Home

Today we worshiped at Home.

 

Bob’s thoughts:

We were wondering if we would make it to church today as we are the designated babysitters for our daughter who was due to deliver a few days ago. Then this morning Jan stepped out onto our porch and broke her foot somehow, so a portion of the day was spent at the hospital. Therefore I thought today might be an opportunity to express some thoughts without attaching them to a particular church.

We are always looking for ways to build up the Body of Christ. We work to voice our experience as first-time visitors. How we are welcomed or not is never intended to be a statement about us, but simply an example of how visitors were greeted at that particular church on that particular day.

Someone once greeted us in a different language; they apparently thought it an impressive way to make conversation with a visitor. At times this may be the only person a visitor talks to…would that be the impression you want them to have of your church?

Sometimes we are both given a visitor bag and one might be well supplied and the other has a worn out pencil, out of date literature, no pastor card, and the like. These are good things to do but you will likely see more response if it is consistent.

Members should take notice of those who might be carrying a visitor gift or even just looking lost. The value of personal contact cannot be overstated. A visitor may be suffering and in need and you may be the person God has put in that person’s path to speak to that need…or vice versa.

It is everyone’s job to greet visitors.

Is your visitor packet bulky? Could it be considered awkward to carry? Sometimes it is given only at the end of the service. Does it contain information a visitor might find helpful during the service such as the location of the restrooms, nursery, or cry room? You need to decide if it contains information that is useful during the service or a distraction during worship, like a mother with small children trying to protect a coffee cup.

We have occasionally needed help finding our way out of the larger complexes. I suggest you ask someone you know who is not a member to come visit, find their way around and hear them out how they were welcomed.

 

Jan’s thoughts:

I was moved to write the following one day after visiting a church. It was one of those days when I asked God about the purpose of that particular church:

We have visited some huge churches with ornate stained glass, where every detail was considered and resources available to accommodate every conceivable wish. We have worshiped in churches that could be called humble and plain and even all-but-forgotten, and occasionally one that makes me hope God will someday call us to become part of a congregation again.

And occasionally I find myself wondering how regular attendees are fed at a particular church…”why do they keep coming back here?”

That is when I hear the Spirit telling my heart, “Don’t judge what is not yours,” reminding me that God is equally delighted by the contemporary worship that originates from a stage, by the traditional worship from a chancel, and by a few people in a room that was half-demolished (or half rebuilt, I don’t recall which). The point was that it is not my place to conclude whether worship is indeed in “Spirit and in Truth” and a humbling reminder that all churches belong to Him.

 

Our prayer for the Church:
Dear Heavenly Father, We pray that all churches develop a welcoming presence. Help them to be attentive to the needs of strangers. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Carnegie Presbyterian Church

Today we worshiped at Carnegie Presbyterian Church, 219 Ewing Road, Carnegie, PA 15106, 412.279.3223, www.carnegiepresby.org, Rev. Jeff Tindall, Pastor.

 

Scripture: Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.

And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy – the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

 

Bob’s thoughts:

This church is one I have wanted to visit for a long time because my family was connected to one or both of the Carnegie churches that merged to form Carnegie Presbyterian Church.

They seemed to have weathered the inevitable storms of the merger very well and now are one church. Some items were used from each church in the new building, which has a bright airy feel. The round stained glass window and ornate wooden cross on the wall below add a great deal.

We were greeted at the door and enjoyed a more extensive conversation with a young man who turned out to be the pastor’s son. A few people asked me about or thanked me for my service.

The organ was strong during the introit but we were able to hear the choir for the rest of the service. There was one beautiful voice that could have carried over the organ.

The people responsible for the Sunday School program were recognized and some students were promoted. We got to see some of their handiwork after the service.

Since this was Youth Sunday we didn’t get to hear the pastor deliver a sermon. The young man who did the message is the Youth Director, son of friends of ours, and just graduated from seminary.

The message “Mission: Impossible?” has been a recurring theme for us of late. We are not sure just what He is calling us to do but we know it’s not impossible. The sermon was introduced as “Advent in June.” The Scripture was Mary learning that she would be mother to Jesus and her acceptance in faith of her call. Mary, no doubt, questioned how God could do this within her expectations.

I thought the song “Mary, Did You Know?” was hard to hear sung, but even to hear the beautiful words read is painful to someone who lost a son.

The church supports some of the ministries that are dear to us and we look forward to returning to hear the minister.

