North Hills Alliance Church

Today we worshiped at North Hills Alliance Church, 2298 Rochester Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15237, 412.364.5800, www.northhillsalliancechurch.org, Ernest S. Conley, Pastor.

Scripture – NKJV

Revelation 3:20 –

Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

2 Corinthians 4:6 –

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Bob’s thoughts:

We have looked forward to visiting this church but then the opportunity arose to visit a combined outdoor service. We did get a peek at the beautiful sanctuary and hope to worship there. We were greeted by a number of people, engaged in conversations, and offered a tour. There is signage but none directing to the restrooms or nursery. A highlight for me was meeting two Marines after the service.

The congregation was asked to complete the sentence “Here is how Jesus has made me glad…” which yielded some great testimonies.

The message pointed out how the Old Testament directed to Christ and the New Testament reported His life. The Passover symbol of putting the blood of the lamb on either end of the doorposts to me correlated directly to Christ’s blood from His hands outstretched on the cross.

He spoke of how the cloud provided some relief to Israel from the desert sun and how the light from the pillar of fire would shine down on them at night.

The Bible does not state that God blessed the second temple, but the people took credit for it. During the Feast of the Tabernacles, 50-foot towers were constructed at the corners of the temple. They had lamps burning on top with wicks made from the priests’ robes. The towers were torn down the next day.

The area is dry most of the year and part of the ceremony at that time involved parading with a pitcher of water and praying for God’s blessing of rain for the following year. Then the water was poured out, symbolizing God’s blessings poured out upon His people. I felt this blessing was poured out when the wind brought the Spirit upon these worshipers outside today.

The theological and historical insights we glean from the Messianic teachings never cease to amaze me.

Jan’s thoughts:

On a drive past this church a month or so ago we noticed a sign indicating it is now the worship location for a Messianic Jewish Congregation on Friday evenings, so we had in mind to worship with both congregations on different weeks. However, last week the Alliance church website noted today would be a joint outdoor service in celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, so we opted to take the opportunity to visit today. I am so very glad we did as we were greatly blessed.

We arrived early and were warmly greeted by a number of people, including some who kindly took the time for extended conversations.

Once outdoors we found a seat at a table – for the second week in a row, come to think of it, and were joined by one of the ladies who had introduced herself. It was breezy out, but a perfect day for an outdoor service.

Worship began with music led by the pastor of the Messianic Congregation, and after singing the last line of “I Will Enter His Gates,” i.e., “He has made me glad,” a mic was passed around for all who wished to testify how Jesus has made them glad.

The message, “Jesus in the Feast of Tabernacles,” revealed how the Old Testament speaks of Jesus and all the Biblical feasts point clearly to Him. The pastor referred to the report of the spies who first explored the Promised Land, and how most of them and those to whom they reported their flawed findings listened to how they felt, not what God said.

The Feast of Tabernacles was about God’s call for His people to live in a temporary home for seven days in order to remember His provision. This made even more sense to me when he made the statement, “Jesus tabernacled among men.” Jesus lived in the same sort of temporary home as we do, also temporarily, and we too must learn of His provision.

He spoke of Christ being not only our Savior, but also our Lord, including lord of our thoughts, and that we must submit our will to His. He has so much more for us if we will turn to Him and open our hearts to His Living Water.

We were unable to accept the gracious invitations to join the picnic following the service, but we did enjoy the heartfelt conversations.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, we pray You continue to pour out Your blessings on these congregations. May they feel Your Spirit moving among them. Amen.