Central Church – Online Worship Service – Central Church – The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost – 7-31-2022

On this warm, humid, eighth Sunday after Pentecost, when the coronavirus prevents many of us from gathering in Central Church’s Sanctuary to worship in body, let us join together in spirit with our online worship service. Today’s online worship service includes a favorite HYMN with lyrics so you can sing along! Our prior online worship services are available in our online library, and can be viewed on demand, and be sure to join us in worship, either online or in person, every week!    AND… Both the video on Facebook and the video on YouTube now have closed captions (if you turn them on) so you can read along with the spoken words during the service!  To activate captions in Facebook, click on the Settings “gear” symbol in the bottom right corner of the image, and then click on the “Off” button to change it to “On” for “Auto-Generated Captions”. To activate captions in YouTube, click on the “CC” icon in the lower right corner of the image to toggle captions On and Off. A brief comment on our new closed caption capability – The closed captions on our videos use voice-recognition software similar to that used on Television broadcasts, and with similar accuracy!  Sometimes, the captions are not entirely accurate, so if you read something incongruous, back up the video a few seconds and listen carefully for what is actually being said.  Also, it takes a while to generate the captions after the videos are published, so if the captions are not available immediately after the video is published, just check back a little later. To begin, simply click on one of the links below to join with the folks who have already made their way into our digital Sanctuary.  You can find this week’s online worship service on both Facebook and YouTube at the following coordinates: Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=748998096371236 YouTube –   https://youtu.be/yOVxNWq9VPE (If the video doesn’t come up after clicking on the link, just copy and paste the address into your browser search bar.) Central Church

Whose Will Be Done? – A Draftteam Named Desire

Who Said It…Danny Wuerffel

Danny Wuerffel won the Heisman Trophy in 1996 as the Florida Gators quarterback.  Drafted by the New Orleans Saints, he got involved in ministry in the country’s second-largest housing project.

Desire Street Ministries, which Danny now directs, builds and restores houses, operates a pediatric clinic and Desire Street Academy (with 192 grade-7-12 boys enrolled before Hurricane Katrina), conducts Bible studies, and sponsors a church in the district.

What He Said…A Draftteam Named Desire

How could a talented quarterback walk away from the NFL to work in the inner city when he could still play at the game’s highest level? asked Sports Spectrum writer Rob Bentz.

“I was planning to keep playing,” Wuerffel explained. “In the mornings I’d train to be a pro football player. In the afternoons I’d work at Desire Street Ministries.  But after a month, walking into our gym to visit with one of our kids, I passed on a desk a newspaper with a story about Peyton Manning throwing a touchdown pass to break Dan Merino’s record.  As I looked at the kids, I thought, I wouldn’t trade places with Peyton for anything. I knew I was right where I was supposed to be.

“After Katrina, an incredible moment was when we found a 4-H camp in Florida to temporarily house the academy. It’s run by my alma mater, the University of Florida! ‘Danny, we’re going to make this work,’ the officials told me.  They did, and also donated $50,000!”

Adapted from Sports Spectrum (11-12/05).

Prayer for the Week:  Lord, help me to accept your “good and pleasing, and perfect” will, even when that runs counter to my natural desires.

 

Loosen Your Grip – Overcoming Selfishness

Paul’s letter to the Philippians gives us a snapshot of him in prison, laying aside his personal needs and concerns as he tells members of the imperial household the Good News about Jesus, and as he crafts letters to firm up young believers.

So the self-denying perspective of his “thank you” to the Philippian believers for their gift rings true.

Interact with God’s Word:  Philippians 4:10-20

1. Paul refers, in verse 14, to his “present difficulty.” What was his situation when he wrote this letter?
2. How could Paul state, in verse 11, that he had never been in need? Doesn’t he add that he has learned to live on “almost nothing” and with an empty stomach?
3. When you’ve heard verse 13 quoted, is managing with plenty or little what has come to your mind?
4. How about the promise of verse 19? Is it unconditional? Or is it offered to those living sacrificial and generous lives?
5. How do you distinguish between your needs and your wants?
6. How do you square Paul’s insistence that God is taking care of him with the circumstantial extremes he has just cited?

Spend Time in Prayer:  Ask God to help you focus less on your material situation and more on bringing glory to Him.

Philippians 4:10-20

10 How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.

13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. 14 Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty. 15 As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this.

16 Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. 17 I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness. 18 At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God.

19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. 20 Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen.

Prayer for the Week: Help me, Lord, to break the small child’s compulsion to say, ‘Mine! Mine!’ and loosen my grasp on things.

COVID-19 – Beaver County Metrics – 7-28-2022

COVID-19 Integrated County View:

Here are the weekly COVID-19 statistics for Beaver County, PA as of July 28, 2022, showing Beaver County continuing in the HIGH category.

The Incidence Rate increased from 132.9 to 209.2 (an increase of 76.3, or 57.4%) in the HIGH category for the eleventh consecutive week.

• The PCR Positivity Rate increased from 13.8 to 14.4, in the HIGH category.

(Allegheny County’s figures increased in the HIGH category during the past week, moving from 131.7 to 163.4 and from 18.1% to 20.1).

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The new “COVID-19 COMMUNITY LEVEL” index:

Starting on March 3, 2022, for hospitals and healthcare systems, the CDC is also issuing a new “COVID-19 Community Level“ index that measures the “current potential for strain on the health system” (in other words, the ability of hospitals to take in and treat additional folks with COVID-19.)  

This new index is in addition to the CDC’s “COVID-19 Integrated County View” which they continue to publish each week.

After four weeks in the LOW category, the CDC currently reports that current “COVID-19 Community Level” has now moved to the MEDIUM category.  This metric was adopted on March 3, 2022, reflecting on the potential availability of hospital beds for new COVID-19 cases. 

CDC-Recommended actions when in the HIGH level:

• Wear a mask indoors in public and on public transportation.
• Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines.
• Get tested if you have symptoms.
• If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider taking additional precautions.

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• At Central Church, in order to look out for our older folks, as well as the unvaccinated or immunocompromised, we are continuing to look to the CDC’s“COVID-19 Integrated County View” to evaluate which protective measures and protocols that we should observe to protect all of the folks who come through our doors for in-person worship or for other reasons, such as to participate in our community feeding ministry outreach.

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• Small Group Meetings (Sunday School, AA, other meetings):

The current guidance on when and how gatherings can take place is based upon the threshold of infection rate.

For Indoor meetings/Sunday School to resume, the 7-day average of daily cases for gatherings that include unvaccinated folks should be:

• • 1.5-2.0 – for everyone except those at high risk; and
  • Less than 1.0 for those at high risk.
  • Our current level is 29.8, so resuming small group meetings may not be feasible for the immediate future.

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As the pandemic continues, we are continuing our efforts to:

• Disinfect Central Church prior to every worship service and feeding ministry event using EPA-registered products in compliance with CDC standards to kill germs and reduce the risk of spreading infection, and in compliance with EPA criteria for use against SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19; and

• We have significantly expanded our new medical-grade HEPA-13 air filtration equipment in our Sanctuary, which is rated to remove COVID-19 from the air, which now provides 10.7 complete air changes every hour in our Sanctuary (every 6 minutes)!

• In addition, our Parlor, Church Office, Pastor’s Office, UMYF Meeting Room, Fellowship Hall, and Nursery all offer even higher levels of air changes per hour using HEPA-13 or HEPA-14 filtration.

• (5 air changes per hour is the EPA’s general recommended standard, and the EPA now recommends 8-15 air changes per hour in Churches. )  
  

Central Church

7 Prayers to Pray to Make Worship More Powerful This Weekend

Here are some helpful suggestions from Chuck Lawless, who currently serves as Professor of Evangelism and Missions and Dean of Graduate Studies at Southeastern Seminary.

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As you join your congregation for worship this weekend, I encourage you to pray these prayers before you gather. If you do so, your heart will be more prepared to encounter God.

1. “Lord, please forgive me for ____________.” Be specific. Be honest. Be broken. Ask God to cleanse your heart before you encounter Him in worship.

2. “Lord, I forgive ____________ for ___________.” If you want God to forgive you (#1 above), you’ll need to forgive others (Matt 6:14-15). Again, be specific. Be honest. Be broken. Let God fill your heart with grace toward someone who’s hurt you.

3. “Lord, make me humble and teachable.” If you think you already know everything you need to know spiritually, you won’t worship God well this weekend. Ask God to fill you with humility.

4. “Lord, I commit myself to listen well—even if that means I leave my phone in the car.” If your phone typically becomes a distraction to you in worship, take whatever steps are necessary to listen well.

5. “Lord, give my pastor a message for me.” When you pray this way, you’ll approach worship with greater expectancy and faith. Plus, you’ll listen to your pastor in a different way. If you are a pastor, make sure you evaluate your life through the filter of your sermon before you preach it.

6. “Lord, I give you a blank check.” I’ve written about this prayer before, but it’s a prayer we need to pray regularly. Be committed to take whatever steps God requires you to take in response to meeting Him in worship.

7. “Lord, may my worship of You be a witness to others around me.” I’m not suggesting you make a show of yourself in worship; rather, I pray you so encounter God that others see the joy of God in your face and hear the power of His praise in your voice.

Take some time today and tomorrow to pray these prayers – and look forward to worship this weekend!

Central Church

 

Loosen Your Grip – The Envelope Tradition

Key Bible Verse: “You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”  – Acts 20:35

Bonus Reading: 2 Corinthians 9:11-15

Our son Kevin, 12, had a non-league wrestling match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, in ragged sneakers and no headgear to protect their ears, contrasted with our boys in their spiffy uniforms and shoes. We took every weight class.

My husband Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly. “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “This could take the heart right out of them.”

That’s when I got the idea.  Knowing Mike hated the commercial aspects of Christmas, I went to a sporting-goods store, bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes, and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church.

On Christmas Eve, I tucked an envelope in the branches of our tree with a note inside telling Mike what I’d done as my gift to him. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year.

For succeeding Christmases, I followed the new tradition—sending a group of mentally disabled youngsters to a hockey game, and so on.  The unmarked envelope became our Christmas highlight.

Our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree—always the last gift opened—to reveal its contents.

—Anonymous in Ken Canfield’s They Call Me Dad

My Response: What giving element could I work into our Christmas traditions?

