Worship Service 9:45 am 5/2/21 @ Mt. Pisgah Worship Service 9 am 5/9 - 5/30/21 @ Unity

Purpose: To inform, encourage, and promote engagement in Mt Pisgah’s

mission in the community, and opportunities for spiritual transformation.

To invite reflection on the process of personal spiritual growth.

To emphasize the bond that holds us together, and avoid magnifying the

differences that separate us.

Mt. Pisgah Presbyterian Church

The View MAY 2021

“The Lord is faithful

to all His promises

and loving toward

all He has made.”

Psalm 145:13b

NIV

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Mt. Pisgah VIEW May 2021

Acts 2:42–47 (NIV) 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to

fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with

awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the be-

lievers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and

possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to

meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate

together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of

all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being

saved.

The most recent meeting of the Session included a conversation about our

book study for this year. We were focused on chapter 5, “Exploring the Com-

munity Conversion Equation,” from Rick Richardson’s book, You Found Me:

New Research on How Unchurched Nones, Millennials, and Irreligious are

Surprisingly Open to Christian Faith. In that chapter, Richardson starts to lay

out the case for the characteristics typical of congregations that are oriented

toward conversion. Conversion – people coming to faith in Jesus Christ, repent-

ing of sin and trusting in his saving work, and joining themselves to the people

of God – lays at the heart of the early church’s mission. The young church de-

scribed by Luke in the passage from the Acts of the Apostles above suggests

what the church should look like in every age. We ought to long for that last

line to be true of Mt. Pisgah…”and the Lord added to their number daily those

who were being saved.”

Mt. Pisgah is primed for living into this vision for the church. We enter a

new season in the life for the family of God at Mt. Pisgah that beckons us to

embrace the simple equation for becoming a conversion community, that is, a

community that consistently calls the unchurched to faith in Jesus Christ and

sees new converts added to our number on a regular basis. Here is the simple

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equation Richardson offers, based upon his extensive research: Missional

Leadership + Missional Congregation = Conversion Community. It isn’t a pro-

gram, a methodology, a simple how-to formula. Rather, it is an equation that

describes the culture and focus of a congregation. Missional Leadership is

leadership that values personal relationships with unchurched people, shares

the gospel in word, calls to faith in Jesus, and calls for this commitment to

evangelism and witness to permeate all other aspects of the life of the congre-

gation. I, for one, am convicted with respect to how far short I fall from being

a “Missional Leader.” I admit the need to step up my game when it comes to

intentional relationships with unchurched neighbors and sharing the Gospel.

Richardson describes a Missional Church with these words, “A missional con-

gregation is a congregation that cares about irreligious and unchurched peo-

ple by building relationships outside the four walls of the church and by being

invitational and hospitable, very intentionally, to irreligious and unchurched

people whenever they connect to the congregation.” (Richardson, Rick. You

Found Me, p. 108. InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.) Will you please spend

some time prayerfully reading through these words? Let these words reso-

nate in your heart and mind. What is the Lord calling you to change about

your day-to-day life so that you will be able to do your part in transforming

Mt. Pisgah into a Missional Church? To whom is the Lord calling you to be

hospitable and invitational? Who are the unchurched or irreligious people in

your life? Do they know you are a disciple of Jesus? Do you think they have

ever heard the Gospel? Remember, the fact that a person has some vague

notion about Christianity and a generic understanding of a god who is out

there somewhere doesn’t mean she has the slightest knowledge about the

Gospel of Jesus Christ. How will she be able to respond to a Gospel, the sub-

stance of which she has never heard?

While we have said good-bye to a piece of property that has served the Mt.

Pisgah family of God well over the years, we have a chance to say hello to a

long-lost mission of becoming a Conversion Community. Let’s prayerfully

work together at living into a new identity as people known for our uninhibi-

ted desire to share our faith by calling our unchurched neighbors to faith in

Jesus Christ.

Peace,

Tom

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Session News . . .

The Session continues to complete plans for the move to our

new ministry space.

The leasing company has agreed to some changes and updates

that we requested, but will need time to complete the work.

