Church at the Heights

Today we worshiped at Church at the Heights, 500 Salem Lane, Gibsonia, PA 15044, 724.935.1329, www.churchattheheights.org, Pastors Ralph and Cindy Vogel.


Scripture – NLT

2 Samuel 11:1 –

In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.

1 Samuel 17:47 –

And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!

2 Corinthians 11:24-27 –

Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.

John 16:33 –

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.

Hebrews 4:12 –

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.


Bob’s thoughts:

I think this may have been the warmest welcome ever. Many people stopped to say hello and introduce themselves, we were offered coffee and donuts and directed to the restrooms and sanctuary. The only disappointment was the lack of a cross in the sanctuary. There were a lot of children to keep me entertained, especially the young family in front of us.

I was thanked for my service and greeted by a Marine. Some told of service people in their family.

I was impressed with how many got up to lay hands and pray over those in need during a prayer time and after the service. I was so surprised I didn’t even remember to ask the pastor if we could pray over him.

The message was that God wants us to be victorious in the spiritual warfare we face. A high point: You can never experience victory if you never face adversity or if you refuse to use your weapons of warfare. We are all warriors for Christ.


Jan’s thoughts:

A number of Bob’s emails were lost recently, and in the course of going through what has been retrieved, he found something about this church. Somehow, this morning, this was the church we felt drawn to because of the worship time, so here we were. It never ceases to amaze me the many ways God uses to get us where He wants us any given Sunday.

We first visited this church almost four years ago, and they were as warm and friendly today as they were then. We were welcomed as soon as we entered the building as well as, really, the whole time we were there – before, during, and after worship.

We were invited to enjoy a cup of coffee and donut and several folks stopped for conversation.

The worship area is not large but distinctively and dramatically decorated. When I looked at the church website yesterday, I remembered it immediately from the photo on the landing page. When the service began the room was almost empty, and by the time the music was over, I could probably count on one hand the number of empty seats. This is the almost universal pattern for contemporary worship services.

There were numerous announcements as this church seems to have a great deal going on and involvement in ministries inside and outside the congregation. They have three prayer meetings throughout the week: Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday, which is amazing.

Just before the message, those present were invited to lay hands on and pray for others present.

The message appeared to be part two of a series about victory. The pastor’s points were:

1 – You cannot experience victory if you never go out to battle. There is no victory for the one who won’t go, and if you give up, you forfeit your victory.

2 – You cannot experience victory if you never face adversity. Adversity means you have an adversary, which we certainly do – Satan. But if we avoid facing adversity, we avoid our victory as well.

3 – You cannot experience victory if you refuse to use your weapons of warfare. We must humbly submit to the Holy Spirit, without attitude and on His terms, pray for discernment, knowledge, and wisdom. Then we must be still so we can hear from the Spirit, and then follow Him.

It sounds simple, but I know no one who finds it easy. It’s a day-by-day battle and we are all works in progress. Praise God for His patience and unfailing love.


Our prayer for this church:
Lord, bless the efforts of Your church as they seek Your guidance for the future. We pray for victory over any adversity they encounter. Amen.

Church at the Heights

Today we worshiped at Church at the Heights, 500 Salem Lane, Gibsonia, PA 15044, 724.935.1329, www.churchattheheights.org, Ralph and Cindy Vogel, Senior Pastors.

Scripture –

Genesis 8:22 NKJV –

“While the earth remains,

Seedtime and harvest,

Cold and heat,

Winter and summer,

And day and night

Shall not cease.”

Luke 6:38 NLT –

“Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back. ”

2 Corinthians 9:10-11 NLT –

For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.

Galatians 6:7-10 NLT –

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.

Bob’s thoughts:

I couldn’t begin to count how many people welcomed us…not just hello but sat down and introduced themselves and made a point of connecting us with other members passing by. Not often do people take that kind of time to visit and point the way to the sanctuary and restrooms. We were welcomed to coffee and donuts and felt like we were with friends.

I could only find some small crosses on a banner, but was captivated by a faux swirled drape over what looked like indirect light boxes running down either side of the sanctuary. There were many interesting posters and art work in the small portion of the facility we saw.

I was most impressed with the prayer time: people prayed as I believe they should, with the authority and power of Christ Jesus.

The pastor’s message was the last of a series on the core values of Heights Church enumerated by each letter of their name, Heights. Today’s sermon was on sowing and giving. I thought the message developed well with good Scriptural support, and shorter verses that were right to the point. He used a helpful analogy to farming experiences that were an understandable way of adapting to our thinking.

It stood out to me that the congregation was really on board and paying attention. Also, the pastor’s passion was evident. I sometimes complain that when we have less to say we talk louder, but when we are preaching Jesus Christ and not ourselves, we cannot go quietly. Salvation is the greatest thing that has, or will ever happen to us, and we cannot be quiet about Jesus.

Something else I noted today: the praise worship team can have a “look at me” posture or a “look at Christ” manner. I was glad they were the latter today. The smiles and enthusiasm for Jesus shows where their heart is.

Jan’s thoughts:

As we have noted in the past, when a church has more than one service, the members often keep their distance from people they do not recognize because they don’t want to risk offending a member, so they choose to forego welcoming someone who may be a visitor. But almost from the moment we walked into this church, people extended a warm, genuine welcome and took time for conversation and to tell us about the church.

The entry was lovely, set up with a welcoming living-room-type area on one side and tables and chairs on the other. There were plenty of coffee and donuts during this between-the-services fellowship time.

The sanctuary was down a long hallway that had small tables set up on the way, along with charming wall hangings, and still somehow when I saw the sanctuary it took my breath away. The lighting, the color, the decoration, it was all just amazing.

On top of all that, the music was marvelous. This is the one aspect of worship that will bring me to tears, and today “Forever Reign” did that. It was perfect, and immediately following that song the pastor/worship leader asked anyone who needed prayer to raise their hands and other members laid hands on them and prayed for them. It was a powerful time.

Today’s was the final message in the current series, “Anchored” and focused on the spiritual laws of “sowing and giving.” He spoke of the “lost concepts of planting and harvesting” and stated that what is planted WILL come to fruition…we are “always sowing something and always reaping something.”

He declared that we are not giving to God if all we are doing is tithing, that giving to the Kingdom means above the tithe. In other words, the tithe should be the minimum starting point. This is something that is not taught nearly enough, I think. We should give to God first and we cannot out-give God, though He does not always repay us in kind.

He taught that most of what God gives us is meant to go back out to bless others; it is not meant for our consumption.

We must sow seeds for the Kingdom. We cannot evade God’s law of sowing and reaping any more than we can plant one seed and reasonably expect something different to grow. We will only harvest what we plant, so we should make sure what we are planting is what we want to harvest.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, we pray this church continues to increase their giving in every way as You pour out Your blessings upon them. Amen.