Mt. Nebo Presbyterian Church

Today we worshiped at Mt. Nebo Presbyterian Church, 1828 Roosevelt Road, Sewickley, PA 15143, 412.741.6880, www.mtnebopc.org, Rev. Douglas Dorsey, Pastor.

Scripture – NIV

Psalm 34:1-8 –

I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

Mark 10:46-52 –

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.”

Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Bob’s thoughts:

I am amazed when we are redirected on our way to church so God can deliver a personal message and always wonder if there was someone going to our original destination to receive a personal message too. I hope when Christ speaks through a pastor’s message, that pastor is warmed by the Spirit moving through them.

I find it comforting when worshiping in a mainline church, I know I will find a cross.

There was some encouraging discussion on benevolent mission from the congregation.

The message moving “Forward in Faith” was an encouragement for me that when we feel as if we are headed to an inevitable train wreck, there is always hope.

Christ brought hope to Bartimaeus as he was presented with opportunity. I felt God was speaking through the pastor regarding an opportunity He had presented to me.

The horn playing during the offering was a truly enjoyable presentation.

We got to watch two fun children a few rows in front of us and as entertaining as they were, and the smiles I enticed from them, the most impressive thing to me was that mom smiled back at them, a lot. Where a mom could have corrected or tried to quiet her child, she smiled. I could not have been more delighted to witness this love.

Jan’s thoughts:

Now we know with certainty that one missed turn is all it takes to redirect us. Still, it had been 5½ years since we last visited Mt. Nebo, so it seemed good to us.

We arrived with a little time to spare but went directly to the sanctuary where we were greeted by the greeter and the usher as we entered. As we sat awaiting the start of the service, I was interested to watch all the members sitting in small groups chatting together.

The Director of Music was sick today, so we were treated to a member who is part of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra substituting with his saxophone. Needless to say, it was a joy.

The Greeting time was our opportunity to shake hands with many of the members as it looked like everyone made their way completely around the sanctuary greeting each other.

The message, “Forward in Faith,” compared the responses to Jesus of blind Bartimaeus and the rich young ruler. Bartimaeus capitalized on the opportunity presented by his proximity to Jesus to ask – and keep asking – for Jesus’ favor where the rich young ruler refused Jesus’ offer/instructions on how to gain eternal life.

I loved the statement that “opportunity only becomes an opportunity when it is seized and accepted.”

The heart of taking advantage of an opportunity God presents is ignoring negative peer pressure, not trying to please the critics, and moving forward in faith.

I was thrilled that we sang “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” I love the words to this powerful Reformation hymn.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, we pray You ignite the passion in this church to serve You. Give them the “clear vision” to go in Your name. Amen.

Mt. Nebo Presbyterian Church

Today we worshiped at Mt. Nebo Presbyterian Church, 1236 Prospect Road, Prospect, PA 16052, 724.865.2063, Rev. Robert Allison, Pastor.


Bob’s thoughts:

After a little confusion we found the church we had planned to visit today, as well as another to visit in the future.

I am usually disappointed when there is a visiting preacher, but today was an exception. We heard a very good message delivered well. It is always impressive when a visiting pastor can adapt: there was only one young person present so with the comment that “we’re all God’s children,” he allowed him to stay in his seat and gave the children’s message to everyone present.

Before we sang “Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God Almighty,” he talked about what it will be like in Heaven to say that repeatedly. I have waited for a long time to hear someone raise that question and I thought he answered it well.

The theme of the sermon was “consider Abraham.” As Abraham we should not be afraid to ask God and put our faith in God and not in our feeble works. The passion comes again when we are overwhelmed anew with Who God is.

Maybe it was a bad day, but I have never seen such sour expressions on a choir praising God.

The church has great backlit cross, and the offering was taken in response to the Word. It could use some signage.

Again I thought the preacher handled some minor miscues on the prayer, etc. very well. A great use of Scripture throughout the sermon.

Jan’s thoughts:

This is a lovely, well kept, very rural church; also very friendly – warm and welcoming.

This is one of only a few churches I’ve seen with absolutely no stained glass that I could see. The Sanctuary was attractive, with a large backlit cross with gold-colored drapes hanging on either side of the cross. The pews were comfortably padded in a similar gold color.

