Mt. Lebanon United Presbyterian Church
     
 
Pastor Tim Janiszewski - "The Start of Something New"

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Messages of Grace

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This Sunday
January 8, 2017



Sermon Title:
"Something to Say in 2017"



Scripture:
Acts 5:17-29; Romans 6:4 




Picture
January 6, 2017
 
Dear MLEPC Members and Friends:
 
We had an unusual start to 2017 at the church with the cancellation of weekend services due to the failure of a "backflow value" in the water system, which prevents waste water from re-entering the building and contaminating the clean water. As of Tuesday afternoon, the problem was at least temporarily fixed so that our building is re-opened. We therefore look forward this weekend to holding our regular Sunday schedule of Contact worship (9:00 a.m.), Sunday school (10:10 a.m.), and Heritage worship (11:15 a.m.). Thanks are due to our Business Administrator, Jim Schuchman, for his efforts to correct the situation and to other staff members who labored to get word out to our church family and friends. And the prayers of many people helped, as well.
 
In addition, I was grateful for the friendly reception we received from our neighboring Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Beverly Heights, when I contacted them to request if our members could join them in worship on Sunday morning. Beverly Heights Associate Pastor Nate Devlin was very supportive and welcoming; he even invited me to share in leadership of their worship service. This served as a good reminder as to why we are delighted to have joined the EPC back in November 2012. I appreciate the approximately forty members of MLEPC who joined in worship at Bev Heights as we started the New Year together, and I hope many others of us were visiting other churches in the area.
 
This Sunday in our first sermon at MLEPC for 2017, we look to conclude the current series entitled The Start of Something New. Since we are starting the New Year, it is fitting for us to consider one more time that God always is at work among us to bring forward His new things. Consider the following set of verses from the prophet Isaiah.
  • Isaiah 42:9--"See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you."
  • Isaiah 43:19--"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."
  • Isaiah 48:6-7--"From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you. They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot say, 'Yes, I knew of them.'"
And let us recall one more time our theme verse for the entire sermon series in which God says, "Behold, I make all things new" (Revelation 21:5). May these passages prompt us to reflect and pray about what new thing the Lord seeks to do in our personal lives and in the life of MLEPC in 2017.
 
In the final sermon for the series, our key verse is found in Acts 5:20 in which an angel of the Lord says to the apostles, "Go, stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of this new life." Of course, the simple point is that the Good News of new life found in Jesus Christ is not something to keep to ourselves. It never was meant to be the private property of the church; rather, it is to be shared with people of every country, region, area, ethnicity, race, gender, and culture. As Acts 1:8 reminds us, "And you shall be my (Jesus') witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
 
Let us therefore consider for 2017 how Christ wants each of us to share the full message of this new life with others. Perhaps this is one of the "new things" that God seeks to do in our lives for the New Year. Perhaps it is something that God intends as a theme for the entire church family.
 
So let us fervently ask the Lord in prayer, "What is Your new thing in 2017 for me? What is Your new thing for our church family?"
 
Pastor Tim

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