PastorBlastor

Forgiveness! - John 21:15-25 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 1, 2016 My father asked us what we should tell our mother when had not come home right away when she called. I grew up in a day and age when mothers would stand outside of their front doors and holler down the street for their children to "come home, it's dinner!" The only phones we had were the rotary dial kind and most children actually played outside and walked home by themselves! We both automatically responded, "Sorry." My Dad remarked, "Being sorry is not good enough, you need to apologize to your mother." Saying your "sorry" is totally different than being remorseful or repentant. The first is more of a response in order to deflect any consequences for our wrong doing or ungodly behavior, while repentance comes from being inwardly broken and open confession. Forgiveness cannot happen without repentance. Impulsive Peter had vehemently said he would never deny Jesus and of course...

Peter and the Denial - John 18:17, 25-27 By Pastor Lee Hemen January 24, 2016 Betrayal by a friend is a horrible thing to go through and so is desertion of one's companions as well. Jesus experienced both. And both are seen in our day and age as not just offensive but something whereby the guilty party can be imprisoned for life or even given the death penalty if it involves the betrayal of country or king. As awful as Judas' betrayal was, Peter's was in some ways far more personal and thereby worse. What can we learn from Peter and his denial this morning? Let's find out… Before James, Jesus' brother said, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." he related that the believer should "be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." (James 1:19-20, 22 NIV) Peter was one to quickly jump into whatever situation he was in w...