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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...

How we can overthink God! – Judges 6:11-17 By Pastor Lee Hemen January 5, 2020 Amy Morin on the Inc.com website writes that “Whether you beat yourself up for a mistake you made last week, or you fret about how you’re going to succeed tomorrow, overthinking everything can be debilitating. Your inability to get out of your head will leave you in a constant state of anguish. Of course, everyone overthinks a situation occasionally. But if you’re a true overthinker, you’ll struggle to quiet the constant barrage of thoughts. Overthinking is more than just a nuisance--studies show thinking too much can take a serious toll on your well-being.” Not to mention your spiritual well-being. Sadly, Christians can try and overthink God and then suffer the consequences of doing so. And Scripture is filled with folks who tried to overthink God. One such person was Gideon. It is here in today’s verses that we discover how Gideon gives us an example of what happens when God’s people overthink God. Let’s d...

Seek the cure! – 2 Kings 5:1-3, 9-15a By Pastor Lee Hemen September 23, 2018 Our background can and does influence our lives today. How we were raised, educated, and how we were taught about morality, religion, patriotism, and such makes a huge impact on our lives. However as we can later decide for ourselves how we will relate to our world and others, that’s how we grow and mature or degenerate and digress. The choice is ours to make. Chapter 5 of 2 Kings reveals Elisha was a man of God. We are now introduced to Naaman a commander in his king’s army. He was a man of prominence, power, and influence. He was not used to taking order from those he thought inferior to his status in life. He commanded others but this man of power was also sick with a disease that would have precluded him from being everything in his life he could have been. He could be cured but he would need to do just one thing: seek the cure! Let’s find out what happens… READ: 2 Kings 5:1-3, 9-15a God can and does use d...

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...

Micah 6 – What God requires! By Pastor Lee Hemen November 13, 2016 There hasn’t been a single person when faced with a difficult situation, choice, or hardship who hasn’t at some point asked what either God or life requires from them. This is a normal reaction when faced with life’s difficulties. And when faced with difficult choices how one responds speaks volumes as to what they believe and in what they place their trust. Micah asks this question and answers it for Israel and for us today and in fact gives to his listeners exactly why they are experiencing the difficulties they were. God was going to judge them as a nation and the people began to understand the outcome of their life choices. So here in Micah he asks and answers for us what God requires. Let’s discover what that means for us in our day and age… READ: Micah 6 When you think that your life is going nowhere and it seems as if your prayers are not getting through it is good to take a moment and ask, “What does G...

Not of this World! - John 8:21-29 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 10, 2015 Moms are not of this world. They must have some kind of internal sensor system that lets them know when their offspring have stopped hearing their genteel suggestions. I know this to be true because my Mom used to tell us, "You're not listening to me!" as a child. I often wondered how in the world she could know that I wasn't listening to her. Was it the glazed look in my eyes, the impatient wiggling, or the constant yawning? Whatever the clues, she knew I was spaced out and not listening. Jesus had the same kind of problem with his detractors; they simply refused to hear what he was trying to teach them about himself. In this section of John's gospel we find Jesus confronting the deaf ears of his enemies. They simply refused to understand that he was not of this world, let's discover for ourselves what occurred and why it is important for us this morning. READ: John 8:21-29 My mom often had wo...

What do you know about God? -- John 5:39-47 by Pastor Lee Hemen January 11, 2015 I have known a lot of folks who were penny-wise but pound foolish. They knew a lot about a lot of stuff but did not have wisdom. Wisdom and knowledge are two different things. Kind of like those who say they know God, but what they think they know and what they actually know are two very different things. And what many actually think they know about God is what they actually feel about God rather than the real truth of who God is. So, let me ask you, what do you know about God? The Jewish people thought they knew a lot about God, but what they thought they knew was not true! They forgot what God had actually said and promised them and how he works within his creation and with his people. Jesus had just gotten through accusing his detractors that they had "never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor [did] his word dwell in [them], and the reason for this was simply that they did "not believ...

Nehemiah 2:11-20 - Building a Church through F. A. I. T. H. By Pastor Lee Hemen May 15, 2011 AM We have all heard the old adage that states, “Heaven helps those who help themselves!” However, many might be surprised to learn that it is not found anywhere in the Bible. In fact, it comes from an Aesop’s fable! The story does give out some good advice. It seems that a teamster got his heavy wagon stuck deep in the mud. As he stood there, helpless, and crying out for help, Hercules shows up! Hercules looks disgustingly at the man and tells him, “Put your shoulder to the wheel and goad your horses. Then, call on Hercules to assist you. If you won’t lift a finger to help yourself, you can’t expect Hercules or anyone else to come to your aid.” Some mistakenly think that faith works that way that they have to be good before God loves them. They have to “help” themselves before God will. This simply is not true. God already loves us, if he did not, he would not have sent Jesus to di...