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When common sense isn’t! - James 1:2-18 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 22, 2013 AM Jack was one of the smartest people I have known. However, while Jack was “book smart” he was pound-foolish. He did not use his knowledge to make himself wise. Ken, on the other hand, while not highly educated, used his godly wisdom to meet life’s challenges and to serve his Lord faithfully. Among God’s good gifts, He provides wisdom to help believers endure trials, resist temptations, and put material things in proper perspective. It is more than common sense it is Godly wisdom. When people face trials, they may wonder, “How can I handle this situation?” People without wealth may wonder why they have so little. Individuals with great wealth may congratulate themselves on how much they have and concentrate on getting even more. When people face temptations, they may succumb and blame everyone including God. All these thoughts, however, reflect earthly wisdom rather than wisdom from God. People who think l...

Corruption: A path to nowhere! - Micah 3:1-12 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 23, 2013 AM One of my assignments for a course in seminary was to observe different kinds of worship services. They do this in order for students to not only experience different kinds of worship, but to also see how not to do worship. In one instance, students went to a church that met in an old theater. The service began with upbeat music that lasted about 30 minutes. The pastor came out following the music and announced he had received a vision from the Lord that 20 people would give him $20 and those who did so would receive a special blessing. He asked everyone to close their eyes and told those who would give the $20 to raise their hands. He then pretended to count and announced falsely that 20 had raised their hands. He then made the same false claim for those who would give $10! We live in a world where greedy people use unscrupulous methods to reap dishonest gain. Pretended good is often an ef...

Your Giving Reflects Your Heart - Mark 12:41-44 By Pastor Lee Hemen December 12, 2010 AM The human heart is an amazing organ that pumps literally hundreds of thousands of gallons of blood through miles of blood vessels night and day for decades. Yet it can be stopped by the smallest of obstructions. The spiritual heart can be an amazing thing as well. When it is truly given to the Lord it can produce a wealth of goodness, greatness, and joy. However, it too can be hampered by the smallest of obstructions. Obstructions of greed, selfishness, an unforgiving spirit, or narrow-mindedness can stop the beating of the spiritual heart. There is a cure though and it is found in a life of sacrifice. A heart that reflects Jesus is strong in him. Here in Mark’s gospel we find Jesus and his disciples back in the temple, specifically in the Court of the Women. As they sit there they notice those who come and go as they give to the care of the temple. In these few verses we discover a won...

Hannah – 1 Samuel 1:1-15 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 9, 2010 AM Do you ever struggle with prayer? What do you think is the nature of the struggle? One struggle is that we end up praying platitudes. How do we stop using the same old platitudes in our prayers? The Proverbist related, “Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread (Proverbs 30:7-8).” He had the right idea. Jesus said that part of our prayers should be, “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread (Matthew 6:10-11).” One wonderful mother from the pages of the Old Testament can teach us a lot about prayer. Her name is Hannah. In fact, Hannah can teach us bunches about how mothers and the rest of us ought to pray and since this is Mother’s Day, we are going to pause our study of Mark’s gospel and study Hannah and her prayer. Let’s see what Hanna...