Pastor’s Message for October 2025

Unstoppable Love

Picture it: The year was 1987 and a band that had been born of the psychedelic era named Jefferson Airplane had morphed into the pop-chart topping “Starship.” In every roller rink and shopping mall, the soaring voices of Grace Slick and Mickey Thomas brought America together with the anthemic power ballad “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.”

I was ten years old at the time, and while I didn’t fully understand the cultural movements of the day, I knew one thing for certain: this song was the most awesomely awesome song ever written, a true masterpiece of popular music and cheesiness. However, in the decades since the ’80s’ zenith, tastes in music changed. Today, you might find much of Starship’s mid-’80s output on lists of “worst songs ever.” Apparently, there is such a thing as too much cheese.

Still, that cheesy declaration of unstoppable love makes a perfect doorway into Paul’s bold declaration about God’s love found in Romans 8:38–39:

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things, present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Paul’s version of “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us” isn’t about teenage romance or ’80s hair spray. It’s about the unstoppable, unshakable love of God. Notice how thorough he is: life and death, past and future, spiritual powers and worldly ones, the highest highs and the deepest lows—he ticks off every possibility and then stamps it all with God’s promise: Nothing can separate us from God’s love.

And here’s the kicker: that love is for everyone. Not just the people who look faithful, or act holy, or already “have it together.” God’s love is for the doubters, the strugglers, the outsiders, the in-betweeners. It’s for the person who feels unworthy, the neighbor we find difficult, and yes—even you and me on our worst days.

That’s why this passage is so powerful: it’s not just about God’s persistence, but about God’s embrace. Love doesn’t just endure—it expands, reaching every corner of creation and every human heart. That’s the Power of Love.

So when the world feels shaky, remember Paul’s anthem: God’s love will never let go. Nothing’s gonna stop us now.

God loves you, and so do I,
Pastor Jim Sands

Coming Up…

< February 2025 >
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
            1AA Meeting 10:30am from 10:30 am to 11:30 am
Meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous Fellowship Hall + Google calendar
2Prodigal God Study from 10:00 am to 10:45 am
Adult Sunday School + Google calendarWorship w/ Communion 11am from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm
Holy Communion Offered Church Sanctuary + Google calendarKids Sunday School 11:15am from 11:15 am to 12:00 pm
Times are approximate. Begins after children's message during 11am worship. + Google calendar
3Bible Study from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Focus on the Gospel of Mark Aliquippa First UMC + Google calendar
4Bible Study from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
Focus on the Gospel of Mark + Google calendarBowling League from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
+ Google calendar
5Meeting of the Eves from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Evening Women's Group Monaca UMC + Google calendarAA Meeting 7pm from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous Fellowship Hall + Google calendar
6Busy Hands 1pm from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Knitting/crochet Group Carey Community Center + Google calendar
7 8AA Meeting 10:30am from 10:30 am to 11:30 am
Meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous Fellowship Hall + Google calendar
9Prodigal God Study from 10:00 am to 10:45 am
Adult Sunday School + Google calendarWorship 11am from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm
Traditional worship, including prayer and the singing of traditional hymns. Church Sanctuary + Google calendarKids Sunday School 11:15am from 11:15 am to 12:00 pm
Times are approximate. Begins after children's message during 11am worship. + Google calendar
10Bible Study from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Focus on the Gospel of Mark Aliquippa First UMC + Google calendarBook Club from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
"Reading United Methodists" Discussing:
The Engineer's Wife by Tracy Enerson Wood
Aliquippa First UMC + Google calendar
11Food Pantry Distribution 11am-Noon from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm
+ Google calendarBible Study from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
Focus on the Gospel of Mark + Google calendarBowling League from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
+ Google calendar
12No PhDs Today (Aliquippa 1st) from 6:30 pm to 12:00 am
+ Google calendarAA Meeting 7pm from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous Fellowship Hall + Google calendar
13 14Happy Valentine's Day! all day
+ Google calendar
15CANCELLED: Coffee Mugs & Kids Club from 10:00 am to 12:00 am
Cancelled due to inclement weather Carey Community Center + Google calendarAA Meeting 10:30am from 10:30 am to 11:30 am
Meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous Fellowship Hall + Google calendar
16Prodigal God Study from 10:00 am to 10:45 am
Adult Sunday School + Google calendarWorship 11am from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm
Traditional worship, including prayer and the singing of traditional hymns. Church Sanctuary + Google calendarKids Sunday School 11:15am from 11:15 am to 12:00 pm
Times are approximate. Begins after children's message during 11am worship. + Google calendar
17Bible Study from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Focus on the Gospel of Mark Aliquippa First UMC + Google calendar
18Bible Study from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
Focus on the Gospel of Mark + Google calendarHymn Sing from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
Brighton Wellness & Rehab + Google calendarBowling League from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
+ Google calendar
19AA Meeting 7pm from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous Fellowship Hall + Google calendar
20WPAUMC Trustee Training from 1:00 pm to 8:30 pm
1:00-3:00PM...Clergy
4:00-6:00PM...Local Church Trustees
7:00-8:30PM...District Trustees and Board of Location and Building
Carey Community Center + Google calendarBusy Hands 1pm from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Knitting/crochet Group Carey Community Center + Google calendarMinistry Action Team (MAT) from 6:00 pm to 12:00 am
+ Google calendar
21Movie Night from 6:00 pm to 12:00 am
Join us for The Forge and pizza!
(other activities available for kids too young to enjoy the movie)
+ Google calendar
22AA Meeting 10:30am from 10:30 am to 11:30 am
Meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous Fellowship Hall + Google calendar
23Adult Sunday School 10am from 10:00 am to 10:45 am
+ Google calendarWorship 11am from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm
Traditional worship, including prayer and the singing of traditional hymns. Church Sanctuary + Google calendarKids Sunday School 11:15am from 11:15 am to 12:00 pm
Times are approximate. Begins after children's message during 11am worship. + Google calendar
24Bible Study from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Focus on the Gospel of Mark Aliquippa First UMC + Google calendar
25Bible Study from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
Focus on the Gospel of Mark + Google calendarBowling League from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
+ Google calendar
26"PhDs" 6:30pm @Aliquippa First, Lounge from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm
For "Projects Half Done" - knitting/crochet group; 2nd & 4th Wednesday of the month at Aliquippa First UMC + Google calendarAA Meeting 7pm from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous Fellowship Hall + Google calendar
27 28