Thought to Apply: Nothing is really ours until we share it.—C.S. Lewis (British scholar & writer)

Adapted from They Call Me Dad (Howard, 2005)

Prayer for the Week: Help me, Lord, to break the small child’s compulsion to say, ‘Mine! Mine!’ and loosen my grasp on things.

 

 

Prayer Focus – Iran

Iran — Two Iranian Pastors Face Ten-Year Jail Sentences, but Prayers Answered as Two Church Members Appeals’ Successful

Iranian-Armenian pastor Anooshavan Avedian, 60, has lost his appeal against a ten-year jail term for running a “house church” at his home in Tehran.

The appeal decision was announced on Sunday, May 29. The hearing had taken place in Anooshavan’s absence, despite repeated calls by his lawyer, Iman Soleimani, for him to be present.

Soleimani said that the speed with which the verdict was delivered “demonstrates insufficient study of the case by the appeal judges, dismissal of the defense, and unjust process.”

Meanwhile, two members of Anooshavan’s house church, Abbas Soori and Maryam Mohammadi (also reported in Barnabas Prayer Focus, June), convicted by the same court of being members of an “illegal group”, have won appeals against their sentence. Their ten-year deprivation of rights was removed and their individual fines of 50 million tomans (approximately $2,000) were reduced to 6 million tomans each. This is another answer to our prayers last month.

On June 7 the same court sentenced Joseph Shahbazian, 58, another IranianArmenian pastor, to ten years’ imprisonment for his role in leading a “house church” in Yaftabad, Tehran, with further travel restrictions on release.

Judge Iman Afshari, who also presided over Pastor Avedian’s trial, argued in his verdict that Pastor Shahbazian had “propagated Evangelical Christianity, and “abused people’s inner weaknesses and attracted some of them to the membership of his group.”

Four other converts from Islam were fined $800-$1,250. During the trial, Judge Afshari pressured the four to blame Pastor Shahbazian for their conversions to Christianity with the promise of a lighter sentence, threatening heavier sentences when they refused to do so.

• Ask the Lord to sustain Pastor Shahbazian, Pastor Avedian, and other Christians in Iran imprisoned for their faith.
• Give thanks that the Holy Spirit gave four Muslim-background believers the courage to maintain their witness as followers of Christ.
• Praise Him for answering prayers for the success of the appeals for Abbas Soori and Maryam Mohammadi.
• Pray that the Church in Iran will be encouraged that their labors are not in vain and to be immovable in their faith (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Our Pipe Organ’s South Air Reservoir is Restored!

	The Siedle Organ Company has completed the restoration of our South air reservoir in record time, and, with the able assistance once again of Josh, came to the Church yesterday to reinstall it in our Sanctuary Pipe Room. After the unit made its way back into the bottom South corner of the Pipe Room and was bolted down, all of the air hoses were reconnected. Then, all of the pipes that were temporarily relocated to make a hole large enough to move the reservoir in and out of the Pipe Room were replaced and tested.
	Our newly-restored air reservoir is working perfectly, and we will no longer have to suffer the emphysema-like wheezing (at least from the Pipe Room) during our worship service every time the pipe organ is in use. (More importantly, we will no longer be placing a strain on our large air turbine to produce abnormally-higher air pressure to allow the organ to operate with such a large air leak.
	Theater pipe organs like ours operate on three times the air pressure of normal Church pipe organs (and about nine times the air pressure of old pipe organs in Europe), and our turbine operates on 240-volt, three-phase electric power, supplied by a separate electric meter just for the turbine. Avoiding placing undue stresses and strains on the system saves us electric now as well as avoiding a premature burn-out of the turbine, which we now hope will continue supplying the pipe organ with air pressure for many years to come.

Our thanks to our hard-working Trustees for all of their ceaseless work to maintain and improve our Church!

Loosen Your Grip – A “Provision Kiss”

Key Bible Verse: Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.  – Psalm 37:5

Bonus Reading: 2 Corinthians 9:6-10

Our first provision miracle happened with a rental property. After Gail and I married, we lived in a Wisconsin apartment we mockingly called “the Palace.” It had one space heater and a toilet and tiny shower in the closet. We were paying $90 a month.

Friends of ours in St. Louis told us how they got a home for $240 a month in a market where similar homes were going for close to $500. They’d looked at their budget and asked God for a home in that price range.

God might do the same for us, we thought.  We examined our budget.  It would be a stretch, but we could afford $125.  We prayed, “Lord, Your Word says You care about these things.  We ask You to give us a home for $125 a month.”  Then we watched the paper.

For the preceding month it had listed no rental homes for less than $300. But three days later, an ad appeared for a two-bedroom home—for $125!  We went to see it, then called the owner. “I’m probably asking too little for the house,” an elderly lady said. “I’ve had so many calls about it.”

We went to meet with her.  As we were talking, a junior college professor called and offered her more.  “Thanks,” she replied, “but I want to give it to this nice young couple.”

—Ed Gungor in Religiously Transmitted Diseases

My Response: Have I ever prayed about my budgeting?  Should I?

Thought to Apply: You will never need more than God can supply.—J.I. Packer (Canadian theologian)

Adapted from Religiously Transmitted Diseases (Nelson Ignite, 2006)

Prayer for the Week: Help me, Lord, to break the small child’s compulsion to say, ‘Mine! Mine!’ and loosen my grasp on things.

 

 

Loosen Your Grip – Urge to Splurge

Key Bible Verse: Don’t be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry.  – Colossians 3:5

Bonus Reading: Ecclesiastes 5:10-11

Slick, colorful brochures lie on my desk. They’re from sales representatives eager for me to use their state-of-the-art equipment.

But nothing will be purchased until Materials Management scrutinizes my justification letter, explaining why, when, where, and how the equipment will be used. These requirements methodically expose any emotional attachments I have to an apparatus’s newness. I’m forced to honestly measure its value to my department.

And since I know Materials Management won’t approve a purchase based on a letter filled with feelings, I usually don’t waste my time writing one—and throw 98 percent of the pretty brochures into the trash!

Composing a mental “justification letter” is a savvy practice that works great in everyday life, too.

I used to get so excited about the newest high-tech gadget that I’d practically run to buy it, never questioning its value to my life. Soon it would be added to my I-felt-I-had-to-have-it dust collectors.

But my growth in Christ has taught me to be still when the urge to spend strikes. If I pause to allow the Holy Spirit to put my feelings in check, I can honestly measure any product’s value to my life—and break the chain of foolish spending.

—Howard Swann in Texas

My Response: Could I justify my latest major purchase by Material Management criteria?

Thought to Apply: You can’t have everything.  Where would you put it?—Steven Wright (humorist)

Prayer for the Week: Help me, Lord, to break the small child’s compulsion to say, ‘Mine! Mine!’ and loosen my grasp on things.

 

 

Loosen Your Grip – Whose Wheels?

Key Bible Verse: All the believers … felt that what they owned was not their own; they shared everything they had.  – Acts 4:32

Bonus Reading: 1 Timothy 6:6-8

Several years ago when my mom had to stop driving, I picked up her car, a Ford Escort. Slow but economical, it became my transportation between home and the church I pastored 90 miles away.

After I resigned, it became an extra car.  We knew it belonged to God, so we sometimes loaned out “God’s car” to friends in need. A buddy from a home Bible study needed short-term wheels, so I let him use it. He liked it and asked to buy it.

We agreed on a price, he made a small down payment, and promptly quit paying. He didn’t change the registration with the state, so we remained liable.

Soon after, he quit returning my calls. He did respond to an e-mail, saying he’d take care of the registration. He never did.

Months later I received notice of a parking violation and other problems. I contacted our church, and he’d quit attending. Short of tracking him down and taking him to court, Mom’s car and the money have disappeared. That ticks me off. We had counted on that money and didn’t have a lot to spare. Justice plays a role in my anger.

But, I try to remind myself, God owns that car. He didn’t “steal” it from me, but from God.

Renouncing ownership means we keep a loose grip on our stuff; we try not to get too attached.

—Tim Riter in Not a Safe God

My Response: The part of Tim’s response I can relate to is …

Thought to Apply: All you are unable to give possesses you.—Andre Gide (French author)

Adapted from Not a Safe God (Broadman & Holman, 2006)

Prayer for the Week: Help me, Lord, to break the small child’s compulsion to say, ‘Mine! Mine!’ and loosen my grasp on things.

 

Loosen Your Grip – Found Wanting

Key Bible Verse:  “Beware! Don’t be greedy for what you don’t have. Real life is not measured by how much we own.”  – Luke 12:15

Bonus Reading:  Job 31:24-25

Growing up, my brothers and I were notorious present-beggars. We’d get our minds set on the ultimate Christmas toy, then beg relentlessly.

As we got older we became more skilled (or so we thought), strategically placing the Sears toy catalog open to the right page in places we knew Mom and Dad would look: in his recliner, under her pillow, in the refrigerator.

One year we set our sights on a big yellow G.I. Joe troop transport with six oversized knobby wheels. The commercials showed it careening through rugged battlefields, rushing Joe and his Kung Fu grip to the action.

Well, our subtle “product placement” worked; we got the toy for Christmas. We rushed out to play with it, and quickly realized our yard was pretty much … flat. No rugged battlefield to be found.

Sure, with a little imagination we made the toy work, but I couldn’t escape a tinge of disappointment.

So it goes with stuff—and the chase isn’t confined to childhood.  Many people have convinced themselves they should pull the trigger on the bigger TV, the fancier fly rod, the sportier car. It never satisfies, does it?

Solomon said that “Those who love money will never have enough” (Eccl. 5:10).

—Mark Geil in Georgia

My Response: What potential possession am I emotionally chasing? Can it deliver on my expectations?

Prayer for the Week: Help me, Lord, to break the small child’s compulsion to say, ‘Mine! Mine!’ and loosen my grasp on things.

 

Loosen Your Grip – Lend Your Stuff

Who Said It…Tim Stafford

Tim Stafford started his writing career with what is now Ignite Your Faith magazine (then Youth for Christ’s Campus Life). Next he moved his family to Kenya and founded Step magazine, for Christian youth in Africa.

With Philip Yancey, he co-authored notes for the popular Student Bible. Now Tim’s family, including wife Popie, a counselor, and three children, live in Santa Rosa, California.

Tim is a senior writer for Christianity Today and has written many books, including a historical fiction trilogy.

