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The Attitude of Christ - Philippians 2:5-11 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 26, 2009 AM When we look into the pages of Scripture we discover a portraiture of Jesus that is truly amazing. It is amazing because we realize that even though He was God in human flesh, He willingly took upon Himself the mantle of humanity and all of its frailty. But He not only willingly did this but Jesus also demonstrates for us that we as human beings do have the capability to live lives worthy of the Lord. We can indeed be the people He desires us to be. Jesus has shown us the way for this to be true in Him. It is the attitude that all Christians should display as we walk in the Lord. Over the centuries there have been many portraits and painting depicting Jesus. Of course we have no idea what Jesus physically looked like, but we do have a pretty good idea as to how He lived and what He believed. In fact, we get a very good picture of who Jesus was by those who walked with Him and wrote about Him. Those who kn...

The Humility of Faith - Philippians 2:1-4 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 19, 2009 AM What encouragement or comfort in this life do you experience or do you display? For the believer this is a very good question because it speaks about our faith. Here is what I mean: If we say we love the Lord but do not love those who claim Christ, then what does that say about our faith? It speaks to the humility of faith each Christian is to display to fellow believers. Paul had written about living the Christian life in harmony with the gospel message on which it is based. He followed this idea with a call to exhibit spiritual unity. This unity is possible because of the reality of the qualities he writes the Philippians about and is expressed in their humility of faith in Jesus. Do you show the world your faith by the humility you display in life? Let’s find out what this means for us this morning as we discover what humility of faith truly means for our lives in Jesus. READ: Philippians 2:1-4 When Paul...

Conduct Worthy of the Gospel - Philippians 1:27-30 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 5, 2009 AM My father would come home from work and ask, “Boys, how have you behaved today while I was at work?” If we had been at school, he would ask, “Boys, how was things at school?” When he asked us these questions we knew it was not some quick acknowledgement of us, but he wanted to know exactly how we conducted ourselves whether at home or at school. Our personal conduct, behavior, and appearance were important for my father. Why? Because he knew that how we acted or how we displayed ourselves to others spoke volumes not only about our own behavior but about his parenting of us as well. It reflected on him and who he was. Therefore, we knew whether we were with him or away from his sight, we had better conduct ourselves in the right way. This is true for Christians and their relationship to Jesus as well. Christians should display conduct worthy of the gospel. Paul related as much to the Philippian churc...

The Fruitful Labor of the Believer - Philippians 1:22-26 Pastor Lee Hemen March 15, 2009 AM How does a person measure their life? Some do it with the number of years they live, while others do it through the personal achievements they made during their lifetimes. Still others measure their lives through their financial success, the gathering of wealth, or material possessions. Some measure their lives by the family they have. While some of these are quite important, for the Christian there should be a different criteria in how we measure our lives. How do you measure your life? This is a incredibly crucial question for the Christian to consider in contemplating the conclusion and contentment of their continuation! It was for Paul and he mentions this to the Philippians! We find that fruitful labor for Paul was not measured in the number of notches he had on his witnessing belt nor was it found in the final tally of the bodies he registered through the doors of the churches he helped to...

Expectations - Philippians 1:18c-21 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 8, 2009 AM Expectations can be far greater in life than what is in reality true. Take circuses for instance. We all expect fun when entering the big top and yet, like the baby on the e-Trade commercials, we did not consider the creep factor of clowns! We’ve experienced this with the recent Presidential elections. Many expected “change,” not realizing that’s all that would be left in their pockets! Just as a nation cannot spend its way into prosperity, neither can people think themselves into the kingdom of heaven. Ignoring a problem or throwing more money at a crisis is not the solution. If it were I could charge my way out of credit card debt and expect my life to get better, but the reality is that it places me more in debt! Disregarding your sin will not get you into heaven either. You can be as nice as possible and you will end up nicely in hell! What you expect in life can be truly disappointing when “the chickens come ...

Christ Was Preached - Philippians 1:12-18b By Pastor Lee Hemen March 1, 2009 AM What do you do to advance the gospel in the world around you? It seems that every day Paul looked at what he was going to do that day to see how he could do just that. When you read his letters you also get the idea that Paul looked to see how his future plans advanced the gospel as well. And, as we look at Paul's life, as reflected in his letters and the book of Acts, we discover that advancing the gospel for him meant far more than what a lot of comfortable American Christians think it does! There are those who actually believe that just by thinking about Jesus or having a holy thought, that this is advancing the gospel. There are those who allow others to take the risks, while they sit safely at home, and these too think that this is advancing the gospel. We have come to believe that any holy thing we do, whether it is giving a few bucks, a quick prayer, or having happy thoughts about Jesus is advanc...

A Pastor’s Prayer - Philippians 1:9-11 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 22, 2009 AM What is prayer for you? Is it a way to gain the attention of God? A means to gripe about your latest ache or pain? Perhaps a means of simple meditation or conversation with the Lord? In the letters of Paul we discover that Paul prayed a lot. He prayed for the churches he helped establish, he prayed for those he had won to Christ, he prayed for the leadership of the church in Jerusalem, and he prayed for the lost to come to Christ as well. But one of the things Paul mentions specifically and generally over and over is that he prayed that his fellow Christians would grow in their knowledge of God. He prayed this way because at his core, Paul was a pastor and he had a pastor’s heart. As we look in the passage this morning from Philippians we discover a pastor’s prayer that is both beautiful and grand in its insight and gives us a look inside of pastor Paul’s heart for those he discipled. It is a wonderful exam...

A Pastor’s Prayer - Philippians 1:9-11 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 22, 2009 AM What is prayer for you? Is it a way to gain the attention of God? A means to gripe about your latest ache or pain? Perhaps a means of simple meditation or conversation with the Lord? In the letters of Paul we discover that Paul prayed a lot. He prayed for the churches he helped establish, he prayed for those he had won to Christ, he prayed for the leadership of the church in Jerusalem, and he prayed for the lost to come to Christ as well. But one of the things Paul mentions specifically and generally over and over is that he prayed that his fellow Christians would grow in their knowledge of God. He prayed this way because at his core, Paul was a pastor and he had a pastor’s heart. As we look in the passage this morning from Philippians we discover a pastor’s prayer that is both beautiful and grand in its insight and gives us a look inside of pastor Paul’s heart for those he discipled. It is ...