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Ramblings from Retirement – Get Out There and Disciple Someone By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen July 17, 2021 I’m a big fan of the verses I’m going to share with you today but not in the Billy Graham-guilt trip kind of way where you’re left wondering if your Christianity is real. You know what I mean, because you don’t corner every living soul you meet with a black Bible in hand and demand to know if they are going to heaven or hell. Not that Billy Graham did this but I use this in jest. Some of the last words Jesus spoke to his crew before he ascended back to his heavenly abode were these words recorded by Matthew: “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ (Matthew 28:18-20 NIV)” As a preacher...

It’s all about foundations! – Matthew 7:24-29 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 23, 2019 Sometimes you can listen to what is being spoken to you but not understand a single word, not because of the language barrier but because you do not understand what the speaker is talking about. I had a seminary professor that was that way. You could sit there and hear every word he spoke but not understand a single word he said. It was literally Greek to me! Kind of like the adults in those Charlie Brown cartoons on TV: “Wah! Wah! Wah! Wah…” Jesus however spoke plainly and often used terms and words his listeners would immediately understand. Jesus’ words are more than pity sayings to put on a refrigerator door or memes on a Facebook post, they are words of life if you hear them and follow them. Hearing what Jesus said was more than just listening to his words, you had to live by them and for him it was how his followers built a basis for their lives. Let’s discover what Jesus meant when he taught it’s all...

Jesus and the Temptations – Matthew 4:1-11 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 3, 2019 Sin is nothing to sing about and yet the world today takes a pretty casual view of it. I believe this is because many folks have swallowed the lies and deception of Satan. They either think that they were wrongly held accountable for the ungodly choices they made and they want the freedom to do whatever they want whenever they want or there are those who think that evil, sin, and the Devil do not exist. And they incorrectly think that if they simply ignore it or relegate it to “myth” status then it isn’t true. They’ve become too sophisticated and scientific to believe in “fairy tales”. Sadly, evil, sin, and the Devil do indeed exist and are very real and is nothing to sing about. Mankind does not have the capability to be good on its own. We are sinners by nature and choice. From the first disobedient behavior and decision by Adam and Eve to the present day predicament the world finds itself today we find t...

The greeting! - Galatians 1:1-5 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 29, 2016 Depending upon the reason for the message we may use the salutation of "Dear", "Sir or Madam", "To Whom It May Concern", "Folks", or the name of the person or persons we are addressing. Sadly, many greetings have gone out of vogue do to instant messaging or texting and email. And it is important to note that many young people do not understand the importance of a formal or business style of greeting when putting together correspondence for a job or college application. This is because our world has become way too lax in how it addresses others or the politeness, articulation, and education of what these kinds of greetings infer. Galatians, though one of Paul’s shorter letters is highly respected as one of his greatest and most influential. Since both Romans and Galatians teach the doctrine of justification by faith alone (sola fide), it has been seen as a shorter version of Ro...