Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

First off - both the pastor and his wife wish each one of you a most joyous 4th of July weekend. We know that many of you will be traveling and celebrating this weekend. We wish you safe travels and a most happy time spent with friends and relatives.

This is my favorite time of the year, long warm, sunny days. The other night Mary Kay and I drove down to Clearfork Reservoir just to take in the sunset. Fireworks are wonderful, but nothing replaces God's daily sunset show - in my humble estimation.

Glorious Freedom - Sermon! Because it is Independence Day weekend, we will continue our Hymns 4 Him summer sermon series with "Glorious Freedom" by Haldor Lillenas. Many of you may not know this hymn as well as I do. Lillenas became a publisher later in his life and for those with a Church of the Nazarene background - Lillenas was THE publisher of record for the church. His hymn, "Glorious Freedom" was one I sang in church at least once a month for ten years when I was a kiddo growing up.

In writing this Sunday's sermon, I spent a great deal of time in Galatians 5. I thought through the reason for our ongoing sin struggles. Why do we continue to sin when we are told that Jesus has freed us from our sins? Two words came to my mind: selfishness and emptiness. Of the two, I'm not at all sure that the latter - emptiness inside - isn't the stronger of the two. I look forward to sharing my discoveries with you on Sunday.

For those of you who would like a head start, you can check out my sermon in your Bible app OR just use this link - http://bible.com/events/48916272.

Because many of our praise team will be traveling this weekend, our worship leaders will be fewer but every bit as enthusiastic! Here are the songs we are planning to sing this Sunday: "Dwell In The House," by yours truly; "All Things New" by KXC Worship; "Graves Into Gardens" by Elevation Worship; and "Freedom" by Hillsong.

For those of you want to watch online (and I hope all of you traveling will do so!) you can link up with us on our Facebook page or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/o_FH6b9gu30.

Training for our new in-ear monitors went extremely well this past Sunday. We enjoyed eating lunch together first. Fellowship together is always such an important part of any team!

Then we gathered up front - each one of us with our own mixer in front of us. I put a camera over my own mixer so everyone on the team could see what I was doing. We talked about how to mix, how to make sure we could hear our fellow team members, how to pan each of our channels to one side or the other, and how to mute the channels. At one point Brandi muted her entire mixer and it took us a while to figure out how to get it working again. We were so glad that happened during our training session and not during church!

Then we took our classroom training and put it to work - we sang several songs together. This gave us plenty of time in between each song to make adjustments and to ask questions. We finally finished up around 4pm. So it was a very full day for your worship team, who also showed up 2 hours early before church began! To all of you who gave sacrificially on Sunday to learn this new sound system: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! 

And to all of you who gave your money so sacrificially so we could purchase this new gear: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

One of the cool new things that has also happened is that we have replaced the two old and very large speakers that face the congregation with two much smaller and much newer speakers. We think it looks and sounds so much better. What do you think? Let us know!

That wraps up this week's pastoral newsletter. I pray that each one of you continues to enjoy both your political freedoms as well as your spiritual freedoms. And I thank each one of you for continuing to pray for my dad. We continue to be amazed at how well he is doing with his very serious illness. God has been good to our family! Blessings! My love to each of you! Pastor Mark

In Ear Monitors Progresses Ahead Of Schedule

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

The worship team tried out their new in-ear monitors for the first time this past Sunday morning. This was two full weeks earlier than we had planned. As you can see from Brandi's picture on the right, we absolutely love this new sound system for church. 

The week before your pastor put on his sound engineer / tech hat and ran all the new lines. Now instead of one mixer in the back that controls the sound for everyone, the mixer in the back will run the house sound (the two speakers on either side of the platform facing the congregation), AND each praise team member will have their own mixer to run the sound to their own earphones.

You can see Brandi's giant smile. I saw this at one time or another on each band member as they each were able to design their own sound for their own needs.

We were NOT planning on using this new system this past Sunday. The plan was for me to try it out during rehearsal so that I would be able to teach all the rest on how to use it. But Sunday morning as each member of the team arrived early for their rehearsal AND each one wanted to try it out, Brandi made an executive decision.

