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2 Chronicles 7:13-15 - Building a Strong Church -- How to Pray With Power ! By Pastor Lee Hemen April 17, 2011 AM We live in a day and age where the church has become pretty much irrelevant, why is that? I believe it has become irrelevant because the church has immersed itself and adopted the ways of the world instead of changing society. When Jesus came, he did so to bring the kingdom of God back into creation. Jesus established his body in the world, the church, in order to change the world one individual at a time. When an individual gives their life to Christ, they then can experience and know the power of God in their lives on a daily basis! How? It’s simple--through prayer. Sadly, most people do not experience a powerful prayer life and then they begin to look for outside experiences to satisfy the spiritual void they have. There are reasons why so many have never experienced powerful prayer, one is the simple fact that they never learned how to pray with power! When S...

The Victory! - Mark 16:1-20 by Pastor Lee Hemen April 10, 2011 AM Victory can come in many forms in our lives. Getting a good grade on a test, which we have studied endlessly for, making a promotion at work that we have worked hard for, or retiring in comfort and contentment. Parents see victories in their children all the time. Perhaps one of the greatest victories that were totally unexpected happened during the 1980 Winter Olympics when the USA hockey team beat Russia at Lake Placid, New York. It was called "The Miracle on Ice" for a reason because no one expected it to happen since Team USA had been badly beaten by the Russians earlier in the year. Today's verses in Mark show us a different kind of victory. It is one that does not give out gold medals, good grades, or future monetary compensation. It is the victory that gives anyone who believes in it the power over death and the newness of a whole new relationship with Almighty God. It was a victory that few expected...

Today's Thoughts - What are you living for? - Mark 15 by Pastor Lee Hemen April 3, 2011 What are you living for? It is a good question to ask. I have often asked others this very question yet in a different way. I ask, "Suppose you were standing before God, in heaven, and he asked you, 'Why should I let you into my heaven?', what would you say?" Yet, this week I have been encouraged by another writer, to consider asking another series of questions: "If you live for many more years, what quality of character will you take into eternity? For what will your life have counted? What lasting spiritual legacy will you leave to those left behind you?" The author of these questions goes on to state that everyone accepts--intellectually if not emotionally--that they eventually will die. What they do with their remaining years is crucial. A legitimate question to ask anyone--and most of all ourselves--is: What are you living for? In light of eternity, ev...

Are We Like Peter? - Mark 14:66-72 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 27, 2011 AM There is a certainty and assurance that true Christians know and reflect in their lives. Others have noted the peace that believers display no matter what occurs in life. During the cold war a KGB agent for the Soviet Union had nearly beaten to death a young Christian woman. He warned her to never be caught again. Her crime was having a Bible study in her home and owning a Bible. Later, she was again caught by the same KGB agent. In disbelief he could not shake the peace that he saw in her face even after she was finally murdered by his squad. It haunted him from that day on. Later, he gave his life to Christ and had to escape Russia himself. How could that lovely young woman continue in her faith even after she was severely beaten and then later die for her belief? Faced with a similar situation we find Peter not only backtracking away from his friendship with Jesus, he flatly denies he ever knew him! ...

The Trial of Jesus - Mark 14:53-65 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 20, 2011 AM If we are lucky in life we will have the opportunity to meet someone who exemplifies what true heroism means. In a day and age where heroism is often defined by what one suffers through rather than the sacrifice of one’s life for another, we need to take a fresh look. The English word for hero was first used in 1387 and comes from the Greek meaning “protector” or “defender.” Originally, Hero was a priestess of Aphrodite at Sestos a town on Hellespont. She loved a young man named Leander, who lived at Abydos, a town on the Asian side of the channel. They could not marry because Hero was bound by a vow of chastity, and so every night Leander swam from Asia to Europe, guided by a lamp in Hero's tower. One stormy night a wind extinguished the light, and Leander drown. His body was washed ashore beneath Hero's tower; in her grief, she threw herself into the sea. Not exactly what we think of as a her...

When We Abandon Jesus - Mark 14:42-52 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 13, 2011 AM It was a warm spring day and my parents had met some friends as we walked downtown. My father had picked me up and sat me on the hood of a car parked nearby. As they stood around talking, I fell fast asleep. I remember waking up and realizing that I was all alone. My parents and siblings were nowhere to be seen. I did the natural thing any four-year-old would do, I began to cry. A policeman was nearby and came over just as my father came running around the corner. They had thought I was still with them, forgetting that they had placed me on the hood of the car to keep me safe. Being abandoned as a preschooler is a frightening thing. Can you imagine being abandoned by your closest friends during a time of your greatest trial? Here, in Mark’s gospel Jesus finds himself in just such a situation. He is abandoned by his disciples. Let’s take a look at what occurs so that we can learn what happens when we...

When We Fail at Prayer - Mark 14:32-41 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 6, 2011 AM Why is the Christian church a mere shadow of what it once was? Some think it is because we do not allow the Spirit of God to work. Others say we are not reaching out enough, witnessing about our faith here at home. While others believe that it is because the church has lost the aspect of being set apart from the rest of the world and has lost its holiness. I believe all of these have some validity, but at its core I believe that all of these things can be reduced to the fact that the church no longer prays as it should. A weak Christian faith or a weak Christian church is the result of when we fail at prayer. Here in Mark’s gospel we find Jesus during the last few hours of his life. As each moment draws him closer to his final act of sacrifice, we discover some wonderful truths for our lives. And there is no greater truth than the power of prayer. From when his own disciples asked him to teach them ...

Would You Betray Jesus? - Mark 14:27-31 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 27, 2011 AM She took an autistic friend to a high school football game. While there her friend began to speak with anyone she came in contact with, which wasn’t so bad because most could tell she was autistic. Things changed however when the girl began to talk with some of the more “popular” kids. They began to make fun of her. The scene soon deteriorated, but she stood back embarrassed and did nothing. Have you ever been embarrassed enough of someone to leave them to fend for themselves? Jesus told his disciples, during the Passover meal before his death that “a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.” (John 16:32) The courage of his closest friends would fail him when they fled Jesus during his greatest trials. Peter one of Jesus’ closest friends denies him three times. Judas would betray hi...

The Final Passover - Mark 14:12-26 By Pastor Lee Hemen February 20, 2011 AM Meals are important. More than just a means of nourishing a person, meals serve as a means for families to draw closer, talk, and as a means of getting together. Meals have been used to bring about peace between adversaries, nations, and to secure better relations. The preparation can be just as important as the meal itself. What food is served, why it is served, the way and how it is served can carry with each task very important implications. The Passover is such a meal. The Passover meal is celebrated to commemorate the passing over of the angel of death during the time of Moses and the exodus of the Israelite slaves from their captivity in Egypt. God promised to spare the life of the firstborn of any household that had the blood of a lamb painted over the doorframe of the house. Every Hebrew was commanded by God to remember this incident each year with prayers, a sacrifice, and a meal. The meal ...