CityReach Zelienople

Today we worshiped at CityReach Zelienople, 319 E. New Castle Street, Zelienople, PA 16063, 412.720.6450, www.zelienople.cityreachnetwork.org, Mark and Denise Grogan, Lead Pastors.

Scripture – NKJV

Psalm 109:30

I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth;

Yes I will praise Him among the multitude.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Luke 17:11-19

Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

Bob’s thoughts:

We heard about this new church start-up around mid-year and have looked forward to visiting. The CityReach churches are filling a void and are reaching people for Christ.

God has blessed this congregation with an actual church building, something a lot of churches don’t have. It has taken a lot of work, but their efforts show and it is a pleasant sanctuary and comfortable rooms downstairs.

The sanctuary has a low ceiling and curtains over the windows giving it an at-home feel. There was a large wooden cross, and the volume of the music was just right.

We were warmly welcomed by most of the congregation, and the husband and wife co-pastors.

During a prayer time, those needing prayer were asked to raise their hand and those nearby asked to reach out to them, which I found most encouraging.

The female pastor said she felt called to add “It Is Well With My Soul” to the music this morning, and I knew the call was true. This song brings bittersweet memories from the church service the day after our son was killed.

It was announced several time that there are people scheduled to Ring the Bell on the 28^th, but I’m in the dark as to what that is about.

The message was about thanking God when our circumstances are less than ideal. The Pilgrims’ thanksgiving feast lasted three days even though the last year 50% of their people died.

It was hard to thank God when our son was killed, but it was God Who got us through those terrible days and God Who holds us up now.

We were blessed to meet with and pray with the pastors after the service. I truly felt Christ’s Presence here and was encouraged at how He is working through these pastors.

Jan’s thoughts:

We have attended several other churches within the CityReach network, and most seem to be in a building other than a church, but this one was in an actual church building.

We were greeted warmly as we entered, and people kept approaching us and introducing themselves. Finally I realized as I watched that everyone there was greeting every other person.

There were other marks of hospitality, such as boxes of tissue placed strategically under chairs and small bottles of water available.

As we toured the downstairs we saw inviting-looking areas set up for groups of various sizes. The building had obviously been shown a great deal of love.

The pastors’ son was kind enough to show us how the Keurig worked, and Bob was happy to note that decaf was available.

The music included a few songs I knew and a few I did not, and ended with one that is near and dear to my heart, “It Is Well With My Soul.”

There were many announcements, many of which involved mission of some sort including the Breakfast with Santa for the community and Giving Hope outreach which involves large Ziploc bags full of items, and the packs will be handed out to the homeless next month.

The message centered on Thanksgiving and intentional gratitude. He pointed out that, of the 10 lepers, nine were healed and one was made whole, and he asked, how often are we the one out of 10 who expresses appreciation to the Giver of all good things?

We enjoyed a wonderful conversation and prayer with the pastors following worship.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, we pray You continue to bless and guide this church. It is exciting to see Your handiwork. Amen.