First Presbyterian Church of Bakerstown

Today we worshiped at First Presbyterian Church of Bakerstown, P.O. Box 127, 58 Heckert Road, Bakerstown, PA 15007, 724.443.1555, www.fpcb.org, Rev. Dan Muttart, Senior Pastor.

Scripture – John 6:1-15

"Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself."

Bob’s thoughts:

We were welcomed at the door and engaged in conversation then graciously given a tour that included details about building usage, but oddly during the passing of the peace we were mostly ignored. I thought those with large nametags would be quicker to extend greetings.

The sanctuary boasts a large cross and some truly outstanding banners on the walls.

When we entered the sanctuary we were told the front pews were roped off for the families present for baptism. It was surprising and contrary for a Presbyterian church…you can never get people to sit down front.

The choir’s anthem was enjoyable and the four women who presented the offertory were fantastic.

We were blessed to be there for baptisms, Mother’s Day salute, and a commissioning of a young woman leaving on a mission trip to a national park in Alaska.

The sermon, “Making Sense of Miracles,” was appropriate for Mother’s Day. The core was Christ feeding 5,000 with a few fish and loaves. Realizing the total to be fed was more likely twice that or more counting the women and children, what came to mind was the oft told story of mothers who, when they realized there was little to eat, decided they weren’t hungry after all. But Christ fed them all…God always blesses abundantly.

The pastor pointed out that God provides for our real spiritual rescue and the provisions are real.

My one exception to the message is, God will answer your prayer. It may not be the answer you want or understand, but He answers our prayers.

Recently I was laid up for more than a week with considerable pain around my left knee. I’ve been wounded in the knees and done a lot of dumb things over the years, so pain is a close companion. The pain got bad enough to remind me to pray for myself, and I woke up four days ago totally pain free. God has let me bring His healing to others, but I needed a reminder to pray for myself.

Jan’s thoughts:

It has been some time since we visited this beautiful church. Upon entering we were warmly greeted and handed bulletins then engaged in friendly conversation and an elder was kind enough to take time to show us around and convey some of the history.

The gorgeous hand-made banners decorating the sanctuary were stunning.

All the music was excellent and the choir was particularly enchanting. Beginning worship with two consecutive hymns is unusual for what would be considered a traditional service, but it was well done. I especially appreciated the descant in Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! I think it adds so much. And the women’s ensemble that presented the offertory anthem was inspiring.

It was a busy service that included commissioning a young woman for a summer mission trip and three baptisms, one a believer’s baptism, the father of one of the infants. How exciting and special! It brought back wonderful memories of when Bob joined church along with one of our daughters.

In the sermon, “Making Sense of Miracles,” the pastor asked if our loving God might have a higher purpose when He does not perform a miracle.

In the Scripture, Christ had just performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand when He rejected the desire of the people to make Him king because He had something better than the miracles to give. Instead of a miracle, God will rescue us, He will provide perfectly, and He will provide an over-abundance so that “it bubbles over and touches the lives of others.”

I have noticed that when God has blessed me, those blessings involve others as well. Not that He would be unwilling to bless me only, but when His best comes, it blesses others too, which in turn re-blesses me.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, may this church be encouraged to come to You in prayer expecting Your abundant blessings. Amen.

First Presbyterian Church of Bakerstown

Today we worshiped at First Presbyterian Church of Bakerstown, PO Box 127, 58 Heckert Road, Bakerstown, PA 15007, 724.443.1555, www.fpcb.org, Rev. Dan Muttart, Senior Pastor.


Bob’s thoughts:

We were looking forward to returning to Bakerstown for the contemporary service. Unfortunately our extensive tour of Route 8 looking for the church made us late enough to miss the beginning of the service. While we missed the praise worship music, what we did hear later was enjoyable.

A highlight for me was the group for the Children’s Message being projected on the large screen for all to see.

The sermon was from the 11th chapter of John about Christ raising Lazarus. I am always interested in the nuances of Scripture translation and thought how very fitting that Christ’s call to “trust” could also be to “believe.” We are called to trust God’s endgame…difficult, but a great plan.

