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Giving! – Matthew 6:1-4 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 31, 2019 We are not a giving society. Yes we give a lot to charity but the real reason we give may not be as altruistic as we want others to believe. God is not fooled. Giving comes from what is inside a person and can never be done out of guilt, coercion, or tax evasion! We often forget that if do not give for the right reasons we will suffer the consequences of our giving and is why Paul would write that we would do well to “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:6-7 NIV)” Giving like a lot of things in Jewish life had become a matter of course or regularity. Kind of a ho-hum thing that a person did because they wanted God to like them and the neighbors to think they hadn’t become pagans. Today folks wrestle w...

Vows, revenge, and enemies! – Matthew 5:33-48 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 24, 2019 Foul language, disrespect, arrogance and revengeful attitudes have become a societal norm. So much so you have those who actually think that you can dictate through laws how to make people act respectful toward one another. The Washington State Legislature is considering a law that would enforce rules against bullying in schools. Believe me it will not stop the perceived problem they are trying to solve. Laws are a Band-Aid approach to a deeper problem. Remember Jesus was trying to get his audience to realize that it isn’t what comes out of a person that matters as much as what is inside a person. Jesus taught that “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45 NIV)” That which is “stored up” inside of us is what truly shows the world what w...

Lust and love! – Matthew 5:27-32 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 17, 2013 Our society as a whole often confuses lust and love. It has become more of a concern because we have begun to endorse and even encourage perverted lifestyles because we have blurred the lines between the two. Young children are often caught in the crosshairs of politically correct garbage rather than the truth. Some are undergoing chemical, physical, and emotional sex changes in order to sooth the ungodly consciences of adults. Sadly we will reap the consequences of such ungodly and perverted politically correctness. Here in Matthew’s gospel we see Jesus meeting head on the age old ungodliness of sexuality. He confronts how people viewed marriage and sexual relationships. With the Internet and the rise of pornography addiction we need to look again at what Jesus taught about lust and love and why… READ: Matthew 5:27-32 We must remind ourselves that here in the beatitudes Jesus deliberately used extreme examples in orde...

Anger! – Matthew 5:21-26 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 10, 2019 Angry words can never be taken back. Society’s standard of foul and angry words has declined in recent years, but we don’t have to decline with it, we should think about how to honor God with our speech. We please the Lord with our tongue when we show discernment. Proverbs 10:19 reminds us that “He who restrains his lips is wise”. When we do speak, we are to filter the words that escape our lips: “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles” (Proverbs 21:23 NIV). Paul’s warns us to “let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth” (Ephesians 4:29 NIV). How can we keep our anger contained? How do we remain calm in a world that seems to be filled with hatred, evil, and ungodly behavior? Jesus in the Beatitudes sets an almost impossible situation where we are to speak right and think right all the time. Jesus did this to startle his listeners and to shock them into listening to what he was teaching about himsel...

Fulfilled! – Matthew 5:17-20 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 3, 2019 We have all heard the phrase, “the letter of the law”. It means that the law must be followed exactly in how it is written and not simply interpreted however someone wants it to be or whenever they want it to be. It is the old argument over the letter of the law versus the spirit of the law. When one obeys the letter of the law but not the spirit, one is obeying the literal interpretation of the words of the law, but not necessarily the intent of those who wrote the law. The problem comes when one tries to interpret what those who wrote it intended because then it is often tainted by the one wanting to interpret it. The Jewish spiritual leaders of Jesus’ day had done quite a number on the Law of Moses and often spent hours, days, months, and years interpreting what they thought God meant. We see this kind of spiritual legal dance in today’s Catholic Church or in mainline liberal denominations like Episcopalian, Lutherans, o...