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Remember - Psalm 27 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 28, 2017 A lot of folks misunderstand the differences between Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day. Veteran’s Day is when we honor all those who have served in the Coast Guard, Navy, Army, Air Force, or Marines; while Memorial Day is the day to remember those who died in the service of their country. It is good to remember the sacrifice of those who gave their lives so we could enjoy the freedoms we do. David was willing to sing about how he remembered how God had protected him and kept him. David first expresses confidence in the Lord in spite of his enemies who threatened him. Yet, in the midst of remembering suddenly David’s mood changes and he anxiously prays that God would not forsake him. Because the Lord was his basis of comfort and hope, he remembered to wait for the Lord. The psalm is one of remembering whom we can trust to rescue us. Let’s discover what David wrote… READ: Psalm 27 Over and over military men and women who faced imm...

God leads us! - Psalm 18:1-6, 16-21, 32-36 May 21, 2017 By Pastor Lee Hemen When life smacks you in the head what do you do, to whom do you go to for advice, or for comfort? For some of us it is family, others it is a good friend, and yet as believers we are to first and foremost go to the Lord who is our help in times of trouble. It is during these times that God leads us. David was not favored by God because he served him but David served him because God had appointed David in his sovereign mercy. After David praises and tells of his confidence in God for the future, David gives a beautiful description of God’s deliverance, which he described as an illustration of God’s justice to the innocent. God’s own might and success are celebrated as the results of divine aid and the confidence it will continue. Let’s learn how through our lives God leads us! READ: Psalm 18:1-6, 16-21, 32-36 David knew about trouble in life. He had been given the kingdom of Israel while the still sitting king S...

Giving! -- Luke 6:27-38 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 14, 2017 J. R. R. Tolkien wrote in his book The Hobbit, “Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.” This is why mothers are so important and in fact they are the ones who teach us those everyday deeds of kindness and love but they also teach us a quality that has often been lost in this day and age; they teach us about giving. Here in Luke’s gospel Jesus teaches us about giving, what it means, how it is done, and the blessings of giving. What we fail to realize is that for the believer giving comes in various forms. In this passage from Luke we discover Jesus teaching his disciple about giving for the Christian. Let’s discover what Jesus taught about giving… READ: Luke 6:27-38 We have all heard that believers should give but why should we give? I learned about giving from...

Goodbye! – Ephesians 6:21-24 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 7, 2017 There was a very schmaltzy song from the 1980s called “Friends” sung by Michael W. Smith that everyone and their monkey were singing. The chorus went: “And friends are friends forever, if the Lord’s the Lord of them. And a friend will not say never ‘cause the welcome will not end. Though it’s hard to let you go, in the Father's hands we know that a lifetime's not too long to live as friends.” I got sick and tired of hearing this over and over at every youth camp I did but it does express some spiritual truths concerning Christian friends and goodbyes. Paul became close to the people in the churches he established. He knew that because of their small size and how few and far between these congregations were Paul feared for them as friends. And when he had to leave them for whatever reason it was tough for him to say “goodbye”. Let’s discover what Paul wrote about this… READ: Ephesians 6:21-24 How would you say goodbye ...

Armor all! - Ephesians 6:10-20 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 30, 2017 Armor All is a line of car care products manufactured by American company Armored AutoGroup of Danbury, Connecticut, United States. Its sprays, gels, liquids and wipes are specifically designed to clean, shine, and protect most interior and exterior automobile surfaces. It is now owned by Spectrum Brands which is a diversified company that makes weed killer, batteries, and pet products. On the Armor All logo is a Viking dressed in his armor to portray the protective properties of the product. The believer has been given spiritual protection by the grace of God through our faith in Jesus Christ. Paul listed what he believed the protection of God consisted of and his list is not to be either comprehensive or all there is to the protection one has under God’s grace. Paul’s desire was not to give Christians a check off list to follow or adhere to but rather to show them that we are in the midst of a battle and that we hav...

Resurrection! - John 20:1-9 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 16, 2017 We are at a spiritual crossroads in history. We live in a day and age whereby folks do not use critical thinking but rely on their instinct or passion. This is dangerous because we are then motivated to think that what we feel is more important than facts. Or worse, that we can distinguish what is right or wrong in life simply by how it feels to us. From personal relationships, what we believe in, or to whom we vote for is a matter of feelings and not what we truly know. We end up hurt and confused when our emotions have steered us in the wrong direction. The resurrection is not a matter of emotion or personal feelings. It is a historical physical fact. This is why later when Mary is crying by the empty tomb and the angel rebukes her by reminding her of the facts, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son ...

The crucifixion foretold! -- Psalm 22: 1-3, 6-8; 14-19; 27-31 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 9, 2017 What was the most memorable event in your life? What historical event do you remember more than anything else in your life; the one moment in time that will always impact you that you will always remember? Several thousand years ago something occurred that so impacted the lives of those who witnessed it that they had to write down exactly what they had witnessed and how it impacted them. It was the crucifixion of an itinerant teacher known as Yeshua Ben Yoseph; Jesus son of Joseph. Many churches around the world will celebrate Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem and was greeted by crowds of people proclaiming him the messiah. Jesus would die within a few short days on a cross, crucified by the Romans because of the lust for power by Jewish leadership. However did you know that this event was predicted nearly a thousand years earlier by King David? Jesus’ crucifixion was foretold, let’...

Slaves and masters! – Ephesians 6:5-9 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 2, 2017 There are times when employees may feel they are slaves or just a cog in one big giant machine only good for what they can turn out for the “man” but to equate our boredom or nasty bosses to actual slavery is a bit much. Real slavery is no laughing matter and it still exists in many countries of the world today; most notably within those that are predominately Muslim or socialist. While slavery was the predominate thinking for much of the world’s history Christianity has played a huge role in ending this horrendous system of slaves and masters. Jesus taught that God views all people equal and while Paul and others addressed slaves and masters they knew that God so loved the whole world and that Jesus came to save all mankind. Within those nations who were influenced by Christianity the ungodly system of slavery would eventually be done away with. We can find the seeds to its destruction in how Paul addresses the at...

Parents and children! - Ephesians 6:1-4 By Pastor Lee Hemen March 26, 2017 A child rebelling is as old as well couples having children. Some think that it is worse today than years ago, but it probably isn’t it just may seem that way. However, there has become a shift in how children are disciplined. The issue is not in whether a parent spanks or not but rather in the teaching that there are consequences for one’s actions. Consistency in parenting has degraded in our society and it has infected the school system as well. There are actually folks who think it is harmful to tell a child “no” or to hold them accountable for their behavior. This is simply not true nor is it emotionally healthy for the child to not know their boundaries. When we look into the pages of Scripture we can sometimes be hard pressed to find good examples of parenting yet we do discover some of the best advice for raising healthy, emotionally stable, and spiritually sound children. And here in Ephesians Paul gives...