Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church

Today we worshiped at Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church, 8070 Rowan Road, Cranberry Township, PA 16066, 724.776.3141, www.hlc.church, Rev. Ronald A. Brown, Senior Pastor.

Scripture

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 NASB –

"See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."

1 Corinthians 3:1-9 NIV –

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Matthew 5:21-37 NASB –

"You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ' You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

"You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

"It was said, 'WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE'; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

"Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.' But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these is of evil.

Bob’s thoughts –

We were warmly greeted at the door and then by the ushers. It almost felt like a receiving line coming in, not that everyone spoke, but there were smiles that made me feel welcomed. Once in the sanctuary the greetings ceased, but the smiles and interaction with the children around us made me feel welcome as only a child’s smile can.

I was grateful to find a large cross suspended over the chancel, and delighted with the rendition from the horn ensemble.

The sanctuary is a high arched, smooth ceiling and bare walls, and the effect of both was an echo that with ear problems made most of the service impossible to hear clearly. I could understand some of the sermon and wish I could have understood more of the young woman who sang…the tone was quite pleasant. The line that stood out was, “At the crossroads of life, choose life.” For those of us who believe in the sanctity of life, this has a strong meaning.

It also came to me that we are afraid to ask for more in our life, that often we feel we are not worthy to ask for our heart’s desire. We are not worthy, but that’s not the point. Our lives could be so much more than they are. God holds these blessings for us and wants us to choose the abundant life He has planned for us.

I enjoyed a chance to speak with two of the pastors after the service and took a peek at the outside of the building going up for education and social functions. From what I saw it appears close to completion. I was also pleased to see the church supports Pleasant Valley Men’s Shelter, a long-time mission favorite of mine.

I relished seeing so many children along with us gray hairs; the healthy mix is a good indicator of a growing church.

Jan’s thoughts –

This church is building a new education wing, and for good reason: they are bursting at the seams. They have one Saturday evening service and two on Sunday, and the sanctuary was full at Sunday’s early service.

As we approached the entry, a gentleman and lady each held doors for us and welcomed us, and inside we found seats in the very back. This and the stunning, high ceiling may have been part of the problem with hearing over the echo.

The sanctuary is lovely with intricate stained glass in front and both sides. In this very traditional service, the graceful acolytes wore white gloves with their robes. The bulletin contained everything necessary to follow along with no issues, for which I was grateful.

The prelude and other special music was presented by Joyful Noise, which consists of mostly wind instruments from what I could see, and they sounded splendid.

There was much enthusiasm and many announcements regarding the 100^th anniversary celebration happening pretty much all year from the looks of it.

The bulletin did not indicate the name of the preacher, but he stated he had written a musical called Choose Life about the story of Ruth. A young woman from the church sang a song from that production called “At the Crossroads of Life.”

He also spoke about God’s curses referred to in the Deuteronomy passage and explained that people bring disaster upon themselves by their choices; if you follow God’s law, you will have abundant life in this world.

Our prayer for this church –

Lord, we pray You will continue to bless church as they work to reach the world with Your Good News. Amen.