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Hosanna! - Matthew 21:1-11 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 20, 2016 We all get excited about different things. For some it is sporting events where the crowd is worked up over the home team; for others it is rock concerts, musicals or plays while still others get excited about a newly released movie and campout overnight just to be the first in line to purchase a ticket. Whatever the reason we can get excited over different things. But what if you had heard that someone was coming to your town that had the ability to cure disease, raise the dead, walk on water, or turn that water into the finest wine? What if you had heard that this man could be the answer to all your prayers and the fulfillment of prophecy and thousands of years of longing? (And no it is not Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders!) What would your anticipation be like then? Jesus has reached the final days of his earthly ministry and everything from this point on builds to a final crescendo like the final movement of a sympho...

The cross! - John 19:1-22 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 7, 2016 What signifies a horrendous death in our culture today? The wanton and greedy dismemberment of the unborn by abortionists; the thoughtless alcoholic induced daze of a drunken driver smashing into an unsuspecting family; or perhaps the self-aggrandized gang bang to enforce a self-indulgent pseudo machismo? History would point to concentration camps, atomic weapons, firebombing, or torture machines. Yet in the midst of all these horrific deaths there is one that pierces the heart and soul of mankind as nothing else; the innocent torture and crucifixion of the Son of God. Far too many in our day and age willingly wear crosses on their clothing or around their necks without giving a thought to the horrendous torture and death they represent. Tattoo artists and biker gangs have used the symbol for their own purposes without a thought to the real pain and suffering it symbolizes. And here in John's gospel we discover anew jus...

Greeks at the Feast! - John 12:20-36 By Pastor Lee Hemen August 9, 2015 The comedy classic Animal House was a sex, booze-ridden, crass, and sometimes funny movie from 1978. In 1962, college freshmen Lawrence "Larry" Kroger and Kent Dorfman seek to join a fraternity at Faber College. Finding themselves out of place at the prestigious Omega Theta Pi House's party and rejected by other houses, they finally visit the slovenly and riotous Delta Tau Chi House, where Kent's brother was once a member. Larry and Kent are invited to pledge. Filmed for $2.8 million, it is one of the most profitable movies of all time, garnering an estimated gross of more than $141 million in the form of theatrical rentals and home video, not including merchandising. It was filmed at the University of Oregon in Eugene and in Cottage Grove, Oregon. In one scene they have a Toga Party, which made these types of riotous affairs ever famous afterwards. Here in John's Gospel we discover a group of...

The Final Passover - Mark 14:12-26 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 20, 2011 AM Meals are important. More than just a means of nourishing a person, meals serve as a means for families to draw closer, talk, and as a means of getting together. Meals have been used to bring about peace between adversaries, nations, and to secure better relations. The preparation can be just as important as the meal itself. What food is served, why it is served, the way and how it is served can carry with each task very important implications. The Passover is such a meal. The Passover meal is celebrated to commemorate the passing over of the angel of death during the time of Moses and the exodus of the Israelite slaves from their captivity in Egypt. God promised to spare the life of the firstborn of any household that had the blood of a lamb painted over the doorframe of the house. Every Hebrew was commanded by God to remember this incident each year with prayers, a sacrifice, and a meal. The meal ...

The Passover Made New -- Luke 22:1-23 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 8, 2009 AM There are several terms for the last meal Jesus shared with His followers. Some call it “Communion,” others “the Eucharist,” “the Lord’s Supper” or “the Last Supper.” Each carries with it a perception of what this meal was supposed to mean and what it is supposed to relate to those believers who observe it. The pathos of the meal and what occurs strikes a chord with anyone who happens to understand what is taking place, the characters involved, and the setting. As we look at this meal what Jesus shared, not only with His followers then but with all of us who claim Him as Savior and Lord, we can be renewed in our faith, in its significance for our lives, and what it means. Luke introduces his section concerning the meal by telling us: “Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for the...