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Giving! – Matthew 6:1-4 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 31, 2019 We are not a giving society. Yes we give a lot to charity but the real reason we give may not be as altruistic as we want others to believe. God is not fooled. Giving comes from what is inside a person and can never be done out of guilt, coercion, or tax evasion! We often forget that if do not give for the right reasons we will suffer the consequences of our giving and is why Paul would write that we would do well to “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:6-7 NIV)” Giving like a lot of things in Jewish life had become a matter of course or regularity. Kind of a ho-hum thing that a person did because they wanted God to like them and the neighbors to think they hadn’t become pagans. Today folks wrestle w...

Hebrews 13:1-6 – How to live your lives in Christ! By Pastor Lee Hemen January 27, 2013 AM If you only had a few days to live or if you knew, you may not see certain people you cared about ever again, what advice would you leave them? In Douglas Adams’ book “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” all the dolphins and whales leave earth right before it is destroyed to make room for an intergalactic interchange and off ramp. Their final message is, “So long and thanks for all the fish!” Not to worry, earth is later rebuilt by the dolphins in their Save the Humans campaign. As silly as this is, what message would you leave? Perhaps you might share how those you leave behind should live their lives in Christ. The author of Hebrews is closing his sermon to his fellow Jewish believers. He is concerned for their future and rightly so. He had spoken to them in general terms before but now he gets down to the nitty-gritty and very specific moral obligations they are to be mindful o...

Malachi 1:6-14 – Being honorable! By Pastor Lee Hemen December 11, 2011 AM We can dishonor someone by not holding them in high regard. The people of Israel had done this with God. Within the Ten Commandments given to them on Mt. Sinai was the first and most important command that instructed, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Following this command was the simple reasoning that they were also not to make any “idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” They were not only not to make them, they were not to “bow down to them or worship them (Exodus 20:3-4).” Yet, in all of this, the Israelites had dishonored God and done all of the above. Malachi’s second burden therefore deals with the dishonor God’s people can have for the Lord. While it may be easy for us to point to specific denominations today that make idols and worship them, we often as evangelical Christians can fail to see the idols we form and impure worship i...

An Acceptable Sacrifice - Philippians 4:10-20 By Pastor Lee Hemen July 19, 2009 AM Sacrifice is a quality that has been lost on many in the church today. Let me illustrate what I mean: According to a Worldmag.com article, “Of every dollar given to a Protestant church, the average amount that goes to overseas missions is two cents.” In fact, they noted that “In 1920, the percentage of giving to missions from the total offering was 10.09 percent, just over a dime out of every dollar.” Empty Tomb, of Champaign, Ill., has analyzed the contributions and spending patterns of American churches. They found that “Noticeably missing in this study of church giving is tithing.” The study shows that total giving for American churches was at about 2.5% for all religious contributions! They found that “If church members were to tithe 10 percent of their income, churches would reap an additional $156 billion.” Christians have forgotten what it means to sacrifice for the kingdom of God. Interestingly, ...