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Micah 4 – God will rescue his people! By Pastor Lee Hemen October 30, 2016 Remember last week I related that when politicians or preachers try and tell you that mankind can bring about peace that they are either misguided or lying? The real peace we will ever know is that God can provide and is found in Jesus alone. Armies, machines of war, speeches, treaties or promises by nations will never bring about the peace mankind longs for, only faith will. Only God will rescue his people! Micah’s words resonate in our ears and resound in the longing of our hearts and souls. We find in them hope for our future and the real reason for our existence. Israel was going to be brought down because of their arrogance and sin. They would be overthrown by their enemies and hauled away into slavery; but in the midst of this horrible dark news was a beam of light; a hope for their future and for the entire world. In it we discover God will rescue his people! Let’s see what hope Micah's words ha...

Micah 3 – Be aware of ungodly leaders! By Pastor Lee Hemen October 23, 2016 What does a nation do when its leaders are so corrupt that they put criminals to shame? And then what do people do when their spiritual leaders are supposed to be leading them toward God’s holiness but are so ungodly that they willingly sacrifice your future to fill their pockets? No I am not talking about the 2016 Presidential race or the current millennial view of Jesus and the future of the church. I am speaking about the words of Micah to the divided Israelite nation. Micah’s words are just as contemporary today as when they were written thousands of years ago. What do they teach us? What can they teach us? Here within these verses we will discuss this morning we discover that just as in Micah’s day we today need to be aware of ungodly leaders. Let’s find out what Micah teaches us… READ: Micah 3 Like all spiritual narcissists the leaders of the Hebrew people were more interested in their own selve...

Confess! – Micah 2 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 16, 2016 All of us have likely heard the truism, “Confession is good for the soul.” It’s an old Scottish proverb but there is a word missing. The proverb actually reads, “Open confession is good for the soul.” Perhaps it supports open and honest confession from one caught in their transgressions or it could come from Catholic guilt. I believe its roots come from Jesus who declared, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32 NIV) King David declared, “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” (Psalms 32:5 NIV) Micah teaches us that confession is good for the soul; not just for individuals but for nations and its leaders as well. The Hebrews had forsaken their God, their faith, and their own people for selfish gain. Micah wanted to restore them before ...

Micah 1 – Judgment is coming! By Pastor Lee Hemen October 2, 2016 New York City tailor Hercules Mulligan had the singular distinction of saving George Washington's life—twice in fact. A Revolutionary War patriot and spy, Mulligan learned of two British plots to ambush the general and alerted him to the danger. Mulligan also persuaded founding father Alexander Hamilton--originally a supporter of British colonial rule--to promote the cause of American independence. (Huffington Post) In history it is often those who are not well-known who make a difference in the lives of those around them and for those who follow after them. The Minor Prophet Micah is such a person. Little is known about Micah. Micah is a shortened form of the name Micaiah which means “Who is like Yahweh?” In Jeremiah’s day the elders referred to Micah and quoted him in defense of Jeremiah’s message of judgment on the nation. Micah was from Moresheth, a tiny Judean town about 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem nea...

Be good by doing good! - Galatians 6:7-18 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 25, 2016 There are those in our world who actually think that by simply trying we can become good or that everyone is born good and only learn evil by the influence of others or society. This is insanity and has been proven wrong by thousands of years of human history. No matter how one meditates, concentrates, or venerates human wisdom, knowledge or achievement being good will never solve mankind's inherent propensity towards evil. However, the Bible teaches us that there is a way for mankind to be good by being good. Not in the way the world teaches but in the person of Jesus. No matter how good a person feels and no matter how good something sounds it is all infected by the inherent sin condition of creation. Our rebirth in Jesus solves this issue and our being good does not come from our trying but rather from a life lived for him alone. Paul relates how we are to be good by doing good; let's disc...

Bear one another's burdens! - Galatians 6:1-6 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 18, 2016 I don't know about you but as I get older I have discovered that there are certain things I simply cannot do that I could do even four years ago. Age will do that to you. Of course as one grows older you realize you are more responsible for yourself more than you used to be when you were younger. Things like exercise, eating habits, and taking care of your overall health is one's personal responsibility. I have also discovered that I as I have matured in Christ that while there are certain things I can no longer do there are other things I should be doing on a regular basis! A lot of today's believers never mature in their relationship with Jesus simply because they have no spiritual Christian history. In the past our society had a Christian influence that permeated every aspect of one's life whether one went to church or not. Today this is simply not true. Many are being taug...

Live by the Spirit not by sin! - Galatians 5:14-26 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 11, 2016 Semper fidelis is a Latin phrase that means "always faithful" or "always loyal". In the United States it is best known as the motto of the United States Marine Corps. "Be Prepared" is the motto of the Boy Scouts and Washington State's motto is "Al-ki" which means "Bye and Bye". What life motto do you live by? For some it is "Get yours before they get theirs", however for the believer it should be "Love God and love others". Of course this come from what Jesus taught about all the commands of God being summed up into: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31 NIV) What is your life's motto? For Paul his mot...

Be free! - Galatians 5:1-13 By Pastor Lee Hemen September 4, 2016 It is interesting to see how many hospitals have become aggressive advocates for certain things regarding pregnancy, birthing, and the care of newborns. So much so it sometimes borders more on being politically correct rather than the actual health of the child or the concerns of the parents. For some hospitals and how they handle circumcision is a good case in point. In our day and age where circumcision is a personal choice and does not have any actual health benefit due to greater medical research and societal cleanliness. However, whether one wants to try and make the theological argument that it is healthier or not it is no longer spiritually necessary. Jesus put an absolute end to anyone having to follow the law in order to be saved and to go back into the law one is willingly enslaving themselves to a system that will eternally condemn them. Paul knew this to be true and desperately wanted the Galatians to u...

Don't be a Hagar! - Galatians 4:19-31 By Pastor Lee Hemen August 28, 2015 In the annals of history no one wants to be remembered as a Wrong Way Corrigan who was an American aviator who after a transcontinental flight from Long Beach, California, to New York, flew from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York, to Ireland, though his flight plan was filed to return to Long Beach. Nor do we want to be known as a Charlie Brown the cartoon character who falls for his friend Lucy's duplicitous football fakeouts or who always blows the neighborhood baseball game. And in the Bible we would not want to be equated with Hagar -- or, would we? Paul in making his case to the Galatians has given them several examples of how they're going back to their old faith habits was headed spiritually in the wrong direction and now he gives them the example of Hagar. She was a handmaiden, servant, of Sarah Abraham's wife. Later after Sarah's scheming to circumnavigate God's plan ...