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Fellowship Is a Beautiful Thing! – Acts 2:42-47 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 31, 2026 New things are exciting; new houses, new relationships, new cars or new toys – all of these things can be exciting at first. The same is true for churches. But after the excitement wears off then there is the hard work of taking care of, maintaining, and developing believers. Volunteers can often be like herding cats. The disciples found this out in a hurry. The church was brand new and it was exciting. Things were happening and God was moving to build his church in the world so it could be the witness he needed. Within the newness of the early church, we discover that the disciples began to develop how the body of Christ was to operate in the world and in doing so we discover that fellowship is a beautiful thing. Let’s see how and why… READ: Acts 2:42-47 GBC is in the process of finding a Worship Leader and we should desire one that encourages fellowship, is willing to come alongside of others, and develo...

Ramblings from Retirement – Lost! By Retired Pastor Lee Hemen May 10, 2021 Have ever been lost or have you had a child get lost? I’ve had both happen to me. When I was little, about 3 years old, my family was visiting the downtown area of the small town we lived near. They met another family that they knew and began talking to them and as they did my father reached over and placed me on the hood of a nearby car. No one thought anything about this in that era because cars were made a lot sturdier and out of sheet metal. It was a sunny spring day, the car hood was warm and I fell asleep. Waking up a short time later I realized that my family was nowhere to be seen. About this time a policeman came walking by and asked me if I was lost and where my family was. We were taught to trust any policeman. Shortly my family came running around the corner; my father first, then my brother, sister and mom. Of course they asked me where I had wandered off to but then realized that they were the ones...

The Temple! – John 2:13-25 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 26, 2014 I have heard sermons where the speaker equates today’s church as the new temple of God, however, we no longer continually offer sacrifices of live animals, we do not burn incense to represent the prayers of the people to God, and we do not wash our hands and feet before coming into worship nor do we bow down before the altar of God. And of course nothing separates us from the presence of God: Neither curtain, priest, nor mercy seat can keep us from his presence! While some of the things we do remind us of the temple or tabernacle of God, the church is radically different from the temple. The Temple was an important part of the Jewish worship of God. It represented the presence of God with his people and a place where folks could come to pray, praise, and sacrifice to God. Now it was Passover which was kept on the fourteenth day of Nisan, in commemoration of the Lord's passing over any home that had its doorposts painte...

The Book of Hebrews: Who, What, When, Where and Why! Pastor Lee Hemen June 3, 2012 AM Author: Although some include the Book of Hebrews among the Apostle Paul's writings, the certain identity of the author remains shrouded in the mist of history. Yet we can make several observations concerning who may have written Hebrews. Many names have been conjectured for the authorship of Hebrews, but the question remains unsolved. The tradition of Pauline authorship is very old and has never been decisively disproved. Missing, however, is Paul's customary salutation common to his letters. In addition, the suggestion that the writer of Hebrews relied upon knowledge and information provided by others who were actual eyewitnesses of Christ Jesus (Hebrews 2:3) makes Pauline authorship doubtful. Some attribute Luke as its writer; others suggest Hebrews may have been written by Apollos or Barnabas. The view that Barnabas wrote Hebrews is also of value. There is reason to think tha...

Of Figs and Phonies - Mark 11:11-21 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 17, 2010 AM George Barna does research for Christianity and faith practices in America. Recently he completed a study on the “Diversity of Faith in Various U.S. Cities.” It revealed nothing new, except there are some interesting discoveries. Of course, in the Portland, OR market, which includes Vancouver, WA, we discover that they had one of the lowest shares of self-identified Christians at 71% right behind San Francisco. In fact, 16% of this market identified itself as agnostic or atheist with 42% stating they had not attended any church service within the last six months! Notice that the figures do not add up to 100% and the reason is obvious: While many may consider themselves “spiritual” or even “Christian,” they are unwilling to specifically identify themselves. Are these folks hypocrites, phonies, or just plain ignorant of what faith means? Interestingly, during Jesus’ day he faced similar problems conce...