We had hoped to stay after to lay hands in prayer for a young woman from the congregation but she needed to go home.

 

Jan’s thoughts:

This church is a success story, the result of the merger of two churches whose buildings in Carnegie were in close proximity to each other. The congregations made the decision to merge and both buildings were sold. After a time the current property was purchased and this new building built.

Some congregational mergers seem to take place in name only, but all we observed was one big happy church family.

The large, attractive marquees at the bottom of the hill assured us we had the right place, and at the top of the hill we found three large wooden crosses at the entrance to the parking lot.

We arrived early and were engaged in conversation almost immediately. Members graciously took time to give us some history and details about the merger, the building, and the grounds.

It turns out we chose to visit on Youth Sunday, so we were blessed to experience several special events we would not have otherwise witnessed, namely the participation of much youth talent, the Promotion/Appreciation of the Sunday School, and a sermon from the Youth Director, Alex White.

The choir was inspiring; I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of the descant in “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty.” It was beautifully done.

An especially encouraging idea: a note in the bulletin indicating that anyone who has experienced an answered prayer should take a flower from the sanctuary entrance and place it in a vase in the front, thus reminding others that God answers prayers.

As mentioned, the sermon, “Mission: Impossible?” was presented by Alex White, the Youth Director at this church and, as of just over a week ago, a graduate of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. The message was a reminder of Mary’s incredible faith in submitting to God’s plan as presented by the angel Gabriel. It is easy for us to take it calmly…we know how the story ends. But Mary had no idea what she was in for; she was young, inexperienced, and unmarried, and she trusted God with all her heart.

I think Alex was right on when he pointed out that no woman is ever truly ready for motherhood, nor does she know what she is in for. (I know I didn’t. I was totally clueless.) But it is a process, a journey, and no one is ever really ready for God’s plan and Jesus is full of surprises. The important thing to God is our faith, and like Mary, we are called to carry Jesus out into the world.

I look forward to returning to CPC to experience the contemporary service.

 

Our prayer for this church:
Lord, we pray Your continued blessings on this church. When You call, may they answer as Mary: “May it be to me as You have said.” In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Community Presbyterian Church of Ben Avon

Today we worshiped at Community Presbyterian Church of Ben Avon, 7501 Church Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15202, 412.761.1233, www.cpcba.com, Rev. Dr. Donald R. Ewing, Interim Pastor.

 

Scripture:

Psalm 96 –

Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth. Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.” The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.

1 Kings 18:20, 21, 30-39 –

So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

But the people said nothing.

Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”

“Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.

“Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord – he is God! The Lord – he is God!”

Luke 7:1-10 –

When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

 

Bob’s thoughts:

It is special to get an invite to return to a church just to enjoy worship. God knows when we need recharging and provides the opportunity.

It was a real treat to be greeted by not only those that we know but quite a few of the members, some who remembered our names. It is very welcoming to be greeted by so many in Christian love.

We were invited for the music program, which was simply great, but also witnessed ordination and partook of Communion. The amazing adult anthem was without instruments and needed none, and I also really enjoyed the children’s anthem, especially the enthusiasm of some of the children. Worship for me could easily have consisted of the music program, but there was so much more.

The sermon was based on some of my favorite passages of Scripture. The message started with reference to a commercial referring to the Most Interesting Man in the World. I got a kick out of not having a clue to whom he could be referring…I can’t remember the last time we watched TV or a commercial. I wonder if Christ-followers in the day thought of Him as the Most Interesting Man in the World.

It was stressed that we are in the faith business and that we need more “Wow! Look what God has done!” We are called to nurture that faith in others as we grow in faith.

The slate of Elders and Deacons seemed full. It is exciting to see good things like this going on as this church continues to heal.

 

Jan’s thoughts:

We were honored to be invited to worship at Ben Avon for the choir’s musical culmination of the season. The music was amazing, ranging from African American Spirituals to Mozart to Taize, along with the Junior Choir, which was a real joy to both hear and watch. We were blessed to witness the recognition of teachers and mentors, the ordination and installation of Elders and Deacons as well as to participate in the Sacrament of Communion. It was a full, rich, meaningful service of worship to our God.

Although we have friends here we were welcomed by some folks we did not know, and appreciated the time they took for conversation. Since we had arrived early we looked around the building; it was heartwarming to again meet a friend with whom I had traveled to Malawi as well as to see reminders of Ben Avon’s involvement in the Partnership between Pittsburgh Presbytery and the Synod of Blantyre, CCAP.

