Pastor’s Greeting
Hi, I’m Jim Leuenberger, the pastor of McKeesport Presbyterian Church. Let me introduce myself in a rather unusual way: I want to tell you about an appointment I was late for. How late? Try 38 years! I made that appointment in the spring of 1977 at a conference for college students in Pittsburgh. It was there that I heard an invitation to become Jesus’ ambassador to oppressed peoples. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I was sure it was a call to serve, a call to lay down my life. And when I heard it, I felt like God had yanked me out of my seat. I could do nothing but come forward and answer with my life.
I wish I could say I’ve walked a straight path as I’ve pursued God’s call. I haven’t. Yes, I’ve taken unselfish steps into God’s calling; but, I’ve also walked in some ways that have mainly served my own interests and plans. Thankfully, however, God has always been there to forgive me, to use me despite my mistakes, and to direct me back to a path more in line with His call on my life. In the spring of 2015 this path led me to this church on the corner of Union and Versailles in McKeesport. Not long after I arrived here, while sitting in my study two floors above that intersection, I was hit by a thought: “It’s taken a while, but I think I’ve finally kept that appointment I made with God 38 years ago.”
Pastor Jim in Malawi.
I imagine a lot of people feel similarly about their own life’s journey. Maybe you do. There’s a reason for that. It’s because you, like every human being, have a purpose for being here. God has made you in a particular way - to be a particular person. God has brought you into this world to do things nobody else can do. There are times in our lives when we get a sense of what some of these things are. We even sense in those moments that although answering the call to do these things might cost us something – maybe even a lot - it will be worth it. It is revealed to us in these moments that something Jesus said about how life works is true: That giving our lives away really is the way to gain the life we’ve longed for – the life appointed for us. (Matthew 16:24-25).
Maybe you’ve felt a sense of calling in your own life. Maybe, like me, you have lived with a sense of “dis-appointment” – a vague, or maybe even an undeniable feeling that you haven’t kept an important appointment in your life. I hope my own story will give you hope that with God it is never too late. It’s never too late to live into God’s appointments for your life. It’s never too late to discover what those appointments are, either.
I am so glad God called me to come to this church, which is seeking to discover the life God has appointed for us as a people on a journey full of purpose. More and more, we see God has planted us in this place, on the corner of Union and Versailles in McKeesport, for a reason. More and more, we are learning to give our lives away, and as a result, we are gaining life for ourselves and being used by God to share life with others. If you are looking to be part of such a community of faith, then I invite you to come and visit our church. Come and see if we might be a place and a people God can use to help you live into the life God has appointed for you.
If you are interested in learning more about our vision for our church and some of the beliefs and values that drive us, I especially encourage you to read our church’s Vision and Mission Statements. Let me leave you with these words of blessing and calling that I share with our people at the end of every worship service:
You Go Nowhere by Accident
Remember, you go nowhere by accident.
Wherever you go, God is sending you.
Wherever you are, God has put you there.
He has a purpose in your being there.
Jesus Christ, who lives inside of you,
Has something He wants to do through you,
Right where you are.
Believe this, and go,
In the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To love and serve God and your fellow man,
Now and forever more. Amen.
– Pastor Jim