Clinton United Presbyterian Church

Today we worshiped at Clinton United Presbyterian Church, 197 Glade Mill Road, Saxonburg, PA 16056, 724.352.3855, www.clintonchurch.org, Rev. Jason M. Sinagra, Pastor.


Bob’s thoughts:

This is a rather small church, but it could benefit from some signage as I didn’t see any.
We were warmly greeted and welcomed, but more, we were treated like family.

We were told of an upcoming event, “Bring a Friend Sunday,” and I would think this will get a good response.

I was happy to see mission was above 10% of budget…God will bless these efforts.

I really enjoyed the Anthem: that was a lot of harmony from four people.

I read in an advice column today about a woman who asked for prayer for her husband and the pastor refused because he was a member of a different church. Hearing this pastor open prayer requests to those outside the church (“the people you meet this week”) was an uplifting Christian concept.

The sermon started with the question, “Who wants to be a moron?” I should have stood since being a fool for Christ is the highest calling I have ever had. God doesn’t work within man’s expectations; He colors outside the lines and is a rule breaker (ours, not His).

God works in unexpected ways…He takes a lowly, broken sinner like me, comes into the cesspool of my making, and raises me up to do His will. Absurd? Yes…thanks be unto God.

Jan’s thoughts:

This is a pretty little country church, well kept, clean, and family-oriented. In touring the upstairs we found a storage area and several classrooms; unfortunately we did not see the downstairs.

The only signage I saw was for the restroom, which was conveniently located right off the Narthex.

The bulletin was informational; the back page contained many notes geared to visitors (nursery and restroom locations, parking, members of the Board of Session and Board of Deacons, and even the meaning of the liturgical color of the season).

The people were friendly – nearly everyone within a several pew radius greeted us, introduced themselves, welcomed us, and some even invited us to return. A very welcoming church indeed.

The Prayer of Confession in the bulletin was actually confessional in nature. These prayers can sometimes move quickly from a brief confession into supplication, but when we finished reading this prayer I felt as if confession truly had taken place.

Four people sang the unlisted Anthem, but their voices sounded fantastic together.

Today was “special music Sunday” so the soft cover hymnal, “Sing the Faith” was used. This one is new to me, but I enjoyed the more up-to-date songs.

The sermon, titled “Simply Jesus,” was based on I Corinthians 1:18-31. He stated that the Greeks viewed Jesus as weak because He came to Earth as a man, and the reason He was a stumbling block for the Jews was the fact that He hung on the cross (Deuteronomy 21:23 states, “Cursed is the one who hangs on a tree.”). Both of these “reasons” have caused people to reject Jesus to this day.

The thing is, “The cross is the answer to death, and Jesus’ surrender to death is what conquered it.” My favorite line from the sermon: “God breaks all the rules except His.”

One of the things about our God that most delights me is that He, in Christ, has taken so many of our accepted assumptions and beliefs and turned them on their heads. He creates paradoxes that point to the only solution or explanation as His, and yet I still have trouble understanding Him. What I need to do is stop trying to figure Him out and simply follow in humble submission and faith. I know, I know…easier said than done. Daily reminders help, but I’m still working on it.