"OK - let's give it a try," Brandi said, "but only for rehearsal. We'll use our monitors and speakers as always for our actual worship."

But then a funny thing happened during rehearsal. Everything worked really smoothly. By the end of the rehearsal, everyone voted to keep in the earphones and turn off all the other on platform speakers. How could we say no in the face of such excitement.

So - was it perfect, first time out? Of course not. We all have to get accustomed to the new in-ear speakers. They each come with six different sized pads to fit inside our ears. It takes some getting used to. When those earbuds are in our ears, we can't hear anything else. So we have to really make sure we have the mix right.

Brandi's earbuds had a defect and began crackling. We've already ordered a replacement for her set. But because she was having problems, she took them out mid way through the worship service and then was shocked to discover there was no sound up on the platform at all! Remember, we had turned everything else off.

With those few hiccups though, things are going really well. We have a training session planned for Sunday after church. The praise team will invest an extra three hours after church Sunday to learn all the details of their personal mixer-monitors. That's dedication! Because they will have already had the experience of two worship services under their belts, I'm betting that the training time goes really well too.

This past Monday Brandi and I spent an extra six man hours cleaning up the platform. Every platform speaker, monitor, and amplifier has been removed. All the lines have been re-run. Everything is zip tied and taped down. You won't believe how much better the front of the church looks now!

We also repurposed two of our larger monitors for our main house speakers. They are about half the size of the ones we had and the sound that comes out of them is also much better. Chris Thoman came and helped us replace those giant speakers. (They were so heavy!) Then we practiced a couple songs just to test that we had replaced everything correctly.

You should have seen the joy on Chris' face as he ran sound in the back. He told us, "I have so much better control now! It sounds so much better."

One more added bonus! The buzzing we've been experiencing when the overhead lights are running is GONE! Woohoo!

So yes - we are excited. We know it won't be perfect, because the Lord knows we are not perfect. But your praise team is so excited that they will be able to give you (and the Lord) their very best each week going forward. To all of you who gave so sacrificially to make this happen we say to you: THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Sunday's Worship Plans. Here are the songs we are planning to sing together: "Holy Water" by We The Kingdom; "Broken Hallelujah" by The Afters; "God Turn It Around" by Jon Reddick; "What Faith Can Do" by Kutless; "Control" by Tenth Avenue North; and "That's The Power" by Hillsong.

For those of you who will be watching online, you can worship with us on our Facebook page or on our YouTube channel - https://youtu.be/nfYKz6a0wMY.

Brian Betts will be teaching from the pulpit Sunday morning. The title to his message is "The God Who Knows Your Trials." His Scripture text comes from Revelation 2:8-11. If you would like to read his sermon text ahead of time (or while he is delivering it) you will be able to find it in your Bible app. Here is a link - http://bible.com/events/48912663.

These are exciting days for our church. I sure do love hanging out and worshiping with you all each Sunday morning. Hope to see you there! Love you! Pastor Mark

Challenging Week For Local Ohioans

Our neighbor's tree down.

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

And it is a Good Friday - at least for the Pierce household. Late Monday night a large storm that included 3 local tornadoes blew through our area. Trees were down everywhere - along with broken electric lines. Nearly 60,000 of us in North Central Ohio have been without power for most of the time since. Our power came back on yesterday afternoon. Most of you have had your power restored too. Yet there are still 4300 Richland County electric customers who still don't have power as of this writing.

Like most of you - we were in survival mode most of the week. We called it "Camp Pierce". The power outage gave us a good chance to see how prepared... or not prepared... we were to be without electricity flowing automatically through the lines with the flick of a switch. Most of us are not taking this miracle of electric power for granted this morning.

Sound System Install - Luckily I started working on the sound system early on Monday - the only day we had power - and the only day I really needed power to work on the sound system. Most of the rest of the week was a matter of laying down the cable and connecting all the new sound mixers to brackets and to our praise team stands. We haven't had a chance to try it out yet - and it will still probably be several weeks before we make the switch over to the new system. However, we were able to get a lot of work done this week. We made good progress. For all of you who were so generous with your giving to make this possible - THANK YOU!

