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Luke 1:26-38 – Listen! By Pastor Lee Hemen December 4, 2022 One of my least favorite Christmas songs is “Do You Hear What I Hear?” Sorry if it is one of your favorites, but I’ve never liked it that much except for the last verse when the King commands, “Listen to what I say! Pray for peace, people everywhere! Listen to what I say! The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night He will bring us goodness and light, He will bring us goodness and light.” Now don’t get me wrong the message of the song is great, the night wind whispering to a little lamb about a “star with a tail as big as a kite.” The lamb asking a shepherd boy if he can hear the same song he hears, and the shepherd boy asking the mighty king, “Do you know what I know?” Now if you listen closely at the words, you will notice that each phrase is contingent upon one thing: listening! In our day and age where everything demands our immediate attention it is often hard to get people to simply listen. In the verses we will look at ...

The Word of God Instructs Those Who Love Him! -- Proverbs 15:12-16, 20-23 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 24, 2020 I remember well when I was in high school I developed pneumonia and had to miss over a week of school. When I got back I quickly caught up and studied hard in order to regain the ground I had lost. In a history class I had to take a midterm exam that I had missed. Afterwards I was accused by a classmate who took the exam with me of cheating. The teacher confronted me. I was shocked and hurt even though I was able to prove beyond any doubt that I had not done so. Her rebuke stung. Receiving a rebuke is never something we look forward to and most of us do not like going through one when it happens. Within the pithy statements of Proverbs we discover over and over both the rebuke of God and the wisdom of listening to him. In reading Proverbs we discover that the Word of God instructs those who love him, let’s discover how this morning… READ: Proverbs 15:12-16, 20-23 It is o...

One great man of God! - Matthew 11:1-19 By Pastor Lee Hemen November 24, 2019 Longfellow, the Poet, wrote that “Lives of great men all remind us, we can make our lives sublime, and, departing, leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time.” We who do not consider ourselves neither great nor that inspiring might ask ourselves, “What makes a great man?” Great men do not necessarily need to be remembered by the marketplace but rather can have such an impact on those around them that they are left better in life by knowing them. Greatness should not be measured in risks taken, accumulated wealth, or educational degrees; rather greatness is how a life impacts another to the extent it changes future generations. John the Baptist was such a man. Here in Matthew’s gospel we find John the Baptist, the last great prophet of God, while imprisoned more concerned about the spiritual health of his nation than his own personal comfort. John was chosen by God before he was even born to be the...

The cost of sacrifice! - Matthew 10:34-42 By Pastor Lee Hemen November 17, 2019 When I was a teenager taking on my first regular job opportunity my father knew it would require that I give up a lot of my morning free time during the summer. I sold Spudnuts, a doughnut made from potato flour, door-to-door. I had to get up before sunrise, head down to the bakery, and purchase my allotment of Spudnuts, balance them on my bicycle and then go door-to-door selling these warm delicious treats. I earned good money because I was willing to count the cost. Counting the cost of something does not come easy in our day and age where we have been told that we must have what we want when we want it and not wait for anything. The term comes from Luke’s gospel whereby Jesus tells his disciples that “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he may have enough to finish it” (Luke 14:28 MKJV). The wording used denotes the idea of not just the financ...

Go the distance! -- 2 Kings 13:4-6, 14-19, 24-25 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 21, 2018 During an elementary school track meet a young boy ran three of the laps in a race very fast and was out among the leaders. But on the last lap, instead of staying on the track and rounding the end to get to the finish line, he left the track, cut across the football field to the track on the other side, and then finished. Someone asked him why he cut across, he simply said, “I got tired.” Though he ran well, he did not finish well and was disqualified. He failed to go the distance. There is a definite need in America today for God’s people to serve the Lord with all one’s heart. Some of Northern Israel’s kings rendered admirable service to the Lord for a while, but in time their obedience was well rather incomplete. They sinned and did what they wanted rather than following the Lord. Their examples illustrate the importance of serving God with wholehearted consistency and persistence. Today we will t...

Exhortation, encouragement, and prayer! - Philippians 4:1-9 By Pastor Lee Hemen August 26, 2018 How do others see your faith? How do those who witnessed to you or mentored you find your faith walk? Often time we can get so caught up in how the world sees us that we forget or begin to think it unimportant how fellow believers view us. In fact some try do hard to blend in with the world that their church, Christian fellowship, and their daily devotion to the Lord suffer. Here in this last chapter of his letter to the Philippian church Paul desired that they know exactly how he saw their faith. And so he end this letter with not just advice on how to be stronger and more devoted believers, he writes to exhort, encourage, and pray for them. In his words we can find spiritual truths that will help us this morning as well. Let’s take a fresh look at what Paul wrote… READ: Philippians 4:1-9 Lately I have been watching the Little League World Series. I enjoy the sheer joy, sometimes sadness, a...

Running life’s race! - Philippians 3:12-21 By Pastor Lee Hemen August 5, 2018 I find it kind of interesting that we start life learning to crawl, jog or run through our younger years, and then end up walking or shuffling to the finish line. The Christian life is not to be this way at all. We are to begin by walking hand-in-hand with the Lord and then run the rest of life’s race to the finish line. Paul understood what running life’s race was all about because he was doing it himself. His desire was that his brothers and sisters in Jesus would finish the same race well. In life we cannot help it if we become handicapped in some way as we age. Nor can we help how we entered into the world. Bad things happen to good people because sin exists. However how we live for the Lord is determined by us and how we run life’s race for him. Let’s discover what Paul wrote the Philippians concerning running life’s race… READ: Philippians 3:12-21 There are some folks who have a Mary Poppins attitude,,...

No matter what, preach the gospel! - Philippians 1:12-17 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 10, 2018 What is important in your life? I mean to the point where you would be willing to leave your home, family, friends, and do what you knew was the most important thing in the world. For some it is sports, some it is music or writing, for others it might be acting or art but for the believer who has given their life to Christ everything should revolve and focus on him who gave everything for them. For Paul life was Jesus and Jesus was life and this is why for Paul in his life he considered it the greatest thing in the world to preach the gospel. He gave up family, friends, and everything in life to follow him and following him meant telling others about Jesus’ mission and message. Therefore for Paul it meant that no matter what, preach the gospel! Let’s find out how Paul encouraged others to do the same… READ: Philippians 1:12-17 Someone once said that “The most important thing you have to realize i...

Malachi 4:1-6 – Being prepared! By Pastor Lee Hemen April 22, 2018 Most of us on that Tuesday morning had not given much thought to what the day held. After all it was a pretty normal day. I was on my way to Morning Prayer and my thoughts were on the day. I was not thinking about eternal things. This was true for most of those who boarded planes in Boston, went to work in New York City, or began their day behind a desk at the Pentagon. Few that day had any idea of what the next few hours would bring, yet with devastating swiftness we were all reminded just how quick death comes. Since 9-11, it has made me wonder how many folks are prepared for eternity. We find that the Prophet Malachi was very concerned about the subject of preparedness. It was in his thoughts as he wrote to the Israelites. He wanted them to consider the eternal consequences of their lives. He knew that if they did not think about their actions and faith now, there would come a time of reckoning for his nation a...