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Showing posts with the label suffering

Ramblings from Retirement – How we handle hurt says a lot

Ramblings from Retirement – How we handle hurt says a lot By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen August 5, 2021 I liked a TV series from PBS and the BBC that was called Downton Abby. In it one of the characters, Tom, tells another character Lady Mary that “being hurt is part of being alive.” He is correct and herein is a simple truth that many in our day and age have forgotten that life consists of a series of being hurt yet how we handle the hurt tells a lot about who we are as a person. Many try to escape being hurt at all and this is simply impossible. People get hurt. People die. People get sick. We are not guaranteed a perfect life, no one is and no one in all of history has enjoyed a perfect life except perhaps Jesus and he also suffered hurt in his life. The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote that “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to te...

A soldier’s faith! -- Matthew 8:5-13

A soldier’s faith! -- Matthew 8:5-13 By Pastor Lee Hemen July 7, 2019 What kind of discipline do you display in life? I have a sister who never saw a shoe store she couldn’t pass by or for that matter a jewelry display she would not stop for. For me it used to be bookstores. However self-discipline is a good thing and is why the military focuses on it so much. They want soldiers who will follow orders and are disciplined enough to be able to handle anything that is thrown their way during a conflict. In fact they are trained to act as a team and to depend on one another. Jesus desired that his followers learn how to not only have faith in him but also to have faith in one another because he knew their future was going to be tough. And here in this depiction of an incident that Jesus has with a Roman centurion teaches about what it means to have faith in him and to have the willingness to follow Jesus wherever he leads. Let’s take a look at a soldier’s faith… READ: Matthew 8:5-13 The wa...

The crucifixion foretold! -- Psalm 22: 1-3, 6-8; 14-19; 27-31

The crucifixion foretold! -- Psalm 22: 1-3, 6-8; 14-19; 27-31 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 9, 2017 What was the most memorable event in your life? What historical event do you remember more than anything else in your life; the one moment in time that will always impact you that you will always remember? Several thousand years ago something occurred that so impacted the lives of those who witnessed it that they had to write down exactly what they had witnessed and how it impacted them. It was the crucifixion of an itinerant teacher known as Yeshua Ben Yoseph; Jesus son of Joseph. Many churches around the world will celebrate Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem and was greeted by crowds of people proclaiming him the messiah. Jesus would die within a few short days on a cross, crucified by the Romans because of the lust for power by Jewish leadership. However did you know that this event was predicted nearly a thousand years earlier by King David? Jesus’ crucifixion was foretold, let’...

Remembering Who Jesus Is! -- 2 Timothy 2:8-14a

Remembering Who Jesus Is! -- 2 Timothy 2:8-14a By Pastor Lee Hemen August 31, 2008 AM Who is Jesus to you? Think about that for a moment, will you? Who is Jesus to you? Is He some nice guy who went about doing good or perhaps a good guy who went about being nice? Is He the Son of God for you, the messiah, or perhaps your little buddy that you keep on your dashboard just for insurance sake? Who is Jesus for you? In today’s world there are many perceptions of who Jesus is, some of them right on and some of them quite odd. I believe as never before, Christians need to remember who Jesus is. This question was forefront in the mind of Paul when he wrote his pastor friend Timothy at Ephesus. He wanted Timothy to never forget and to continually remind others of “these things.” In today’s world we as believers in Jesus must be about remembering who Jesus is. He is not “Jesus Christ,” in the sense that we equate this as his personal name, but rather He is the Savior of the world. Paul wanted Ti...