Because of this, we will temporarily have Sunday worship at

Unity Presbyterian on Greentree Road beginning May 9th. For

those few weeks, our worship time will change to 9:00 am so

that we are not overlapping with Unity’s 10:30 am service.

The Session thanks everyone who has been tirelessly working to

complete the work of selling the building, securing a new space,

and preparing for the move.

We look forward to what God has planned for our future!

For the Session,

Marta Pletz, Clerk

Prayer for May 2021

Breathe In: Our Hope Lord

Breathe Out: is In you.

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This portion of scripture was written by Apollos and Barnabas

prior to the fall of Jerusalem 70 AD. The book of Hebrews

could well be called the Book of Better Things.

As we, the Mt. Pisgah family, enter into a new beginning, we

hold fast to the need of God’s will in a new location. The an-

swers will be in scripture, prayer and love in working together,

stepping out in mission as believers in God’s guidance. Do not

relent to mistrust or fear. Think positive. God will be the guide

for our feet and a light to our path.

An Affirmation of Faith

My faith has been built on nothing less

than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

No merit of my own I claim

but wholly lean on Jesus name.

On Christ the solid rock I stand;

all other ground is sinking sand.

Amen

By Barry Krammes,

Professor Emeritus, Art Department,

Biola University

~ Submitted by Luella Brazier

May Prayer Room Message

What is Faith?

Being sure of what we hope for

and certain of what we cannot see.

(Hebrews 11:1)

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A NOTE FROM THE DEACONS

The Deacons met for our final meeting in our church

building on April 14. It’s bittersweet to not be here

anymore, but we all agreed that the people are the

church and not the building. We prayed for God to

strengthen and lead us as we start our new journey

at Mt. Pisgah’s new location in Noble Manor Shop-

ping Center.

We continue to prepare meals for Pleasant Valley

Shelter. Our next dinner will be delivered June 10.

Much gratitude is given for the faithful who have

made these meals possible. If you would like to help

us in June, please contact Barb Kitner or Mary Stroup.

Decorated Mother’s Day Posters and wrapped candy

will be delivered to nursing homes along Greentree

Road. We appreciate the creative artists and candy

contributions.

Remember to honor your moms and mentor moms

for Mother’s Day, May 9 and beyond.

Blessings,

Mary Stroup

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May Cryptoquote

A Cryptoquote is a puzzle where each letter in the quote is substituted with a different letter. Solving the puzzle involves replacing the incorrect letter with the correct one. The solution can be found at the end of the VIEW.

If you would like help, here are some HINTS: D = I, W = M

W P O D K D O X E R

G D A D U R I Q S

X H X R M M

,

T R Q P X D Y F M ,

__ C H R X D K X E D U L O

. X H X E R E R Q V X .

C Q T M H K Q O Q M O

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In February, to encourage us all to remain in contact with

one another, we began “Our Congregation Connects”.

Each month, there will be a new challenge for us to

complete.

It will appear as a reminder each week in the BUZZ.

For the month of May, here is the challenge:

Contact two people whose last name begins with the

same initial as yours.

Enjoy building deeper relationships with your brothers and

sisters in Christ!

Submitted by Marta Pletz for the Session

The deadline for June VIEW articles is May 19

Email your articles to Sharon Devey:

37.s.devey@gmail.com

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On the

Lighter

Side . . .

Submitted by

Sharon Devey

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Solution for May Cryptoquote:

M a y

2 0 2 1

Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart.

Pablo Casals

1st Ron Gavatorta

8th Marilyn Costantino

14th Alyssa Spiegel

20th Mary Stroup

21st Marta Pletz

25th Luella Brazier

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Dates to remember…

2nd Final Worship Service at 31 Warriors Road Celebration following worship

9th Mother’s Day Worship service at Unity 9:00 am

17th Combined Session & Deacons Meeting

19th June VIEW articles deadline

23rd Pentecost Sunday

30th SCRIP order placed

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Mt. Pisgah Presbyterian Church

31 Warriors Road

Pittsburgh, PA 15205

Scan to be directed

to the Mt. Pisgah

Website