What He Said…Lend Your Stuff

For some people no act of generosity comes harder than lending because they’re emotionally attached to their possessions and can’t let go.

Something seizes up inside at the thought of letting your new car go on the church ski trip or lending your power tools to the group going to Mexico to build houses. The car may get dented. The tools may get lost or broken.

However, such tangible acts of generosity make sense to children in a way that the abstract writing of checks might not.

We made it a family policy, when we bought a new minivan, to make it available to the church or school anytime they needed it. And they needed it frequently!

We sent a full minivan to Mexico, into the Sierra for ski trips, and to a great variety of other destinations.

I almost always found it a little hard to let the car out of my hands. However, I am quite sure my children will remember these small acts of generosity and want to imitate them.

Adapted from Never Mind the Joneses (InterVarsity, 2004)

Prayer for the Week:  Help me, Lord, to break the small child’s compulsion to say, ‘Mine! Mine!’ and loosen my grasp on things.

 

Devious Diversions – Transform My Mind

The Roman empire Paul crisscrossed lacked our modern media.  But the principles he laid out for Christian living in his letter to the Ephesus church apply well to our day also.

Paul had lived in Ephesus for at least three years. His quotation here isn’t directly from Scripture.  It’s probably the text of a hymn they’d often sung together, loosely based on Isaiah 26:19; 15:17; 52:1; 60:1) and Malachi 4:2).

Interact with God’s Word:  Ephesians 5:4-16

1. How do the electronic media excuse sins that God condemns? Do you risk being fooled into discounting God’s anger with impurity?
2. Clearly, we’re to avoid acting out sinful behaviors (v. 7), but could viewing/listening to it as entertainment be a form of participation?
3. Paul’s quotation (in verse 14) is meant to be a wake-up call. What “darkness” (vv. 8-13) should you steer clear of? What “light” should you shine on evil to expose it?
4. Paul characterized his days (v. 16) as evil. How would you size up our days?
5. How do you determine (v. 10) what is pleasing to the Lord?
6. What changes might be required (vv. 15-16) to live wisely and make opportunities for doing good?

Spend Time in Prayer:  Ask God for the ability to retain a pure mind in an environment of obscene stories and coarse jokes.

Ephesians 5:4-16

4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. 5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.

7 Don’t participate in the things these people do.8 for once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!9 for this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.

10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. 12 It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.

13 But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them,14 for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said,”Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

15 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.

Prayer for the Week: Lord, transform my life by renewing my mind in accordance with Your good and perfect will.

COVID-19 – Beaver County Metrics – 7-21-2022

COVID-19 Integrated County View:

Here are the weekly COVID-19 statistics for Beaver County, PA as of July 21, 2022, showing Beaver County continuing in the HIGH category.

The Incidence Rate decreased from 174.4 to 132.9 (a decrease of 41.5, or 23.7%) in the HIGH category for the tenth consecutive week.

• The PCR Positivity Rate decreased from 17.6 to 13.8, in the HIGH category.

(Allegheny County’s figures increased in the HIGH category during the past week, moving from 112.5 to 131.7 and from 13.8% to 18.1).

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The new “COVID-19 COMMUNITY LEVEL” index:

Starting on March 3, 2022, for hospitals and healthcare systems, the CDC is also issuing a new “COVID-19 Community Level“ index that measures the “current potential for strain on the health system” (in other words, the ability of hospitals to take in and treat additional folks with COVID-19.)  

This new index is in addition to the CDC’s “COVID-19 Integrated County View” which they continue to publish each week.

After two weeks in the HIGH category, the CDC currently reports that current “COVID-19 Community Level” remains in the LOW category for the fourth consecutive week.  This metric was adopted on March 3, 2022, reflecting on the potential availability of hospital beds for new COVID-19 cases. 

CDC-Recommended actions when in the HIGH level:

• Wear a mask indoors in public and on public transportation.
• Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines.
• Get tested if you have symptoms.
• If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider taking additional precautions.

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• At Central Church, in order to look out for our older folks, as well as the unvaccinated or immunocompromised, we are continuing to look to the CDC’s“COVID-19 Integrated County View” to evaluate which protective measures and protocols that we should observe to protect all of the folks who come through our doors for in-person worship or for other reasons, such as to participate in our community feeding ministry outreach.

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• Small Group Meetings (Sunday School, AA, other meetings):

The current guidance on when and how gatherings can take place is based upon the threshold of infection rate.

For Indoor meetings/Sunday School to resume, the 7-day average of daily cases for gatherings that include unvaccinated folks should be:

• • 1.5-2.0 – for everyone except those at high risk; and
  • Less than 1.0 for those at high risk.
  • Our current level is 18.9, so resuming small group meetings may not be feasible for the immediate future.

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As the pandemic continues, we are continuing our efforts to:

• Disinfect Central Church prior to every worship service and feeding ministry event using EPA-registered products in compliance with CDC standards to kill germs and reduce the risk of spreading infection, and in compliance with EPA criteria for use against SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19; and

• We have significantly expanded our new medical-grade HEPA-13 air filtration equipment in our Sanctuary, which is rated to remove COVID-19 from the air, which now provides 10.7 complete air changes every hour in our Sanctuary (every 6 minutes)!

• In addition, our Parlor, Church Office, Pastor’s Office, UMYF Meeting Room, Fellowship Hall, and Nursery all offer even higher levels of air changes per hour using HEPA-13 or HEPA-14 filtration.

• (5 air changes per hour is the EPA’s general recommended standard, and the EPA now recommends 8-15 air changes per hour in Churches. )  
  

Central Church

Devious Diversions – Vast Wasteland

Key Bible Verse: So be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days.  – Ephesians 5:15-16

Bonus Reading:  Matthew 5:29-30

Movies, TV, and music so dominate the lives of many, including Christians, that they have no time to think about anything spiritual.

Add net-surfing, computer games, sports, and other hobbies, and we have a society drowning in entertainment!

Our souls are so constantly submerged in a sea of pleasure-seeking that we rarely break the surface to study the Scriptures, worship God, and serve others.

Satan wants you to waste your time.  Too often our pursuit of pleasure preoccupies the mind, consumes the energies of the body, and drains the checkbook.  So we fulfill Paul’s forecast of the last days (2 Timothy 3:4), when people “love pleasure rather than God.”  That’s why you must set strict limits on the amount of time and money you spend on entertainment.

The application of the surgical language in today’s Bonus Reading to your entertainment choices is clear: If something you watch, read, or listen to influences you toward evil in your heart or actions, stay away from it.

If you find yourself consumed with a particular hobby, get it out of your life until such a time that you can enjoy it in moderation and propriety.

—Dave Swavely in Who Are You to Judge?

My Response: To be a faithful disciple, I need to eliminate or cut back on …

Thought to Apply: I hate television. I hate it as much as peanuts. But I can’t stop eating peanuts.—Orson Welles

Adapted from Who Are You to Judge? (P & R Publishing, 2005)

Prayer for the Week: Lord, transform my life by renewing my mind in accordance with Your good and perfect will.

Prayer Focus – India

India — Delhi High Court Affirms Legality of Religious Conversion; Church Sealed in Odisha After Allegations of Illegal Conversion

A Delhi High Court judge has declared that conversion from one religion to another is perfectly lawful.

Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva gave his opinion during a hearing on June 3 that “conversion is not prohibited in law.”

“Every person has a right to choose and profess any religion of his/her choice,” he continued. “It is a constitutional right. If someone is forced to convert, then it’s a different issue but to convert is a person’s prerogative.”

Justice Sachdeva based his opinion on India’s constitutional guarantee of freedom to “profess, practice and propagate religion” (Article 25 of the Constitution of India).

The court was hearing a petition to outlaw in the National Capital Territory (NCT) religious conversions obtained through intimidation, threats or deceit. A further hearing is scheduled for July 25. The NCT does not have an anticonversion law.

In Odisha – one of 11 Indian states that does have an anti-conversion law banning conversions by fraud, force or allurement – a church has been sealed and the 100-strong congregation barred from gathering for worship.

The local administration placed the restraining order on Believers Church, Geltua village in Bhadrak district on May 17. District officials based their decision on complaints received that tribal people were converted to Christianity through “allurement.”

Pratap Chhinchani, a lawyer representing the church, criticized the allegation as unsubstantiated. He added that extremists had deliberately disrupted church meetings in Geltua. Ensuing complaints by Christians asking for protection from such disturbances were not acted upon by local police.

• Praise God for the High Court judge’s ruling and ask that the further hearing will again uphold religious freedom.
• Pray for local authorities to follow the court’s lead and distinguish between genuine conversion and conversion resulting from force, fraud or allurement.
• Pray that the appeal for the reopening of the church in Odisha will be successful and for similar spurious allegations of forced conversion to be dismissed.
• Pray that Christians will respond with enhanced zeal to adorn the Gospel of God our Savior (Titus 2:10, AV) by their faithfulness.

Devious Diversions – Joker and Monty Python

Key Bible Verse: But let the Lord Jesus Christ take control of you, and don’t think of ways to indulge your evil desires.  – Romans 13:14

Bonus Reading:  1 John 2:15-16

In the movie Batman, Jack Nicholson’s Joker has more fun by far than anyone else, leading audiences to appreciate and remember this psychotic murderer more than any of the good guys.

Another surprising example of the glorification of evil is a Bibleman episode in which the Scripture-quoting hero is boring compared to the villain, who gets to star in his own MTV-like video.  After watching this show, my children couldn’t quote any of the Bible verses, but danced around singing over and over, “I am the prince of pride; I’ve got an ego ten miles wide!”

The concern of today’s Bonus Reading is the heart.  John doesn’t say that we can’t view or listen to anything that comes from worldly artists, but he does say we’re not to love the lust and pride in them, and often presented by them.

So I can split my sides with my friends and older children as we enjoy the unique, insightful humor in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, while skipping scenes like the “virgins in the castle” and the cartoons depicting God.

I can expose those examples of inappropriate humor by explaining to my family and others why those parts are wrong, and in doing so we can enjoy a spiritual benefit as well as a good laugh.

—Dave Swavely in Who Are You to Judge?

My Response: I’ll plan to lead an informal evaluation of the next movie or TV show we watch together.

Thought to Apply: Indifference to evil is complicity with evil.—Sourcer Unknown

Adapted from Who Are You to Judge? (P & R Publishing, 2005)

Prayer for the Week: Lord, transform my life by renewing my mind in accordance with Your good and perfect will.

