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Hebrews 13:1-6 – How to live your lives in Christ! By Pastor Lee Hemen January 27, 2013 AM If you only had a few days to live or if you knew, you may not see certain people you cared about ever again, what advice would you leave them? In Douglas Adams’ book “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” all the dolphins and whales leave earth right before it is destroyed to make room for an intergalactic interchange and off ramp. Their final message is, “So long and thanks for all the fish!” Not to worry, earth is later rebuilt by the dolphins in their Save the Humans campaign. As silly as this is, what message would you leave? Perhaps you might share how those you leave behind should live their lives in Christ. The author of Hebrews is closing his sermon to his fellow Jewish believers. He is concerned for their future and rightly so. He had spoken to them in general terms before but now he gets down to the nitty-gritty and very specific moral obligations they are to be mindful o...

Hebrews 12:18-29 – Shaken, not deterred! By Pastor Lee Hemen January 20, 2013 AM There is the line from the older James Bond movies where he ordered his martinis to be “shaken and not stirred.” Bond supposedly wanted his drink well mixed and chilled with crushed ice. Though you will rarely see a vodka martini mentioned in a peer-reviewed paper, the scientific principles that go into creating the favorite drink of Ian Fleming's James Bond are more sophisticated, perhaps more than his imaginary gadgets. It is a matter of chemistry. Twenty shakes, makes any drink as cold as it is going to get. How in the world would this apply to what I am going to teach today? We as believers in Christ should display the same cool character while under fire in life as James Bond did when confronted with an evil adversary. The author of Hebrews describes how the Hebrews had been shaken and terrified when Moses went up on the mountain to receive the commands of God. God has replaced that f...

Hebrews 12:12-17 – Get Up and Get Going! By Pastor Lee Hemen January 13, 2013 AM Have you ever had one of those days where it is tough to get out of bed? The other day I think my get up got up and went! It was tough to roll out of the covers. Usually, I am happy and singing the moment my feet hit the floor but the other day I thought that someone set off firecrackers and then I realized it was the sound of my bones cracking! I ended up having to claim the verse out of Revelation that states, “And he swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, ‘There will be no more delay!’” (Revelation 10:6 NIV) I had to get up and get going! The writer of Hebrews now focuses on the fact that his listeners needed to get up and get going with their faith. It was time to stop procrastinating. Perhaps many of them, like many of us, had decided to be more faithful, tomorr...

Hebrews 12:1-11 – Discipline Yourself! By Pastor Lee Hemen January 6, 20 12 AM Whom would you emulate in life if you could? As I remarked last week, few adults have heroes anymore. We see those who society holds up as heroes and they fall far short of what true heroes are all about. In fact, we have reduced heroism to anyone who faces a difficulty in life, an illness, or anyone who we think is special. Now, do not get offended. I personally believe that heroes are more than that. While there are those who are very courageous and those who are strong in character, that does not necessarily make them heroes. Heroes are those individuals who are, in the face of personal danger, willing to sacrifice themselves or risk it all for others. We want to be careful not to reduce heroism to a politically correct definition in order to sooth our conscience. Courageous folks who face a terminal illness or overcome difficult circumstances in life are great role models for us and Hebrews ...