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
Devotion & Prayer
Pastor Amory
July 7, 2020
“...and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1b-2, NRSV)
“Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.” (Joel 2:28-29, NRSV)
God pours out the Holy Spirit upon us in extraordinary ways, large and small. And there are moments when we don’t even recognize it, until years later, and we look back at that moment, and see how God was at work.
I often sing at the bedside of one in the hospital, and especially, when one is near death. There have been moments when, in a hospital room, I have felt the Holy Spirit so very powerfully, when my quiet voice fills the room. Certainly, not because of my singing, but because of the song – the words – the melody, and the impact they have in that moment. And, as I said earlier, sometimes I was oblivious to the Spirit’s work, until years later, when my eyes look back with perfect vision.
Michele was 14 years old when she was in a tragic car accident that killed the other passenger. She and the driver survived, but all the doctors say that Michele should have died. Nearly every bone in her body was broken. There was a 4” tear in her aorta. Her mother asked me to go with her to recovery after life-saving surgery. I didn’t recognize this girl I had known since she was 7. But her mother and I knew, of course, that it was our Michele. Michele loved Camp Laurelview, so I began to sing “Pass It On,” one of the old camp songs of the 1970s that Michele had sung. As I finished, her mother said, “Look! There’s a tear coming down from her eye!” We knew Michele heard the song, and we trusted that the Holy Spirit comforted her, just as it had comforted her mother and me in that room.
My friend, Gerald, was dying of cancer. He lived in Florida. I had worked for him, and had trusted and respected him all of my adult life. He was one I turned to when I needed help. And now I knew he was dying. I called his daughter, and she asked me to sing to him, and she placed the phone by his ear. I was caught off guard – I hadn’t planned for this moment. But immediately, I began to sing “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.” I imagine that this is the moment – when one knows death is near – that they want to simply see Jesus, and be led Home.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
One of our long-time members here at United Christian Church, “Peggy” Pepper, gave Rev. Norman Hunt two books that offer the stories behind beloved hymns. I inherited those books from Norman’s library. I wasn’t expecting the story I read when I turned to “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.” The composer and poet who wrote this hymn was Helen Howarth Lemmel, who was born in England in 1863. She loved music, and her parents (her father was a Wesleyan minister) fostered that love. She went to Europe to study vocal music, fell in love with and married a wealthy European. However, she became blind, and he left her – one of many heartaches she suffered during midlife.
Robert J. Morgan, who wrote Then Sings My Soul, said Helen was 55 years old when she heard this statement, which profoundly moved her: “So then, turn your eyes upon Him, look full into His face and you will find that the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness.”
“’I stood still,’ Helen later said, ‘and singing in my soul and spirit was the chorus, with not one conscious moment of putting word to word to make rhyme, or note to note to make melody. The verses were written the same week, after the usual manner of composition, but nonetheless dictated by the Holy Spirit.’” (Morgan, Then Sings My Soul, p. 283)
To consider the interpretation of that statement by a blind woman – turning one’s eyes upon Jesus, looking at His face, earthly things becoming dimmer and dimmer by the moment – it completely stopped me in my tracks. She let the Holy Spirit take her God-given talents and run with them, and this hymn, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,” became one of nearly 500 hymns composed during her nearly 98 years (she died 13 days before her 98th birthday).
The Holy Spirit used music to comfort a young girl, fighting for her life, and her broken-heart, frightened mother.
The Holy Spirit used the words and music of a blind woman to ease an old man’s final journey into life everlasting – guiding him towards Jesus’ face.
How might the Holy Spirit be moving in your life today? Even the simplest, Spirit-filled moments can move us in powerful ways.
Holy One, we are so grateful for the ways you move in our lives, for the ways your Holy Spirit is at work. Grant us vision to see such divine activity. Help us to be open to such divine activity, so that we might dream dreams, and see visions. Remind us to be led by the Spirit, knowing that this race we run so fervently, is one we do not run alone – for You are with us, stride for stride. Guide us to Jesus, to His wonderful face. We as this in His glorious and gracious name, Amen.
Pastor Amory
July 7, 2020
“...and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1b-2, NRSV)
“Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.” (Joel 2:28-29, NRSV)
God pours out the Holy Spirit upon us in extraordinary ways, large and small. And there are moments when we don’t even recognize it, until years later, and we look back at that moment, and see how God was at work.
I often sing at the bedside of one in the hospital, and especially, when one is near death. There have been moments when, in a hospital room, I have felt the Holy Spirit so very powerfully, when my quiet voice fills the room. Certainly, not because of my singing, but because of the song – the words – the melody, and the impact they have in that moment. And, as I said earlier, sometimes I was oblivious to the Spirit’s work, until years later, when my eyes look back with perfect vision.
