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The Submissive Life! -- James 4:6-10 By Pastor Lee Hemen July 27, 2014 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:6-10 NIV) In God’s mercy, he extends to us more grace. Sometimes I wonder if we do not take advantage of the love of God in our lives. What I mean is that we can forget what the grace of God is all about. It is his unmerited love for us. We did not earn it, we could not buy it, nor could we be good enough for it. God freely gave it through the sacrifice of his Son Jesus. We still have the desires and lusts of our natural lives and our prayers are often the result of ...

Discover, Decide, and Defend! – 1 Peter 3:15-16 By Pastor Lee Hemen July 20, 2014 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (1 Peter 3:15 NIV) Loyalty, we all like it when companies, family, or friends are loyal to us but are we loyal in return? And what does it mean for you to be loyal? You have to believe in the person, place, or thing you decide to be loyal to. God desires our loyalty. This is why Peter reminds us, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.” We are to hallow; honor as holy, enshrining God in our hearts as Jesus reminds us in the Lord’s Prayer where he reminds us to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9 NIV). God’s holiness is thus glorified i...

The Focused Life! – James 4:1-5 By Pastor Lee Hemen July 13, 2014 It amazes me how unfocused many in the world are today. They expect and sometimes even demand that others do all the work for them so that they can “focus” on whatever strikes their fancy for the moment. It has infected Christianity to some extent as well. There are those who simply cannot focus on how they are supposed to live for the Lord and expect a quick sermon, a Bible app, or the latest Christian book to solve their particular spiritual problem. James faced something similar in his day and he was trying to get the attention of those he was writing to. He had just told them that “the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” His readers were having difficulties in being peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, and having the good fruit of the gospel! In fact, we discover they had a problem in bei...