Sunday, March 18, 2012

Element Church

Today we worshiped at Element Church, P.O. Box 5863, 400 Lincoln Avenue, Millvale, PA 15209, 412.736.9006, www.theelementchurch.com, Pastor Rich & Jodi Jones, Lead Pastors.

Bob’s thoughts:

There is an old joke about going to a fight and a hockey game broke out…well in a way, we went to a bar and a church broke out. The bar is in an old church building and the church sets up to worship there.

We were warmly welcomed by a number of people. Signage is pretty well non-existent, but they are using someone else’s space. The music would have been too loud for me without earplugs and sitting in the back.

The bar was set with coffee and water, which was much appreciated when my cough returned. I heard talk of property they were working on and was pleased that it is for their outreach programs and worship will remain where it is. A man in a wheelchair distributed some handouts, so there is handicapped access somewhere.

There was a girl of about 2½ whose dance below the stage was a real treat. There was a healthy mix of age groups present.

My only worship disappointment was in being unable to find a cross anywhere.

The sermon was about how God calls us to take an uncomfortable step before He does the impossible in our lives. I think that has been true in my life. When we had to move from Crafton and had no idea where we would go or how we would find the resources, God called me to get ready to move and I started giving things away. When I cleaned out, a cousin gave me a house at South Hills Country Club with the statement “I don’t know why, but I would like to give you the house.”

I still resist obeying God sometimes, but He still amazes me when I act as He requests.


Jan’s thoughts:

Never having been to Mr. Small’s Theater before, I was unfamiliar with the place. Today I learned that it had been a Catholic church, was then transformed into a theater (a non-traditional type, obviously), and now on Sunday mornings is used for worship by The Element Church.

The atmosphere was casual and the people friendly in a comfortable way. Prior to worship we had extended conversations with a few people including a Marine who seemed to keep a watchful, helpful eye on us the remainder of the morning, which was appreciated.

Needless to say, this worship experience was different than…all the others, actually, but there were many remarkable points: the mix of ages was surprising, from very young to much older; they understood and brought us chairs when we said we might have a problem with the volume and wanted to stay toward the back; a number of people simply came up and welcomed us…it was simple, the way it’s supposed to be; several took the time to have a longer conversation and answer our questions. It just felt unpretentious and relaxed.

We were glad we stayed toward the back for the first couple of songs (after all it is a rock service) but I freely admit that many wouldn’t have an issue with the volume…it’s our ear conditions that make it an issue for us. The last couple of songs were quieter, and the band had a terrific sound all the way through the service.

Once a month they recognize a volunteer with a “Foam Finger of Awesomeness” and today it was presented to our new Marine friend, which was awesome in itself.

The sermon is part of a series based on a book called “Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible” by Steven Furtick. Pastor Furtick is the founder and lead pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC, which in its four years has grown to more than 6,000 people in regular attendance at three locations, according to Amazon.com.

The sermon, like the book, challenges one to contemplate audacious faith, noting that when we ask God to do the impossible, He usually asks us to do something uncomfortable. He read Joshua 10:12-14 in which Joshua prayed boldly that the sun would not advance – and it did not for an entire day.

Many inspiring points came from his message, which became a tag-team event when it was completed by an Associate Pastor. She listed the three Steps of Preparation:

1 – Trade off to trade up (you must give up the old in order to receive the new);

2 – Setbacks can be set-ups (what looks like a failure often is an opportunity for God to show up and show off);

3 – Divine vision creates tough decisions (God’s plans require something substantial of us, usually in terms of giving up something and/or changing our thinking).

The final reminder of the morning was that “testimonies don’t come without a test” (which I liked), and the question we all need to ask ourselves: “What uncomfortable thing is God asking me to do in order to see Him do the impossible?”

The book sounds intriguing and challenging, and that’s how I felt about the message. It’s the sort of thing that makes me nervous that God is forewarning me that He plans to ask me to recklessly abandon control over my world. If He does, I will surely be recalling this message.

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