North Hills Alliance Church

Today we worshiped at North Hills Alliance Church, 2298 Rochester Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15237, 412.364.5800, www.northhillsalliancechurch.org, Rev. Ernest S. Conley, Pastor.

Scripture – NIV

Job 1:6-11 –

One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

Job 1:20-22 –

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Job 2:1-5 –

On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

Job 2:9-10 –

His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

Bob’s thoughts:

The building is modern-looking with a high arched ceiling and spacious sanctuary. The pews are angled with a wide center aisle, and there is a large cross on the wall.

We were unable to find signage indicating the direction of restrooms but someone noticed our confusion and pointed the way.

The sermon asked why we worship God, which I suppose falls into the category of things we do without much thought as to the reason why. Do we come to worship for what we get? Or what we get out of worship? Is God a puppet we use?

A quote from a hymn/poem, “Once I tried to use Him, now He uses me.”

Churches often feed this, wanting people to feel good, and teaching if you do this then God will bless you. But worship needs to be pure love. The “Wow!” of worship makes it all about us. I think we can put the wow back in worship if it is all about just loving God.

There were some people who greeted us after worship who remembered us from an outdoor service we attended a few months ago.

Jan’s thoughts:

Today again we were redirected: when we arrived at the church we planned to attend, there were no vehicles in the parking lot and no one around, so we headed for a later service here.

We arrived during the singing at the beginning of this contemporary service, with music provided by a pleasant-sounding group of six.

The sanctuary was spacious with color-blocked type stained glass windows and a beautifully crafted wooden cross in front.

Announcements were listed in the bulletin as “Family Time,” which I thought was original and accurate for most churches since things spoken about at this point are seldom explained for the benefit of visitors.

The answer to the question asked by the message title, “Why Do We Worship God?” was expressed by the differences between God’s and Satan’s evaluations of Job. Whereas Satan declared that Job worshiped God because God blessed him, God, of course, knew Job’s heart and knew that Job’s worship of God was motivated by pure love.

The pastor asked why this – or any other – church worships God. Do we “like” a church because we appreciate the style of music or teaching? Do we “dislike” a church because those styles do not appeal to us? And a great question: do we miss truly worshiping God when we do not worship Him in spite of what we like or dislike but simply because He is present and deserves our worship?

The pastor’s point was, our worship of God is not about us, about our comfort, our likes or our dislikes; our worship should be motivated not by God’s blessings but simply because we love God and want to lift up His name.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, we pray You open the eyes of this church to Your purposes for them. Amen.

North Hills Alliance Church

Today we worshiped at North Hills Alliance Church, 2298 Rochester Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15237, 412.364.5800, www.northhillsalliancechurch.org, Ernest S. Conley, Pastor.

Scripture – NKJV

Revelation 3:20 –

Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

2 Corinthians 4:6 –

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Bob’s thoughts:

We have looked forward to visiting this church but then the opportunity arose to visit a combined outdoor service. We did get a peek at the beautiful sanctuary and hope to worship there. We were greeted by a number of people, engaged in conversations, and offered a tour. There is signage but none directing to the restrooms or nursery. A highlight for me was meeting two Marines after the service.

The congregation was asked to complete the sentence “Here is how Jesus has made me glad…” which yielded some great testimonies.

The message pointed out how the Old Testament directed to Christ and the New Testament reported His life. The Passover symbol of putting the blood of the lamb on either end of the doorposts to me correlated directly to Christ’s blood from His hands outstretched on the cross.

He spoke of how the cloud provided some relief to Israel from the desert sun and how the light from the pillar of fire would shine down on them at night.

The Bible does not state that God blessed the second temple, but the people took credit for it. During the Feast of the Tabernacles, 50-foot towers were constructed at the corners of the temple. They had lamps burning on top with wicks made from the priests’ robes. The towers were torn down the next day.

The area is dry most of the year and part of the ceremony at that time involved parading with a pitcher of water and praying for God’s blessing of rain for the following year. Then the water was poured out, symbolizing God’s blessings poured out upon His people. I felt this blessing was poured out when the wind brought the Spirit upon these worshipers outside today.

The theological and historical insights we glean from the Messianic teachings never cease to amaze me.

Jan’s thoughts:

On a drive past this church a month or so ago we noticed a sign indicating it is now the worship location for a Messianic Jewish Congregation on Friday evenings, so we had in mind to worship with both congregations on different weeks. However, last week the Alliance church website noted today would be a joint outdoor service in celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, so we opted to take the opportunity to visit today. I am so very glad we did as we were greatly blessed.

We arrived early and were warmly greeted by a number of people, including some who kindly took the time for extended conversations.

Once outdoors we found a seat at a table – for the second week in a row, come to think of it, and were joined by one of the ladies who had introduced herself. It was breezy out, but a perfect day for an outdoor service.

Worship began with music led by the pastor of the Messianic Congregation, and after singing the last line of “I Will Enter His Gates,” i.e., “He has made me glad,” a mic was passed around for all who wished to testify how Jesus has made them glad.

The message, “Jesus in the Feast of Tabernacles,” revealed how the Old Testament speaks of Jesus and all the Biblical feasts point clearly to Him. The pastor referred to the report of the spies who first explored the Promised Land, and how most of them and those to whom they reported their flawed findings listened to how they felt, not what God said.

The Feast of Tabernacles was about God’s call for His people to live in a temporary home for seven days in order to remember His provision. This made even more sense to me when he made the statement, “Jesus tabernacled among men.” Jesus lived in the same sort of temporary home as we do, also temporarily, and we too must learn of His provision.

He spoke of Christ being not only our Savior, but also our Lord, including lord of our thoughts, and that we must submit our will to His. He has so much more for us if we will turn to Him and open our hearts to His Living Water.

We were unable to accept the gracious invitations to join the picnic following the service, but we did enjoy the heartfelt conversations.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, we pray You continue to pour out Your blessings on these congregations. May they feel Your Spirit moving among them. Amen.