 

Our Pipe Organ – South Air Reservoir Being Restored!

The Siedle Organ Company met with Josh this morning in the Choir Loft to disconnect and remove the South air reservoir so it can be transported back to their shop to be rebuilt and restored.

Here are some photos of the work that was done this morning:

	Here’s the Choir Loft entrance to the Pipe Room, giving access to the lower level. The large South air reservoir was located on the bottom left of the room.
	Here is the view from the Choir Loft into the bowels of the pipe organ’s Pipe Room. The South air reservoir was screwed to the floor in that empty bottom section, virtually filling the space. The air reservoir functions to regulate and stabilize the air pressure for the organ pipes in the South half of the upper two levels of the Pipe Room. When a large chord is played, a large amount of air is required to sound the various pipes.  It takes a few seconds for the large air turbine in the Relay Room (which has its own electric meter) to recognize and respond to the increased demand for air. The air reservoir maintains the air pressure and prevents a drop from the increased expenditure of air for the additional pipes.  Otherwise, half of the pipe organ would go flat while the other side remained in key until the turbine can catch up.
	After about 90 minutes of steady work, here’s the huge South air reservoir sitting on the floor of the Choir Loft, waiting to be wrapped up and transported by dolly out to Siedle’s transport truck. A portion of the rack that holds Open Diapason pipes (on the left of the entrance in the above photo) had to be disassembled and the pipes temporarily relocated to a safe corner of the Pipe Room in order to make an opening large enough for the South air reservoir to pass through the opening into the Choir Loft. The air reservoir is currently being transported to the Siedle Organ Company for restoration. The restored air reservoir should be ready to be transported back to Central in a few weeks, at which time the process of remounting in on the floor and restoring everything that had to be moved in order to remove the reservoir.

Our pipe organ is now officially out of commission until the restored air reservoir is reinstalled,.  Until then, starting this Sunday, we will be using the piano for our in-person worship service.

Our thanks to Josh for making the work today possible.

Devious Diversions – Laugh Lines

Key Bible Verse: Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes; these are not for you. … Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins.  – Ephesians 5:4, 6

Bonus Reading: Ephesians 5:4-14

God hates sin.  It is therefore wrong for us to enjoy it in any way.

Unfortunately, much of modern entertainment is designed to make money by appealing to our sinful nature. This is obviously the purpose of most sexual content, and much of the violence motivated by ungodly revenge and uncontrolled rage.

But the popular arts appeal to our sinful nature in more subtle ways, such as our covetousness (beautiful stars, rich characters, exotic locations) and pride (motivations of self-glory).

In today’s popular art, God and religion are played for laughs, and jokes about sex have almost become synonymous with the concept of comedy.

But the Bible is very clear that both of these matters are not to be played for laughs.  The third commandment says, “Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:7), and the hottest hell is reserved for those who mock God.

Today’s Bonus Reading uses similar language in regard to sexuality.  It is a sin worthy of God’s anger and condemnation to be amused by jokes about Him.  It is equally wrong to laugh at coarse sexual humor.

—Dave Swavely in Who Are You to Judge?

My Response: Have I ever turned off a TV show part way through it or walked out of a movie or play?  Should I have?

Thought to Apply: Television makes so much [money] at its worst that it can’t afford to do its best.—Fred Friendly (broadcast news producer)

Adapted from Who Are You to Judge? (P & R Publishing, 2005)

Prayer for the Week: Lord, transform my life by renewing my mind in accordance with Your good and perfect will.

 

Prayer Concern: Killer Heat Waves

India and Pakistan

• The 2022 heatwave is estimated to have led to at least 90 deaths across India and Pakistan, and to have triggered an extreme Glacial Lake Outburst Flood in northern Pakistan and forest fires in India.
• The heat reduced India’s wheat crop yields, causing the government to reverse an earlier plan to supplement the global wheat supply that has been impacted by the war in Ukraine. In India, a shortage of coal led to power outages that limited access to cooling, compounding health impacts and forcing millions of people to use coping mechanisms such as limiting activity to the early morning and evening.

Spain and Portugal

• Over 1,100 people have died in Spain and Portugal from heat-related causes over the past week as an unprecedented heat wave moves through Europe.
• The ongoing heat wave could last a several weeks and has been accompanied by wildfires in France, Spain, and Portugal, scorching tens of thousands of acres of land, and forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.
• The record-setting temperatures are part of a larger heat wave across western Europe, sparking wildfires that have scorched tens of thousands of acres of land across several countries.

England and Wales

• Temperatures hit an all-time high yesterday in some parts of the UK, with Santon Downham, Suffolk, in eastern England reaching just over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Britain’s weather service issued its first-ever red extreme heat warning with temperatures forecast to be even hotter today, likely beating the national record of 101.7 degrees set in 2019. The country faced several travel disruptions due to the heat, with many businesses and schools closed.
•  A national emergency has been declared as the country is not accustomed to handling such high temperatures.
• Many buildings in the country are designed to keep heat in.
• Fewer than 5% of residential homes are thought to have a cooling unit.
• Temperatures in the UK can also feel warmer than in other areas of Europe because of its high humidity levels.

  • The United States

    • An unusually intense, early season heat wave is gripping areas from Texas to the entire Southwest, including major metro areas such as Houston, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Sacramento.

      The National Weather Service (NWS) is warning of a “high” potential for heat-related illnesses.

      By the numbers: 113°F-116°F forecast high temperature expected in Phoenix on Saturday. The daily high-temperature record for that date is 114°F set in 1918.

      • 112°F: Forecast high temperature in Phoenix Friday.
      • 109°F: Forecast high Friday in Las Vegas.
      • 100-106°F: Forecast highs in Sacramento on Friday and Saturday.
      • 122°F: Forecast highs Friday and Saturday in Death Valley, Calif., which would be a daily record.
      • 10°F-20°F or greater: Temperature departures from average across the Southwest through Sunday.

 

• Please pray the heat waves throughout the world will end; and that The Lord will provide relief.  In Jesus’ Holy Name.  Amen.

Central Church

Devious Diversions – Talk Back

Key Bible Verse: Test everything that is said.  Hold on to what is good.  Keep away from every kind of evil.  – 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22

Bonus Reading: Philippians 4:8

If you soak up the media with your brain in neutral, you’ll be captured by the enemy’s destructive ideas.

To apply today’s Key Bible Verse to the entertainment you enjoy, keep your brain in gear, know your Bible, and evaluate based on what it says.

Talk back mentally to your TV, music, books, and the movie screen.  When you see or hear something good, note the truth communicated or illustrated.  If it’s bad, note how and why it displeases God.  That’s conquering rebellious ideas and teaching them to obey Christ ( 2 Corinthians 10:5).

If I enjoy a certain kind of music, I can thank God for giving musicians the talent to produce it. But when the words aren’t coming from hearts that love Christ, I’ll often intentionally hear or sing them with an elevated meaning.

Many songs on love and sex written about an unmarried couple can apply to my relationship with my wife.  Single people can think of the lyrics as describing a future marriage relationship.

This is applying today’s Bonus Reading command by finding the good in the things we observe and disciplining our minds to dwell on that.  Of course I don’t sing or let my mind dwell on songs that can’t possibly be reinterpreted like this.

—Dave Swavely in Who Are You to Judge?

My Response: Do I passively accept media messages or do I talk back to them?

Thought to Apply: All television is educational television. The only question is, what is it teaching?—Nicholas Johnson (former Federal Communications Comm. chairman)

Adapted from Who Are You to Judge? (P & R Publishing, 2005)

Prayer for the Week: Lord, transform my life by renewing my mind in accordance with Your good and perfect will.

 

Devious Diversions – Take Jesus to a Movie?

Key Bible Verse: And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father.  – Colossians 3:17

Bonus Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:30-11:1

When you view or listen to some form of the arts, your motive can’t be merely to please yourself, and it certainly can’t be to enjoy ungodly pleasures.

Your motive must be to please God. Jesus said, “You must worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” (Matthew 4:10)  Today’s Bonus Reading says you should engage in only what you can thank God for, and what brings Him glory.

Many Christians haven’t learned how to enjoy the popular arts in a way that brings glory to God. They’ve watched movies, for instance, only because they wanted to pass the time, or experience the thrill of action, romance, or a good laugh. Or the movies have been a time they were spending apart from God, because they were deriving enjoyment from things He wouldn’t like.

So when a friend asks, “Would you watch that if Jesus were sitting next to you?” (a good question to ask, by the way), they could never honestly say yes, because they’ve never taken Jesus with them to see a movie!

But I’ve watched many movies fully aware that Jesus is with me, and I’ve communed with Him during the entire movie. Next, we’ll discuss how.

—Dave Swavely in Who Are You to Judge?

My Response: Would Jesus have accepted an invitation to the last movie I saw?

Adapted from Who Are You to Judge? (P & R Publishing, 2005)

Prayer for the Week: Lord, transform my life by renewing my mind in accordance with Your good and perfect will.

Central Church – Online Worship Service – Central Church – Sixth Sunday after Pentecost – 7-17-2022

On this humid, sixth Sunday after Pentecost, when the coronavirus prevents many of us from gathering in Central Church’s Sanctuary to worship in body, let us join together in spirit with our online worship service. Today’s online worship service includes a favorite HYMN with lyrics so you can sing along! Our prior online worship services are available in our online library, and can be viewed on demand, and be sure to join us in worship, either online or in person, every week!    AND… Both the video on Facebook and the video on YouTube now have closed captions (if you turn them on) so you can read along with the spoken words during the service!  To activate captions in Facebook, click on the Settings “gear” symbol in the bottom right corner of the image, and then click on the “Off” button to change it to “On” for “Auto-Generated Captions”. To activate captions in YouTube, click on the “CC” icon in the lower right corner of the image to toggle captions On and Off. A brief comment on our new closed caption capability – The closed captions on our videos use voice-recognition software similar to that used on Television broadcasts, and with similar accuracy!  Sometimes, the captions are not entirely accurate, so if you read something incongruous, back up the video a few seconds and listen carefully for what is actually being said.  Also, it takes a while to generate the captions after the videos are published, so if the captions are not available immediately after the video is published, just check back a little later. To begin, simply click on one of the links below to join with the folks who have already made their way into our digital Sanctuary.  You can find this week’s online worship service on both Facebook and YouTube at the following coordinates: Facebook –  https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=452228066441912 YouTube –    https://youtu.be/Otf3uv3sv98 (If the video doesn’t come up after clicking on the link, just copy and paste the address into your browser search bar.) Central Church

Devious Diversions – On a Scale of 1 to…

Who Said It…Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier should know entertainment.  He was the first black actor to gain widespread acceptance by audiences of all races.

