PastorBlastor

Imitate Jesus! - Romans 15:1-13 April 29, 2007 AM by Pastor Lee Hemen In our day and age where people can remain intimately anonymous in cyber chat rooms and blog rings, they have submerged themselves into self-absorbed cocoons instead of servant churches. Encouraged into this kind of thinking, the local church is no longer a body of like-minded believers working together to build the kingdom of God. Instead, “herds” are ushered into spiritual slaughter houses, with the unsuspecting masses, to watch live video-fed messages projected onto a screen for spiritual entertainment. You can feel you are a part of something, while not really being a part of anything. Sadly, in many cases, the body of Christ in our world has become a prepackaged commodity and has ceased in being the loving intimate family of God it was meant to be. Paul relates to the Roman church that they were to first and foremost imitate Jesus Christ as a church. They were to be His body in the world. This cannot be done in ...

Dealing With Fellow Christians, Part II – Romans 14:13-23 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 22, 2007 AM It has always amazed me that those who are usually in sin are the first to scream, “Do not judge me! Judge not, least ye be judged!” In doing so they miss the context of the verse (Matthew 7:1) they quote. Jesus was referring His audience to the fact that too many in His day and age were quick to weigh other people’s faults without first looking closely at their own (v. 2). The main thrust here is not that you can never judge someone else’s sins, which in fact Christ indeed does say a righteous person can do (v. 6), but rather make sure that you inspect yourself first before doing so. Most Jews in His day were more than willing to judge not only one another but especially the non-believing “goyim” around them. Can Christians judge one another? Paul deals with this issue for us here this morning and gives us a foundation for dealing with fellow Christians. Of course we understand that when so...

Dealing With Fellow Christians, Part I – Romans 14:1-12 by Pastor Lee Hemen April 15, 2007 Although Psalm 133:1 reminds us “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” the Psalmist did not know about my brother Ed and me. While we get along very well now, because we are old and cannot run as fast as we used to, when we were younger we could put on a real show. While we could pound on one another until the cows came home, we also were the first to stand side-by-side one another as well. I will never forget the relief that surged through my scrawny body when behind the three upper classmen, who were trying to take may pants off in order to embarrass me, stood my “Big Brother.” It was kind of like the cavalry showing up in the nick of time! This is the way it should be for fellow believers within the church. Certainly everyone knows that it is often easier to deal with the splinter in someone else’s eye rather than pull the log out of our own. Jesus knew this to b...

Relating to Life! -- Romans 13:8-14 April 1, 2006 AM By Pastor Lee Hemen What one gift does the whole world need and that can never be exhausted? Now, think before you answer and be careful with your reply. It is the only debt you owe that is continually outstanding, that can never be repaid in full. In fact, in order to fully comprehend this gift you have to value the present day and age you live in. Origen, an Early Christian scholar, theologian, and one of the most distinguished of the early fathers of the Christian Church correctly deduced that this gift was “the debt of love [which] remains with us permanently and never leaves us; this is a debt which we both discharge everyday and forever owe.” It is the core of the Christian life. St. Augustine said many centuries ago that you are to “Love God and do what you like.” He did not mean we could do whatever we liked. Rather, we are to live for God and when we do we can do what we like. We forget that faith is not just another word fo...