An interesting note: next Sunday will be this church’s sixth annual “Faith in Action Day.” Instead of meeting for worship in the morning, the congregation will serve in and with the community on a variety of service projects in order to reflect Christ’s love to others in the community. Everyone joins together at the close of the day for dinner, reflection, and evening vespers.

In the sermon, entitled “Surprising Faith,” the pastor spoke of Jesus’ unexpectedly finding faith in the centurion and pointed out that we sometimes find faith in some unexpected people. We have the obligation to display our faith openly and show hospitality, to demonstrate less doubt and more faith, in order to nurture faith wherever it may be.

I think this is a struggle for most believers, and I appreciated the encouragement.

 

Our prayer for this church:
Dear Lord, we pray You will continue to bless and guide this congregation. Continue to open their hearts to encourage and nurture the faith that grows around them. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

First Presbyterian Church (Beaver)

Today we worshiped at First Presbyterian Church, 252 College Avenue, Beaver, PA 15009, 724.774.6398, www.fpcbeaver.com, Jeff Arnold, Senior Pastor.

 

Scripture: John 7:37-44

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”

Others said, “He is the Messiah.”

Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?”

Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

 

Bob’s thoughts:

We were a little early for the service and were reminded again of the importance of signage. We found a door to the rear of the sanctuary and were about to enter when we realized it was the end of the earlier service, so we took the stair down to explore. We ended up in the choir area, through a storage space and kitchen and on to the newer-looking space that had signage. From the size of the facility some entry signage would have helped.

A woman next to Jan said hello and thanked me for my service. I thought no one spoke thinking we were from one of the other services, so I got us both visitor bags and we carried them around a bit, but nobody noticed.

With the sun shining in the window directly above us, a window shade would help the tech see the sound mix board.

There was mention that this was Memorial Day weekend and it was tied to the image of Biblical remembering the past for the present and future. The most powerful point from the message was that as Christ poured out the Living Water for you and me, we also pour out for those to whom we minister.

 

Jan’s thoughts:

As we approached the building I wondered, did we want door number 1, 2, 3, or 4? My first guess was not helpful (leading to a single door toward the front of the sanctuary). Door number 2 led to a similar spot but there were stairs, so we took a tour of the lower floor. In the course of conversation with a gentleman in the kitchen we learned that remodeling is scheduled to begin this this week in many areas of the building.

We appreciated the large maps that were posted in various locations showing the layout of all three floors. In a facility this size, it was very helpful.

The worship area was large, and by the time the service started there were few if any empty seats. The woman sitting next to me welcomed us and thanked Bob for his service.

The music was phenomenal, and sounded (to me, at least) good enough to be professional.

The sermon was called “Jesus: Seeing, Believing, Knowing God.” The pastor started out talking about the sacrificial leaf of the Mangrove plant and its obvious connection to Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf.

He then explained some of the details of the Feast of Tabernacles as it was celebrated in the Old Testament. If I have it right, on the 8^th day of the Feast the priest took a pitcher of pure gold (representing Jesus Christ) and, walking under a shroud of palm branches, walked from the temple to the Pool of Siloam, filled the pitcher from the pool, returned to the temple, and poured the water (symbolizing the Holy Spirit) over the altar. He did this seven times, signifying the totality of God’s provision for His people.

It was on this the greatest day of the Feast that Jesus issued His invitation for “anyone who is thirsty,” (i.e., anyone – ANYONE – who wants to know God) to come to Him. The pastor emphasized several vital points involved in this transaction including that Christ’s promise is that Living Water will flow FROM you, not INTO you. The progression is: first we thirst, we go to Him, He fills us with the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit causes Living Water to flow from us thus nourishing others and giving us a life of purpose and meaning.

Can I just say how much I loved this sermon? I have often read the story of Jesus’ invitation to come to Him and be filled with Living Water, but knowing the Old Testament background and symbolism deepens the meaning so much more.

He also pointed out that when we are thirsty the human response is usually to try to treat it with one (or more) of the countless remedies offered by the world, but the only real cure is to take it to Jesus. Only He can fill the voids in our lives…we never could, we never will…the only solution is to come to Him just as we are.

 

Our prayer for this church:
Lord, we pray You encourage this church to continue to seek Your Living Water. Guide their mission efforts and lead them as a church to where You wish them to serve. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.