North Hills Alliance Church

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

Scripture – NIV

Job 1:6-11 –

One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

Job 1:20-22 –

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Job 2:1-5 –

On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

Job 2:9-10 –

His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

Bob’s thoughts:

The building is modern-looking with a high arched ceiling and spacious sanctuary. The pews are angled with a wide center aisle, and there is a large cross on the wall.

We were unable to find signage indicating the direction of restrooms but someone noticed our confusion and pointed the way.

The sermon asked why we worship God, which I suppose falls into the category of things we do without much thought as to the reason why. Do we come to worship for what we get? Or what we get out of worship? Is God a puppet we use?

A quote from a hymn/poem, “Once I tried to use Him, now He uses me.”

Churches often feed this, wanting people to feel good, and teaching if you do this then God will bless you. But worship needs to be pure love. The “Wow!” of worship makes it all about us. I think we can put the wow back in worship if it is all about just loving God.

There were some people who greeted us after worship who remembered us from an outdoor service we attended a few months ago.

Jan’s thoughts:

Today again we were redirected: when we arrived at the church we planned to attend, there were no vehicles in the parking lot and no one around, so we headed for a later service here.

We arrived during the singing at the beginning of this contemporary service, with music provided by a pleasant-sounding group of six.

The sanctuary was spacious with color-blocked type stained glass windows and a beautifully crafted wooden cross in front.

Announcements were listed in the bulletin as “Family Time,” which I thought was original and accurate for most churches since things spoken about at this point are seldom explained for the benefit of visitors.

The answer to the question asked by the message title, “Why Do We Worship God?” was expressed by the differences between God’s and Satan’s evaluations of Job. Whereas Satan declared that Job worshiped God because God blessed him, God, of course, knew Job’s heart and knew that Job’s worship of God was motivated by pure love.

The pastor asked why this – or any other – church worships God. Do we “like” a church because we appreciate the style of music or teaching? Do we “dislike” a church because those styles do not appeal to us? And a great question: do we miss truly worshiping God when we do not worship Him in spite of what we like or dislike but simply because He is present and deserves our worship?

The pastor’s point was, our worship of God is not about us, about our comfort, our likes or our dislikes; our worship should be motivated not by God’s blessings but simply because we love God and want to lift up His name.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, we pray You open the eyes of this church to Your purposes for them. Amen.