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Humility! - Philippians 2:1-11 By Pastor Lee Hemen July 1, 2018 There was an old Country/Western song that stated, “Oh Lord it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way” but of course it was a parody on how the singer viewed himself. However if you listen to some of the folks in today’s headlines you would wonder if some of them need to take a reality pill. Sadly it has infected Christianity to the point where we have begun to arrogantly think that everything about Jesus revolves around us instead of his eternal plan. Paul knew that each believer was part of God’s plan for the spreading of his gospel. He understood this because it was what he had dedicated his life to. Because of Paul’s adamant belief in the saving grace of Jesus and his single-minded focus there were those who thought he was arrogant. This can happen to someone who is totally focused in life as Paul was. Needless to say this kind of irked Paul and so he did not want others to think this was t...

Living for the Lord! - Philippians 1:18-30 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 22, 2018 We live in a day whereby some people actually think that “if you disagree with me then you must hate me” therefore you are a “hater”. Discourse or critical thinking is gone. It has boiled over into religion as well. There are those who say that if you disagree with another faith then you must dislike the people who are involved in it. And if you dislike them then you are not very compassionate or kind like Jesus. This is all so much tripe. (If you do not know what tripe is -- it is “the first or second stomach of a cow or other ruminant used as food” and is often thrown away as trash.) Paul did not care why some believers did what they did only that the outcome was glorifying to the Lord. Paul’s desire was that people of all ages “reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:13 NIV)” This is why he taug...

Father’s Day – Ephesians 6:4; Hebrews 12:7-12 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 17, 2018 Did you have a good father? I had a pretty good dad. He took us fishing, camping, and spent as much time with us as he could. He taught us to be moral, believe in God, and what marital devotion was all about. I still can remember him showing us boys how to cast a salmon egg just right in order to catch the bigger trout in the river. I also remember he was firm on his word and discipline. Sometimes children can think their parents are unfair or that they do not understand but what I have learned is that parents, especially fathers, do understand and that is why they often have to take the firm stand they do. Too many fathers in our day are AOL (absent without leave) either physically or emotionally or both. Proverbs reminds us that “Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul. Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the ...

No matter what, preach the gospel! - Philippians 1:12-17 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 10, 2018 What is important in your life? I mean to the point where you would be willing to leave your home, family, friends, and do what you knew was the most important thing in the world. For some it is sports, some it is music or writing, for others it might be acting or art but for the believer who has given their life to Christ everything should revolve and focus on him who gave everything for them. For Paul life was Jesus and Jesus was life and this is why for Paul in his life he considered it the greatest thing in the world to preach the gospel. He gave up family, friends, and everything in life to follow him and following him meant telling others about Jesus’ mission and message. Therefore for Paul it meant that no matter what, preach the gospel! Let’s find out how Paul encouraged others to do the same… READ: Philippians 1:12-17 Someone once said that “The most important thing you have to realize i...

Partners! - Philippians 1:1-11 By Pastor Lee Hemen June 3, 2018 Having a good partner is important in life whether it is in marriage or in friendship. A good partner can lift you up when you are down, they can be there for you when you need them to be, and a good partner knows when to correct you so you can be the best you can be. Partners are important. When we think of partners in history we might think of Orville and Wilber Wright, partners in old time comedy would be Abbot and Costello, and of course partners in the Bible would be Paul and Barnabas. Yet Paul had other partners as well and we see him writing to those he considered to be in close partnership with him in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. Let’s see what Paul says to his partners in the gospel. READ: Philippians 1:1-11 Here we discover that… I. Paul understood where his partnership came from! (Vv. 1-2) Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the ove...

Persevere! - Jude 1:17-25 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 20, 2018 Recently a lesbian couple went on vacation with their six adopted children; the couple got drunk and drove off a California coastal highway into the Pacific Ocean at 90 miles an hour killing all of them. They left Minnesota when they claimed one of their children was threatened by the Ku Klux Klan, and moved to Oregon, and finally Washington. Actually they fled Minnesota after bruises were discovered on a preschooler and the “mother” received a three-month suspended jail sentence and a year of probation. The Harts later moved to Oregon and began homeschooling their brood, but relocated to rural Woodland, Washington when Oregon began to suspect them of abuse. They fled their Woodland home after CPS workers tried to contact them about starving and neglecting their children. The warning signs were all over the place concerning this couple but few responded fast enough to rescue innocent children. Sadly many of us face warnings eve...

Mother’s Day – Ephesians 6:1-3; 1 Timothy 5:1-5 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 13, 2018 When we are taught that everyone is “special” then the final outcome is that ultimately no one is. It becomes meaningless. Let me try to explain a little bit. When I was a young boy my father taught me some very important life lessons on how to be a man but it was my mother who taught each of us how we were unique. Notice I did not say “special” because she never said we were special just to say so like a lot of folks do nowadays instead she said we were special when we did something that was truly special. That’s what moms do; they keep you in the real world. This Mother’s Day I wanted us to focus on why we should respect our mothers. Parenting in general has gotten a bad rap in America today and what I mean is good parenting. It seems as if there is no longer any consistency or heritage of what good parenting is all about. Recently I overheard a mother yelling at her preschooler to get her blankety...

Pollution - Jude 1:1-16 By Pastor Lee Hemen May 6, 2018 I always laugh when the media does a story on pollution and they show pictures of steam coming from “smoke” stacks. Few realize that there are very few real “smoke” stacks within the US and Canada and this is why the media has to use billows of steam in order to make you think it is smoke. It’s like when they would write dire warnings about radiation from nuclear power plants and they would show us pictures of the water cooling towers and the huge plumes of steam coming from them. Is there pollution? Does it occur today? Absolutely! And there is also a spiritual pollution that is just as harmful that many do not realize has affected the way they think about the Bible, salvation, and even Jesus. Most of the New Testament writers had experienced spiritual pollution firsthand. Jude, Jesus’ brother, meets this contamination head on and dramatically reveals it for what it truly is. Let’s discover for ourselves what he wrote concerning ...

Baptists and baptism - Matthew 28:16-20 By Pastor Lee Hemen April 29, 2018 Christians should be baptized out of obedience to and love for our Lord Jesus. Water baptism by immersion is the biblical method of baptism because of its symbolic representation of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Water baptism symbolizes the believer’s total trust in and total reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as a commitment to live obediently to him. It also expresses unity with all the saints because we are “fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household” (Ephesians 2:19), that is, with every person in every nation on earth who is a member of the Body of Christ where there “is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Water baptism conveys this and more, but it is not what saves us. Instead, we are “saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so th...

Malachi 4:1-6 – Being prepared! By Pastor Lee Hemen April 22, 2018 Most of us on that Tuesday morning had not given much thought to what the day held. After all it was a pretty normal day. I was on my way to Morning Prayer and my thoughts were on the day. I was not thinking about eternal things. This was true for most of those who boarded planes in Boston, went to work in New York City, or began their day behind a desk at the Pentagon. Few that day had any idea of what the next few hours would bring, yet with devastating swiftness we were all reminded just how quick death comes. Since 9-11, it has made me wonder how many folks are prepared for eternity. We find that the Prophet Malachi was very concerned about the subject of preparedness. It was in his thoughts as he wrote to the Israelites. He wanted them to consider the eternal consequences of their lives. He knew that if they did not think about their actions and faith now, there would come a time of reckoning for his nation a...