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The Cost of Discipleship - Mark 8:34-38 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 30, 2010 AM I remember when I was 10 years old saying I would cut our neighbor’s grass for a couple of dollars, but I had not considered that I would have to rake grass clumps afterwards, edge the lawn, and clean the mower. My father related something that has held me in good stay for the rest of my life after I had complained to him about what was involved. He simply said, “You should have counted the cost.” How do you measure the cost of something? I know that when I began to shop for a certain item that I want, I begin to look at reviews of the product online, I read up about different manufacturers of similar items, and I look at the manufacturer’s reputation, customer service, and quality of goods. That may work fine for say a camera or big screen TV, but what about other things in life. What about when we begin to count the cost of a relationship, a job opportunity, or say being a disciple of Jesus? How ...

Who is Jesus? - Mark 8:27-33 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 16, 2010 AM What you believe about something says a lot about you truly accept as correct. There are folks who believe that there are many ways to heaven, yet they cannot relate any one particular way. Often their explanations degenerate into a kind of blurred quasi-spiritual mumbo-jumbo about how one feels religious. I would venture that no sane person would accept the same kind of nonsense when trying to get his or her brakes fixed. “There are many ways to fix your breaks. We offer you several options from using a big rock tied to a rope, to whatever makes you feel comfortable within yourself. We here at Inner Peace Motors want you to connect with your car.” Doesn’t quite work, does it? As Jesus and his disciples were headed from one area of ministry to the next, Jesus pauses along the way and asks them a pointed question concerning who they think he is. Their answers of what others think and Peter’s open confession, t...

Hannah – 1 Samuel 1:1-15 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 9, 2010 AM Do you ever struggle with prayer? What do you think is the nature of the struggle? One struggle is that we end up praying platitudes. How do we stop using the same old platitudes in our prayers? The Proverbist related, “Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread (Proverbs 30:7-8).” He had the right idea. Jesus said that part of our prayers should be, “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread (Matthew 6:10-11).” One wonderful mother from the pages of the Old Testament can teach us a lot about prayer. Her name is Hannah. In fact, Hannah can teach us bunches about how mothers and the rest of us ought to pray and since this is Mother’s Day, we are going to pause our study of Mark’s gospel and study Hannah and her prayer. Let’s see what Hanna...

Some that Are Blind See - Mark 8:22-26 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 2, 2010 AM There are those in the world, like the Cheshire Cat from Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass,” who actually believe their mad rendition of life is a worthy philosophy to follow. It is a rather odd path to walk: Alice “began, rather timidly… Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat. “I don’t much care where…” said Alice. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat. “…so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation. “Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.” And, sadly, that is what a lot of folks adhere to for their life’s philosophy. “If only you walk long enough.” Jesus would declared, “Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:14) Jesus knew that some of those who think they can see sp...