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Luke 1:26-38 – Listen! By Pastor Lee Hemen December 4, 2022 One of my least favorite Christmas songs is “Do You Hear What I Hear?” Sorry if it is one of your favorites, but I’ve never liked it that much except for the last verse when the King commands, “Listen to what I say! Pray for peace, people everywhere! Listen to what I say! The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night He will bring us goodness and light, He will bring us goodness and light.” Now don’t get me wrong the message of the song is great, the night wind whispering to a little lamb about a “star with a tail as big as a kite.” The lamb asking a shepherd boy if he can hear the same song he hears, and the shepherd boy asking the mighty king, “Do you know what I know?” Now if you listen closely at the words, you will notice that each phrase is contingent upon one thing: listening! In our day and age where everything demands our immediate attention it is often hard to get people to simply listen. In the verses we will look at ...

Ramblings from Retirement – Deacon’s Wives and Kids! By Lee Hemen, Retired Pastor March 19, 2021 I remember when I had been a believer for several years when my church came to me asking if I would be considered to be a Deacon. I was surprised and flattered. Having served as a Yokefellow (Deacon in training), as a Deacon, Ministry Leader for College and Discipleship, and finally serving as a pastor for 35 years I have seen a lot of men called to the ministry and to be Deacons. I have served on many selection committees over the years for Minister of Music, Deacons, Associate Pastor and Pastor. And as I was sitting here having my devotion I was reminded of what Paul wrote Timothy concerning men who were being considered for being a Deacon in the church. Paul would write, “Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be t...

Ramblings from Retirement – Make God Known! By Lee Hemen, Retired Pastor March 17, 2021 How do you let future generations know about God? Reading your Bible and praying are good for you personally but doing these things even daily do not get you active in actually getting out and letting those around you know about God. Now do not get me wrong because I do believe in prayer and reading the Bible but if that is all you do you could actually be hindering others from knowing about God. The Psalmist declared, “I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. (Psalms 89:1 NIV)” He took a stand to verbally sing of God’s love. Now you may not want to sing in front of others and this is not the case I am making and others may not want you to sing to them, however as believers in God we are to about the business of letting the world around us know about the love of God. The Psalmist related that he would actually speak ...

A mentor - 2 Kings 2:1-3; 7-14 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 9, 2018 When I began as a pastor, I heard that Sunday School was a way to reach, teach, win, and develop believers. I chose to adopt these concepts. Developing Christians requires personal mentoring as well as teaching. As a church we are to be alert for Christians who are growing spiritually and who give indications they would make excellent workers in the Lord’s kingdom and then mentor them for that task. In spite of our busy schedule, lack of confidence, or belief that only God or staff members can mentor another believer we are all called to mentor others in Christ. First Kings ends with the ascension of Ahaziah to the throne of Israel, and 2 Kings begins with Ahaziah already reigning as king. 1 and 2 Kings were originally one book. The approximate date for the starting point for 2 Kings is 853 BC. The first two chapters in 2 Kings record the last two acts of the prophet Elijah and the first three miracles of his successo...

Family, what are you going to do? -- John 7:1-10 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 22, 2015 A comedian once quipped, "The problem with relatives is that they tend to be family." I am not sure exactly what he meant by that, but I am sure there are some folks in our families we would rather not relate to. Families can be close or they can be dysfunctional, sadly, far too many in our day and age are the latter. We know that Jesus had younger brothers; James, Joseph, Jude and Simon to name four (Mark 6:3), and some sisters as well. We also know that Mary was his mother was still alive and yet Joseph, his adoptive father, was probably dead by the time he began his ministry. And, we also discover that his family did not fully understand Jesus' calling nor who he was (Mark 3:21, 31) and tried to dissuade him from following the path God had set for him. I remember well when I decided to follow God's calling in my life, how my own family reacted. It wasn't all rose blossoms and...

Galatians 1:1-5 & 2:20-21 - God’s calling… September 4, 2011 AM By Pastor Lee Hemen My mother used to embarrass the tar out of me when she would call me in for dinner. She would stand out on our front porch and holler “Leeeeeeee Howard Heeeeemen, come home!” Not satisfied to do it once, she would repeat her siren call for several humiliating minutes. Just one time did I decide not to respond to my mother’s call to come immediately home. Afterwards, my father had a little talk with me and I came to the conclusion that it was best for my emotional and physical health, to answer quickly when my mother called. The Bible teaches us that God calls each of his followers to his service. Jesus individually called his disciples and Paul writes, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the f...

Jesus’ Mission – Mark 10:32-34 September 12, 2010 AM By Pastor Lee Hemen “Hindsight is always better than foresight,” is an old expression that rings true every time because we can continually think of ways we should have done something better. We often want to know what the future brings, especially when it concerns what we may become, where we might live, or whom we might marry! As children, we may have wanted to become one of our favorite heroes like a fireman, policeman, soldier, pilot or sailor. But what if we knew what was going to happen to us in the future? What if we learned that what would occur was awful; would we still want to know? Some may think that it is good to know, however, it can be frightening to know what the future brings. This is why some folks think, “ignorance is bliss” in not knowing the future. Mark’s gospel presents to us an unvarnished view of Jesus and his disciples. It is wonderful in its simplicity, yet vibrant in relating the human conditio...

Are We Deaf and Dumb? - Mark 7:31-37 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 11, 2010 AM When I was younger, I used to think that my folks suffered from a kind of a parental tone-deafness that all adults suffer from when they have children. Not only did they not hear me but also they did not understand me. Many of Christians tacitly believe this about God as well, that he does not hear or understand. In fact, we think it is so true that it has become ingrained in our spiritual psych and in how we relate to the gospel. Let me explain: The Israelites suffered from this malady during Isaiah’s time. They felt God was not listening to their constant cries and did not understand their particular predicament. Isaiah would remind them, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.” (Isaiah 40:28) God was not the one who was deaf and dumb, they were! Deafness an...

Men With A Mission - Mark 6:7-13 January 17, 2010 AM By Pastor Lee Hemen More than ever before God is calling men to minister in his name. Sadly, fewer men are responding to the call of God in their lives. Fewer men are man enough to sacrifice their time, talent, and treasure for the cause of Christ. The church has created a whole cadre of chaps that are weak-willed and willing to allow others to go in their stead. However, this has not always been the case. In fact, we discover that Jesus used men almost exclusively to do ministry while he walked this earth. Why would Jesus do that? Did he think that men could do a better job? Honestly, I do not believe so, but I do believe Jesus did have specific reasons why he empowered and sent out his men with a mission. From fishermen to tax collectors and even common laborers Jesus makes his chosen men into the apostles his church would need to spread the good news. They become men with a mission. We find that Jesus did several things before...

Public and Private Cleansing – Mark 1:35-45 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 6, 2009 AM Some of us are very private, while others are very public about our lives. If you become famous you soon learn that every aspect of your life is open to public scrutiny. I found it kind of humorous that when President Obama went on vacation recently that he wanted and expected the media to leave him and his family alone. In our world today that is simply not possible with someone in his position. Every word and every nuance is examined, even while the President is on vacation. Privacy can be hard to obtain but sometimes it is necessary for a person to mature in their relationship with God. We might never think that Jesus would need time alone to pray, but He did. He needed this time to reconnect with God the Father, to get His priorities in order, and to find a personal time of spiritual renewal and personal cleansing whereby He could forget about everything and focus on God and His plan. We discover t...