The sermon was followed by a powerful testimony from a parishioner on being faithful through the illness of a daughter.

I found a notice in the newspaper of a Christian Education presentation on “Heaven, Hell, and the Afterlife.” With the losses in our family I thought it might be of benefit. The presentation was by a doctor from the seminary who seemed quite comfortable in his delivery but the message was intellectualized.

Locating the seminar did amplify the one problem I experienced at this church, the complete lack of signage. It is a confusing campus for a visitor.

Jan’s thoughts:

We saw an announcement in the paper that Bakerstown was beginning a 3-part adult education series called “Heaven, Hell, and the Afterlife.” Reading this reminded us that we had wanted to attend the contemporary worship service there, so we opted to combine the two. Unfortunately, due to a story much too long to tell here, we arrived during the last half of the last praise song.

We were instantly given a bulletin but I needed to find the ladies room. Seeing no signs in the immediate area I simply asked for directions.

The Order of Worship for the traditional service is contained on the inside two pages of the folded 11 x 14 sheet and the (brief) Order of worship for the contemporary service is on ½ of one side of an insert. The only other insert is a helpful, informative outline of Adult Christian Education offerings through March.

The Children’s Moment was in process as we entered the Sanctuary, and it was being shown on the screen in the front. I was very glad as that was the only way we would see anything from the very back of this beautiful but deep Sanctuary.

The sermon was powerful. The title was “Where Is Jesus When I Hurt?” and the text was John 11:17-44 about Lazarus’ death and return to life.

Scripture just never ceases to amaze me. Since July,I’ve been reading and meditating on the book of John, and I’ve read this passage recently but I never took it personally until I heard it today. As the pastor read the Scripture, when Jesus said, “Lazarus, come forth!” it suddenly felt personal. It was as if Jesus was calling me personally forth from a life that at times feels more dead than alive. (This is not the way I’ve thought of any part of my life, so it was a surprise to me. But perspectives change sometimes, especially when God steps in.) And it makes me think that Jesus wants to say this to each of us, as I suspect we all have areas in our lives where we feel more dead than alive.

The sermon points spoke to trust: 1 – trust in God’s endgame (great term for His ultimate goal); 2 – trust in Christ’s presence; 3 – trust that Jesus restores.

Then a gentleman from the congregation spoke at length about the birth of his daughter. My guess is that the congregation was well aware of the history and the current situation; however we were unacquainted with the details so I’m sure did not grasp the full import of some of what he shared. Nevertheless, it was a compelling story with a happy ending that was based on the parents’ trust in God and a reminder to “Look how God has answered your prayers.” I don’t believe I’ve witnessed a standing ovation for a sermon before, but I did today.

First Presbyterian Church of Bakerstown

Today we worshiped at First Presbyterian Church of Bakerstown, 5825 Heckert Road, Bakerstown, PA 15007, 724.443.1555, www.fpcb.org, Rev. Dan Muttart, Senior Pastor.


Bob’s thoughts:

God has changed our plans to His plans on church visits so often I am no longer amazed by it. We frequently have a day like today, where the orchestration is so overwhelming that we just have to rejoice knowing we are where He wants us to be.

We “got lost” on our way to the church we chose and He led us to Bakerstown. I wasn’t so sure when the organ started with a terrible bass reverbing through the Sanctuary, but it was soon under control.

The church is spread out and could really benefit from signage. We received friendly greetings from many people. We were blessed that it was Scout Sunday and also blessed with an exceptionally harmonious choir. The prelude with the organ and piano was very well done.

On the rear wall of the Chancel is a large cross framed and offset to the right side (and a large screen on the left). The cross has wooden panels behind that look like rays projecting outward.

Some people mentioned that the earlier service is in a contemporary format, but I saw no reference in any printed material to that effect.

