New Hope Community Church

Today we worshiped at New Hope Community Church, 592 Beaver Road, Ambridge, PA 15003, 724.266.0890, www.4newhope.org, Rick Thornhill, Lead Pastor.

Scripture – NKJV

Ephesians 6:14-20

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’ ”

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Bob’s thoughts:

We were warmly welcomed at the door, including a hug.

I was disappointed not to find a cross until we stood up to sing and found the cross off to one side. There is still a lot of work going on as they continue to make this their church home. This is a somewhat complicated facility but I didn’t notice any signage.

I was impressed by a family sitting near us when I saw them hold hands during the corporate prayer. I also loved watching a father hold his young son as they exchanged hugs and kisses.

The volume was a little high for me but I think it has more to do with the acoustics of the space. The message and prayers were hard for me to hear also, I’m guessing due to the echo effect.

With my hearing problems, I’m not sure how accurate my grasp of the message might be. Something that stuck however was that Christ and Christianity draws us out of our comfort zone. I recalled how many times I have voiced my discomfort about performing a particular ministry and I swear I can hear God chuckle when that is the very situation I’m confronted with next.

The pastor told of a woman presenting herself for prayer who, it became obvious, was demon possessed. How ill-equipped we are to believe it or react…how do we explain the evil? The Devil is real.

A concept I hadn’t thought of was the pastor’s description of Paul in prison, chained to a Roman guard dressed in his armor while Paul writes what we read in Ephesians about putting on the full armor of God. May we remember to use the same protection when we face spiritual warfare.

Jan’s thoughts:

With the first snow of the season still falling, we decided to stay close to home today.

The last time we visited this church, they were meeting in the downstairs fellowship area and on the verge of moving to the sanctuary of this former Catholic church.

The pastor mentioned that recently a veteran’s memorial was dedicated which included a wall with a memorial object for a number of veterans. I would have liked to look at the wall more closely, but I think I’ll save that for a warmer day. The larger stone was engraved with the symbol of the Fallen Soldier, and looked striking even from across the street.

A gentleman greeted us and held the door for us as we entered and we were warmly welcomed by a number of people. There were many children among this congregation as well.

We sat more than halfway back but the architecture is such that an echo is unavoidable. The leadership is implementing a great deal of rehabilitation so this will likely be addressed.

The greeting time was much longer than anticipated, which was a fine thing as it gave everyone plenty of time to greet friends and visitors.

The pastor has spent the last four months preaching through the book of Ephesians in a series entitled Onward Christian Soldiers and today’s entry, We Will Not Lose, was the final part.

He began by reviewing some of last week’s message, and the topic of this message was the reality, as taught in the Word of God, of the Devil and demons and the existence of evil. In this section of Scripture, Paul gives us the defensive weapons we need: the Full Armor of God. The Shield of Faith extinguishes the fiery darts of the Evil One; the Helmet protects the vulnerable battlefield of the mind no matter what lies Satan throws at us; and the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. He taught that it is only when we speak our testimony that the sword becomes the double-edged sword God intended it to be.

The joy of this congregation was contrasted by the serious tone of the message, but I truly appreciated being here to be reminded of God’s ultimate power and authority.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, it has been exciting to see how You have grown Your church. We pray Your continued blessings upon Your people here. Amen.

New Hope Community Church

Today we worshiped at New Hope Community Church, 592 Beaver Road, Ambridge, PA 15003, 724.266.0890, www.4newhope.org, Rick Thornhill, Pastor.

Scripture: Romans 7:14-8:2 –

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.

For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Sprit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Bob’s thoughts:

When I realized where this church is I had some real misgivings about worshiping there, but when I prayed about it I felt that we were called to be there. I admit I did not expect to find Christ there. We had visited about five years ago and the person who delivered the message preached a very skewed Scripture. I do not remember the specifics except that there was some requirement to be acceptable to Christ. I am so pleased that God led us back and met with us in worship here.

We were welcomed as warmly as I remembered from our first visit but today we were welcomed in Christ.

From where we were sitting I couldn’t see the cross but was relieved to see one later.

The pastor related how in preparing for this service he felt God calling for a time of healing. A number of people came forward and were prayed over individually. This is a ministry dear to my heart as God has blessed me with the gift of healing. It was a good opportunity to not only pray for those requesting healing, but the pastor and his wife as well.

The heating system was inoperable and there was one space heater for the worship area, but with the love of Jesus it was more than enough.

In his message the pastor revealed that when we visited there were others preaching or leading the service, but he started by sharing how God brought him to where he serves today. By sharing his struggles in faith he became real to those he was trying to reach.

I was remembering one of the devotionals I read this morning. It contained a quote from “The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life” by Hannah Whitall Smith who related a sentence from an old book: “Never indulge, at the close of an action, in any self-reflective acts of any kind, whether of self-congratulation or of self-despair. Forget the things that are behind, the moment they are past, leaving them with God.”

Good advice for Paul, for ministers, for us all. Without Christ we are all hopeless sinners. Our sinful nature is hard to overcome, and that struggle is a sign of our salvation. Were we not trying to be like Christ we would not care about our backsliding.

Jan’s thoughts:

When we walked into church this morning, I realized we had visited this church once before – and left in the middle of the service due to theological differences. This had to be at least 4½ years ago as it was before we were blogging (i.e., keeping track of our visits). That remains the only worship service we ever left for that reason. But today we received a lesson in newness in the Spirit.

I’ve known unbelievers who seemed hopeless, whom I was tempted to write off, but when Christ came into their lives they literally changed overnight. Well, God has done the same sort of work in this church. This church is not the same church we visited several years ago. What we heard being taught at our previous visit here was absolutely wrong, but what we heard today was Biblical, Christ-focused, and God-glorifying.

We were invited to partake of donuts and coffee and greeted early and often. It was a joy to see so many children of all ages among this diverse congregation.

Toward the beginning of the service the pastor indicated he had been moved by the Spirit to pray for those who were ill. The pastor and another gentleman testified about God’s healing power over cancer and a 3^rd degree burn, respectively, and many people came forward for the pastor and his wife to lay hands and pray over them.

I loved that as the children were dismissed for Kids’ Church, the congregation prayed over them with raised hands. I’ve seen this done a couple of other places, and it’s always such a striking picture of what a church should be to the children God has entrusted to their care.

The message, “Pursuit of Happiness,” was part of a series entitled “Power of the Gospel.”

Some of the best messages include personal stories, and that was the case today. His moving account of when he first began to answer God’s call was a perfect illustration of the Scripture. He spoke to the sin nature with which we’re born and God’s faithfulness when we fail. He emphasized that there are no quick fixes or shortcuts, and the closer we get to the Light, the more obvious imperfections become…a wonderful point, I thought.

He also suggested specific steps to help in our attempts to kill the sin nature: 1 – have a plan that includes daily time of devotion and prayer; 2 – make church attendance a priority; 3 – join a home group for study and fellowship; 4 – don’t let the devil have a foothold because “you’re not that strong;” and 5 – have people in your life to whom you stay accountable.

He urged the congregation to share their struggles and be honest, to walk the middle ground between being a legalistic church full of “happy plastic people” (his thought but words from Casting Crowns’ song “Stained Glass Masquerade”) or an “anything goes” church where you do whatever you want.

Amens echoed from the congregation throughout the message, which tells me these are real people who understand struggle and seeking. I hope God sends us back to this church.

Our prayer for this church:
Father, we lift up this church for Your continued blessing and encouragement. We pray You will keep them from becoming “plastic church people,” that they may live to glorify You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.