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Relating to Authority – Romans 13:1-7 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 25, 2007 AM Almost every young person goes through a time of rebellion to authority in some form or another. Whether it is deliberately ignoring a parent when they are speaking, getting a weird haircut, or dressing is some fashion that is supposed to be against society’s norm. However the one act of Christianity that is taught over and over throughout the pages of the New Testament is the fact that the believer is to be submissive. This does not mean an acquiescence of our faith, but rather our willingness to set aside our own needs for the needs of others. In this the Christian is following the example of Jesus. This attitude is to continue into the are of authority as well. While the Christian’s “citizenship is in heaven,” (Philippians 3:20) and we are now citizens of the kingdom of God, we are to be first and foremost living our faith out here on earth. Being citizens of God’s kingdom does not give us a “pass” on ignori...

Living the Transformed Life! - Romans 12:9-21 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 18, 2007 AM There is an old adage that states: “What you do speaks louder than what you say.” This could not be more true than as it is seen in the life of the Christian. There is almost a myopic phobia in Christian circles today that does not want to mention the word “responsibility” in connection to Christian living. The fear stems from the absurd notion that if we “offend” the unsaved they will not want to hear about Jesus. Also, there are those who think that this might in some way be an endorsement for the believer to try and gain God’s approval. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is not in support of works, but rather what is to spiritually occur after the love of God transforms the life of a believer. Paul would say that it is how a believer lives the transformed life. The transformed life is displayed in every responsibility, attitude, action and reaction, and relationship the Christian has in li...

Transformed Living! - Romans 12:1-8 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 11, 2007 AM Sometimes standing for your faith is tougher than simply deciding between a lesser or greater evil or lesser or greater good. It often requires the individual to make a decision on how they will live their lives. Most of Jesus’ disciples found this out rather quickly. In fact, to the point of their dying for the sake of the gospel message. Sadly, there are those in our day and age who claim to know Jesus, but are very willing to toss Him over board, rather than step out on the water and join Him, in order to be seen or viewed as nice or likable by the world. While we should not necessarily be contrary on purpose, the very nature of our lives lived for Jesus should make us “enemies to the world.” If we as believers are too well liked by those living in the ungodly realm of this world, then we should take a closer look at our faith walk and what it means. Living for Jesus means transformed living. Transformed livin...

God’s Election Through His People! – Romans 11:11-36 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 4, 2007 AM There is a commercial on TV where a group of office people are milling around in a jungle setting, when all of a sudden they all begin to run in a blind panic as if they are stampeding like wild animals. The camera pans back and you see them pushing, shoving, and headed for a cliff as they literally push one another off the edge. It is to depict the lemming-like mentality that exists in some offices. I am not quite sure who the commercial is for or what it is trying to sell, however, people can and often do act like the proverbial lemming. Remember the old Wonderful World of Disney where they showed lemmings headed for the cliff as they hurled themselves off into the sea below? Of course we later learned that this does not happen as depicted, yet the fact remains there are a lot of human lemmings in the world, madly rushing off spiritual cliffs of their choosing. If you knew someone close to you ...

God’s Election by Grace! - Romans 11:1-10 February 25, 2007 AM By Pastor Lee Hemen An 8-year-old girl wrote to a Christian leader, seeking advice. She wanted to know how she could get her daddy to carry her picture. She said her dad had a photo of her little brother in his wallet (the boy looked like his dad). And he carried a picture of his pretty 15-year-old daughter too. But when this 8-year-old gave him a photo of herself, he put it in a drawer. It seems that she wasn't good enough for her daddy. To be rejected for anything can leave a huge emotional mark on a person’s life. Of course, it depends upon what you are rejected from and why. However, rejection can carry a heavy burden in a person’s life. It would be especially hard to learn that your whole ethnic group or nationality were rejected by God! How worse would it be then if you were chosen by God, yet ignored that election? J. A. Meads Jr. began a sermon with: "The reason you and I cannot ignore God can be stated in ...

