True North Church

Yesterday we worshiped at True North Church, 206 Siebert Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15237, 412.256.8059, www.truenorthpgh.org, Justin Dosch, Lead Pastor.

 

Scripture – NIV

Matthew 12:34-36 –

You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.

Proverbs 18:21 –

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Ephesians 4:29 –

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

James 1:19 –

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,

 

Bob’s thoughts:

Sometimes we know where we would like to worship, but my favorite day is when we leave it up to God where we end up. Then, like today, we get to try to figure out why we end up where we do. I think we were to lay hands and pray for the pastor, but the thought didn’t come till after we left. We will, of course, pray for the pastor and that someone from the congregation will pray over the pastor. Sometimes God sends us back.

The only negative about the current location is there is no simple way to be handicapped accessible. The handrails worked for me, but I wish I had an answer for the issue.

I loved seeing the crosses behind the platform. Too many churches seem to be afraid of offending someone with a cross. We enjoyed a cup of coffee, even my decaf. I liked that there was a countdown clock till the service started, like the old drive-ins.

The pastor took time to explain the giving plan for the church. I would like to hear more of the mission plan.

I don’t have an answer for the projection screens. We were all the way back and doubt that we could see even if we could have stood as the low headroom doesn’t allow much. Maybe turning worship 90 degrees and use a wider seat set-up? Even when everyone was seated, I couldn’t read the Scriptures.

The pastor told his story of when the devil got his goat, reminding how easily we lose our temper. I suspect that was probably the main reason God had us here, something we both needed reminding of.

We were also reminded of God taking extreme ownership of our sins, and how we need to own up to our sins.

I had a few words with two women coming in on the stairs and a couple of young moms after the service.

I pray that God leads us back. I think there is tremendous potential here and I would love to see how God grows His church.

 

Jan’s thoughts:

I guess God is still in the business of placing us where we need to be on any given Sunday.

This church is quite young, having been founded in February 2019, and they meet on the second floor of a business off McKnight Road. We appreciated the friendly hospitality as well as the coffee in the back of the worship area.

The pastor offered announcements and spoke about the church’s philosophy of giving. He assured that this church is focused on Jesus Christ and His Word. He said giving should be proportionate, sacrificial, and voluntary, and he wishes to “build it into the church’s DNA.”

The music was contemporary and well done, but the songs were unfamiliar to me.

The message, Why We Need to Shut Our Yapper! was part of the series called Aftertaste. The pastor opened with a vulnerable story about his mishandling of an encounter with a goat which perfectly displayed the truth of his statement that our mouths get us into more trouble than anything else.

He taught that Jesus-followers are called to look, act, and speak differently, and since we humans are incapable of taming our tongues without help, we absolutely must ask the Holy Spirit to help us. Since the words that escape our mouths originate in our heart, we must recognize the bitterness, ingratitude, and pride that lives there and ask God to help us not to share it.

We must also recognize that our words have power, for good or for ill. Our words can build up or they can tear down, and we choose the fruit in the choice of our words.

This message hit me between the eyes, as I had been waiting to speak with someone I love and to whom I owed an apology for speaking without thinking or asking for God’s help to speak the truth in love. I’m so grateful God led us here today to hear this message, to reorient my heart, and to be reminded there is grace for even me.

We were grateful for the conversation with the pastor and with his brother, a Marine, following the service.

 

Our prayer for this church:

Father, as this congregation works to discern and obey Your lead, we pray You continue to provide spiritual and numerical growth. We ask that You open their eyes to missional needs You wish them to embrace and that You continue to bless this pastor as he leads Your flock. Amen.