In 1963 he won an Oscar for Lilies of the Field, and in 1967 he memorably played Detective Virgil Tibbs in In the Heat of the Night.

But as a young Bahamian immigrant, Poitier arrived in New York city with an accent so thick that—after his first audition—the director told him to become a dishwasher.

What He Said…On a Scale of 1 to …

It’s late at night as I lie in bed in the blue glow of the television set. I have the remote control in my hand and I go from 1 to 97, scrolling through the channels.

I find nothing that warrants my attention, nothing that amuses me. So I scroll up again, channel by channel from bottom to top.

This vast, sophisticated technology and … nothing.  It’s given me not one smidgen of pleasure.  It’s informed me of nothing beyond my own ignorance and my own frailties.

But then I have the audacity to go up again!  And what do I find?  Nothing, of course.

So at last, filled with self-disgust, I punch the TV off and throw the clicker across the room, muttering to myself, “What am I doing with my time?”

It’s not as if I’m without other resources—treasured books and art objects, photographs and mementos.  I have a rich network of friends, whom I could reach on the phone within seconds.  So what am I doing with my time?

Adapted from The Measure of a Man (HarperSanFrancisco, 2000).

Prayer for the Week: Lord, transform my life by renewing my mind in accordance with Your good and perfect will.

COVID-19 – Beaver County Metrics – 7-14-2022

COVID-19 Integrated County View:

Here are the weekly COVID-19 statistics for Beaver County, PA as of July 14, 2022, showing Beaver County continuing in the HIGH category.

• The Incidence Rate decreased slightly from 114.6 to 110.4 (a decrease of 4.2, or 3.6%) in the HIGH category for the ninth consecutive week.
• The PCR Positivity Rate increased from 15.1 to 17.6, in the HIGH category.

(Allegheny County’s figures increased in the HIGH category during the past week, moving from 112.5 to 147.2 and from 15.1% to 18.6).

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The new “COVID-19 COMMUNITY LEVEL” index:

Starting on March 3, 2022, for hospitals and healthcare systems, the CDC is also issuing a new “COVID-19 Community Level“ index that measures the “current potential for strain on the health system” (in other words, the ability of hospitals to take in and treat additional folks with COVID-19.)  

This new index is in addition to the CDC’s “COVID-19 Integrated County View” which they continue to publish each week.

After two weeks in the HIGH category, the CDC currently reports that current “COVID-19 Community Level” remains in the LOW category for the fourth consecutive week.  This metric was adopted on March 3, 2022, reflecting on the potential availability of hospital beds for new COVID-19 cases. 

CDC-Recommended actions when in the HIGH level:

• Wear a mask indoors in public and on public transportation.
• Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines.
• Get tested if you have symptoms.
• If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider taking additional precautions.

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• At Central Church, in order to look out for our older folks, as well as the unvaccinated or immunocompromised, we are continuing to look to the CDC’s“COVID-19 Integrated County View” to evaluate which protective measures and protocols that we should observe to protect all of the folks who come through our doors for in-person worship or for other reasons, such as to participate in our community feeding ministry outreach.

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• Small Group Meetings (Sunday School, AA, other meetings):

The current guidance on when and how gatherings can take place is based upon the threshold of infection rate.

For Indoor meetings/Sunday School to resume, the 7-day average of daily cases for gatherings that include unvaccinated folks should be:

• • 1.5-2.0 – for everyone except those at high risk; and
  • Less than 1.0 for those at high risk.
  • Our current level is 15.7, so resuming small group meetings may not be feasible for the immediate future.

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As the pandemic continues, we are continuing our efforts to:

• Disinfect Central Church prior to every worship service and feeding ministry event using EPA-registered products in compliance with CDC standards to kill germs and reduce the risk of spreading infection, and in compliance with EPA criteria for use against SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19; and

• We have significantly expanded our new medical-grade HEPA-13 air filtration equipment in our Sanctuary, which is rated to remove COVID-19 from the air, which now provides 10.7 complete air changes every hour in our Sanctuary (every 6 minutes)!

• In addition, our Parlor, Church Office, Pastor’s Office, UMYF Meeting Room, Fellowship Hall, and Nursery all offer even higher levels of air changes per hour using HEPA-13 or HEPA-14 filtration.

• (5 air changes per hour is the EPA’s general recommended standard, and the EPA now recommends 8-15 air changes per hour in Churches. )  
  

Central Church

Staying Power – Strength through Adversity

For the first-century Christians, suffering was the rule rather than the exception.

Paul holds out encouragement to his hard-pressed readers by painting a portrait of what they will eventually become.

But this is no escapism.  Spliced together with that vision of the future is the understanding that we must overcome now before we can become then.

Interact with God’s Word:  Romans 5:3-5

1. Is Paul telling us that we should learn to like pain or deny the tragedy of suffering?
2. If not, why should we rejoice when we encounter difficulties?
3. If, as verse 5 claims, God dearly loves you, why may He be permitting trials in your life?
4. How does the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit underscore God’s love?
5. What does Christ’s death tell you about your value to God?
6. Why would a strengthened character promote deepened confidence about the future?
7. How can you deal with the problems you face daily in God’s strength?

Spend Time in Prayer:  Thank God for what you are confidently expecting. Ask Him for the strength of character to grow strong through endurance.

Romans 5:3-5

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Prayer for the Week: Lord, You’ve placed me in a challenging spot. Give me the faith, courage, and strength to stand tall there.

 

Staying Power – Steady Steve

Key Bible Verse: Be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.  – 1 Corinthians 15:58

Bonus Reading: Romans 5:3-5

When I think of people who demonstrate endurance, I think of my friend Steve.  Steve is a faithful husband, the father of two girls, an elder in the church, and a real-estate appraiser.  He cares for his aging parents, gives generously to the work of Christ, and can tell a great joke.

He does nothing spectacular. He’ll never receive a standing ovation, and his hometown will probably never have Steve Day in his honor. But every day he eats his oatmeal, reads his Bible, does honest work, plays with his daughters, sends e-mail to friends, hugs his wife, and says his prayers before he goes to sleep.

When others left his church during the hard times, he stepped into leadership. When others compromised their ethics to get ahead financially, he stayed true. When colleagues sacrificed family to get promoted, he scaled back, preferring more time with his daughters to having more stuff in his garage.

When others are cynical, Steve is hopeful. When friends are in trouble, Steve is there with a smile, a helping hand, an open wallet. He is a solid, dependable, caring man whom I can count on for anything, from walking my dog to raising my children if I should die.

—Tod Bolsinger in ShowTime

My Response: A “Steve” in my church whom I’d like to emulate is …

Thought to Apply: It is better to be faithful than famous.—Source Unknown

Adapted from ShowTime (Baker, 2004).

Prayer for the Week: Lord, You’ve placed me in a challenging spot. Give me the faith, courage, and strength to stand tall there.

 

Prayer Focus – Democratic Republic of the Congo

Demcratic Republic of the Congo — At Least 24 Villagers Killed by Islamist Militants

At least 24 villagers were killed by Islamist militants in the mainly Christian northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on May 28.

The attack on the village of Beu Manyama in the Beni region of North Kivu province was carried out by members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which is linked to Islamic State.

“We heard bullets at dawn in the village,” said an army spokesman. “When we arrived it was already too late because the ADF had already killed more than a dozen of our fellow citizens with machetes.”

On May 27 a Red Cross representative said that soldiers in neighboring Ituri province had found 17 decapitated bodies, also believed to be victims of the ADF.

Both Ituri and North Kivu provinces remain under a state of emergency (known as a “state of siege”), which was imposed in May 2021. Many Christians have fled over the border into western Uganda.

• Pray for Christians in both provinces to stand firm in their faith and see the salvation of the Lord (Exodus 14:13- 14).
• Ask for the Lord’s provision and protection for those who have fled to Uganda, and the conviction that as they are tested with fire they will come forth as gold (Zechariah 13:9).
• Pray that God will convict the terrorists of their distorted view of their Creator so that they turn to Him in repentance

Staying Power – Called to What?

Key Bible Verse: Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.  – Psalm 37:24

Bonus Reading: Psalm 73:21-26

[continued from yesterday]  Winding my way through dark city streets, I found myself wishing for light. In today’s exchanges with four friends serving at the extreme ends of society, no trite God-has-you-here-for-a-reason advice would be helpful. Their questioning of their own calling, though fearful, was necessary. Questioning God was honest. Their doubts had integrity.

Surely God doesn’t toy with the emotions of those who desire to follow Him. But when we’ve listened as carefully as we know how and have positioned ourselves as best we can discern in the epicenter of His will, why would we encounter so much resistance, frustration, and stress?

Spiritual warfare?  Lack of faith?  Wrong method or timing?  I can’t give an answer.  But regardless, there seems but one appropriate response to this holy entrapment: endure.

Could it be that divine calling isn’t even about accomplishment?

What if success is defined not in measurable productivity but in the quality of our interactions with others?

What if the criterion by which we’re ultimately evaluated is faithfulness rather than performance?

Even more baffling, what if calling isn’t primarily about effecting change but rather about being changed ourselves?

—Robert Lupton in Renewing the City

My Response: If God has called me, can I expect the results to be visible?

Thought to Apply: Don’t bother to give God instructions; just report for duty.—Corrie Ten Boom (Dutch speaker & author)

Adapted from Renewing the City (InterVarsity, 2005).

Prayer for the Week: Lord, You’ve placed me in a challenging spot. Give me the faith, courage, and strength to stand tall there.

 

Staying Power – Facing Frustrations

Key Bible Verse: “If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses?”  – Jeremiah 12:5

Bonus Reading: Hebrews 12:12-13

[continued from yesterday]  My day ended at a restaurant in a converted warehouse with Dana Walker and Kerry Reid, in from D.C. for a conference they’d initiated.  “Why is doing good so hard?” these leaders of President Bush’s faith-based initiative asked as we dipped sourdough bread chunks into a saucer of garlic and olive oil.

