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Nehemiah 4:1-23 - Building the Church -- Learning how to trust God! By Pastor Lee Hemen May 29, 2011 AM Why is it that some of us seem to face more opposition in life than others? Perhaps it is because of our circumstances, the results of our choices, or could there be another dynamic at work in our lives that we have not understood before? When children are little, they often love to be thrown high into the air and caught by their father. However, as they get older the rules for the game became different. As the child is tossed into the air, as has happened so many times before, they now become frightened. Why? (No, it is not because they have been dropped so many times before!) They began to trust their head more than their faith in their father to catch them! When trying to build our lives in Christ we can go through the same kind of fears. We start out trusting Jesus, but as we face physical and spiritual obstacles, we begin to trust our head more than we trust Christ. ...

Building a strong church--accomplishing the impossible! Nehemiah 3:1-32 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 22, 2011 AM Has anyone ever told you that you cannot do something and so to prove him or her wrong, you went ahead and did it anyway? That attitude can be seen as being headstrong, if it is motivated by pride. I remember when I was in High School I told a young lady I could ski. I had not been on skis since I was a very young boy and I knew nothing of getting on or off a ski lift! This fact was embarrassingly revealed when I agreed to take her skiing at Crystal Mountain near Mt. Rainer. The first time down the slope, I nearly killed several others and myself all because I wanted to impress a girl. However, if your attitude is motivated by what God has shown is possible in your life, then, there is a whole new dynamic at work! The Apostle Paul wrote that he could “...do everything through Him (Jesus) who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13) We discover that Nehemiah had the same...

Nehemiah 2:11-20 - Building a Church through F. A. I. T. H. By Pastor Lee Hemen May 15, 2011 AM We have all heard the old adage that states, “Heaven helps those who help themselves!” However, many might be surprised to learn that it is not found anywhere in the Bible. In fact, it comes from an Aesop’s fable! The story does give out some good advice. It seems that a teamster got his heavy wagon stuck deep in the mud. As he stood there, helpless, and crying out for help, Hercules shows up! Hercules looks disgustingly at the man and tells him, “Put your shoulder to the wheel and goad your horses. Then, call on Hercules to assist you. If you won’t lift a finger to help yourself, you can’t expect Hercules or anyone else to come to your aid.” Some mistakenly think that faith works that way that they have to be good before God loves them. They have to “help” themselves before God will. This simply is not true. God already loves us, if he did not, he would not have sent Jesus to di...

Building the Church--Allowing Time for Proper Preparation Nehemiah 2:1-10 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 7, 2011 AM I had received one of those plastic model airplanes! This was going to be great stuff! With eager anticipation I opened the box and out fell hundreds of pieces of tiny little plastic parts, decals, and plans. What had started out as eager anticipation was reduced to utter disappointment. How was I going to build this thing with all of its hundreds of parts and pieces? My mother happened to come into my bedroom delivering a pile of clean clothes, she inquired why I was so depressed looking. I showed her the hundreds of plastic pieces and she responded, “You’ve just got to allow time for proper preparation. Read the directions and take it one piece at a time.” Now a ten-year-old kid doesn’t have a lot of patience with details, but I learned that spring that if I planned properly I could build a pretty detailed plastic model airplane! A church can be a lot like a ten-ye...