Christ Church at Grove Farm

Today we worshiped at Christ Church at Grove Farm, 249 Duff Road, Sewickley, PA 15143, 412.741.4900, www.ccgf.org, Rev. Dr. John Guest, Interim Senior Pastor.

Scripture – John 15:1-8

"“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

Bob’s thoughts:

Whenever we have questioned if God still wants us to visit churches, we have always gotten an answer. Today we were unsure of where to go. I was praying for God to lead us to a church that would be celebrating Pentecost, but quickly revised my prayer to wherever God wanted us to worship, and Christ Church at Grove Farm came immediately to mind.

We were welcomed and engaged in conversation by a number of people.

Both the sanctuary and the hall where contemporary worship was held have a prominent cross.

I thought the signage was excellent but would appreciate exit arrows from the parking lot.

We sat in the back to distance ourselves from the speakers and got by without ear plugs.

We sat across the aisle from a familiar face and I thought about how difficult it must be for someone so well known to be able to just enjoy worship.

We were blessed to be able to pray for founding pastor John Guest as he had concerns for his voice after an ailment. Christ not only used him to deliver a message for us, but let his voice be clear throughout.

The message was well put together and delivered, interspersed with supporting Scripture and personal stories. When Christ referred to Himself as I Am in the presence of the Jews, He was speaking as if He is God because He is. As God is using us, He is calling us to be productive for Him.

The Scripture made me smile as it reminded me of when I painted ivy on the walls of our bathroom in Crafton and included some of these verses before we moved. I often wonder how God used it.

I was glad we got to hear the female praise leader sing as she had a delightful voice.

Jan’s thoughts:

We have visited this church twice before but at this visit I was struck by the signage: everywhere I looked, I knew where the hallway led or what was behind the door. And the signs jutted out from the wall, so I could see them from a distance. Truly some of the best signage I’ve seen at a church.

We saw a few of the people we know who now belong to this church, and several others introduced themselves and struck up conversations.

I have not heard John Guest preach before, but was grateful God sent us here today. The message was the last of the series “The I AM’s” about Jesus’ “I Am” statements, and centered on His statement, “I Am the true vine.”

The pastor pointed out that the Jews were well aware of the significance of the words “I Am,” that He was speaking as if He was God, which we know is because He is God. When He said He is the vine, He meant He is the TRUE vine, the one authentic source of life, and Jesus is so life-changing, that when He works through us, we are life-changing too.

We have a deep desire to be significant, and God is looking for us to be productive for Him. He wants us to do something so He prunes us, removing things from our lives that are interfering with our ability to be productive for Him. However the fruit we produce must be the result of His work through us, so we need to abandon to Him, surrender and let Him do what He will in and through us. It’s all about Jesus, not us.

In closing the pastor led a prayer in which he asked the congregation to softly repeat after him. He led this prayer using words from the traditional wedding ceremony, allowing the congregation to feel the weight and importance of our relationship with Christ. It was interesting and quite effective, I thought.

Our prayer for this church:

Dear Lord, please continue to grow faith so that You would always be worshiped with absolute and complete trust as Lord. Prune us all that we might grow in You. Amen.