Northbridge Community Church

Today we worshiped at Northbridge Community Church, 216 Mystic Pine Trail, Cranberry Twp., PA 16066, 724.371.1180, www.northbridge.org, Jame Price, Lead Pastor.

Scripture – NIV

Romans 3:21-25

But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Romans 3:27

Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith.

Bob’s thoughts:

There seemed to be far fewer people in worship here than I remembered; for many maybe a last vacation before back-to-school.

The music overpowered my earplugs so I stepped out of the sanctuary; I thought if I acted like a visitor someone might say hello. I was greeted by the parking attendant and the woman who held the door.

Andy Stanley’s message was a post script to some recent messages we have heard. We have been reminded that all sorts of people will be in heaven, and Andy’s message today talked about a church of reconciliation.

Every church has a church culture designed for church people, but the real truth is the common denominator: “for all have sinned”… none of us are better than others or closer to God than others, only that we are all justified by Christ.

It came to me with this that a lot of churches might want to rethink their membership classes; many are pre-occupied with “we’ve always done it this way.”

I liked the restroom signs that were timelines of coming events, not just church events but secular also.

Jan’s thoughts:

There is much that is welcoming about Northbridge such as friendly people who direct the parking efforts outside, friendly folks who hold the door open when you approach, and more friendly individuals who extend greetings between the entry door and the door to the sanctuary, and even inside the sanctuary. I was glad some members of our family were there to talk to though, because as much friendliness as we encountered, there was still no one to talk to.

The music was high-volume and well done, as always, and a spotlight of encouragement was pointed on volunteers.

I very much enjoy Andy Stanley’s messages. He is comfortable, animated, talks fast and sometimes stutters, but he comes across as genuine, humble, and honest.

Today’s message is hard to put into just a few words because it was about a lot of things: the culture in churches, the fact that every person who ever walked the earth – with the exception of Jesus Christ – has been unable to live up to God’s standard, and that God did something about it by sending His Son to die in our place. Andy called this “God’s buy-back program” and pointed out that it leveled the playing field.

He noted that “if the message of the church is for everybody, the culture of the church shouldn’t exclude anybody.”

He followed with a personal story about an exceptional friend whom he attempted to guide to faith in Christ and how in the process he himself became aware of the culture of the church in which he grew up.

I believe he is right on the money about church cultures being designed for church people, and I think most church people are oblivious to it. I know I was. I belonged to the same church for 30+ years, and I thought it was a friendly church that anyone could walk into and feel right at home. And I thought the same about the second church I belonged to. But after visiting churches for nearly 6 years now, I would say that every church has a culture whether they know it or not, and no church culture will “fit” everyone no matter how hard they try. Not in this world at least.

Is it good for a church culture to be so flexible that change is constant? I don’t know the answer to that, but it looks like this church may be aiming to find out.

Our prayer for this church:

Father, we pray we remember that our common denominator with all mankind is our sinfulness. Thanks be to God for our justification through faith in Christ. Amen.