Our Worship Plans For Sunday. Sunday will be Father's Day here in the U.S. Father's Day is also celebrated in the United Kingdom this coming Sunday as well. Why do I report this little holiday factoid you ask? Because Don and Vanessa Causley from Devon, England will be sharing their worship gifts with us Sunday. Don has some valuable insights on Father's Day from a personal perspective. He will be sharing right at the start of the worship service, so don't be late! Vanessa has a special song to sing - "Everything" by Lauren Daigle. I think this one might be the best Vanessa has ever done! If you're like me, you'll be walking away thinking to yourself, 'Wow!'

If you are like Don and Vanessa - as well as many others - who watch the worship service online - you can tune into our Facebook page or watch on YouTube - https://youtu.be/xG3UlsKzxCg.

We will all be wearing our Hawaiian shirts again and will have the colorful leis for you to wear when you come in. Let's continue our festive summer celebration at Church Requel!

Here are the songs we plan to sing Sunday: "Father's House" by Cory Asbury; (NEW) "The God Who Stays" by Matthew West; "Run To The Father" by Cody Carnes; "So Will I (100 Billion X)" by Hillsong; and "Good Good Father" by Chris Tomlin.

Hymns 4 Him #3. We will continue our summer Hymns 4 Him series with an appropriate Hymn for Father's Day: "This Is My Father's World" by Maltie Babcock. As always we will learn 4 takeaway lessons from this hymn.

I'm guessing that this may be a new one for some of you. Don't worry. I'm looking forward to teaching it to you. As always, I hope you walk away with a new appreciation for our hymns as well as those who wrote them.

I must tell you that sometimes my sermon writing takes an unexpected twist or turn. That definitely happened this week. You may think that the pastor knows exactly where he is going when he sits down to write. However, if one is committed to following the lead of the Holy Spirit, then the sermon writer himself can also be surprised by what comes out!

Here are the online notes for this Sunday sermon - for those of you who just can't wait to see the winding road of the sermon writer: http://bible.com/events/48909151.

That's all I have for you this week. Remain faithful. Keep the faith! Share your faith! Invite someone to come to church with you Sunday morning! Love you much, Pastor Mark

Once Again God Provides All We Needed!

New sound equipment arrived!

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

This has been another week filled with God providing all we have needed! I honestly don't know why we ever even doubt anymore. Over and over again God has proven Himself faithful in providing for our little church. Over and over again you all have proven yourselves sensitive to God's leading Spirit, making you generous and faithful beyond all measure!

Last Friday's newsletter gave you what I thought was our final update - we had raised $2,400 of the $3,543 needed. To be honest, even with that, I was rejoicing. I wrote that I wouldn't be asking you to give further and that we would take the balance out of savings. In my own mind I figured those savings were just God providing for our needs ahead of time. Boy did I figure that wrong!

Within an hour I received a message from someone telling me that she just couldn't stomach the money coming out of savings and immediately sent in $500. Over the course of the next two days we received all the rest, and even ten dollars to the good! Wow!

As of late last night all the equipment - with the exception of 3 brackets - arrived in Mansfield. I'm going to pick it up today and deliver it to Church Requel. I must also tell you that we purchased through a local vendor (who has asked to remain anonymous), who sold us all the gear at his cost and also (legally) did not charge us any sales tax. In our original design proposal, we expected this same sound gear to cost us $4,325. Another God provision! 

So now comes the work of installation. Over the course of the next several weeks I will be trading in my pastor's hat a few days each week for my sound/computer tech hat. Actually I'm really excited about this. (Can you tell?) I feel like I've come a long ways since we first installed our digital sound board. I barely knew how it worked then. It's not one of the subjects they teach us in seminary... but they definitely should! 

Our crew in April

Neighborhood Meal Saturday Evening. We feed the hungry in our neighborhood this Saturday night so plan on coming out and assisting. it's always a really good time together. Thank you Don and Stephenie for your faithful leadership! For those who want to volunteer, show up at 4pm. We begin serving at 5pm and are usually finished around 6pm. Also - if you can - bring a dessert to share.

