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How to Stand Firm In the Lord - Philippians 4:1-7 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 21, 2009 AM What is to be the main character quality that Christians are to display to the world around them and to one another? When I have asked that question before I get all kinds of answers. However, if we were to look into the pages of Scripture we would find that the one overriding character quality that believers are to display far above all others that, in truth, all others flow from is: the peace of God. It is from this inner confidence that flows from our faith whereby joy, gentleness, and assurance are found. In fact, when you find a Christian that has difficulty with his fellow believers it is because they have no inner peace. They cannot let go and allow God to work in the lives of others. My father taught me something I have never forgotten. It was after Ed and I had fought about whatever. All I remember is that I had said some pretty harsh things to Ed, and he had with me as well. My father grabb...

Whose Side Are You Standing On? - Philippians 3:17-21 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 14, 2009 AM We have many examples throughout our lives that influence us in how we live our lives. People become patterns for us for good or bad. These examples are important. In fact, studies have shown that if parents are abusive, alcoholic, promiscuous, or live other abusive kinds of lifestyles then their children have a far greater chance of growing up to be the same. Good examples therefore are good in life. What happens if the life we used to live was not such a good example? The Bible teaches us that there is hope in such a situation. However, there are also those who use Christians or churches as examples, or rather excuses, as to why they do not believe or do not attend. Folks have many reasons for rejecting the gospel. They will say it is because of something a Christian or a church did or did not do for them at some point in time. “I went to church and no one spoke to me.” “I bought something from...

Press On Toward the Prize! - Philippians 3:13-16 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 7, 2009 AM Remember the movie called The Fugitive? “It is about a Dr. Richard Kimble, played by Harrison Ford, who is a successful vascular surgeon in Chicago. He comes home one night to find his wife Helen fatally wounded by a man with a prosthetic arm. He attempts to subdue the killer, but the man escapes. The lack of evidence of a break-in, his fingerprints being found on the gun and the bullets, and Helen's misunderstood 9-11 call lead the Chicago police to charge Kimble with murder; and he is sentenced to death by lethal injection.” (Wikipedia) On the way to death row, via a prison bus, the other prisoners attempt an escape causing the bus to fall into the path of an oncoming train. Kimble barely escapes the bus' destruction and flees into the night. And then begins his flight from US Marshals and the pursuit of the real killer of his wife. It is the single-mindedness of both the protagonist and the ...

What is Truly Important in Life? - Philippians 3:10-12 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 31, 2009 AM Mike Hayes an award-winning NYC radio producer wrote about how his life priorities were changed suddenly in his Senior year of college. He wrote that “During my junior year in college, I ran myself ragged…. I had two roommates that year, Scott and Dave. Scott was a giant, about 6’ 4” and 200 pounds of solid muscle…. Dave was the polar opposite. About 5’ 7” and maybe 100 pounds. Dave was plagued by diabetes and a heart condition. He had to closely monitor his diet, and he added about six or seven pills to his daily regimen of food as well.” Mike’s relationship with God suffered as much as his relationship with his friends. His “wake-up call came the next year.” “I had moved into a new residence hall with other friends… I got the call from Dave's new roommate... Dave was headed to the hospital. ‘Something with his heart.’ It didn't look good.” Dave was dying yet he was only 20 years old. Da...

Lose it all for the Lord! – Philippians 3:7-9 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 24, 2009 AM What would you be willing to die for? The love of your life? Your family? A pet? Job? Perhaps you would dare sacrifice yourself in order to save someone else’s life like for a kidney or heart transplant or a blood transfusion? The Reverend Thomas Baker went as a missionary to the Fiji Islands and died there in July of 1867 and was eaten by the local populace. They did not eat him because of his missionary work but rather he lost his life for messing with the local chief’s hair – actually the head man’s comb that kept his hair in place. One villager who took part in the cannibals’ feast was quoted in contemporary accounts as saying “we ate everything but his boots,” and one of Baker’s boots is reportedly on display along with his Bible, the fork and the bowl used to dine on him, at the Fiji Museum in Suva. Don’t worry about going there now, the cannibalistic decedents apologized in 2003 for their ancestor’...

Beware of False Piety! - Philippians 3:1-6 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 17, 2009 AM How often have you seen children at play and some little killjoy just has to retort, “That’s not how you are supposed to do that!” or “You’re not following the rules!” Could this be the first glimmers of legalism in the life of this juvenile Pharisee? How would you describe legalism? Where does it come from and why does it occur? I suspect that we begin to allow legalism to creep into our lives, and especially our theology, because we have an unfounded sense of self-doubt or guilt. We then find security in following a set of guidelines or rules. What one person says is living a holy life can be a way to try to get you to adhere to their preconceived piety and their own brand of legalism. Scripture teaches us to be aware of false piety. Paul would shout, “Beware of false piety!” because it often finds comfort in legalism. We discover that the Philippians had their legalistic detractors as well. They were a gr...

Servants of God - Philippians 2:19-30 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 10, 2009 AM Every mother knows that their children show different characteristics and qualities. It does not necessarily make one child any less in the eyes of a loving mother, but rather unique and individual. Mothers do this with their children because they see special things in each child that make them special only to her. Why else would Mary, the mother of Jesus, ponder in her heart the things she saw and experienced in the life of her son? I know my mother often “pondered” the things she saw displayed in the lives of her children! For instance, when we brought huge night crawlers into the house and then chased her around with them because she thought they were baby garter snakes. Then, there was the time we were all lined up in a row to “confess” our crime of breaking her favorite cookie jar and none of us would crack. Years later her devoted daughter would admit it was her fault but that she honestly thought one of us...

Fear and Trembling - Philippians 2:12-18 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 3, 2009 AM My brother Ed and I had been getting on our mother’s nerves for most of the day and so we knew that when our father got home, we would hear about it. That is, unless we did something about it right away. You know, like a few well placed acts of “kindness” towards our dear old mother who was, after all, the “apple” of our eyes. Why, yes, that would work because after all how could anyone want to punish someone after they had done so much good? Right? Sadly, I am here to relate that it did not go as well as we expected. Ed and I still faced the consequences of our actions. Christians can also get caught up into thinking they have to “do something” in order to get God to love them. However, Paul’s words remind us that “it is by grace we have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) What then does Paul mean when he writ...

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...