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Old vs. new! -- Matthew 9:14-17 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 8, 2019 Some long for the “good old days” but not me. I like indoor plumbing, electricity, microwaves, computers, smart phones, and hot and cold running water at the turn of a tap. I remember when few families had TV or even a phone in their homes. The small town I grew up in had three TV stations and they all went off the air after the late news and that was when the news was truly news instead of personal commentary. It’s the age old competition of the old verses the new. When Jesus came and began his ministry he came face-to-face with the Jewish traditions that had been enforced for centuries with his teaching that the kingdom of God was at hand. Everything was about to change and it had to in order for people to come to God through Jesus. The kingdom was now open for everyone and not just a chosen few and because of this the confrontation was going to occur even in what we might consider the small arena of life. The spir...

Mercy! -- Matthew 9:9-13 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 1, 2019 When the great Puritan preacher Thomas Hooker (1586-1647) was on his deathbed, a friend tried to console him by saying, “Brother Hooker, you are going to receive your reward.” “No, no!” he breathed. “I go to receive mercy!” What is this mercy Hooker longed to receive? God’s mercy is found in every act of Jesus, his every kindness, and especially in the unmerited favor we find when we come to him as Savior and Lord. It is sacrificial in its very nature. We set aside ourselves, our desires, and our needs to give everything to another just as Jesus did when he willingly sacrificed himself for our sins. Here we find Matthew a tax collector who others felt did not deserve God’s favor finding it in the unlikely place. Matthew finds mercy. Let’s see how… READ: Matthew 9:9-13 In our pride we think we know it all or have all the answers but we do not. In fact we discover that… I. Mercy is found in submission! (Vv. 9) As Jesus went o...

Judging others! – Matthew 7:1-6 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 12, 2019 One of the first justifications people will use to excuse or defend their poor choices in life or ungodly lifestyles are the verses we will look at this morning. I have found it interesting that while they never read the Bible, often neglect church, and have no clue who God truly is they can quote this passage almost verbatim. What they fail to realize is that it doesn’t expose Christians for “judging” them incorrectly but rather the hypocrisy of their choices and ignorance of Scripture. The Pharisees were some of the most judgmental people in history. They were quick to judge the actions, spiritual behavior, and the cultures of others around them while neglecting their own spiritual ineptitude. They were the Muslims and Mormons of their day. While some believers can be seen as having the same judgmental attitude we need to fully understand what Jesus was teaching and why. Let’s take a fresh look at what Jesus taught abou...

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...

John the baptizer – Matthew 3:1-12 By Pastor Lee Hemen January 20, 2019 Everyone is known for something. Notice I did not say that everyone is famous, well-known, or publicly recognizable. But each of usually is known for something. When I was in elementary school I was known for organizing all of the younger grades into a force to be reckoned with on the playground. You pick on one of us, we all attacked you. It stopped bullying in its tracks. I was surprised years later when this guy at Portland State University asked me if I was the same Lee Hemen who organized that group because he was one of the younger kids we “rescued”! Here we discover John, and no, he was not the first Baptist, rather he is known for his baptisms. He should be known correctly as John the Baptizer. We will discover that not everyone follows the normal dictates of social decorum or dress and John was one of these folks. He was not homeless as I have heard some liberal preachers try to emphasize; he was a man wit...

Jesus Enters Jerusalem - John 12:13-19 By Pastor Lee Hemen August 2, 2015 Living in a small town like Wenatchee growing up we used to get excited when the Fair used to happen each summer, but imagine how excited we were when we found out that the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus was coming to town! Sure, we had seen the Shrine Circus and the Wenatchee Youth Circus, but now there would be actual animals like elephants, lions, tigers, and bears… oh my! And they would have a big parade downtown! Everyone for miles around came to the parade. Now imagine living in an area that has seen, heard, and some had experienced the ministry and miracles of Jesus. Can you imagine what would happen if the folks heard he was coming to the Passover in Jerusalem, especially after raising the man Lazarus from the dead? Needless to say, hundreds of thousands of people would come for the Passover in Jerusalem, and even more would try to see, hear, or experience Jesus if he came as well. H...

The Fallout -- John 11:45-57 By Pastor Lee Hemen July 12, 2015 People have some strange ideas and then wonder why their lives are so messed up. "I am a god," Kayne West sings on his new album. "I wrote 'I Am a God'... Cause it's like, 'Yo! Nobody can tell me where I can and can't go'," he told W Magazine. "Man, I'm the number one living and breathing rock star. I am Axl Rose; I am Jim Morrison; I am Jimi Hendrix." Michelle Pfeiffer recently revealed that she at one time believed humans could exist on sunlight alone. Fran Drescher reportedly thinks she and her ex-husband were abducted by aliens and implanted with electronic tracking chips. She talks about matching scars they share, noting the marks are from their alien encounters. Shirley MacLaine believes her ex-husband is a clone of the real one, an astronaut named Paul. For years Steve, his real name, conned MacLaine into paying him up to $60,000 a month for “Paul’s space trav...

Old and New Wine Skins – Mark 2:18-22 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 27, 2009 AM I have found it interesting and sometimes humorous to have conversations with those who claim to have faith in Jesus Christ, but in reality have no idea what it means. A lot of folks will say, “I’m a Christian,” thinking that because they are good people, were born in a religious home, or live in America that they are “Christian.” It is really kind of silly because they would not think that by entering a grocery store that they all of sudden became a loaf of bread! Here is an experiment to try to see if what I am saying is true: Go to the local airport, get on a jet bound for Hawaii, and then insist that you should be allowed to fly the plane because you are now an airline pilot simply because you got on board the aircraft. The TSA would haul you off the plane quicker than you could say, “Wait! I was only kidding! Don’t lock me up!” Why then do people try to delude themselves and try to fool others into thi...

Saints, Sinners, and Tax Collectors! - Mark 2:13-17 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 20, 2004 AM Last week I spoke about friends and this week we discover just what kind of friends Jesus was willing to hang with. Jesus was one of those people who saw everyone He met with potential. It did not matter if they were saints, sinners, or tax collectors, Jesus saw them with the same possibilities to come to faith in God. Of course that is why Jesus came: To seek and save the lost and the lost were everywhere Jesus went. He was surrounded by those who were living separated from God. Things have not changed much from then until now. We still find a lot of saints, sinners, and tax collectors. This section of Mark shows us just who Jesus was willing to befriend even if it meant some harassment from the religious establishment of the day. In fact it dramatically shows us that you cannot claim friendship with God without being made new by His Son, Jesus Christ. Let’s discover what Mark can teach us th...