Scripture
– ESV
Ephesians
4:11-15 –
And
he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and
teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the
body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and
fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning,
by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are
to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
Matthew
5:5 –
"Blessed
are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Psalm
33:16-18 –
The
king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great
strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might
it cannot rescue. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on
those who hope in his steadfast love,
Bob’s
thoughts:
I
liked the cross at the flagpole in the parking lot, as well as the one in front
of the Communion table.
We
were welcomed by a number of people and many brought others to introduce to us.
I loved
the sound of the praise team…great harmony and solo voices. The lighting coordinated
to the song and provided just the right effect with the lights/shadows through
the ceiling joists.
The Daylight
Savings Time skit was priceless and I appreciated the testimony during the
offering that you can’t out-give God.
A
favorite line from a worship song: “When death was arrested and my life began.”
The
message spoke to meekness; it was well developed and supported Scripturally and
relevant now. I liked his story about his college choice and when it washed
over him that he wasn’t supposed to be at this utopian setting.
A
strong point of the message: to be angry at the right time and not at the wrong
time, a recent lesson for me. I felt God speaking through him to get the
message to me. The pastor apologized for needing a sip of water periodically,
but I noticed God was using it for a poignant pause to emphasize a point.
In the
area of controlling one’s anger, an important lesson for the day was that when
a parent says “don’t spill your Nerds” and the child only hears “spill your
Nerds.” But his girls’ angelic faces would make it impossible to be angry about
them obeying directions.
I don’t
know how extensive the renovations were, but we were not aware we had visited
recently as only the pastor looked familiar. I believe God sent us back just
for today’s message.
I do
wish I had remembered to ask about one of their missions, Communicycle.
Jan’s
thoughts:
We
arrived early and looked around, grateful for the coffee. As we waited for the
service to start, we sat outside the worship area where a handful of people stopped
to introduce themselves and chat. One of the ladies we spoke with said the
worship area and adjacent children’s area were completely redone earlier this
year.
We
located seats in the back of the worship area where still more folks greeted us
with conversation before worship.
Likely
due to the recent renovation, the walls were bare; the front wall was attractively
designed, and the projection screen appeared to be framed and immovable.
We
had already been treated to the praise team’s rehearsal, which we appreciated
from the hallway. Even so, I was impressed by the use of the lights to enhance
the musical effect during When Death Was
Arrested.
As
the service began, Pastor Mike spoke about the Squirrel Hill shooting yesterday
and read Psalm 34:15-22 then followed with prayer.
The
current sermon series is called BE
Attitudes, and this week’s entry was Blessed
Are the Meek. As this was a recent topic of conversation between Bob and me,
we felt called to attend this church today. Only after we returned home and
checked the blog did we realize we had visited this church only six months ago,
yet nothing looked familiar because of the extensive renovation.
The
young pastor who preached is the son of the lead pastor. He defined meekness as
giving full control of our life to God and spoke of three aspects of meekness:
controlling our anger, self-control, and humility.
It
was a message well worth hearing, and I was glad to be there.
Our
prayer for this church:
Lord,
we thank You for leading us here to meet with You. We pray You continue to
bless and guide this, Your church. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment