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Feeding the People - Mark 6:30-44 By Pastor Lee Hemen January 31, 2010 AM There is an old joke that asks, “How many southern Baptist does it take to change a light bulb?” The answer is, “Nine. Seven to form a committee on ‘finding the right price for light bulbs’, one to change it, and one to bring a casserole for the potluck afterwards.” Then of course, Southern Baptists are the only Christians who want to be buried with their favorite casserole dish – just in case. Do you know what the right of passage is for a Southern Baptist church member? To be able to name all the past potluck dishes served since New Years. Of course, you know you are a Southern Baptist when you watch the Food Channel and wonder how many of the exotic foods would taste in a casserole. We often take food for granted. It is reasonable that we do because we live in a country where food is readily available and cheap. During Jesus’ day, there was not a great variety of foods. Even those who could afford something di...

Losing Your Head for God - Mark 6:14-29 By Pastor Lee Hemen January 24, 2010 AM It is humorous that when some folks try and share their faith today, they end up endorsing what amounts to neo-paganistic superstition. From walking spiritual mazes to Christian chanting has become the latest in fashionable religious practice in some circles. Quasi forms of spirituality have always been used by those who feel guilt over their lack of sincere faith since the Garden of Eden. Take for instance one recent public service announcement where one starlet grandly announces that she believes in many differing forms of spirituality. What she is tacitly confessing is her lack of any kind of concrete faith. One wonders why. It could be a shallow attempt to excuse a life of ungodliness. Often, those who are caught up in a lack of faith desire to make excuses by trying to convince others that their own brand of spiritual superstition is just as valid as Biblical Christianity. Here in Mark’s gospel we find...

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...

You Cannot Always Go Home - Mark 6:1-6 January 10, 2010 AM Pastor Lee Hemen Isn’t it funny how we often have fond memories of experiences that could have been quite awful, especially when it comes to our growing up years? I know I do. Here is what I mean: We could have had a very difficult time of growing up, say like being raised poor or facing some severe trials, but in retrospect we believe they were the best times of our lives! However, it can be a real shock when we try and “go home,” so-to-speak. We often find that going home can mean coming face-to-face with how people and places actually were and not how we fondly remember them to be. There have been numerous movies, plays, and books written, telling the tale of someone going home only to face the reality of their emotional, psychological, and spiritual past. One would think that the Son of God would be exempt from such self-examination, scrutiny, or emotional or personal confrontation that can come from going back home. Howeve...

The Wonder-working Power - Mark 5:21-43 Pastor Lee Hemen January 3, 2010 According to a recent AP story, a Colorado woman says a Christmas miracle brought her and her newborn son back from the brink of death after her heart stopped beating during childbirth and the baby was delivered showing no signs of life. “I got a second chance in life,” Tracy Hermanstorfer said. She was being prepped for childbirth at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs. Her 37-year-old husband was by her side when she began to feel sleepy and lay back in her bed. Tracy's husband Mike was clutching his pregnant wife's hand when her life slipped away on Christmas Eve, and then he cradled his newborn son's limp body seconds after a medical team delivered the baby by Cesarean section. Minutes later, he saw his son come to life in his arms under the feverish attention of doctors, and soon he learned his wife had inexplicably come back to life. The couple both credits it to the wonder-working power of God...

The Traveling Carpenter By Pastor Lee Hemen December 27, 2009 AM A weary traveler comes into view, sets his one piece of odd-looking luggage and a carpenter's long metal tool box down, and sits heavily down on a long row of chairs of a nondescript airport waiting area. He sighs big, checks his pockets, finds something to eat in them, and opens up a granola bar and begins to eat it. Looking around he discovers that he isn’t alone and addresses the audience. (He is busily checking all of his pockets for his airplane tickets.) I know I put those airline tickets somewhere in my pockets, but which one? Gosh, Mama is gonna be mad at me if I lost them and then there will be the hassle of going to the ticket counter and getting them reissued… (Finds the tickets folded up in his hat band.) Oh… silly me… there they are! I am getting more absent minded everyday! Now, where did I put that airport map… Oh well… I will look on the wall or ask someone for directions. Airports! They are all the sa...

Yacob, the Simple Carpenter 12-13-09 AM By Pastor Lee Hemen (We find an older man, dressed in carpentry clothes, busily working in his shop, and singing to himself.) Yehovah is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He guides me in His righteousness… Good morning! Shalom! May the Lord bless you! Welcome to my carpentry shop! My name is Yacob. I do all kinds of carpentry work! What do you need today? Just looking for some good sturdy furniture? I can do that! I am but a simple carpenter. My father was a simple carpenter, his father was a simple carpenter, and… well… you get the idea. (Expansively.) We are all simple carpenters! We have a long history of being carpenters. But I can make almost anything you would need! Do you need a table? A chair? Perhaps you need a cradle? Do you have children? I do. A son. Yoseph. Do they follow in your footsteps? Do they want to do what you do for a ...

Of Pigs, People, and Demons - Mark 5:1-20 By Pastor Lee Hemen December 6, 2009 AM When we are presented with facts and figures we retain only about 5% of what we are taught. However, when we are given illustrations or parables, like Jesus used, we retain about half of them. If we become emotionally connected to the illustration used, we retain even more of the information given to us. This is why we remember stories like the one we are going to read today. The healing of a man that is totally out of control because of the demons in his life, frightens us, intrigues us, and helps us to indentify with him because we all fight some demonic influences in our lives. Seeing him completely healed gives us hope and a certainty in life. Last week we learned about how Jesus calms the storms of life. In this section we will look at today we will discover that after Jesus calms the storm-blown waves that frightened his disciples, he is faced with the personal storm of an individual whose daily ro...

Jesus Calms Life’s Storms - Mark 4:35-41 By Pastor Lee Hemen November 29, 2009 AM If you have never been out in the open ocean during a raging storm you have no idea what true fear can be like. The closest thing to experiencing this kind of fear would be to watch the movie “The Perfect Strom” which was taken from the book about the 1991 perfect storm that hit the North American coast in October 1991, and features the crew of the fishing boat Andrea Gail, based out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. The crew was lost 575 miles at sea during the severe conditions while fishing for Marlin. Also in the book and movie is the story about the rescue of the three-person crew of the sailboat Satori in the Atlantic waters during the storm, by the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tamaroa. The weather created huge towering waves described as being 7 to 10 stories tall! How would you calm a storm like that? Our lives can have perfect storms as well. Storms created by conditions of our own making, illnesses, or t...