Life can feel overwhelming. Sickness, money problems, relationship drama, trouble with children and the desire to do the wrong thing all abound.
But there is something greater — and this Sunday, Open Arms Church of Bradford and Port Allegany will reveal the answer. The Greater Than series continues throughout this month and is running in tandem with the launch of the church’s book that will be sent out to every home in McKean County over the next two years.
“We believe there is a greatness everyone is meant to live in, but it’s not found in self-help,” said pastor Mike McAvoy. “What we’re talking about is a greatness that is ‘Greater Than’ any amount of human effort or genius, strength or weakness, success or failure. A greatness that is beyond this world. A greatness that, when cooperated with makes us live above and beyond this world.”
He said that no amount of success, achievement, or wealth will provide the greatness God offers. This is a greatness that everyone can walk in: Rich or poor, young or old, intellectual or pragmatist, healthy or sick, no matter one’s ethnicity, he said.
“Everyone, sooner or later finds themselves at a place where they are not enough,” McAvoy said. “We believe there is hope, no matter what you are facing or going through. We are battling between chaos and order. Little do we realize we are contributors, often the initiators of the chaos. God’s desire is to bring every area of our life back into order.”
Services at Open Arms Bradford at 1289 East Main St., about a mile north of Walmart in Foster Township, are held at 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., while Open Arms Port Allegany’s services are held at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. at 105 Smith Ave.