Michele was 14 years old when she was in a tragic car accident that killed the other passenger. She and the driver survived, but all the doctors say that Michele should have died. Nearly every bone in her body was broken. There was a 4” tear in her aorta. Her mother asked me to go with her to recovery after life-saving surgery. I didn’t recognize this girl I had known since she was 7. But her mother and I knew, of course, that it was our Michele. Michele loved Camp Laurelview, so I began to sing “Pass It On,” one of the old camp songs of the 1970s that Michele had sung. As I finished, her mother said, “Look! There’s a tear coming down from her eye!” We knew Michele heard the song, and we trusted that the Holy Spirit comforted her, just as it had comforted her mother and me in that room.
My friend, Gerald, was dying of cancer. He lived in Florida. I had worked for him, and had trusted and respected him all of my adult life. He was one I turned to when I needed help. And now I knew he was dying. I called his daughter, and she asked me to sing to him, and she placed the phone by his ear. I was caught off guard – I hadn’t planned for this moment. But immediately, I began to sing “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.” I imagine that this is the moment – when one knows death is near – that they want to simply see Jesus, and be led Home.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
One of our long-time members here at United Christian Church, “Peggy” Pepper, gave Rev. Norman Hunt two books that offer the stories behind beloved hymns. I inherited those books from Norman’s library. I wasn’t expecting the story I read when I turned to “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.” The composer and poet who wrote this hymn was Helen Howarth Lemmel, who was born in England in 1863. She loved music, and her parents (her father was a Wesleyan minister) fostered that love. She went to Europe to study vocal music, fell in love with and married a wealthy European. However, she became blind, and he left her – one of many heartaches she suffered during midlife.
Robert J. Morgan, who wrote Then Sings My Soul, said Helen was 55 years old when she heard this statement, which profoundly moved her: “So then, turn your eyes upon Him, look full into His face and you will find that the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness.”
“’I stood still,’ Helen later said, ‘and singing in my soul and spirit was the chorus, with not one conscious moment of putting word to word to make rhyme, or note to note to make melody. The verses were written the same week, after the usual manner of composition, but nonetheless dictated by the Holy Spirit.’” (Morgan, Then Sings My Soul, p. 283)
To consider the interpretation of that statement by a blind woman – turning one’s eyes upon Jesus, looking at His face, earthly things becoming dimmer and dimmer by the moment – it completely stopped me in my tracks. She let the Holy Spirit take her God-given talents and run with them, and this hymn, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,” became one of nearly 500 hymns composed during her nearly 98 years (she died 13 days before her 98th birthday).
The Holy Spirit used music to comfort a young girl, fighting for her life, and her broken-heart, frightened mother.
The Holy Spirit used the words and music of a blind woman to ease an old man’s final journey into life everlasting – guiding him towards Jesus’ face.
How might the Holy Spirit be moving in your life today? Even the simplest, Spirit-filled moments can move us in powerful ways.
Holy One, we are so grateful for the ways you move in our lives, for the ways your Holy Spirit is at work. Grant us vision to see such divine activity. Help us to be open to such divine activity, so that we might dream dreams, and see visions. Remind us to be led by the Spirit, knowing that this race we run so fervently, is one we do not run alone – for You are with us, stride for stride. Guide us to Jesus, to His wonderful face. We as this in His glorious and gracious name, Amen.
Think Christmas this July!
The Anniversary Committee is asking members and friends of the church to submit Advent devotionals. These will be used to create our own Advent booklet and online devotionals. This is a great way to hear from our members their favorite Christmas memories, their holiday traditions and their reflections on the birth of Christ.
If you are able, please type the devotion and save it digitally to share with Lisa Buday at budaylaw@yahoo.com. You may also hand write it and it will be typed. If you have any questions about this, please call Lisa Buday at 724-938-1355. We certainly should be able to get together 25 devotions for a commemorative booklet! Thank you.
The Anniversary Committee is asking members and friends of the church to submit Advent devotionals. These will be used to create our own Advent booklet and online devotionals. This is a great way to hear from our members their favorite Christmas memories, their holiday traditions and their reflections on the birth of Christ.
If you are able, please type the devotion and save it digitally to share with Lisa Buday at budaylaw@yahoo.com. You may also hand write it and it will be typed. If you have any questions about this, please call Lisa Buday at 724-938-1355. We certainly should be able to get together 25 devotions for a commemorative booklet! Thank you.
