Old Union Presbyterian Church

Today we worshiped at Old Union Presbyterian Church, 200 Union Church Road, Mars, PA 16046, 724.538.8672, www.oldunionchurch.com, Rev. Dr. Peter de Vries, Pastor.

Scripture – NIV

Zechariah 2:10-13 –

“Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord.

“Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”

Malachi 4:1-6 –

“Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.

“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.

“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

Luke 3:1-18 –

“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation.’ ”

John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

“What should we do then?” the crowd asked.

John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”

Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

“Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.

Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

Bob’s thoughts:

We showed up an hour early for the second time based on online information. Rather than wait an hour, we searched for a place to eat. We did eventually find the place we were looking for, but it caused us to be a few minutes late. Understandably there is no way to say if we would have been greeted.

I enjoyed the large wooden cross on the wall and an additional projection screen in the side annex where we sat. Signage was minimally-sized but adequate to locate the restrooms and sanctuary.

We were blessed to be here for a solo by a young woman and that the pastor got to sit with the congregation for a Sunday. I believe most pastors would welcome such a chance.

Thought the gentleman reading Scripture had an excellent recovery to a problem in the delivery.

We are called to complete repentance, not “I’ll try not to do this next time.” She quoted a statistic, that visitors decide to stay/return in less than one minute. Greet them that you don’t know, not just those you see every week.

We were once members of a small church that in one year took in 40 new members because someone spoke to them.

Mission and evangelism overlap, but one thing that works is to tell your story, one on one.

Jan’s thoughts:

We arrived during the announcements and quickly found seats in the back of the crowded sanctuary.

At first I was perplexed, as worship leadership seemed to be provided by different people from among the congregation and the choir. After the service we learned that, in commemoration of the pastor’s 25^th anniversary at this church, the session had given him the opportunity to simply worship while they led the service. In the course of the conversation, he expressed his deep appreciation for this wonderful gift.

The sermon, Making Your Choice, was presented by a choir member. She asked, “What if John the Baptist (or Abram, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jonah, or Paul) had chosen not to do what God asked of them?” She quoted statistics indicating that just over 41% of the world’s population had not heard the Gospel in spite of Jesus’ Great Commission, and outlined five ways individual members could support missions:

1 – Pray, by far the most vital and most appreciated form of support.

2 – Connect, and make it personal.

3 – Welcome visitors. She offered the most recent statistic, that visitors to a church decide within the first 30 seconds whether or not they will return.

4 – Mobilize, and get others interested.

5 – Go. It’s not necessary to go to another country; you can almost certainly find people right down the street who don’t know Christ.

She closed with the reminder that we make a choice with every person we meet.

Several people welcomed us after the service and we were invited to attend the luncheon for the pastor.

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, we pray Your church will share their story and spread the Good News. Amen.

Old Union Presbyterian Church

Today we worshiped at Old Union Presbyterian Church, 200 Union Church Road, Mars, PA 16046, 724.538.8672, www.OldUnionChurch.com, Rev. Dr. Peter deVries, Pastor.


Bob’s thoughts:

Expecting a more sedate country church, I was pleasantly surprised with a modern, vibrant worship center. We arrived right before the service was to start. One woman did come over to welcome us.

Although I noticed no signage, we did locate a social area and restrooms, which I must add were clean, bright, and well laid-out.

There is a large wooden cross on the rear wall of the Chancel, some attractive banners, and one excellent painting I noticed. The congregation stood as the Communion elements were carried in by the serving Elders. We sat in an offset from the main Sanctuary so I was unable to see the whole choir, but the face of worship was evident on one woman as she sang.

The sermon title of “By Hook or by Crook” got the attention of this old Marine who sometimes needed to acquire weapons that were not in our budget by any means possible.

The sermon caused me to reflect: it is amazing how easy it is to disagree or be offended when someone’s theology or style of worship is different than ours. I find myself in this very position. I have been uncomfortable in the large, loud churches and I guess I have been quick to judge them as leading people astray from God’s Word. That if they offer “feel good” worship it cannot be honoring Christ. But if Christ is preached and it is done with loud cymbals, Christ is still preached. We need to know in our heart that whatever the worship style in the other church, it is still worship of Jesus. I may never be comfortable in a mega-church, but I cannot judge the sincerity of their worship. These are people for whom Christ died also.

Communion was introduced using Paul’s words “I received from the Lord what I now share with you.” I was disappointed that the elements were shared silently.

We were greeted by only a few people but the student pastor remembered us from a visit to another church a year ago.

The church seems to have an active mission involvement and I was please to see Northside Common Ministries as one they support as it is still close to my heart.

I really appreciated their ministry to the military. There is a world deployment map on the rear wall with some biographical information. During prayer time the list of service people they hold in prayer was read aloud by the congregation and I was told how some have a member praying just for them.

Jan’s thoughts:

This is a clean, well-kept facility, nicely decorated with some unique touches such as some distinctive stained glass created by a member of the church and a large quilted wall hanging that was a gift from American Indians visited by members on a mission trip.

I thought the parking lot was a bit confusing. Also I was surprised that there was so little signage: the only signs I saw anywhere were on the front of the restrooms. The ladies room was quite spacious, lacking only a place to hang or lay my wrap while I used the facilities. It looked almost barren, and the entry space to the rest room could use some decoration also.

A few people only nodded hello and said nothing, but a few went out of their way to introduce themselves and welcome us. Shortly after we took our seats in the Sanctuary a woman came over and introduced herself and told us how glad she was we were there, all the while rubbing my shoulder, which I thought was rather sweet.

I was perplexed during the Lighting of the Candles when everyone sang some music but we were left scratching our heads because the music was not listed or identified in the Order of Worship.

The organ was well done during most of the service, but during the Prayers of the People it was playing very quietly but almost all I could hear was a deep bass reverberation that left me dizzy due to my ear condition. A nice touch during the Prayers was the reciting aloud of the names of the 26 members of this church who are actively serving in the military, along with a bulletin board indicating their locations on a map and including photos and notes, all clear indications that this church has not forgotten those who fight for freedom.

The offering was taken “African-style” which made me smile after an enjoyable dinner with two Malawian friends the evening before! The congregation was invited to come forward and place their offering in a basket toward the front of the Sanctuary while some lively music was played. It was different from most Presbyterian churches – in the United States, anyway!

The Sermon was entitled, “By Hook or by Crook” and was based on Isaiah 45:1-8 and Philippians 1:12-18a. It had to do with perspective – when Paul was in prison he was not sitting around complaining, feeling sorry for himself. Instead he saw it as an opportunity to espouse the Good News to a (literally) captive audience. Paul acted as a “force multiplier” – the important thing is that Christ is preached.

I also appreciated the point made by the pastor that God can and does use whom He wishes to use, regardless of whether that person acknowledges God or is the least bit inclined to work for God’s purposes. I’m so grateful for this, as it means that even when I make a mistake, He can still bring good from the situation. Remembering that is always so encouraging, and believing it makes it even more so!