I thought the early prayer was well thought out and presented. The sermon was based on Ephesians 4:1-16 and the bulletin included a note-taking/outline sheet. The sermon title, “God’s Vision for Christian Living,” was well chosen and addressed the questions of how we can strive to be what God directs us to be, how the world sees how we live, how we build up the church by using the spiritual gifts we are blessed with. I have been struggling over using a particular spiritual gift and God has bombarded me with encouragement to go and do, so this message was one more red brick to my head to get me to pay attention. (Usually it takes at least three…) We are called to speak the truth of Christ in what we know, say, and what we do.

The message included an interesting anecdote of someone working as a customer service rep that was regularly faced with outrage, and when they placed a mirror behind them and people saw how they looked when they carried on, they became more civil.

I had remembered this minister when he pastored a church where our late son worshiped several times. Dan, our son, had saved the bulletin so I sent the pastor a note when Dan was killed. Knowing how easily Dan made friends and how recently he had worshiped in that congregation, we wanted to inform them of Dan’s death. The pastor remembered my note, just as I remembered his response. We left this morning with the possibility of a future visit with the Stephen Ministers on ministering to people in grief.

Jan’s thoughts:

This morning we intentionally set out for a church in Beaver-Butler Presbytery; however, through a series of circumstances we instead found ourselves at Bakerstown in what I can only believe was a God-ordained error on the part of the navigator (me, of course – the one with NO sense of direction navigates!).

This church has quite a large campus including the Administration office (I think it is) housed in a separate building.

The people were very friendly: many stopped to introduce themselves, asking where we were from and if we were new to the area, as well as providing directions to the restrooms. We were early and took the opportunity to tour the building. I know Bob wasn’t lost, but I sure could have used some directional signage. (It doesn’t take much for me to become disoriented, but I felt vindicated when a long-time member acknowledged without prompting that the arrangement was confusing.)

I’ve often addressed the bulletin layout, but it’s an interesting situation when the church has an early (8:45 a.m.) contemporary service as well as a traditional service at 11:00 and the question becomes, “How do you do a single bulletin covering both services?” Bakerstown has addressed the issue very sensibly, I think. Many churches with a contemporary service feel an Order of Worship is superfluous and choose to forego one altogether. Often this is fine but it can be confusing to a visitor, especially if they are not used to contemporary worship. Bakerstown solved the issue by publishing a regular bulletin for the traditional service and using half of one of the insert pages for the order for the contemporary service. This was ideal for the traditional service, as I could fold the one outside sheet in half and stuff everything else inside to read later, and had we attended the contemporary service I would have simply used the single sheet. Either way it’s perfect.

The Sanctuary was large with a huge Chancel – enough room for a grand piano (I’m pretty sure), drums, a large choir, an organ, as well as the lectern and pulpit. On the rear wall of the Chancel hung a striking piece of woodwork laid out in rays behind a gold-colored cross with lighting that set it off magnificently. In general the aesthetics were quite pleasing, and the padded pews were comfortable.

In the pew rack I found a large laminated card called “Children at Worship.” I only had time to skim it but it seemed to contain instructions for parents about the various aspects of including children in a worship service and even involving them in Communion. What a great assistance for parents and a reminder for other adults of the importance of helping the little ones grow up to know Jesus. After all, that’s the oath members take every time a child is baptized. Bakerstown has worked to make it easier for everyone.

I enjoyed the prelude, “Sanctus,” which was performed as a piano/organ duet by two obviously accomplished musicians.

This being Scout Sunday, throughout the service there were many treats in the form of words and participation from the Scouts.

The sermon was entitled “God’s Vision for Christian Living” and was based on Ephesians 4:1-16. The message focused on (from the sermon outline) “striving to transfer who you are in Christ to how you live day-by-day, uniting as the church of Christ so the watching world can see it, building up the church of Christ by actively using our gifts in it, and speaking the truth of Christ by what you know, what you say, and what you do.” That’s what we struggle for, of course, and it takes our whole lives to figure out what that looks like day-by-day.

I enjoyed this church and the friendliness of the people, and we look forward to attending the 8:45 contemporary service at some point.