These dynamic, visionary leaders, elevated to positions of responsibility at a high level of government, confessed their weariness in doing their best to accomplish a kingdom mission, only to have their efforts challenged, undermined, ignored, and devalued by both government and church.

The President, committed to the church’s re-engagement as a service provider, had inspired them both to join him in this mission. But his handlers, they soon discovered, had other priorities, diverting his attention from the faith-based agenda.

Career bureaucrats proved resistant to new ideas that disrupt their familiar routines. And the church is suspicious of government involvement, afraid of “strings,” fearful of trading away its message for the seduction of easy money.

“We’re not sure now that this is where we should be.”  Consternation and doubt were etched on their faces. [continued tomorrow]

—Robert Lupton in Renewing the City

My Response: How do political, psychological, or spiritual opposition factor into my understanding of God’s guidance?

Thought to Apply: Our extremity is God’s opportunity.—Rees Howells (Welsh miner turned Bible school founder)

Adapted from Renewing the City (InterVarsity, 2005).

Prayer for the Week: Lord, You’ve placed me in a challenging spot. Give me the faith, courage, and strength to stand tall there.

 

Staying Power – Dealing with Doubts

Key Bible Verse: And I say to the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.  – 2 Thessalonians 3:13

Bonus Reading: Luke 9:57-62

My day began over an early breakfast at the Good News Café with Chris and Rebecca Gray.  They dove right into a matter heavy on their minds.

“Why is doing good so hard?” Rebecca teared up as she uttered the words.  “We do our best, we’re as responsible as we know how to be, we try to stay sensitive to God’s leading … yet something always derails our plans.  Our best efforts don’t accomplish half what they should for the kingdom!”

The Grays aren’t complainers.  Far from it!  They’re high-capacity military officers who left active duty four years ago to assume a leadership role in our ministry.

But serious fatigue registered on Rebecca’s face. Weight loss from stress-aggravated digestive disorder added to her anxiety.  Chris, unflappable and rock steady, wore a concerned expression.

No couple I’ve met has grasped the essence of urban ministry as well and quickly as the Grays.  The moment they hit the ground in Atlanta, they began to distinguish themselves as capable and sensitive leaders.

Called, visionary, unthreatened, and unthreatening, they combine all the gifts required to lead Family Consultation Service into the future.  Yet Rebecca implored, “Have we made a huge mistake?” [continued tomorrow]

—Robert Lupton in Renewing the City

My Response: How should the Grays view job offers for more money with less stress?

Thought to Apply: God gives burdens, also shoulders.—Yiddish Proverb

Adapted from Renewing the City (InterVarsity, 2005).

Prayer for the Week: Lord, You’ve placed me in a challenging spot. Give me the faith, courage, and strength to stand tall there.

 

Staying Power – The Seven-Year Itch

Key Bible Verse: Patient endurance is what you need now, so you will continue to do God’s will.  – Hebrews 10:36

Bonus Reading: James 1:1-4, 12

The “seven-year itch” shows up on the job as well as in marriages.  I decided I needed different work.  All I had to do was tell my boss.

Ours had been a turbulent relationship.  I was certain he would be glad to see me go.  I was wrong.

Bob sat on his side of the desk, arms folded.  I looked out the window, then, at him.  “I’m leaving,” I announced.  “I’ve done the best I can, but I need to move on.  Here’s my letter of resignation.”

His eyes followed the envelope.  Silence.  “No you’re not,” he said.

“What did you say?”

“I said you’re not leaving.  We need you.  You’re an excellent employee.  We can’t afford to lose you, Cliff.”  It was a rare compliment.

“Bob, I’m telling you I’m leaving.”

“And I’m asking you to stay,” he said quietly.  “Please?”

More silence.  A songbird sang outside his window.  My eyes filled with tears.  “Then, I will,” I said softly.

“Thank you,” he answered.  “Thank you.”

That was 27 years ago.  I’m still here.  By staying with my organization, I have matured, grown in faith, and learned what it means to serve.

—Clifford Denay Jr. in Michigan

My Response: I’ll consider if my inclination to quit might be a long-term solution to what is really a short-term problem.

Prayer for the Week: Lord, You’ve placed me in a challenging spot. Give me the faith, courage, and strength to stand tall there.

 

Central Church – Online Worship Service – Central Church – Fifth Sunday after Pentecost – 7-10-2022

On this sunny, fourth Sunday after Pentecost, when the coronavirus prevents many of us from gathering in Central Church’s Sanctuary to worship in body, let us join together in spirit with our online worship service. Today’s online worship service includes a favorite HYMN with lyrics so you can sing along! Our prior online worship services are available in our online library, and can be viewed on demand, and be sure to join us in worship, either online or in person, every week!    AND… Both the video on Facebook and the video on YouTube now have closed captions (if you turn them on) so you can read along with the spoken words during the service!  To activate captions in Facebook, click on the Settings “gear” symbol in the bottom right corner of the image, and then click on the “Off” button to change it to “On” for “Auto-Generated Captions”. To activate captions in YouTube, click on the “CC” icon in the lower right corner of the image to toggle captions On and Off. A brief comment on our new closed caption capability – The closed captions on our videos use voice-recognition software similar to that used on Television broadcasts, and with similar accuracy!  Sometimes, the captions are not entirely accurate, so if you read something incongruous, back up the video a few seconds and listen carefully for what is actually being said.  Also, it takes a while to generate the captions after the videos are published, so if the captions are not available immediately after the video is published, just check back a little later. To begin, simply click on one of the links below to join with the folks who have already made their way into our digital Sanctuary.  You can find this week’s online worship service on both Facebook and YouTube at the following coordinates: Facebook –  https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=615430836451286 YouTube –    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFU90T1NqzA (If the video doesn’t come up after clicking on the link, just copy and paste the address into your browser search bar.) Central Church

Staying Power – Against the Flow

Who Said It…Les Knotts

Raised in an army family, Les attended West Point and was voted president of his class. Now a lieutenant colonel, he’s alternated infantry, ranger, and airborne assignments with schooling stints, and teaches English courses at West Point.

Les also teaches Sunday school to officers and cadets and their families, and serves on the Military Community Youth Ministries board.

Last summer’s highlight: hiking Italy’s Tuscany hills with his 15-year-old son, Tyler.

What He Said…Against the Flow

The first thrash sounded like someone had fallen into the water.  Monika and I turned just fast enough to see the dorsal red of a fish through his translucent scales.  Thirty pounds of salmon airborne!

After swimming against the current for at least 20 miles, the salmon was climbing these man-made concrete stairs around the falls on a tributary of Oregon’s Alsea River.  I began silently to root for him. “Hup, hup!”

But what was I rooting for? A fish making the ultimate sacrifice. He’d made the run downstream as a fingerling a year or two ago, adapted from fresh water to salt water then back again.

In doing so, he fought not only the current but the tide of extinction, the over-fishing, and the wooden grates blocking the rivers.

In giving the chunks of flesh from his battered and once-piked jaws to make the climb, he offered himself up for the perpetuation of his kind. He was running upstream to spawn and die.

We soldiers talk about tough, but we don’t know tough.

Adapted from Command (Officers’ Christian Fellowship, 5/05).

Prayer for the Week:  Lord, You’ve placed me in a challenging spot. Give me the faith, courage, and strength to stand tall there.

 

Prayer Isn’t Aladdin’s Lamp – The Answerer’s Perspective

Key Bible Verse: And even when you do ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.  – James 4:3

Bonus Reading: Philippians 4:19-20

Say you’re planning a week’s vacation for your family in the Smoky Mountains.  You pile the kids in the car and head for Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

If you were traveling from our city—Louisville, Kentucky—you’d probably think, We’ll make a pit stop at Berea.  That’s about a third of the way.  Then we’ll fill up with gas and eat lunch near Knoxville.  That’ll get us to Gatlinburg in about five hours.

Suppose a half-hour from home your 14-year-old son announces: “Some of my friends are going to Cancun for vacation.  I don’t want to go to the Smokies.  Let’s go to Cancun!”

That request isn’t going to be answered affirmatively no matter how hard he begs.  Going to Cancun is neither in his best interest nor in your budget!  Some of our requests seem as silly as that to God.

But let’s say that an hour down the road your 5-year-old says, “Daddy, I need to go to the bathroom.”  You say, “We’re going to stop in about a half-hour, if you can wait.”  But he insists, “I really need to go to the bathroom.”

In that case, love causes you to alter your plans to fit a reasonable request from a child you want to be happy and comfortable.

—Bob Russell in When God Answers Prayer

My Response: I’ll thank God for sifting my true needs from my cravings.

Thought to Apply: God answers prayers one of four ways: “Yes,” “No,” “Wait,” and “You’ve gotta be kidding!” —Source Unknown

Adapted from When God Answers Prayer (Howard, 2003).

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father, focus my heart on seeking Christ’s purposes more than my own and on bringing Him glory.

 

COVID-19 – Beaver County Metrics – 7-7-2022

COVID-19 Integrated County View:

Here are the weekly COVID-19 statistics for Beaver County, PA as of July 7, 2022, showing Beaver County continuing in the HIGH category.

• The Incidence Rate increased slightly from 106.1 to 114.6 (an increase of 8.5, or 8.0%) in the HIGH category for the eighth consecutive week.
• The PCR Positivity Rate increased sharply from 8.4 to 15.1, in the HIGH category.

(Allegheny County’s figures increased slightly in the HIGH category during the past week, moving from 109.0 to 112.5 and from 14.7% to 15.1).

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The new “COVID-19 COMMUNITY LEVEL” index:

Starting on March 3, 2022, for hospitals and healthcare systems, the CDC is also issuing a new “COVID-19 Community Level“ index that measures the “current potential for strain on the health system” (in other words, the ability of hospitals to take in and treat additional folks with COVID-19.)  

This new index is in addition to the CDC’s “COVID-19 Integrated County View” which they continue to publish each week.

After two weeks in the HIGH category, the CDC currently reports that current “COVID-19 Community Level” remains in the LOW category for the fourth consecutive week.  This metric was adopted on March 3, 2022, reflecting on the potential availability of hospital beds for new COVID-19 cases. 

CDC-Recommended actions when in the HIGH level:

• Wear a mask indoors in public and on public transportation.
• Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines.
• Get tested if you have symptoms.
• If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider taking additional precautions.