Our plans for Sunday morning.  We continue our Hymns 4 Him sermon series this Sunday, telling the back story of the famous hymn, Amazing Grace, and its author, John Newton. I've done quite a bit of research into this history and it just might surprise you to hear what I've learned. As always we will take away 4 important lessons for our modern day lives.

Here is a link to my written sermon notes for those of you who wish to read along or read ahead: http://bible.com/events/48905773.

I also plan on leading you in the singing of Amazing Grace in the middle of my sermon using my tiny soprano-sized Hawaiian ukulele. I will also be wearing another flowery Hawaiian shirt AND we will be giving out leis as you enter the sanctuary. So find yourself a Hawaiian shirt to wear and join in the summer fun! (For those of you watching from home - get in the spirit of the thing and wear Hawaiian too!)

Here are the songs we plan to sing together Sunday morning: "Shine Like Stars" by Passion; "Look What You've Done" by Tasha Layton; (NEW) "Broken Vessels" by Hillsong; "This Is Amazing Grace" by Phil Wickham; and (NEW)  "The Throne Room Song" by People & Songs. As you can see we have a couple new songs this week for the band and congregation to learn. I'm excited about both! Thank you Brandi for your leadership and work behind the scenes for our church.

For those of you tuning in from home - many of you many miles away from Mansfield - you can watch at 11am Sunday on our Facebook Page or our YouTube channel https://youtu.be/citRREh8xkI.

Hiring Youth Pastor Eddie Walker... one year later. 

Let's end this week's newsletter where we began - thanking God for His provisions. It was one year ago that the leadership team made the decision to hire Eddie Walker as our youth pastor. At the time we had few young people and little budgetary flexibility. Can we get an "Amen" for F-A-I-T-H?

Looking back on it now I think it is one of the best decisions we've made. We don't always have an abundance of young people, but there are some Sundays when I look back at the congregation and wonder to myself, 'where did they all come from?'

Eddie himself has been incredibly faithful with this ministry and I'm so thankful for him. Over that year our young people have taken on their own identify - naming themselves the "Sequels," which in a church named Requel, is clever. Together Eddie and his students are making their way each week through the Scriptures, providing each of them a foundation they will have for the rest of their lives.

So again, I say to you all who give so generously week after week to make this possible, THANK YOU! God knows who you are and I pray he blesses you tremendously. Also thank you goes out to Eddie for his faithfulness. It doesn't matter whether he has three or thirteen in his class - he gives his very best teaching self each and every week. Maybe give him a pat on the back the next time you see him.

Hope to see you all this weekend! Love you! Pastor Mark

New Summer Sermon Series: Hymns 4 Him!

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

I'm truly excited to tell you about the new summer sermon series that I've been arranging for us. Each Sunday we will take a different old hymn of the church and talk about the story behind the hymn. Who wrote it? Why? What was going on in their lives to motivate them to write that hymn? What can we learn from their story and their hymn about our own faith in Jesus Christ? Each Sunday we will focus on just 4 important lessons from the Hymn. (Hence the name: Hymns 4 Him!)

I hope to be musically creative with you during these sermons by taking my own tiny soprano ukulele and teaching you the hymn as we go through the sermons. Want to join in the fun? Maybe we could all sport Hawaiian wear each Sunday morning? (Just a fun suggestion!)

Our First Hymn Sermon: Blessed Assurance. I could not think of a more appropriate starting place than to talk about Blessed Assurance and the truly remarkable lady behind the song: Fanny Crosby. Did you know that she wrote more than 8,000 hymns and spiritual songs? Wow! She also penned another thousand songs besides the hymns. Talk about prolific! What is behind her story that equipped her to be so eloquent? You'll have to come Sunday morning to find out.

OR... you could also take a sneak peek at the sermon text for Sunday morning, which you'll find in your Bible app. You could also check out this link: http://bible.com/events/48902252.

