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Jesus the baptized – Matthew 3:13-17 By Pastor Lee Hemen January 27, 2019 Just because you feel empathy for someone doesn’t mean you have actually done anything for them and yet there are those today who actually think that feeling something for someone is just as valid as actually doing something. Nothing could be further from the truth. James would remind us by asking, “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? (James 2:15-16 NIV)” He would say that such faith is “dead” if it is not accompanied by some kind of action. James was not arguing about good deeds saving someone but rather what demonstrated faith in a person’s life. Baptism did not “save” Jesus but demonstrated his faith to the world. Here in these verses we find the Messiah coming to the Jordan River to be baptized by John his cousin. There have been all kinds of speculat...

The God of the Universe! – Colossians 1:15-16 By Pastor Lee Hemen July 16, 2017 We know that God in his natural state, for lack of a better phrase, “is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24 NIV) and “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind” (Numbers 23:19 NIV) contrary to several heresies. However, folks have wondered for ages just what God might look like if one could see him and because of this he came in the form of Jesus to show himself to all mankind. Paul teaches us about God through Jesus Christ. He wanted his readers to be enlightened to who exactly Jesus was and is. Recently I read an article that twisted the use of Lifeway’s VBS literature to teach Modalism where the persons of the Trinity represent only three modes or aspects of the divine revelation, not distinct and coexisting persons in the divine nature; Lifeway uses three states of being in an illustration of ice, liquid, and gas f...

Spiritual strength! - Ephesians 3:14-21 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 12, 2017 The spiritual strength that God provides gives the believer the tenacity to stay the course. Wanting to mature in her spiritual life one woman started what she called a Thanks-Living jar. Each evening she wrote on a small slip of paper one thing she thanked God for and dropped it in the jar. Some days she had many praises; other days she struggled to find one. At the end of the year she emptied her jar and read the slips. She discovered how God had given her simple things like a sunset or an evening stroll; or how he had provided momentary grace to handle a difficult situation. What is it that gives the believer the strength to go into hardships, frustrations, and at great personal sacrifice to foreign fields to share the good news? How can they spend years serving far away from their home country, neighborhoods, and families to serve the calling of Christ? How can the average believer stand fast in their fai...

A new hope! - Ephesians 1:1-14 By Pastor Lee Hemen January 1, 2016 It’s a new year, a fresh start, and a time to get rid of the old and in with the new, right? For some it is easier said than done. I have never even in my entire life seen and heard such a crowd of whining sore losers. I used to think that this nation would and could move forward no matter who was elected, and this was after Presidents that I thoroughly disagreed with and who abused and misused their offices to further their personal, sexual, and societal agendas. We have a nation that exhibits an immaturity that needs to be kicked in the rear and told to get over itself. A new President does not mean the end of all things; it only means you get to vote a different scoundrel into office in another four years! There is always a new hope! We live in a day and age where there is way too much emphasis on self. People would rather have others tell them what to think and do rather than actually figure out for their own selves...

The attitude of Christ - Philippians 2:1-13 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 28, 2016 Mentorship is important in life and whether we like it or not we tend to emulate those who raised us or had the greatest influence on our life. In today's world far too often believers have allowed society to dictate how they are to live their lives instead of their faith in Christ. My father taught me that how you treat others and what you do when you are alone says a lot about your character. He would remind us that whether we were at home or away we should remain consistent in our lives and whatever we did would reflect on our entire family, and especially how we were raised. What does your actions whether in church or away from other believers say about your faith in Jesus? Faith is not just how you feel about yourself, it is the reflection of Jesus you mirror for the world around you and how you influence and impact it. The Bible makes very clear as Christians, followers of Jesus we should ...

The gift! - John 14:15-26 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 4, 2015 Gifts can be very personal things depending upon the giver, the getter, and the gift. We are entering the season where folks begin to think about gifts, with the celebration of Christmas just around the corner. Some gifts last past their original giver and receiver and are handed down from generation to generation. Generational gifts can carry with them not only the significance of the original gift but the memories of all those it was given to as well. Jesus left all of his followers an indescribable gift. One that never fades fails, is out of date, grows old, or breaks. In fact it lasts a lifetime! John has been giving us clues to this gift all along in Jesus' ministry and teaching and now during the Last Supper, Jesus reveal what this gift is and what it means for his disciples and future followers. Let's take a look at the gift… READ: John 14:15-26 It is always good to have someone who supports you no matter what...

The Living Water! - John 7:37-53 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 19, 2015 I was reading an old western the other day by Louis L'Amour. In it the hero was trekking across the Southwestern desert without water when he comes to a small watering hole. He figures out that the water is no good; it is poisoned and would kill him if he drank it, and since there is no other water for miles he has to do something about it before he can drink it. This little piece of the short story I was reading made me begin to wonder how in the world do folks in our day and age know, when they are dying of thirst, if the water they are drinking is poisoned or not? Folks can be poisoned by a lot of things: What they read, what they are taught, by the example given them from their peers or parents, or what they watch in movie or TV. Everything from our spirituality to our worldview can be slowly poisoned and we never realize it until we have to pay the ultimate price. The common folks of Jesus' day were slowin...

The Light! -- John 1:1-5 By Pastor Lee Hemen August 31, 2014 In the strictest sense this Gospel has no author named like Paul’s letters do. It is anonymous. In fact, none of the four Gospel authors identify themselves by name. There is a good reason for this, they are not meant to be private letters to specific churches or individuals, except perhaps Luke’s Gospel. Yet we discover that often the writer reveals himself through his writing and we discover that church history can often reveal who the authors were. Putting all of these facts together makes a good case for the author of the Fourth Gospel having been John, one of the sons of a fisherman named Zebedee. The date for the writing of the Gospel of John was probably between 85 and 95 AD, however, there is good evidence that it could have been written as early as 45 and 65 AD before the destruction of the Temple. And, John himself tells us why he wrote his gospel, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ...