Riverview United Presbyterian Church

Today we worshiped at Riverview United Presbyterian Church, 3505 Perrysville Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15214, 412.321.7300, www.riverviewupchurch.com, Rev. Steven Werth, Pastor.

Scripture –NIV

Luke 3:15-17 –

The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.””

Acts 8:14-17 –

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria.

When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 43:1-7 –

But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth— everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

Bob’s thoughts:

One of the things I appreciate most about visiting mainline churches is the likelihood of finding a cross displayed. I was not disappointed today as I appreciated the large cross draped with white suspended on the rear chancel wall.

The theme of the message was baptism and I really enjoyed the appropriate sanctuary decorations. There were long white and blue drapes hung from either side of the chancel and with a small fan under gave a reminder of running water. There was another long drape from the chancel down the steps to simulate the Jordan River. The children’s message and music were also tied to the baptism theme.

The choir exhibited a lot of power and pleasantly melded voices. It is easy to see the passion when all sing with their mouths open.

A good percentage of the church came by to pass the Peace of Christ, including choir members and pastors.

When the pastor started his message he came down off the chancel giving the effect of meeting with the congregation. The message developed well with good Scriptural references.

It all reminded me of something from one of my devotional readings this week: Christ didn’t come to the Jordan to have His sins washed away in the power of baptism… Christ came to empower the waters. Whatever your method of baptism, you are redeemed in Christ.

The Bread of Christ was offered verbally which always moves me because that makes it personal.

We enjoyed a delightful visit with the student pastor after the service. As He has done before, when we think God must be done with us in this ministry, He introduces someone into our path. It is such a joy to meet someone on fire for Christ whom He uses to reignite us.

Jan’s thoughts:

We followed some other folks entering the building and found ourselves at the front of the sanctuary, so after locating rest rooms and bulletins, found seats toward the back. By the time we sat down several people had greeted us.

The sanctuary features dark wood everywhere and today there were special decorations in recognition of Baptism of the Lord Sunday. Hanging from the ceiling on either side of the chancel were shimmering white and light blue banners with fans below to make them flutter. From a font flowed an aqua-colored chiffon-type material across the floor of the chancel, down the steps, back toward the center, under the Communion table, and partway down the center aisle. This represented the Jordan River and was littered with smooth stones and one large one for realism. The effect was quite lovely and I enjoyed just looking at it.

The bulletin was a work of art on 11 x 17 paper, including color and music, and print that was large enough to read with no issue whatsoever.

The choir increased in number as the worship hour approached and I appreciated both their beautiful harmony and volume in the music.

The student pastor spoke with the children and brought up a point I never previously considered: when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, there would have been “critters” and bugs and all sorts of living things in the water. For someone like me who does not care for water or bugs/critters, this would not have been an attractive option and it puts a new spin on the whole baptism-in-the-river thing.

In the sermon, “Through the Waters, Through the Rivers, Through the Fire,” the pastor asserted that Christ’s ministry of reconciliation began the moment He was baptized as He came up out of the Jordan and baptism into Christ “grafts us onto the vine of salvation.”

He said the location of the words of Isaiah 43 matters. In chapter 42, Israel has been disobedient, rebellious, and unjust, and human expectation would be for God to wash His hands of Israel. Instead, that’s when God turns toward them in chapter 43, declaring He will be with them through the water and the rivers and the fire. Just when it looks like all is lost, God’s love is greater…we fall short and God’s love comes to us. This, thank God, is still true today.

We appreciated the student pastor’s time following worship for some marvelous conversation as well as the many invitations to the coffee hour following worship.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, we pray Your Spirit will fall anew on this congregation that they will remain on fire for You. Amen.