Our Worship Plans For Sunday. In honor of our new hymn focus for this summer, Brandi has planned for us to sing together more than we usually do.  Here is what she has lined up for us this Sunday morning: "There's Nothing That Our God Can't Do" by Passion; "The More Of You I See" by Iron Bell Music; "Death Was Arrested" by North Point Worship; "King Of My Heart" by Bethel; "Cornerstone" by Hillsong; and "Something Good" by Gateway Worship.

For those of you who will be watching Sunday's worship online, you can watch either on our Facebook Page or on our YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/NetMyi9j4Eg.

If you are like me, you are most grateful for all the work that Brandi does to prepare our worship together each Sunday. THANK YOU BRANDI!!!

This past week we updated our music spreadsheet, where we track all the songs we have sung together as a congregation. Our worship band led music for the first time in April 2018. Since that time - just a little over 4 years - we have sung 155 different congregational songs at least once. Wow!

There are 4 songs that we have sung 13 different times - the highest repetition. They are: "God So Loved" by We The Kingdom; "Old Church Choir" by Zach Williams; "The Way (New Horizon)" by Pat Barrett; and "Who You Say I Am" by Hillsong.

If you are willing to get into the songs sung weeds with me a little bit, there is actually one other song that we sometimes sing by itself... then sometimes we sing it as a mashup with another song... and if we added those together, it would be our #1 song with a total of 15 repetitions. Any guesses? (The answer will be at the bottom of this week's newsletter.)

Final Update on our Sound System Fund Raiser. Thank you one and all for your faithful giving to our new sound system fund raiser. We told you we would open up a special giving account in the months of April and May to raise funds for a new in-ears monitor system for our praise band.

The plan is to replace all the different platform speakers and amplifiers (some weeks we have over 10!) with a new in-ears system. When completed each band member will control and hear what they need to hear through special ear buds in their ears.

The good news for all of us is that each member of the praise team will be able to better hear what they need to hear AND (this is the best part for our congregation) the only sound coming out to the sanctuary will be from our main speakers on the side. (Even now I can hear Chris - our sound guy - shouting, "Thank you!")

You have all been incredibly generous. Through April and May we have raised $2,408. We have placed our order for the new equipment and the cost will be $3,543.49. We plan to take the difference out of our savings. (Of course we won't stop anyone from giving to the sound system fund, but we won't be asking you to do so.) Hopefully we will receive the new equipment and have it installed by the end of this month. Again... thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Neighborhood Meal - Our next opportunity to serve our downtown neighbors a warm, healthy meal will be Saturday, June 11th. There is a signup in the church lobby and we see that several of you have already signed up to volunteer. This coming Sunday will be your last chance to signup and let Don and Stephenie know that you can come and help out. Volunteers should plan to arrive at church by 4pm. We are usually finished, cleaned up and walking away by 6pm.

These are good days for us at Church Requel! Let's celebrate Sunday morning! Remember to wear your Hawaiian shirts, if you are of a mind to do it. (Yes, even those watching online could get in the spirit of the occasion!)

Love you all much, Pastor Mark

P.S. - The song we have sung the most? "What A Beautiful Name" by Hillsong - 15x since April 2018.

Where Evil Will Be No More

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

This week’s pastoral newsletter will be a little different than my normal. Yes, we have many wonderful plans for this coming Sunday morning, including a special message from our youth pastor, Eddie Walker. Yes, we have lots of very special music planned by Brandi and her dedicated worship team. So take my word for it, without promotion or fanfare, Church Requel will go on as planned and you will be glad you came or tuned into the online stream.

However, this morning, I want to talk to you heart-to-heart as your pastor and friend. This has been a hard week. The news of yet another elementary school shooting and the hellish evil that led to the taking of so many young innocent lives is hard for all to bear. 

If you are like me, you want to scream out to the universe, “What is wrong with you?!” Or if you are even more honest with yourself, perhaps your scream is really a prayer: “Where are You?”

Like you - and I’m still sure - like God, my heart breaks for the parents and families in Uvaldi, who lost their 21 beloveds Tuesday morning. No words or feelings or Bible quotations can ease their grief or our grief for them. No words or feelings or Bible quotations can soothe the anger and loss and longing for why. No amount of finger pointing or politics or Monday morning “what if’s” will bring back these dear children to live out their lives so unfairly snuffed out.

