Discovery Christian Church

Today we worshiped at Discovery Christian Church, meets at The Regional Learning Alliance, 850 Cranberry Woods Drive, Cranberry Township, PA 16066, 724.779.1010, www.discovertogether.com, Toney Salva, Founding and Lead Pastor.

Scripture – NIV

James 1:1-2 –

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

James 1:19-23-

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror.

James 1:27 –

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Bob’s thoughts:

We often see the signs to this church in an area where we frequently shop and dine, but I was surprised how well the signage was carried all the way through the development to the building. It was so complete, with even some humor added, that I couldn’t believe there was nothing at the building. We drove around a little bit and settled on the door nearest the most cars. A simple sandwich board sign would have sufficed. Later when the lot was fuller there would not have been much question.

I always thought when we followed the arrows to Kennywood something to help you find your way home would be helpful…such as signs on the back of those leading to the church to get back to 19 or 228.

Coffee was available for a token fee with free refills. The attendant introduced herself and pointed the way to the worship center, as did another couple we spoke with. This church has been here for a while but no cross is displayed yet.

I was lamenting not being able to hear the female lead singer over the instruments and almost immediately she sang without accompaniment. I enjoyed her voice and the praise team overall, and the volume was bearable for me.

I found it odd that we were welcome to take Communion but requested not to present our tithe. As it was I heard nothing about confession of sins prior to Communion so we declined to participate.

I am still not sure why we would not be welcome to give an offering.

The sermon was the first of a series on the book of James. With some logical suppositions, we can assume that James was there for Christ’s first miracle of turning water into wine and perhaps that was when he became a follower. I always thought it would be fascinating to know more of Christ’s growing up and interactions with His younger siblings.

One of the greatest lessons from James is to find joy in our trials. I must admit, I’m often thinking ahead to the joy and rewards after the trials. Another important call from James is to not just read or listen to the Scriptures but to take them to heart and act upon them. The message developed well and brought to light some good points.

Jan’s thoughts:

We have seen signs for this church for some time along Route 228 in Cranberry, though this was my first time inside the Regional Learning Alliance building. As we turned off the main road and into the complex, the signs continued popping up and even displayed a sense of humor with “Don’t give up!” and “You’re almost there!”

Indoor signage was ample, and several folks were generous with conversation as well as directions to the worship area.

The music was presented by a talented group, though many songs were unfamiliar to me. The volume was not overwhelming.

The message was the first in a series entitled “religious” and each of the five weeks of the series will involve walking through successive chapters of the book of James. This first week was an introduction to James’ identity as Jesus’ brother and that James is believed to be the oldest of the New Testament books.

The pastor noted that Job is considered to be the oldest book of the Old Testament and both Job and James state clearly that people of faith should expect to encounter trials in this life. However Proverbs 29:11 states just as clearly that it is foolish to give full vent to our anger and we should be slow to speak (or these days, to post on social media) in the midst of our trials.

He declared that if we are to be ambassadors for Christ in our world, we must return to the mirror of God’s Word daily in order to fix what is out of place in our hearts before we go out into the world.

He then likened believers to mops, saying that we are not clean, but we can be used as long as the Water is changed daily, concluding with the admonishment that we are the mop, not the cleaning solution for the world.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, we pray we all do more than just listen to Your Word but that we are inspired to act in Your Name. Amen.