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Fulfilled! – Matthew 5:17-20 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 3, 2019 We have all heard the phrase, “the letter of the law”. It means that the law must be followed exactly in how it is written and not simply interpreted however someone wants it to be or whenever they want it to be. It is the old argument over the letter of the law versus the spirit of the law. When one obeys the letter of the law but not the spirit, one is obeying the literal interpretation of the words of the law, but not necessarily the intent of those who wrote the law. The problem comes when one tries to interpret what those who wrote it intended because then it is often tainted by the one wanting to interpret it. The Jewish spiritual leaders of Jesus’ day had done quite a number on the Law of Moses and often spent hours, days, months, and years interpreting what they thought God meant. We see this kind of spiritual legal dance in today’s Catholic Church or in mainline liberal denominations like Episcopalian, Lutherans, o...

Hosanna! - Matthew 21:1-11 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 20, 2016 We all get excited about different things. For some it is sporting events where the crowd is worked up over the home team; for others it is rock concerts, musicals or plays while still others get excited about a newly released movie and campout overnight just to be the first in line to purchase a ticket. Whatever the reason we can get excited over different things. But what if you had heard that someone was coming to your town that had the ability to cure disease, raise the dead, walk on water, or turn that water into the finest wine? What if you had heard that this man could be the answer to all your prayers and the fulfillment of prophecy and thousands of years of longing? (And no it is not Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders!) What would your anticipation be like then? Jesus has reached the final days of his earthly ministry and everything from this point on builds to a final crescendo like the final movement of a sympho...

Hebrews 11:17-40 – Faith Expressed! By Pastor Lee Hemen   December 30, 2012 AM What kind of heroes do we hold up to be emulated? Columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. writes about the need for heroes: “My middle son, Marlon, complained to me just the other day that his generation is coming of age ‘in a world without heroes.’ . . . His words tugged at me. . . . Our children have learned to wait for the other shoe to drop, for ‘heroes’ to be unmasked and values betrayed.” A survey by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University shows that 60 percent of adults have no heroes. It’s an unhealthy trend, according to former U.S. Education Secretary William Bennett, author of the best-seller The Book of Virtues: “It is particularly important for young people to have heroes. This is a way to teach them by moral example, so that we can point to someone as an ideal.” I believe this is why true heroes, heroes of our faith can give us a renewed vigor to live for the Lord. In a summar...

The Witnesses - Mark 1:1-11 By Pastor Lee Hemen August 9, 2009 AM Mark’s gospel is as beautiful in its simplicity as it is in its depth of the theology. It is a mystery, in some ways, do to some of the apparent insertions by scribes much later. In fact, its name comes from one such addition. Technically, Mark’s Gospel is anonymous since it does not name its author at all. The title “according to Mark” (Kata Markon) was added later by a scribe some time before a.d. 125. Then there is the ending to Mark that does not belong, but more about that when we finally get there. However, the “unanimous testimony of the early church fathers is that Mark, an associate of the Apostle Peter, was the author. The earliest known statement of this comes from Papias (a.d. 110), who quoted the testimony of John the elder… .” (Bible Knowledge Commentary) Mark, as the author, does not mean that he made the story up but rather he was the human instrument that God used to testify about what he learned from Pe...