So what is a Christian supposed to do with this? When our every instinct is to scream and groan and cry out, “Why? Why? Why?” What do we do? What can we do?

First, I want you to know that it is ok to scream and groan and cry out! Personally I wouldn’t aim my screams and groans and crying to the empty universe, but to the Almighty God Himself. If the Psalms and Lamentations and Job have taught me anything, it’s that God welcomes our screams and groans and crying. He inhabits our misery. He welcomes our questioning. He stands for us when we cannot stand at all. He never shies away or leaves us when we are falling apart inside. 

So scream and groan and cry out until you cannot continue. Rest and then repeat again - for as long as you must. Don’t hold back. Don’t hold it in. Don’t pretend that somehow this situation is ok and that God surely must have a plan for this. And PLEASE - don’t be quick with easy answers with yourself or others or declare that God will bring good out of this. Even if this is true, this is not the time for peachy preachy.

Second, I want you to know that it is ok to not love this place. While there is much good to be found, and I’m all in favor of focusing my attention toward the good and away from the evil, we cannot lose sight of the truth that we live in a world where it’s possible for a man to walk into an elementary classroom of innocents and empty out his automatic rifle. We can call it by any name you want, but in the end it all comes back to one name: Evil. 

This place is not Heaven. Because so much of our time is spent where we love and are loved, where family and belonging and helping and encouraging are practiced - we can sometimes misplace ourselves. At best Heaven occasionally comes down to Earth. But this is not Heaven. Not yet. Not here. Not now.

This truth was cemented in my mind at 15 years of age when two gunmen captured my brother, my father and me. There’s something about a shot gun being pointed to one’s face with the gun cocked and then uncocked - over and over - that cements forever the truth that this place is not Heaven and never will be. This is a place where evil lives. Where evil hides. Where evil deceives. Where evil kills.

This is a place where evil must be killed. Not won over. Not defeated. Not held back. Evil - in all its treacherous forms - must be utterly wiped out. Forever.

As your pastor, today I remind you (and me): this is the plan. This is the story. Evil loses. Every tear will be wiped away. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. The old order of things - evil - will have passed away. There will be a new order and everything will be made new. There will be a heaven. 

But not now.

So for now, I want you to know that it is ok to hate evil and to love the good. It is ok for you to want to be on the side of Good. And it is ok that every morning and every evening you pray that evil would be destroyed in your own life and that Right would reign. And it is ok for you to say, without hesitation, “Come back soon, Lord. Even yet today. Tarry not!”

In the meantime, let us do our best to live the good, to live the righteous, to love with all our hearts. When confronted with horrible pain - like now - let us weep for our losses. When given an opportunity to do the good, let us not hesitate. For opportunities for good in an evil place can blow by quickly.

I want to be your pastor - all the days of the week. Not just on Sundays. Even on the Tuesday mornings of this past week. I don’t claim answers myself. I believe we worship the One with the ultimate solutions. This week, with tear-filled eyes, beside you all, I point to Jesus. With bended knee, beside you all, I grieve with you. With all the passion I can muster, I hold on to our relocation papers and pray for our new home, where evil will be no more.

Your fellow journeyer, Pastor Mark

Celebrating Our Graduates

John is heading to the Marines!

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

What a wonderful day of celebration we all enjoyed last Sunday. What a delight to see Elijah, Anna and John all ready to graduate from high school and begin their adult journeys.

I enjoyed talking to our grads and finding out their future plans. Anna Scott plans to attend Ohio Northern University majoring in mechanical engineering! Wow! Smart girl! She even has already thought through her concentration: aerospace! Don't you love it!

It was also a joy to see Paul again. I almost didn't recognize him with his beard. It also reminded me to keep praying for Chris, who is following in Sara's footsteps in the Air Force.

Anna will be attending Ohio Northern.

I was blessed to sit across from John Vetter and hear all about his future plans. He will be joining the Marine Corps this October. After 3 months of boot training, he can begin attending college while still in the Marine Corps! Wow! John told me that the Marines will pay for all his education for the rest of his life. Outstanding!

