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Showing posts from April, 2020

God Hears Us When We Call to Him! -- Psalm 86:1-13

God Hears Us When We Call to Him! -- Psalm 86:1-13 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 26, 2020 I can remember my mother asking me, “Young man, did you hear what I said?” Of course no matter if I did or not the correct answer was always “yes”. Being distracted is the profession of teenage boys and unfocused believers. It is good to know therefore that God is never distracted and always hears us when we call to him. David, in this Psalm, was crying out to the Lord and if we just read what David says we might think that perhaps God had been distracted. The reason we would think this is because we often are distracted ourselves in how we talk with God, listen to him, and how we follow through with what he asks. David comes to the Lord asking that God hear him when he calls to him, let’s discover what this means… READ: Psalm 86:1-13 It is a curious thing but when we all of sudden need help we are often willing to humble ourselves in order to get a quick response thinking that we can perhaps fool God

We Can Confidently Trust In the Lord! -- Psalm 25:1-14

We Can Confidently Trust In the Lord! -- Psalm 25:1-14 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 19, 2020 There are certain poets that I like; most are those who tell stories. Robert Service was called “The Bard of the Yukon” because he wrote a lot of poems about the north like “The Cremation of Sam McGee” or “The Shooting of Dan McGrew”. I also like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who wrote such poems as “The Landlord’s Tale, Paul Revere’s Ride” but of course one of my favorites is “There Was A Little Girl”: “There was a little girl, Who had a little curl, Right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, She was very good indeed, But when she was bad she was horrid.” David from the Bible is also one of my favorite poets. He wrote many of the Psalms. One of my favorite Psalms is the one we will look at today. David boldly turned to the Lord for divine instruction and forgiveness from his sin. David knew he could because of God’s grace for Israel. This psalm is a meditation on the character of God th

The Joy of the Resurrection! – Luke 24:1-12

The Joy of the Resurrection! – Luke 24:1-12 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 12, 2020 The message of Easter is the resurrection of Jesus as an event that means much more than a historical fact. His victory over death brings peace and comfort to all who have trusted in him as Lord and Savior. Further, Jesus’ resurrection is the basis for the believers’ resurrection and living with him forever. It is the joy of the resurrection! After Jesus’ death, Joseph buried the body hastily in a nearby tomb. A large stone rolled in front of the entrance was meant to keep out marauders and wild animals as well as Jesus’ disciples (Matthew 27:62-66). All day Saturday Jesus’ followers grieved, but they could do nothing. Sunday morning dawned, the first day of the week, and some of the women who had followed Jesus went to visit his grave. They could not have imagined what they were about to experience. Their initial response was fright, but soon they realized the joy of the resurrection! Let’s rediscover this

The Joy of Palm Sunday! – Luke 19:29-40

The Joy of Palm Sunday! – Luke 19:29-40 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 5, 2020 Do you think you would recognize Jesus if he came into your community? Sadly, the church today while it is supposed to be “Jesus” to their neighbors, family, and friends I fear few would see Jesus in them. What would you do if Jesus came to your town, your neighborhood, or your home? While we would all like to think we would immediately recognize Jesus if he came to our area we might not. People in Jesus’ day had longed for and prayed for generations for God to hear their prayers and it seemed as if God was not listening but he was. All of sudden in the midst of what seemed their darkest days, Jesus came healing, caring, and displaying how God works. For the average person it was a miracle of God and rightly so. The common people responded with joy, let’s see how… READ: Luke 19:29-40 We become witnesses of Jesus’ final days as we read the gospel of Luke and here we discover… I. The joy of Palm Sunday in sharing w

God’s church should be like Jesus! – Philippians 2:1-8

God’s church should be like Jesus! – Philippians 2:1-8 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 29, 2020 I can remember my mother sometimes telling one of us, “Why can’t you be like your brother?” Of course it depended upon which one of us was not in trouble at the time that she wanted the other to be like. Growing up we often have others we can desire to be like: Make believe heroes, historical figures, brave men or women, or family members we hold in high regard. During times like we are going through it might be easy to draw within oneself and hunker down. For the believer this is not what Jesus would do. He would encourage us as a church to reflect him immediately within our families, our neighborhoods, our communities, and our world. Paul would tell us in blunt terms that God’s church should be like Jesus! Let see what Paul wrote and why… READ: Philippians 2:1-8 Factions within Congress that only are interested in their own self-interests should gall all Americans right now while our Nation is