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• At Central Church, in order to look out for our older folks, as well as the unvaccinated or immunocompromised, we are continuing to look to the CDC’s“COVID-19 Integrated County View” to evaluate which protective measures and protocols that we should observe to protect all of the folks who come through our doors for in-person worship or for other reasons, such as to participate in our community feeding ministry outreach.

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• Small Group Meetings (Sunday School, AA, other meetings):

The current guidance on when and how gatherings can take place is based upon the threshold of infection rate.

For Indoor meetings/Sunday School to resume, the 7-day average of daily cases for gatherings that include unvaccinated folks should be:

• • 1.5-2.0 – for everyone except those at high risk; and
  • Less than 1.0 for those at high risk.
  • Our current level is 16.3, so resuming small group meetings may not be feasible for the immediate future.

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As the pandemic continues, we are continuing our efforts to:

• Disinfect Central Church prior to every worship service and feeding ministry event using EPA-registered products in compliance with CDC standards to kill germs and reduce the risk of spreading infection, and in compliance with EPA criteria for use against SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19; and

• We have significantly expanded our new medical-grade HEPA-13 air filtration equipment in our Sanctuary, which is rated to remove COVID-19 from the air, which now provides 10.7 complete air changes every hour in our Sanctuary (every 6 minutes)!

• In addition, our Parlor, Church Office, Pastor’s Office, UMYF Meeting Room, Fellowship Hall, and Nursery all offer even higher levels of air changes per hour using HEPA-13 or HEPA-14 filtration.

• (5 air changes per hour is the EPA’s general recommended standard, and the EPA now recommends 8-15 air changes per hour in Churches. )  
  

Central Church

Prayer Isn’t Aladdin’s Lamp – How to Pray

Jesus made a sweeping promise about prayer. But He made it while the disciples were gawking at the results of His acted-out parable.

The barren fig tree He’d cursed represented His anger at the Jewish leaders’ religious life without substance.

So His promise rested on an understanding about praying with priority given to seeing God receive the glory that is due Him.

Interact with God’s Word

Mark 11:11-16, Mark 11:20-25

1. What does this Scripture teach about God’s ability to answer even “far-out” prayers?
2. What immediate requirement does Jesus give (v. 23) for having one’s prayer answered?
3. What exactly is it that must really be believed?
4. What limitation to the “anything” of verse 24 does Jesus immediately add?
5. How does Jesus’ initial statement (v. 22) condition what you may pray for?
6. What does this imply about prayers based on your own wisdom?
7. What consequences could prayers that seek to glorify ourselves or satisfy our earthly desires have?
8. Would it be possible for selfish prayers to provoke Christ’s judgment?

Spend Time in Prayer:  Ask God to make Jesus’ glory your greatest desire, highest joy, and deepest fulfillment.

Mark 11:11-16, Mark 11:20-25

11 So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the Temple. After looking around carefully at everything, he left because it was late in the afternoon. Then he returned to Bethany with the twelve disciples. 12 The next morning as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a little way off, so he went over to see if he could find any figs. But there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit.

14 Then Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat your fruit again!” And the disciples heard him say it. 15 When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace.

20 The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up. 21 Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!” 22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God.

23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. 24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. 25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.

Prayer for the Week:  Heavenly Father, focus my heart on seeking Christ’s purposes more than my own and on bringing Him glory.

Central – 2022 Charge Conference

Our 2022 Charge Conference, with Butler District DS Eric Park, structured as a Church Conference (every member attending may vote), has been set for the Central – Bennetts Run Joint Charge as follows:

• Tuesday, October 18, 2022, at 8:00 pm at Central Church.

Pastor Jan’s third church, Homewood UMC, will also attend and hold their Charge Conference at the same time.

Central Church

Prayer Focus – Pakistan

Pakistan — Prayers Answered as Court Grants Bail to Mentally Disabled Christian Accused of “Blasphemy”

Lahore High Court granted bail on May 31 to Stephen Masih, a mentally disabled Christian who has been imprisoned for more than three years on charges of “blasphemy”. This is a wonderful answer to our prayers (Barnabas Prayer Focus, December 2021) on behalf of Stephen.

Stephen, who suffered brain damage as a result of typhoid fever at the age of 10, was imprisoned in March 2019 after being accused of making derogatory remarks about Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. Then 38, Stephen was beaten by a crowd of Muslim men while at home in Sialkot District, Punjab.

He was charged under section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which carries a mandatory death sentence. Pakistan’s notorious “blasphemy” laws are often used to make false accusations in order to settle personal grudges.

Stephen’s legal team say they will continue to try to clear his name. Defense lawyer Abdul Hameed Rana said, “For our part we will continue to fight in court to get him acquitted because he is innocent.”

• Give thanks for answered prayers with the court’s decision to grant Stephen bail.
• Continue to ask that Stephen and his family will be protected and comforted as he re-adjusts to life outside prison.
• Pray that his case will be further reviewed as a matter of urgency and that he will be acquitted and cleared of all charges, knowing that the Lord is his vindicator (Isaiah 50:8) and is near him in all his troubles.

Prayer Isn’t Aladdin’s Lamp – Better Than We Can Ask

Key Bible Verse: “You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it.”  – John 14:13

Bonus Reading: John 15:7, 16; 1 John 3:21-22

Verses such as John 14:13 aren’t blank checks. They’re something better: God’s assurance that when we seek Him first, He’ll answer to glorify His Son.

Jesus is most glorified when His wisdom, goodness, and greatness are most on display. So when we dare to “pray backwards,” heaven delights to answer.

But we live in a fallen world.  Biblical prayer doesn’t solve all our earthly problems, and God never promised that it would.  Jesus told His disciples, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows” (John 16:33).

But prayer does assure us that no difficulty comes without a purpose.  When we pray “in Jesus’ name,” we have God’s assurance that He’ll answer our prayer in a way that brings glory to Jesus and furthers His kingdom.

When the Lord said of the apostle Paul, “he must suffer for me” (Acts 9:16), the Savior was not ignoring the apostle’s prayers but promising to use them beyond Paul’s imagining.

The difficulties Paul would have been crazy to want, God used to glorify the name of Jesus throughout the world—precisely Paul’s deepest prayer whenever he petitioned “in Jesus’ name.”

—Bryan Chapell in Praying Backwards

My Response: It’s a relief to know God’s answers aren’t limited by my wisdom or faith because …

Thought to Apply: It is far more important to pray with a sense of the greatness of God than with a sense of the greatness of the problem.—Evangeline Blood (writer)

Adapted from Praying Backwards (Baker, 2005).

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father, focus my heart on seeking Christ’s purposes more than my own and on bringing Him glory.

 

Prayer Isn’t Aladdin’s Lamp – “Unanswered” Prayer

Key Bible Verse: We can be confident that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will.  – 1 John 5:14

Bonus Reading: Ephesians 3:20-21

A couple in our church phoned to ask me to pray about a house they wanted to close on. It was near a preferred school and the price was right. We prayed over the phone. Later their realtor called. Someone else had offered a higher price.

More than the deal collapsed. Faith crumbled too. The couple’s disappointment watered previously hidden seeds of doubt that God really cared for them.

We countered their crumbling faith by praying repeatedly that God would provide the best. Then we waited to see what God would do.

Two weeks later the local building inspector, also a friend of the home-searching family, called. In preparation for a loan approval, he’d inspected the house they wanted. It was full of dangerous mold and faulty wiring. Thousands of dollars would be required to make it safe. The family now realized that God had spared them from a financial disaster.

A home that provided for the family’s needs eventually became available. It wasn’t pretty on the outside, but the couple no longer doubted God’s care. Seeing how God had spared them from greater pain made them confident of His love and of the power of prayer.

—Bryan Chapell in Praying Backwards

My Response: A prayer experience that deepened my trust in God was …

Thought to Apply: The only time my prayers are never answered is on the golf course.—Billy Graham (evangelist)

Adapted from Praying Backwards (Baker, 2005).

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father, focus my heart on seeking Christ’s purposes more than my own and on bringing Him glory.

 

Prayer Isn’t Aladdin’s Lamp – Try Praying Backwards

Key Bible Verse: Not to us. O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.  – Psalm 115:1, NIV

Bonus Reading: Luke 11:1-4

Something in us whispers that it’s not right to treat our God like a celestial vending machine into which we place faith nickels to get the jackpot we want.

Somehow proper prayer must put more trust in the will of an infinitely wise God than in human wants and wisdom. Otherwise failure to get the things we want will force us to doubt either the power of prayer or the ability of God.

Jesus taught His disciples not to doubt when they prayed and to expect answers. If this doesn’t mean that prayer is simply a means of snapping our fingers to get God to do our bidding, what does it mean?

Answers come as we weigh each word—skipping none of Jesus’ instruction to pray with belief and boldness and—strange as it may seem—to simultaneously consider the wisdom of praying backwards.

To pray backwards is to put first priority on the words we say last in our prayers. If we’d remember to start where we end—daring to pray backwards with the desires of our hearts (if not the actual words of our mouth)—we’d discover the foundation of blessing on which all answered prayer is built.

Praying entire prayers in Jesus’ name profoundly alters our priorities and powerfully sends our requests to God.

—Bryan Chapell in Praying Backwards

My Response: What enables me to pray without doubt is …

Thought to Apply: Before we can pray, “Lord, Thy kingdom come,” we must be willing to pray, “My kingdom go.”—Alan Redpath (Scottish preacher)

Adapted from Praying Backwards (Baker, 2005).

Prayer for the Week:  Heavenly Father, focus my heart on seeking Christ’s purposes more than my own and on bringing Him glory.

 

Happy Independence Day!

Prayer Isn’t Aladdin’s Lamp – Lifesaving 9/11 Delays

Key Bible Verse: For we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray.  – Romans 8:26

Bonus Reading: Romans 8:26-30

Ken Smith learned of a company housed in the World Trade Center and decimated by the attack. The survivors, he says, were troubled by the circumstances that separated them from the deaths of their coworkers:

• The head of the company got in late that day because he wanted to be with a child starting kindergarten.
• Another man is alive because it was his turn to bring donuts.
• Another was delayed because of an accident on the New Jersey Turnpike.
• One missed his bus.
• One person’s car wouldn’t start.
• One went back to answer the telephone.
• A man with new shoes developed a blister. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid.