Here is the best part. So what does John want to do with all that education possibility? He wants to obtain a theological education, becoming an officer and a chaplain in the Marines... and eventually perhaps become a pastor!

And it all started at Church Requel!

In case you didn't know it, John is actually one smart dude. In his Marine entrance exams, he scored in the top 3 percent of all who take the exam. He could choose literally any job in the Marines that he wants to choose! Impressive!

I don't know about you, but I would love to have John deliver a sermon at Church Requel before he heads off to the Marines. I've already asked him and his response? Just give me a date! I love it!

Best of luck Elijah, Anna and John. You will continue to be in our thoughts and prayers!

Sunday's Worship Plans. Here are our worship plans for this coming Sunday morning. We begin our worship time with 4 songs, two of which are new for our band: "Goodness of God" by Bethel; (NEW) "Live Like That" by Sidewalk Prophets; (NEW) "God Turn It Around" by Jon Reddick; and "Everyday" by Hillsong. We also plan to close our worship Sunday with a fifth song, a CR favorite: "God So Loved" by We The Kingdom.

Before the sermon, I plan to sing one last song from Grandma Wise's songbook - "Life's Railway To Heaven," an 1890 song by Charles Davis Tillman - probably the most famous of Grandma's songbook. It's been covered by Johnny Cash, The Oak Ridge Boys, Patsy Cline, Tennessee Ernie Ford, and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, just to name a few. But Sunday morning you will get to hear your pastor's version of the song!

The song perfectly fits the mini-sermon series we are currently in: "12 Choices to Live My Best Life." This Sunday we will talk about the final six choices. As I wrote this sermon, I imagined my own grandchildren (all 10 of them) sitting around and reading what I wrote. For that reason alone, this is truly meaningful to me. I hope you will find it helpful too. If you'd like a head start on Sunday's sermon, you can read it in your Bible app: http://bible.com/events/48895246

For those of you who live afar from Mansfield or for those who are shut in and cannot travel to the church, you can watch online LIVE as the service progresses either on our Church Requel Facebook page or on our YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/mUrx1jlD4jE

Sound System Fundraising Update. Many deeply felt thanks go out from me to all of you who donated to our special sound system fundraising efforts. We estimate that the cost of the improvements will be $3,543.49. So far we have raised $2,208. Both numbers are really big for the size of our church. Again - much appreciation from me to all of you. We will keep the special fund account open for two more weeks (through the end of May), so if you've been waiting to see the need you need wait no longer!

The parts for the sound system are starting to come in. The digital distributor and all the actual in-ear headsets have already arrived. We are expecting (hoping) the actual mixing boards to arrive by the middle of June. The delay in receiving the parts is part of the whole economic shipping delay experienced by everyone these days.

Not Old... Just Vintage!

I celebrated a milestone of my own yesterday, turning 65 years old! Yay! I now have joined the Medicare Club! At this age we don't count the candles... we just enjoy the glow, right?

As I reflect on this week, I really love it that I was able to celebrate with so many of you! Mary Kay and I enjoyed dinner with Chris and Leanna Wednesday. Then Thursday night I was invited to celebrate with Kailey, who also celebrates a birthday on May 19th each year. That's right! The SAME birthday! We just don't make a big deal out of the fact that I've been around the sun 65 times so far, and she only 21 times. Actually, for Kailey, 21 solar rotations is a big deal for her! Ha! But what fun! Thanks Kailey for celebrating with me this week!

On my actual birthday, I started the day with all my friends down at Paul Revere's Family Restaurant - still my favorite morning haunt. Then I came home and learned a new song on my ukulele with 4 new jazzy chords I've never played before. Finally I took in a ride on my e-bike! What a fun day!

That's going to wrap up this week's pastor's newsletter. 1,000 words is my limit! Hope you still like this Friday missive. Love you all! Hope to see you Sunday! - Pastor Mark

P.S. - Keep my Dad and Julie in your prayers. These continue to be tough days for them. Thanks!