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Who's Your Daddy? - John 8:37-47 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 24, 2015 One of the greatest detriments to our society's stability is the dysfunctional makeup of families; namely the amount of absentee father's in the home. According to the National Fatherhood Initiative, "There is a crisis in America. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 24 million children in America—one out of three—live without their biological dad in the home. Consequently, there is a “father factor” in nearly all of the societal issues facing America today." Children of absentee fathers are more likely to live in poverty, have emotional and behavioral problems, more likely to commit crime, use drugs, get pregnant, and more likely to face abuse and neglect. I see the affects of absent fathers daily where I work as a playground monitor. While the absence of natural fathers in families is a terrible thing, the absence of having our Heavenly Father in a family can be far worse. Strong Christian fatherl...

Not of this World! - John 8:21-29 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 10, 2015 Moms are not of this world. They must have some kind of internal sensor system that lets them know when their offspring have stopped hearing their genteel suggestions. I know this to be true because my Mom used to tell us, "You're not listening to me!" as a child. I often wondered how in the world she could know that I wasn't listening to her. Was it the glazed look in my eyes, the impatient wiggling, or the constant yawning? Whatever the clues, she knew I was spaced out and not listening. Jesus had the same kind of problem with his detractors; they simply refused to hear what he was trying to teach them about himself. In this section of John's gospel we find Jesus confronting the deaf ears of his enemies. They simply refused to understand that he was not of this world, let's discover for ourselves what occurred and why it is important for us this morning. READ: John 8:21-29 My mom often had wo...

Family, what are you going to do? -- John 7:1-10 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 22, 2015 A comedian once quipped, "The problem with relatives is that they tend to be family." I am not sure exactly what he meant by that, but I am sure there are some folks in our families we would rather not relate to. Families can be close or they can be dysfunctional, sadly, far too many in our day and age are the latter. We know that Jesus had younger brothers; James, Joseph, Jude and Simon to name four (Mark 6:3), and some sisters as well. We also know that Mary was his mother was still alive and yet Joseph, his adoptive father, was probably dead by the time he began his ministry. And, we also discover that his family did not fully understand Jesus' calling nor who he was (Mark 3:21, 31) and tried to dissuade him from following the path God had set for him. I remember well when I decided to follow God's calling in my life, how my own family reacted. It wasn't all rose blossoms and...

Keep on praying! – Luke 11:1-13 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 11, 2012 AM It was a dark night. The traveler had a flat tire on a seldom used road. To complicate matters, he could not find his tire jack. The only solution lay in appealing to unknown persons in the dark farm house down the road. As he approached the house, the traveler thought to himself, “I’m sure that the farmer will be angry if I wake him and he will probably respond angrily to me. If he gives me anything at all, it will probably be out of total annoyance. The sleepy farmer came to the door and asked the traveler, “What can I do for you?” “Keep your old tire jack,” growled the traveler, “I didn’t want it anyway!” He stomped off, leaving a perplexed farmer scratching his head. Here was a needy person who returned to his needy situation without a needed solution. His approach only brought him frustration, not satisfaction. Sadly, many Christians have the same results with their prayer lives. Jesus gave the disci...

When Chaos Hits Home, Go Home! – Luke 1:26-50 By Pastor Lee Hemen November 30, 2008 AM What do you do when you hear news that will change your life? When the chaos of life hits home? Most of us immediately turn to those who love us, our family. For many of us when we are going through a tough time in life, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home!” I can remember being far from home in California and wanting more than anything to be home for the holidays. That is the way family should work, when times get chaotic you immediately think of heading home because those are the folks who understand you and love you the most. For the believer our home and family is not just with our biologic loved ones but also with our Heavenly Father as well. We discover that no matter what happens in life or where we are, God is right there and we can head for His loving arms anytime we desire. We discover that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was no different. When she was faced with the r...