If any of these were regularly Christians, they might have prayed for God to spare them the inconvenience of that morning. But the inconvenience spared their lives.

Before we adopt a prayer philosophy that requires God to provide all our wants, we must consider the limitations of our understanding.  In our finite wisdom, we may least want what an infinitely wise God will most bless!

—Bryan Chapell in Praying Backwards

My Response: A prayer I’m grateful God didn’t answer as I requested is …

Adapted from Praying Backwards (Baker, 2005)

Prayer for the Week: Heavenly Father, focus my heart on seeking Christ’s purposes more than my own and on bringing Him glory.

 

Central Church – Online Worship Service – Central Church – Fourth Sunday after Pentecost – 7-3-2022

On this sunny, fourth Sunday after Pentecost, when the coronavirus prevents many of us from gathering in Central Church’s Sanctuary to worship in body, let us join together in spirit with our online worship service. Today’s online worship service includes a favorite HYMN with lyrics so you can sing along! Our prior online worship services are available in our online library, and can be viewed on demand, and be sure to join us in worship, either online or in person, every week!    AND… Both the video on Facebook and the video on YouTube now have closed captions (if you turn them on) so you can read along with the spoken words during the service!  To activate captions in Facebook, click on the Settings “gear” symbol in the bottom right corner of the image, and then click on the “Off” button to change it to “On” for “Auto-Generated Captions”. To activate captions in YouTube, click on the “CC” icon in the lower right corner of the image to toggle captions On and Off. A brief comment on our new closed caption capability – The closed captions on our videos use voice-recognition software similar to that used on Television broadcasts, and with similar accuracy!  Sometimes, the captions are not entirely accurate, so if you read something incongruous, back up the video a few seconds and listen carefully for what is actually being said.  Also, it takes a while to generate the captions after the videos are published, so if the captions are not available immediately after the video is published, just check back a little later. To begin, simply click on one of the links below to join with the folks who have already made their way into our digital Sanctuary.  You can find this week’s online worship service on both Facebook and YouTube at the following coordinates: Facebook –  https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=407650734650956 YouTube –    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZS-pOk3LN8 (If the video doesn’t come up after clicking on the link, just copy and paste the address into your browser search bar.) Central Church

Prayer Isn’t Aladdin’s Lamp – Wish Upon a Star?

Who Said It…Bryan Chapell

Bryan Chapell is the president of Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. But he still teaches the introductory homiletics courses.

The two words Bryan stresses for this generation are authority and redemption. Our culture and the church, he observes, are desperate for dependable truths that address the world’s brokenness. And the redeeming work of Christ empowers all we must think and do.

All of God’s Word, he says, is a unified message of human need and divine provision.

What He Said…Wish upon a Star?

When the farmer prays for rain to water wilting crops, and the Sunday school teacher prays for sun to protect the church picnic, whose prayer should be answered? Will God simply answer the one whose prayers are best and whose faith is greatest? Is our world controlled by billions of competing wishes?

When we treat prayer like a surefire wishing star, we tether God to the leash of our understanding. And if our wisdom defines the limits of God’s, then our world will inevitably unravel.

The job we want for extra income may take us from the family that God knows needs us more. The immediate cure for our sickness may deprive us of the patience that God will use to bring Jesus into the hearts of our children.

Surely we have to depend on wisdom greater than our own when we pray. But how do we reconcile this instinctive understanding with the Bible’s teaching about praying for whatever we want?

Adapted from Praying Backwards (Baker, 2005)

Prayer for the Week:  Heavenly Father, focus my heart on seeking Christ’s purposes more than my own and on bringing Him glory.

 

Happy Independence Day!

Congratulations, America—Monday marks the 246th commemoration of the day the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Second Continental Congress.

(The Congress actually voted to separate from Great Britain two days earlier, and possibly didn’t sign the document until August. Some argue the US didn’t really become a country until we began operating under the Constitution in 1789.)

Still, since then:

• The country has grown from 13 colonies with about 2.5 million people to 50 states and 14 territories with a population of more than 330 million;
• The economy has swelled to roughly $24T;
• Advances in public health—public sanitation, the germ theory of disease, and more—have cut the child mortality rate from more than 45% to under 1%; and
• Our citizens live 35 years longer on average.
• We’ve constructed almost 4 million miles of paved roads and more than 5,000 public airports.
• We’ve built more than 2.7 million miles of power lines to electrify the country;
• About 85% of households have access to broadband internet;
• 92% of households have at least one computer.
• In 1800, 95% of the population lived in rural areas, and now about 83% live in urban areas.
• The US has also been responsible for more than 800 human visits to space—the most of any other country with a space agency.

While there will always be challenges to face and improvements to make, we’ve come a long way since the beginning.

Prayer – Everlasting God of righteousness and grace, as our nation celebrates this Independence Day, remind us of our complete dependence upon you.  We look to you for your wisdom and mercy as important issues are discussed.  On this day, we ask you to keep this nation, and all nations, under your care, that we may be peoples who are at peace, and who are a blessing to others in this earth.  Grant our nation’s leaders wisdom, that there would be times of peace and justice in our land and in our world.

On this day, we lift up to you all who serve in our Armed Forces, who serve as the centurion did as ones who are under authority—brave men and women who risk their lives for their country.  Remind us of those who are far from home and loved ones, who on this day sail or fly or walk in harm’s way, and keep them always close to you.  Where there is combat, grant them compassion for their enemies, and keep them brave in the face of evil. 

Hold in your loving hands the families of those who are far away.  Grant them comfort in their anxieties.  And comfort those who grieve, because they have received the dreaded message that their loved one has died.  Strengthen those who carry the wounds of war, visible and invisible, and be to them a sure presence.

On this day keep all of us grounded not in our strength but in yours, ever relying upon the promise that “those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength … They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

All of this we pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

COVID-19 – Beaver County Metrics – 6-28-2022

COVID-19 Integrated County View:

Here are the weekly COVID-19 statistics for Beaver County, PA as of June 28, 2022, showing Beaver County continuing in the HIGH category.

 

• The Incidence Rate decreased from 133.5 to 106.1 (a decrease of 65.3, or 20.5%) in the HIGH category for the seventh consecutive week.
• The PCR Positivity Rate also decreased from 10.1 to 8.4, in the MODERATE category.

(Allegheny County’s figures increased slightly in the HIGH category during the past week, moving from 100.2 to 109.0 and from 13.0% to 14.7).

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The new “COVID-19 COMMUNITY LEVEL” index:

Starting on March 3, 2022, for hospitals and healthcare systems, the CDC is also issuing a new “COVID-19 Community Level“ index that measures the “current potential for strain on the health system” (in other words, the ability of hospitals to take in and treat additional folks with COVID-19.)  

This new index is in addition to the CDC’s “COVID-19 Integrated County View” which they continue to publish each week.

After two weeks in the HIGH category, the CDC currently reports that current “COVID-19 Community Level” remains in the LOW category for the fourth consecutive week.  This metric was adopted on March 3, 2022, reflecting on the potential availability of hospital beds for new COVID-19 cases. 

CDC-Recommended actions when in the HIGH level:

• Wear a mask indoors in public and on public transportation.
• Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines.
• Get tested if you have symptoms.
• If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider taking additional precautions.

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• At Central Church, in order to look out for our older folks, as well as the unvaccinated or immunocompromised, we are continuing to look to the CDC’s“COVID-19 Integrated County View” to evaluate which protective measures and protocols that we should observe to protect all of the folks who come through our doors for in-person worship or for other reasons, such as to participate in our community feeding ministry outreach.

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• Small Group Meetings (Sunday School, AA, other meetings):

The current guidance on when and how gatherings can take place is based upon the threshold of infection rate.

For Indoor meetings/Sunday School to resume, the 7-day average of daily cases for gatherings that include unvaccinated folks should be:

• • 1.5-2.0 – for everyone except those at high risk; and
  • Less than 1.0 for those at high risk.
  • Our current level is 15.1, so resuming small group meetings may not be feasible for the immediate future.

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As the pandemic continues, we are continuing our efforts to:

• Disinfect Central Church prior to every worship service and feeding ministry event using EPA-registered products in compliance with CDC standards to kill germs and reduce the risk of spreading infection, and in compliance with EPA criteria for use against SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19; and

• We have significantly expanded our new medical-grade HEPA-13 air filtration equipment in our Sanctuary, which is rated to remove COVID-19 from the air, which now provides 10.7 complete air changes every hour in our Sanctuary (every 6 minutes)!

• In addition, our Parlor, Church Office, Pastor’s Office, UMYF Meeting Room, Fellowship Hall, and Nursery all offer even higher levels of air changes per hour using HEPA-13 or HEPA-14 filtration.

• (5 air changes per hour is the EPA’s general recommended standard, and the EPA now recommends 8-15 air changes per hour in Churches. )  
  

Central Church

In God We Trust – Relying on God

As the elected leader of the local synagogue, Jairus was likely responsible for supervising worship, running the weekly school, and caring for the building.

Since many synagogue rulers had close ties with the Pharisees, it’s probable that Jairus had been pressured to withhold support from Jesus. So bowing before Him was a significant, perhaps daring, act of respect.

Interact with God’s Word:  Mark 5:21-24,Mark 5:35-43

1. Jairus knew his situation to be desperate. When have you been in a similar situation?
2. How do you think Jairus felt about the diversion (vv. 25-35a) created by the woman with the hemorrhage?
3. Was the messengers’ comment about not bothering the rabbi logical?
4. Jairus was of course devastated by their news. But why do you think Jesus told him “Don’t be afraid“?
5. In what sense is fear—rather than unbelief—the opposite of trust?
6. How was Jairus’s continued trust tested by the mourning ritual already underway at his home?
7. How did Jairus and his wife respond to the vindication of their trust? How have you responded?

Spend Time in Prayer:  Ask God for the discernment to not misplace your trust, and for calm endurance as you await God’s outcome for your circumstances.

Mark 5:21-24,Mark 5:35-43

21 Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. 22 Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, 23 pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.” 24 Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him.

35 While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.” 36 But Jesus overheard[a] them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” 37 Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James).

38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. 39 He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” 40 The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying.

41 Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” 42 And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed. 43 Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then he told them to give her something to eat.

Prayer for the Week: Lord, You’ve never let me down in my past. So help me to really rely on You for my present and future.