Fountain Park Church

Today we worshiped at Fountain Park Church, 8533 Peters Road, Cranberry Twp., PA 16066, 724.779.2003, www.fountainpc.com, R. Mark Plumb, Pastor.


Bob’s thoughts:

Being at a church we are familiar with to celebrate our daughter and son-in-law becoming members afforded me a certain freedom.

We were greeted by people who thought they had seen us before and many exchanged “Hello” or “Good morning.” I noticed a number of friendly clusters of people around the Sanctuary before the service and noticed that my son sat alone at a table and no one approached him. I remembered how as a visitor the small groups could look like cliques to which you don’t belong, and how easy it is to make the visitor feel welcome.

I had the pleasure of watching a little girl who wasn’t saddled with our adult reservations and was free to dance to the praise songs; I appreciated her worship. I thought the Children’s Message was well done, a theological blending to make an Old Testament lesson current. The youth were engaged and the message was tied to the current theme.

There was a differentiation used in the sermon between “us” and “them.” As Christians we use these terms too often. We are called to change exactly this reality. You can use a Marine principle, “There are Marines and there are those who want to be.” There are many who would like to know Christ…we only need to make the introduction. We meet people every day who are searching, most times they don’t know for what or Whom.

Part of the sermon dealt with being salt and light, the uses of salt to melt ice, improve taste, etc. Salt was and is used in some unusual ways as a medicine and thought that a good analogy taking healing to those different from us. I thought the LifeSavers tossed to the congregation were the best metaphor: we have that chance to save a life by introducing the lost to Christ.

Jan’s thoughts:

Our visit to Fountain Park today was for the happy occasion of witnessing our daughter and son-in-law join this congregation with an adult baptism thrown in as well. It’s always uplifting to hear the contemporary music done so well, to hear Mark preach, and to worship with Mark and his wife, with whom we’ve been friends for years through the Pittsburgh Presbytery Partnership with the Synod of Blantyre in Malawi.

As we entered, there were a few folks who recalled our faces from past visits, which surprised me as it has been a while.

The bulletin was full of information about opportunities for service in numerous areas, stemming from the current sermon series. This week was the culmination of the sermon series and related small group studies entitled “Outflow: Loving the World!” with today’s installment called “Outward focused living in a self-focused world.”

I truly appreciate the sermon notes page that’s always included in the bulletin: it makes it so much easier to take notes and then to recall the points later. Today Mark spoke about the fact that in God’s eyes, we’re all missionaries in the particular place He has us. Like Moses, we tend to ask, “Who am I?” “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me?” or point out our shortcomings to God as Moses did: “I’m not very good with words.”

I missed the name of the author of this quote, but the quote itself is worth repeating: “To be a missionary for God, you do not have to cross the sea, but you do have to see the cross.”

God sees us as salt and light. I loved Mark’s list of the attributes of salt:
It melts ice – it may even melt the icy attitude of some people in the world;
It enhances flavor;
It acts as a preservative;
It makes one thirsty – maybe thirsty enough to seek out the Living Water; and
It doesn’t fulfill its purpose if it stays in the salt shaker. (I thought this one was especially meaningful!)

God sees us as seed sowers. He wants us to go out into the world as a satisfied customer who wants to share a great experience. He desires that we generously sow seeds for Him to use to bring growth. The more generously we sow, the more God has to work with.

For me, this is another reminder that “It’s not about me.” It’s about Jesus, and the fact that we are permitted to help in any small way is a wonder in itself. Our hearts should be filled to overflowing at the knowledge that God can and does use us, even when we don’t notice…perhaps especially then.