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Ramblings from Retirement – Better than a Lifetime Guarantee By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen April 3, 2021 If you have not learned the simple and hard lesson that there is nothing guaranteed in life you had better learn it fast. What the Jewish people understood was the fact that life was fleeting. Many hoped there would be an afterlife but most believed there was not and that you would just “sleep” in the bosom of Abraham forever. Jesus changed all of that though. Jesus related to Nicodemus, “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, bu...

God uses the foolish things! – 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 By Pastor Lee Hemen January 26, 2020 When things change it can seem foolish to those who get used to the way things as they are. Yet we can be the “foolish” ones when we make demands like: “If they do not do it this way I will…” or “If it isn’t done the way I like, then…” We are like the petulant child who doesn’t like the way the game is going and takes his ball home. However, we learn that God often uses the foolish things of the world. The Jews had gotten used to being the slaves of whichever power marched through their homeland. While they mouthed their allegiance to God within their hearts they had truly stopped believing. And now God had sent himself in the form of a man bringing a different message than the one they were used to. It seemed as foolishness just as it does in our day and age that have gotten used to living their lives the way they want instead of following the Lord. We learn that God uses the foolish things. READ...

The love of God! - John 19:23-30 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 14, 2016 What is love? Poets, songwriters, novelists, psychologists, and philosophers have all tried to answer what love is all about. It is more than being hooked on a feeling and high on believing. Some sing that they want to know what love is but then they get confused that it is a feeling or a sex act, so they want to say they're sorry 'cause he's "missing more than [her] body." Wow, do you think they misunderstand what love is all about? Here in John's gospel we discover not only what love is all about but how it was manifested for all time. It is the kind of love where Paul would write that "love is patient, kind, doesn't envy, boast, or is proud. It isn't rude, self-seeking, easily angered, and it never keeps a record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres. Love never fails." (1 Corinthian...

Recognize God's Ways! - Isaiah 53:1-12 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 23, 2014 AM God often works in ways contrary to human thinking to accomplish His glorious purposes. Bill, a college student, spoke to the church’s senior citizens’ group about his summer missions experience. He had been in Cambodia helping to create a sanitary water supply for a community. He told about the backbreaking work; the wonderful, generous people he met; and his call to return as a missionary to the area. After Brandon left, some complained he had not dressed very nicely. Others wished he had gotten a haircut or at least combed his hair. Still others pointed out he had made three grammatical mistakes and they wished students would pay more attention to speaking skills. What factors sometimes cause you not to recognize God’s ways of working? As we look at the work of the Suffering Servant that Isaiah speaks about, let’s focus on ways we can recognize God’s ways of working in our life. Isaia...

John 3:13-18 – The love of God revealed! By Pastor Lee Hemen February 5, 2012 AM The “Blind Men and the Elephant” is a fable that originated in India. It was translated into English in the 19th century as a poem by the writer John Godfrey Saxe. He incorrectly saw it as a means to warn against religious intolerance. Therefore, the story has become widely used in philosophy and religion classes to illustrate the need for either religious or cultural tolerance, thinking that we form our reality and belief system on our limited experiences. In other words, perhaps each religious faith only holds partial truths that make up one part of God. However, the original tale actually dealt with the spiritual blindness of the four individuals and how if blind men could not grasp the physical reality of an elephant they could touch, how are we, spiritually blind people, going to grasp a God whom we cannot see. This brings up a very interesting notion. If people in our day and age have a d...