Welcome to United Christian Church
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ! We welcome you to the website of the United Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), located at the Malden Crossroads near California, PA. Our motto at United Christian Church is "Live the Love," and we strive, daily, to live the love of Jesus Christ, as He called us to do throughout his ministry. During this COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to do all we can to carry out this commandment. If you have a need, or know of one, please call the church office and leave a message - we check them regularly. You can also call or text me at 724-322-8220. We look forward to the celebration day when we can safely worship together in our beautiful sanctuary; until then, we hope you will join us every Sunday morning at 10am for our live-streamed service on our Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/uccdoc/ ). You can find bulletins for printing right here, as well as many other ways to study, worship, and keep your spirits lifted. Please help us, and the world, flatten the curve of this pandemic by staying home, washing your hands, and taking necessary precautions if you must leave your house. Stay safe - and stay healthy - for you are loved, and needed, here at the Malden Crossroads.
Shalom,
Pastor Amory
Shalom,
Pastor Amory
Prayer & Devotion
Thursday devotion – David Boehm – August 6, 2020
I was definitely feeling the emptiness Pastor Amory was preaching about last Sunday. Amy had reminded me that I was due to write the Thursday devotion. I was thinking what should I write about – how we wanted to re-open the Sunday services in the church building on August 16, after meeting and working for 2 months to make it happen, only to realize that if we did so, it was not going to be what we wanted or yearned for, so we decided to postpone the re-opening until we can do so in joy and fellowship. Only then to hear that Cal U would not have faculty and students back in the fall semester either. We live in the most advanced country on Earth, and we can’t agree on health care. We can’t agree on racial diversity. We can’t even agree to stop a pandemic by wearing a mask. I think the last straw for me last night was watching a news clip of a young woman throwing a older liver transplant recipient down on the floor, breaking her leg, because the young woman was asked to wear her mask, and the other people in the store just stood around and went back to their own business. Where are the Good Samaritans?
I am going to retire from working at Cal U for 31 years next week, and last night I felt like retiring from people.
So this morning Beth and I went for our walk, we picked up trash along the way, we breathed in the clean air, we felt alive walking up the hills forcing our muscles to move and our lungs to keep up, doing our best for ourselves and our little part of the world. Picking vegetables and weeds from our garden when we got back (which has never looked so good in all the years we have planted one and nobody sees it!) And I thought – HOPE – I need HOPE! What does the Bible say about HOPE? So I Googled it and Isaiah jumped out, very first listing:
Isaiah 40:31 – But 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.
I thought YES, that’s right! I wondered what is the context, what was before this, I looked up Isaiah chapter 40, and Chapter 40, verse 1 was “ Comfort, Comfort my people says Your God” I thought Yes again. For those of you who have driven though our “Journey to Bethlehem” , drive through Nativity, this is the title of our 8th scene, “Comfort, Comfort My People”. It is a beautiful scene consisting of a background of 8 panels depicting the cityscape of Jerusalem, expertly painted by Linda Novak and Sherry Bizzozero, populated by people representing the poor, the sick, the disheartened. Populated by people who need HOPE! We are a people of HOPE! When you drove by the church this week did you notice the shrubs have been cut and shaped in anticipation of our church clean up day coming August 15. That was Alex and Dan Adams. Thank you, thank you. Thank you to all who do what they can to bring HOPE to this world
.
Please Pray with me – “ Lord God in Heaven, we ask for your help in making this world we live in a better place to be. Help us to be gracious to each other. Help us to be kind to the stranger we see that needs help. Help us to soar like eagles, Help us to walk and not be faint! We pray in Jesus’s precious name, Amen.”
I was definitely feeling the emptiness Pastor Amory was preaching about last Sunday. Amy had reminded me that I was due to write the Thursday devotion. I was thinking what should I write about – how we wanted to re-open the Sunday services in the church building on August 16, after meeting and working for 2 months to make it happen, only to realize that if we did so, it was not going to be what we wanted or yearned for, so we decided to postpone the re-opening until we can do so in joy and fellowship. Only then to hear that Cal U would not have faculty and students back in the fall semester either. We live in the most advanced country on Earth, and we can’t agree on health care. We can’t agree on racial diversity. We can’t even agree to stop a pandemic by wearing a mask. I think the last straw for me last night was watching a news clip of a young woman throwing a older liver transplant recipient down on the floor, breaking her leg, because the young woman was asked to wear her mask, and the other people in the store just stood around and went back to their own business. Where are the Good Samaritans?
I am going to retire from working at Cal U for 31 years next week, and last night I felt like retiring from people.
So this morning Beth and I went for our walk, we picked up trash along the way, we breathed in the clean air, we felt alive walking up the hills forcing our muscles to move and our lungs to keep up, doing our best for ourselves and our little part of the world. Picking vegetables and weeds from our garden when we got back (which has never looked so good in all the years we have planted one and nobody sees it!) And I thought – HOPE – I need HOPE! What does the Bible say about HOPE? So I Googled it and Isaiah jumped out, very first listing:
Isaiah 40:31 – But 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.
I thought YES, that’s right! I wondered what is the context, what was before this, I looked up Isaiah chapter 40, and Chapter 40, verse 1 was “ Comfort, Comfort my people says Your God” I thought Yes again. For those of you who have driven though our “Journey to Bethlehem” , drive through Nativity, this is the title of our 8th scene, “Comfort, Comfort My People”. It is a beautiful scene consisting of a background of 8 panels depicting the cityscape of Jerusalem, expertly painted by Linda Novak and Sherry Bizzozero, populated by people representing the poor, the sick, the disheartened. Populated by people who need HOPE! We are a people of HOPE! When you drove by the church this week did you notice the shrubs have been cut and shaped in anticipation of our church clean up day coming August 15. That was Alex and Dan Adams. Thank you, thank you. Thank you to all who do what they can to bring HOPE to this world
.
Please Pray with me – “ Lord God in Heaven, we ask for your help in making this world we live in a better place to be. Help us to be gracious to each other. Help us to be kind to the stranger we see that needs help. Help us to soar like eagles, Help us to walk and not be faint! We pray in Jesus’s precious name, Amen.”
We are having a Gosia Pierogi fundraiser that would help support the general fund. It has been a while since we have had a fundraiser at the church and would like to start off with Pierogi's. If anyone bought these off of the high school baseball team last year you know how good they are. You do not have to boil them just sauté them in butter or whatever your favorite sauté sauce is. They are $7.00/dozen and you can order as many as you want. Orders are due September 1st to the Church office and delivery would be September 12th. Money is due when the order is placed!!!
