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The precedence of praying together - Acts 6:1-5 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 25, 2011 AM The church today is a mere spiritual shadow of its former self. The reason I believe is because it has forgotten the importance of praying together. This issue is extremely important for three reasons: 1) Praying together as a church is crucial for a spiritually healthy church. 2) Praying together is a vital for God’s presence to work among his people. In addition, 3) the tendency among believers is to think of prayer gatherings as the extra-curricular activity in the life of the church, something that can be ignored. It’s good for other people to do, but not important enough for me to join. There are a growing number of believers, who view cooperative prayer as optional, secondary, and unimportant. We do not find this to be true in Scripture nor in the history of the church. God has sovereignly ordained his church to pray together so that his presence is manifested and his purposes ar...

Love one another - Mark 12:28-34; Luke 6:27-31; John 13:34-35 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 18, 2011 AM Wasn’t it Tina Turner who sang, “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” I am not certain about the full meaning of that lyric, nor does it necessarily pique my interest. One thing is sure, she is not singing about Christian love! Jesus repeatedly admonishes his followers to love God totally, to love each other unconditionally, and to love one another. Love has everything to do with the Christian life. Unselfish, unashamed and unrestrained love is the essence of kingdom faithfulness. The Apostle John understood this and wrote, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. (1 John 4:8-9 NIV) Without love, everything else the believer does is of little significance or value. Today’s message will be a clear reminder of love’s priority in our faith. R...

God’s incredible gift! - John 3:1-17 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 11, 2011 AM Incredible bargains! Fantastic values! Unbelievable quality! These are some of the phrases that are blared into our ears and blazoned before our eyes as advertisers try to make us believe and buy on the basis of what they have just told us. I tend to accept their acknowledgment of reckless exaggeration and keep my money in my pocket, believing the maxim: “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” The Bible speaks with unrestrained enthusiasm about his incredible gift of love in Jesus Christ. It does not call it unbelievable, though, and then ask us to believe it. What God says and does is incredible; however, we can believe it! In today’s text is relates a truth that appeared unbelievable. Twice Nicodemus, a Jewish teacher, asked how what Jesus was telling him could happen. Jesus’ words, however, were not too good to be true; they related a truth too important to ignore! The truth of God’...

Galatians 1:1-5 & 2:20-21 - God’s calling… September 4, 2011 AM By Pastor Lee Hemen My mother used to embarrass the tar out of me when she would call me in for dinner. She would stand out on our front porch and holler “Leeeeeeee Howard Heeeeemen, come home!” Not satisfied to do it once, she would repeat her siren call for several humiliating minutes. Just one time did I decide not to respond to my mother’s call to come immediately home. Afterwards, my father had a little talk with me and I came to the conclusion that it was best for my emotional and physical health, to answer quickly when my mother called. The Bible teaches us that God calls each of his followers to his service. Jesus individually called his disciples and Paul writes, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the f...