New Community Church

Today we worshiped at New Community Church, 3100 Wexford Road, Wexford, PA 15090, 724.935.0909, www.NCCinWexford.org, Mark Bolton, Senior Pastor.

Scripture: Genesis 17:3-5, 9 –

Abram fell facedown and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.”

Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.”

Bob’s thoughts:

On Christmas Eve we went to worship with some of our family at a church they have been attending. It is one of the modern churches for the unchurched…nothing to offend anybody…but I realized that the loud clanging cymbal worship, the flashing lights and smoke was not how I would like to welcome my Savior. It didn’t feel like worship to me. Some churches are careful not to display any Christian symbols so as not to offend, but I find that is exactly what offends me. It took Christmas Eve for me to realize that if Christ isn’t the center of worship, then why are we there? Why is anybody there?

We were led back to a community church where we had worshiped before. There was some good press on some missional activities going on, and we went not realizing we had worshiped there previously. I did not notice any offensive crosses here either. During the welcome time a few people said hello, but otherwise we were left alone. The female lead singer was a little too strong for me. There was a harshness with the volume, but I did enjoy when she took up her bow for a solo.

There was an announcement of an upcoming program for young girls to help them recognize their self-worth. The cause is dear to me, but I was somewhat dismayed at the $15 charge. It seemed to be an odd thing to charge for attendance.

I thought the sermon by the Young Adult Pastor was well developed and brought up some interesting points. The title, “You Are a Hero, Now Be One,” was a good choice. He posed the thought that we are judged by what we do, who we are by how we act in the world.

I was reminded of an incident not long before I was brought to Christ. My wife was backing out of our driveway and backed into a neighbor’s car. He didn’t realize she was backing as far as she did.

The problem was me from the back yard assuming he ran into her, and this poor older man bore the brunt of my ire. He apologized profusely, no doubt to appease this wild man. When I found out later that my wife had backed into his car, I had many opportunities to apologize for my behavior to one of the most interesting Christian men that I have met. A hard lesson of being judged by how we act.

Jan’s thoughts:

I neglected to check the blog to see if we had already worshiped here, so we ended up re-visiting sooner than we might have planned.

We were plenty early for the 9 a.m. service, so had time to wander around some. As with most churches with more than one service, we were not identified as visitors so perhaps only one person spoke to us.

This is a modern building with an amazing child care area. The paintings lining the walls in the children’s’ area were colorful, imaginative, and well done.

Music seems to be an important ministry, and their Advent CD is even available on iTunes. Personally I thought the lead singer’s voice sounded a bit harsh, but it could have been just my ears. The music generally maintained a good volume though, and the song “Child of Love” was beautiful, especially the violin accompaniment.

The message, entitled “You Are a Hero, Now Be One,” was presented by Adam Jackley, the Young Adult Pastor. He led with a question about how we decide our identity: “Does who I am determine what I do, or does what I do determine who I am?” He declared that what we do matters, but does not define us; in other words, who I am determines what I do. He pointed out that, as illustrated in the Genesis passage, God first clarifies our identity, then He issues a call to action. (A profound point...) He said our identity as children of God is marked by the fact that we are loved, accepted, and forgiven, and nothing we can do can make God love, accept, or forgive us any more than He has. I appreciated the wording of his concluding thought: Jesus was God’s final word on who we are.

I find it both fascinating and disheartening that we are so often confused about our identity and spend much time and effort deciding how to define ourselves. Logic says that once we become believers, it’ simple…our identity has been determined and we should be able to move forward in our lives with the knowledge that we are children who are dearly loved by our heavenly Father.

But if you’re like me, Satan subjects us to regular reminders of our sins and failures in an attempt to keep us from believing what God has told us – that we’re forgiven, accepted, and loved – which forces us to decide again and again who we are.

Perhaps some do not experience this spiritual tug of war, but I’m betting most do. It’s a painful struggle to which we can only respond by praying for a fresh indwelling of the Holy Spirit…along with sticky note reminders everywhere I look. I joyfully anticipate the day when I have escaped this struggle and KNOW who I am.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, we pray these worshipers are confident in Your gift of salvation and humble knowing it is nothing any of us could earn or deserve. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.