The bulletin provided plenty of information, and my only issue would be type size – I thought it would have been helpful if the liturgy was easier to read. (This comment sounds familiar as I have often been wishing for larger print lately.)

Interestingly, the Ten Commandments were part of this morning’s liturgy. I don’t know if that’s a weekly exercise, but it’s certainly an excellent idea.

The pastor is presumably on vacation as it was announced that he and his wife had a baby last night.

The preacher this morning was Rev. John McElwain, who serves with the Coalition for Christian Outreach as a trainer for the 183 staff members. He was associate pastor at Sampson’s Mills from 1976-1988 and pastor of Harmony Presbyterian Church in Harrisville from 1988-2006.

The sermon, entitled “Honest Faith for Life,” is part one, with part two slated for next week. It was based on Genesis 15:1-21 and Galatians 3:1-9, and revolved around being honest with God and humbly asking Him our sincere questions. He asked the question, “If we truly want to have faith like Abraham, how can we not ask our questions and deal openly and honestly with God and then BELIEVE HIM, as Abraham did?”

The “believing Him” is the part I seem to stumble over. Apparently God thought I needed another reminder today so He sent us to this church to hear one. The effect is to make me want to become more familiar with His promises so I know what He has said that I should be believing.

Mt. Nebo Presbyterian Church

Today we attempted to worship at Mt. Nebo Presbyterian Church, 1828 Roosevelt Road, Sewickley, PA 15143, 412.741.6880, www.mtnebopc.org, Rev. Doug Dorsey.


Bob’s thoughts:

We tried to worship at Mt. Nebo but the service started before the start time posted on the website and even on the outdoor marquee. We were in time for the sermon. Some of the message was about ministry outside of the church that I think is lost on most.

I thought it interesting that much of the message was about being a welcoming congregation, but no one noticed us sitting outside the sanctuary. When I went up to put an offering in the plate (which was taken after the Word) the usher did offer me a bulletin. For how many people went by, it was odd to not be welcomed.

There is a great wood cross hanging above the entryway. We planned our arrival to allow plenty of time to look around; as it was we were able to look around a bit after the service. Bulletin boards displayed announcements referring to various missions. Some doors are identified only on the front of the door, so they could well benefit from signage. I noticed a lot of vehicles parked on the grass across from the church and wonder if this is the case in the winter.


Jan’s thoughts:

This has been enough of an issue in the past; I should have remembered to call the church and ask about the worship time, but I didn’t. Instead I trusted the website. Consequently, we arrived at 10:10, thinking we were 40 minutes early; instead we were 40 minutes late. How disappointing.

We arrived during the reading of the Scripture, and while we stood right inside the doors trying to decide if we should just go elsewhere, we could clearly hear the sermon in which he spoke of being a welcoming church, and a story about Gandhi once attending a service at a Christian church and being treated in a distinctly un-welcoming manner. Then going on to ask the congregation how first-time visitors at Mt. Nebo would be treated. All the while we first-time visitors sat in the narthex with people walking past or standing in the narthex themselves, and no one stopped to ask who we were or if they could help us. Seems like the pastor’s question was answered.

So we missed most of the service (including a baptism, unfortunately). The sermon, however, was worth hearing. In addition to the story about Gandhi and his visit to a Christian church, there was a story about Tony Campolo finding himself in a diner in Hawaii at 3:30 one morning. He encountered some prostitutes, one of whom told a friend with her that the next day was her birthday. The friend made unkind remarks about it, so after they left Tony made arrangements with the owner of the diner to have a birthday party for the woman (a regular) the next night.

Of course, the woman was stunned, and so was everyone else when she wanted to take her birthday cake nearby to show her mother. When she had gone, Tony led the many other guests – mostly prostitutes – in prayer for the woman, after which the owner declared he had no idea Tony was a preacher and what kind of preacher from what kind of church frequents a diner full of prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning anyway? In a flash of inspiration Tony replied “The kind of church that throws a birthday party for a prostitute, that’s what kind of church.” To which the owner replied “Where is that church – I want to join it.” People come to know Christ through coming to know His people. Good story and a great point that certainly spoke to us.