Alive! Community Church

Today we worshiped at Alive! Community Church, worship held at South Pike Cinemas, 130 Cinema Way, Route 356, Sarver, PA 16055, 724.816.2713, www.alivecc.com, Dave Roddy, Senior Pastor.

Scripture – NIV

Exodus 20:1-3

And God spoke all these words:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me."

Mark 8:34-38

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Bob’s thoughts:

We were invited by a worshiper to come visit this church, and from the invitation we expected only a few, so were pleasantly surprised by 50+ in worship.

The church meets in a movie theater, which from what we learned is a win-win for all. The theater’s sound system was too much for my ears but what a blessing for the church.

God has blessed them to be a church without the burden of a building. My only disappointment was the lack of a cross; I thought there might be one displayed on the large screen, but did not get to ask why not.

A visiting couple, the Youngs, spoke about their ministry against human trafficking in Europe and we were blessed to be there to hear a little about it and meet with them afterward. I was pleased that the pastor would call the family forward and pray a blessing over them. In all, the pastor’s prayers were a highlight for me as he sounded very comfortable and willing to lift up prayers.

This was week two of a sermon series on the 10 Commandments and God used this pastor to clarify a seed He had planted in me. I thought I was called to grow a half-acre garden on our hillside and donate the proceeds to feed the hungry. Last year, while lamenting that it was killing me, it came to me that this was Bob’s idea, not God’s. I kept putting off getting my little wood shop operational because I was too busy with the garden and woodworking was just for fun. I came to realize that was God’s whisper to get my shop in order. I still got carried away this year…the garden is smaller but still way too much. Now I have rotator cuff tears in both shoulders, and He has my attention.

Some of that enjoyment in obeying God finally will be praising Him for His leading to however He will use me.

Jan’s thoughts:

After receiving an email invitation to visit this church I found myself wondering what worship in a movie theater would look like, as this concept was new to me. I learned that this is far from a new idea: I was told that at least two national theater chains have divisions devoted to arrangements between the cinemas and churches.

As we approached the building, the doors were held open for us and we were greeted with smiles and bulletins. We found information about the church on a folding table in the lobby, and several friendly people greeted us, including the pastor.

The restrooms were well marked of course and we easily found our way to the appropriate theater where the band was set up and seating was excellent. The words to the songs were projected toward the top of the screen, leaving plenty of room for worship leaders to stand in front. The concession stand was open, making it possible to bring drinks in and use the convenient drink holders built into the arms of the seats.

Some of the music was unfamiliar to me, but the group had a great sound. After the opening songs the pastor spoke about the importance of the theology expressed in the music, and I completely agree that accurate theology is vital.

An unexpected visit from a missionary family was a special treat for us as well as for this congregation. This husband and wife team, along with their 3-year-old twins, are obeying God’s call to help stop human trafficking. The challenges presented in this scenario would seem insurmountable without faith that God empowers those He calls.

The message, “You’re Not God,” is the second in a series about the Ten Commandments. One of his most powerful points was a tweet quoted from David Platt: “The great mistake made by most Christians is hoping to discover in themselves that which is found in Christ alone.” I think there is much truth to this statement today, even though this observation originated with and was credited to A.W. Pink, an evangelist who lived from 1886-1952. Neither times nor people have changed much since, which you can easily tell from a quick glance at Facebook.

The pastor taught that “our ability to follow the other nine Commandments is based on our ability to follow this one;” that God can be replaced in our hearts and minds by His good gifts to us, i.e., our kids, our spouse, our job, our hobbies. These “good things can become god things”…we can find ourselves worshiping these good gifts from our loving God instead of worshiping God. But “God will not share His Bride, the Church, and He prevents heartache by being the center of our lives.”

I could only add that He not only created us but paid the ultimate price to redeem us; He deserves to be the center of our lives.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, we give You thanks for blessing this congregation that they are free to be a church and not caretakers of a building. Amen.