Wildwood Chapel

Today we worshiped at Wildwood Chapel, 2850 Jack Street, Aliquippa, PA 15001, 724.378.7150, www.wherejesuschangeslives.com, Pastor Rich Liptak.

Scripture – NKJV

Ephesians 4:17-24

This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Romans 6:1-14

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 8:5-11

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Galatians 5:16-26

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Bob’s thoughts:

It still amazes me how much more connected we feel when we are warmly welcomed. We were greeted by a number of people, including two Marines.

The sanctuary is a wide arc with a great wood beam ceiling. The floor is sloped theater-style so it was easy to see the screen. The only cross I could find in the sanctuary was on the ceiling light fixtures.

When we first arrived and heard the volume of the praise group practicing, I went looking for ear plugs, but with the exception of the last song, I didn’t need them. It was good to sing some familiar praise songs, though I wish we could have heard the female leads. I also enjoyed the offering solo.

A woman shared a great personal story on Christ’s healing and her recovery.

The pastor talked about the songs we sing in our worship being for God…it was encouraging to hear that again. I really appreciated the pastor’s prayer for illumination, something that is often missing.

I thought the sermon was well developed and biblically supported with plenty of Scripture. Every time I thought the message was running a little long, the pastor brought up another good point. The congregation was attentive and the sermon seemed well received.

I smiled when he talked about God redirecting our paths, and how often He has done that to Jan and me.

The pastor moved around a lot during the sermon but there was never any echo or feedback.

Jan’s thoughts:

This church has been on our list for some time, and today turned out to be the day. The building is spacious with plenty of pews set in a circle facing the front of the large sanctuary.

As we entered and received a bulletin we were told this was nametag Sunday, which we learned is undertaken every few weeks. Numerous folks stopped to introduce themselves and welcome us, and I couldn’t help but wonder if the nametags had something to do with their comfort in greeting visitors. Of course Bob’s t-shirt attracted some other Marines in the congregation.

Plenty of time was given to greet others and many welcomed us and invited us to stay for donuts and coffee following worship. There were a few prayer requests and a testimony by a woman with a remarkable story of God’s healing.

I appreciated the pastor’s comment that the words to songs can give our spirits the words to worship God. I often feel this way.

The message, entitled “Two Natures in Conflict,” dealt with the sinful, fleshly nature with which we are born and the ‘new creation’ God calls us when we accept Christ as our Savior. He pointed out that whether the conversion is radical or gradual, the mind is transformed and how we ‘do life’ changes. However this transformation is hugely dependent on us and our willingness to put forth conscious effort to fight the cravings of the sin nature. We must run to God with the hidden things in the life of our mind and heart, things He knows already, but when we confess them barriers fall and we again experience a spiritual connection with God. We must choose to yield to our new nature instead of our sin nature. We must make a “continuous declaration of dependency.”

Something else that resonated with me was his definition of ‘living in the Spirit’: being constantly conscious of God’s Presence.

Of course, as long as we are on this side of heaven, our old nature will plague us. He proceeded to list five actions we can take to fight this spiritual battle:

1 – Humbly acknowledge the carnality in our minds and lives;

2 – Renounce the hidden things of darkness and confess them;

3 – Apply God’s Word to the situation; renovate the mind;

4 – Be constant; keep trying and don’t give up;

5 – Put guilt and shame in their place; “there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

I appreciated the concrete guidance in this message. Anyone who attempts to live in the Spirit has experienced the spiritual warfare he spoke of. And I agree that the battle is fought first in the mind, territory the Enemy is constantly working to possess. We must take this battle for our minds seriously and fight like our lives depend on it, because they do.

I was grateful for the time after the service to chat with the pastor.

Our prayer for this church:

Father, we pray this congregation is in tune to Your redirecting their journey; it is an exciting place to be. Amen.