Chippewa Alliance Church

Today we worshiped at Chippewa Alliance Church, 3629 37^th Street Ext., Beaver Falls, PA 15010, 724.846.2070, www.chippewaalliance.org, Rev. Dan Muir, Lead Pastor.

Scripture – Matthew 20:1-16 NIV

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

“About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

“ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didnʼt you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Donʼt I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Bob’s thoughts:

God redirected us easily this morning as the church where we planned to worship had closed recently.

Of course, I was happy to come into a church decorated for Christmas with an impressive wooden cross. We were welcomed and engaged by one member in particular.

I enjoyed the harmony of the two female leads and the blend of the three guitars.

I thought the pastor did well with a concept many struggle with, that the first shall be last, and the Scripture from Matthew about workers hired at various times throughout the work day. A great line from the message: “It’s not fair, it’s grace.”

When I think about the announcement of our Savior’s birth being given to shepherds, I realize He can use even someone like me, thanks be to God.

We enjoyed our conversation with the two pastors after the service and I met two Marines, assuring me this congregation is in good hands.

Jan’s thoughts:

We arrived quite early and wandered around some. We encountered only a handful of folks and everyone had a friendly greeting.

The worship space is a comfortable, gymnasium-type area, nicely decorated for the holidays.

We discovered a young man who lived near us prior to his marriage last year is playing bass with the praise band at this church and were pleased to have a chance to catch up some. The volume of the music was agreeable and the voices blended beautifully.

The greeting time, as it is usually referred to, was instead called Fellowship Time. This more adequately described this slightly longer-term greeting opportunity. Several people did greet us during this time as well as before and after the service.

The untitled message was presented by Associate Pastor Rev. David Hardie and emphasized how God often does the unexpected in our lives. He pointed out a few of the ways God proved His love for surprising His children, ways He guided over insurmountable odds and proved He was still in control. It was a great reminder that “things almost never go the way we expect.” He suggested that maybe our willingness has something to do with that. Perhaps we must be willing to obey and open to being surprised. He pointed out that we are all broken, and broken people can find it hard to wrap our minds around grace. But God still loves to surprise us.

I am grateful God led us here as this was exactly the message I needed to hear today.

We appreciated the time taken by both pastors for conversation after worship.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, we thank You for directing us here to meet with You in worship and pray Your continued blessings on this, Your church. Amen.

Chippewa Alliance Church

Today we worshiped at Chippewa Alliance Church, 3629 37th Street Ext., Beaver Falls, PA 15010, 724.846.2070, www.chippewaalliance.org, Tom Ranney, Senior Pastor.


Bob’s thoughts:

This church has a large parking lot and governor’s drive. There is a much-appreciated roofed area to discharge passengers, although after the service two cars pulled in and parked there. Considering how icy the parking area was, I was probably not alone in wishing I could have utilized that area when we left.

We were early and toured a bit. I liked seeing names on some of the classrooms – a good feature for a new person. The signage throughout was good.

The sanctuary is multi-purpose with a gymnasium floor, a basketball hoop at one end, a stage on the other end, and set up side-to-side for worship. There was a large wooden cross above the stage and engineered beam arched ceiling. I have always thought a multi-purpose room to be very good stewardship of church space. It can be hard to justify a space that is used only one hour a week.

When the youth pastor was speaking it was louder and there was a definite echo. This is the toughest problem with this type of room. The head pastor was not as loud and was more understandable. I enjoyed the children’s song that included sign language.

I thought it would help some to include a female to help lead the singing. The choir was very good. I would like to have heard more solos, but they were good together.

Thought the sermon was theologically correct and great question of who do we say Jesus is? We gratefully receive salvation but are not so quick to acknowledge Him as Lord. The sermon built very slowly for me, wished maybe it started with Christ proclaiming the fulfillment of the Scriptures. I sense this pastor has great compassion and is probably excellent in hospital and grief ministry. It helps to include a personal story to get the message across. I think this congregation could use some excitement.

From the Missionary Alliance churches we have visited one common thread seems to be a lack of heart in worship. Maybe it was just my higher expectation of an advent service.

Jan’s thoughts:

The driveway was scraped but could have used some salt also. We took advantage of a nice little overhang at the entry which provides protection from the weather as passengers are dropped off.

Once we had been inside for 5 minutes or so a few people spoke to us, but they seemed quite unsure whether we were visitors. This nearly always happens when the church has more than one service, but it’s unusual when there is only one service.

The layout is unique with plenty of space, good signage, and many displays in the hallway-type narthex.

Great skill is employed in creating a nicely-decorated and functional worship space in the gymnasium. The chairs were padded and quite comfortable and the sound system was perfectly adequate with no necessity to shout. The choir sounded great, and all the words to all the music and liturgy were displayed on the screen. The only issue I had was a personal one due to an ear condition, and that was the hum of the lights. Most people wouldn’t even notice it.

As I said, the worship area was very nicely decorated, with a makeshift chancel bearing seasonal greens and Christmas trees, beautiful wreaths on the wall, and a Christmas tree on the one side. All the decorations definitely made it easy to get into the spirit of the season.

The people were friendly but very tentative. It’s always awkward when greeting time rolls around and everyone speaks to their friends and visitors are left standing there willing to meet people but unable to get anyone’s attention.

The sermon was part of a series called “His Wonderful Names!” and this week’s was “The Meaning of Messiah.” I appreciated the outline included in the bulletin and shown on the screen. The best thing about the message was that he pulled no punches; he stated unequivocally that any preaching that states there is another way besides Jesus Christ to get to Heaven is wrong, and that the currently popular “prosperity gospel” is a cult and idolatry. He could not have been more plain-spoken, and anyone who left wondering where he stood on the issue was simply not paying attention.

One highlight was the opportunity after the service to greet a Marine (in dress blues, no less!). He was home from boot camp and would be reporting to Camp Lejeune after the New Year. As happy as we were to meet him and proud for him as a new Marine, that still brings all the memories flooding back, but I love witnessing a young man of probably about 19 shaking hands with my husband at 62 and saying, “Semper fi, bro!”

I pray God will bless him and all those serving our country, along with their families.