God’s Wonderful Offer! – Romans 9:30-10:1-21 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 18, 2007 AM Recently, Baptist Press reported on a story concerning a “radical new website” that is gaining popularity by “challenging people to deny the existence of God.” It is run by an obtuse atheist, a Mr. Fleming, who claims he “became a born-again Christian when he was 13.” (You can claim you are rational, but it doesn’t mean you are!) The really dim-witted thing is that he is giving away a free DVD on how to be an atheist. You have to go to a web site called YouTube and post a video of yourself denouncing God by saying the phrase, “I deny the Holy Spirit.” The website explains that “the phrase is required because Mark 3:29 says, ‘Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.’” This is so illogical and intellectually ignorant on so many levels. First, if you are truly born of the Spirit you cannot “blaspheme” Him no matter what you say. (Look at the conte...

God’s Wonderful Choice! - Romans 9:19-29 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 11, 2007 AM People often have a wrong view of who God is. There are those who want to see Him as a lovable old man sitting upstairs in heaven in a comfy rocking chair benignly looking down on His lovable but bumbling creatures. Then there are others who view God as a malevolent being, gleefully waiting for His creations to mess up just so He can zap them into delightful submission. Still others look at God as an unknowing and uncaring entity. An ultimate being that exists but does not get involved and allows us to live in a universe that He has set spinning into motion, only to live our miserable lives out and then die an ignoble death. None of these views of God is biblical or correct. All neglect the fact of Jesus, God’s Son, coming into the world. The correct way to view God is through Jesus Christ, because when we do we get a better view of God, who He is, and of God’s wonderful choice. Paul understood this. He d...

God’s Grace Revealed - Romans 9:1-18 February 4, 2007 AM By Pastor Lee Hemen People often want to argue the injustice they seem to find in predestination. They think that it is unjust because they do not have a choice, yet they forget the underlying truth of God’s sovereignty. It isn’t a matter of personal choice, which we enjoy, it is a matter of God being omniscient. Knowing all things. Either God is God or He is not. If He is God then He is the one who chooses and not us. He is the one in control and not us. It is His plan and not ours. However the believers, and especially the Jews of Paul’s day, struggled with this concept as well. Why? Because they felt that they were God’s chosen people and therefore should have special privilege in God’s choosing. Paul would say, “Hogwash!” God’s predestination revealed God’s grace. Recently I listened to a speaker who claimed to be Jewish even though he did not believe in God at all. In fact, he did not believe in religious expression or exper...

The Certainty of Our Sanctification – Romans 8:28-39! By Pastor Lee Hemen January 28, 2007 AM I remember the old comedy TV show Hee Haw where they would sing that uplifting song: “Gloom, despair, and agony on me! Deep dark depression, excessive misery! If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all. Gloom, despair, and agony on me!” Sadly, there are Christians that go through their lives in Christ with much the same view. They often see the light at the end of the tunnel as an oncoming train instead of a ray of hope. When being blessed by God they wonder when the other shoe of God will drop and He will use them for His own personal footstool. Paul relates that believers do not and should not live their lives in this manner. In fact he relates to us the certainty of our sanctification. Our holy lives in Christ are not dependent upon how we feel, circumstances, or our status in life. Our salvation is something God has planned all along. Yes, predestination is alive and well whether w...

Our Goal for Sanctification! - Romans 8:18-27 by Pastor Lee Hemen January 21, 2007 Most people in our day and age do not like to wait for anything patiently. If we do not get what we want, when we want, and in the way we think we should have gotten it all along, we will fuss, moan, and gripe about it until we do. We live in an age when adults act like children all their lives and are encouraged to. This convoluted thinking has infected the Christian church as well. Gone are the days of self-sacrifice. Gone is the call to placing others first. Gone is the teaching that we are to be working to establish the kingdom of God here on earth, before He returns. Gone is the call to live holy lives for the Lord. Rather, we live in an age where we seek first our kingdom, our way of living, and our a happiness and to heck with anything that gets in our way, even our faith! Christianity has become a self-serving concept, instead of a life-changing revolution. Christians have forgotten what they are...