New Hope Community Church

Today we worshiped at New Hope Community Church, 592 Beaver Road, Ambridge, PA 15003, 724.266.0890, www.4newhope.org, Rick Thornhill, Lead Pastor.

Scripture – NKJV

Ephesians 6:14-20

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’ ”

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Bob’s thoughts:

We were warmly welcomed at the door, including a hug.

I was disappointed not to find a cross until we stood up to sing and found the cross off to one side. There is still a lot of work going on as they continue to make this their church home. This is a somewhat complicated facility but I didn’t notice any signage.

I was impressed by a family sitting near us when I saw them hold hands during the corporate prayer. I also loved watching a father hold his young son as they exchanged hugs and kisses.

The volume was a little high for me but I think it has more to do with the acoustics of the space. The message and prayers were hard for me to hear also, I’m guessing due to the echo effect.

With my hearing problems, I’m not sure how accurate my grasp of the message might be. Something that stuck however was that Christ and Christianity draws us out of our comfort zone. I recalled how many times I have voiced my discomfort about performing a particular ministry and I swear I can hear God chuckle when that is the very situation I’m confronted with next.

The pastor told of a woman presenting herself for prayer who, it became obvious, was demon possessed. How ill-equipped we are to believe it or react…how do we explain the evil? The Devil is real.

A concept I hadn’t thought of was the pastor’s description of Paul in prison, chained to a Roman guard dressed in his armor while Paul writes what we read in Ephesians about putting on the full armor of God. May we remember to use the same protection when we face spiritual warfare.

Jan’s thoughts:

With the first snow of the season still falling, we decided to stay close to home today.

The last time we visited this church, they were meeting in the downstairs fellowship area and on the verge of moving to the sanctuary of this former Catholic church.

The pastor mentioned that recently a veteran’s memorial was dedicated which included a wall with a memorial object for a number of veterans. I would have liked to look at the wall more closely, but I think I’ll save that for a warmer day. The larger stone was engraved with the symbol of the Fallen Soldier, and looked striking even from across the street.

A gentleman greeted us and held the door for us as we entered and we were warmly welcomed by a number of people. There were many children among this congregation as well.

We sat more than halfway back but the architecture is such that an echo is unavoidable. The leadership is implementing a great deal of rehabilitation so this will likely be addressed.

The greeting time was much longer than anticipated, which was a fine thing as it gave everyone plenty of time to greet friends and visitors.

The pastor has spent the last four months preaching through the book of Ephesians in a series entitled Onward Christian Soldiers and today’s entry, We Will Not Lose, was the final part.

He began by reviewing some of last week’s message, and the topic of this message was the reality, as taught in the Word of God, of the Devil and demons and the existence of evil. In this section of Scripture, Paul gives us the defensive weapons we need: the Full Armor of God. The Shield of Faith extinguishes the fiery darts of the Evil One; the Helmet protects the vulnerable battlefield of the mind no matter what lies Satan throws at us; and the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. He taught that it is only when we speak our testimony that the sword becomes the double-edged sword God intended it to be.

The joy of this congregation was contrasted by the serious tone of the message, but I truly appreciated being here to be reminded of God’s ultimate power and authority.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, it has been exciting to see how You have grown Your church. We pray Your continued blessings upon Your people here. Amen.