marriage will last? New research from Emory University suggests the bigger the diamond, the shorter the marriage. Researchers surveyed 3,000 adults who’ve been married at some point. They found that men who spent between $2,000 and $4,000 on engagement rings were more likely to end up divorced than those men who spent less than $2,000. The same appeared to be true for women receiving rings. The more expensive it was, the more likely the woman reported being divorced. The study also suggests the more expensive the wedding, the higher the divorce rate. Women whose wedding cost $20,000 or more are 3.5 times more likely to divorce than women who spent $10,000 or less.” Here we find Jesus invited to a wedding in Cana. It is a wonderful retelling

John 1:35-51 – The Calling! By Pastor Lee Hemen October 12, 2004 Tom T. Hall, an old country western singer, wrote a song that went, “If you love somebody enough, you'll follow wherever they go. That's how I got to Memphis.” The sentiment of the song is quite true because if you truly do love someone enough you will follow wherever they go. This is why Jesus would later relate to his followers, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:37-38 NIV)” When Jesus calls us we are to leave everything and follow him. A young man went to the same work he did every night with the same crew and the same duties he always did, but this evening he would be called. He never suspected that his friend would introduce him to the one who calls us eternally. Just as those who thought they were following a good an

The Lamb of God! -- John 1:29-34 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 5, 2014 I remember some of the names my mother had for me. Some were rather embarrassing, and no I am not going to share those with you! We all have nicknames or pet names others have given us that we would rather not share with anyone. Yet there are some names we are proud to let others know we have. Names like father, mother, grandfather or grandmother, aunt or uncle, brother or sister, son or daughter. These names are ones we often carry with pride and enjoy when we are called by them. John the Baptist not only testified about the Messiah to come, but he also gave him one of the most endearing and fascinating names ever. It is a name that people have used, found comfort in, and wondered at for thousands of years. Here in John’s gospel we see him writing about John the Baptist and his ministry down by the Jordan River and it was there while he was doing his baptizing that John the Baptist shares with others th