Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

Life Is Like A Blanket...

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

Wow! What an amazing Sunday we enjoyed together last week. We began the day with a great illustration of what our own righteousness really looks like. If you haven't yet heard the story of Jillian's baby blanket, I greatly encourage you to go back to last week's sermon and watch it online!

This week we are going to continue this theme with a sermon I'm calling, "Life Reset." How do we change from living the raggy blanket type of life? How do we change our holey lives to holy ones? (Get it? If you don't - look at the blanket picture again!)

Sunday morning's worship service was just the beginning of a great day. The worship team stuck around most of the afternoon and practiced together for the concert that evening. What a wonderful time together we all enjoyed. Many others joined us at 6:30pm for 90 minutes of praise and prayer. Truly - this was the highlight of our year!

If you haven't watched it yet, I encourage you to go to our Facebook page and watch the concert. It is - by far - the most watched video we have offered. As of this writing it has been viewed over 800 times! Yay! Here is a link if you want to check it out for yourself. https://www.facebook.com/ChurchRequel/videos/658210648136724

Of course we will not rest on our laurels. We look forward to worshiping together again with you this Sunday morning and we hope you all come back for our 11am worship service. Here are the songs that we will be singing together: "Open Up The Heavens" by Meredith Andrews; "Revelation Song" by Kari Jobe; "Great Are You Lord" by All Sons & Daughters; "The Blessing" by Kari Jobe; "Word Of God Speak" by Mercy Me; and "Glorious Day" by Kristian Stanfill. Sounds like another great morning!!! 

I hope to see you either in person or online this Sunday at 11am! Love you all much! Pastor Mark

Concert of Praise & Prayer Sunday Night!!!

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

The big weekend is upon us! Honestly, I've been practicing so much that my wrist is sore and my fingers no longer feel much of anything at all! No lie!

What am I talking about? Sunday night we will be celebrating with a concert of worship music, praise and prayers. Our Requel band will be playing and praying for about 90 minutes from 6:30pm until 8pm. You won't want to miss it! You can either come in and sit in one of the pews... or bring a lawn chair and sit outside... or you can watch online. Although if you're in Mansfield, we hope you'll come and encourage us. It looks like the weather is going to be beautiful - cool and sunny! Perfect conditions!

This is all part of The Return - a national and global week of prayer and praise culminating on the Mall in Washington D.C. on September 26th. We are one of ten local churches celebrating and praying each evening in Mansfield leading up to the National event on the 26th.  Here is the schedule of events beginning tonight:

• Friday, Sept. 18 — The ARC, 378 Park Avenue West
• Saturday — Kingdom Grace Fellowship, 105 Reba Ave.
• Sunday — Church Requel, 2 Marion Ave. (THIS SUNDAY NIGHT!)
• Monday — Maddox Memorial COGIC, 1148 Walker Lake
• Tuesday - GracePoint Sanctuary, 36 Eagle Court, Lexington
• Wednesday — First Church of the Open Bible, 1150 Rayfield
• Thursday — Ontario Christian Fellowship, 636 South Lex-Springmill
• Friday — Bible Walk Museum, 500 Tingley Rd.
• Saturday — Fusion Church, 220 Industrial Pkwy, Lexington
• Sunday  —  Evening Prayer Walk, 6-7:30 p.m, at a location to be named.
• Monday, Sept. 28 — Sar Shalom Messianic Congregation, 2510 W. Fourth St., 6-7:15 p.m.

Each church will praise and pray in their own style. If you can go and support another church, that would be great! Make sure you come this Sunday to Church Requel... and bring someone with you! You won't be sorry!

Sunday Morning At Church Requel. Of course we will still have our normal worship time together this Sunday morning as well. We will be singing "Stand In Your Love" by Josh Baldwin, "Whole Heart" by Hillsong, "Mighty To Save" also by Hillsong, and one of our all-time favs - "You Are Good" by Israel Houghton. This will be the first time our band will play the music live for this song (hence the reason for my sore wrists)! We will close the service with another fav - "Old Church Choir" by Zach Williams.

We also have something very special for you Sunday morning. Don and Vanessa Causley, our good friends from England, have recorded a special presentation for you. They will sing and quote Scripture for us and ultimately we will use this as our lead in to our communion time together. Thank you Don and Vanessa for being such loyal supporters of your church across the pond!

Our sermon Sunday morning will be titled, "Saying I Love You To God," and comes from Philippians 3:7-12. My daughter, Jillian, who lives in Dayton, Ohio, has helped me with a crucial sermon illustration that I think you will remember forever, once you see it... and FEEL IT! I know I've said this already elsewhere in this newsletter, but it's true: You really won't want to miss it!

On A Personal Note... Thank you all so much for praying for my Dad and his surgery yesterday. He came through the very long procedure (3 hours!!!) in good fashion and is recovering. He was texting me and my sibs several times already today. He plans on going home later today and hopefully will be back to his normal self soon. Mary Kay and I appreciate your many prayers and words of encouragement these past several days.

Hopefully I'll see you Sunday! Much love! Pastor Mark

September RETURN Services

Good Friday morning Church Requel!    

    September will be a time to return to pray, according to organizers of a 10-day series of prayer services in the Mansfield area.
    Return to Pray, Sept. 18-28, will feature musical praise and worship, repentance and prayer, in conjunction with the lead-up to a national prayer march in Washington, DC, Sept. 26, says Paul Lintern.
    “Franklin Graham, Jonathan Cahn and a host of other national Christian leaders are planning the event, not as protest, but submission to God as a nation.  We have invited local congregations to host a night, in whatever way is authentic to their style, tradition and calling,” Lintern says.
    The Rev. El Akuchie, of the Richland Community Prayer Network, says prayer lays the foundation for individual, community and national relationships with God.
    “It begins with the one who submits to the Lord, and joins them with a community of believers to stand before God humbly and faithfully,” he says.
    Locations reflect a diversity of styles, cultures and geography in the area, which points to the unity that is our in Christ alone, he adds.
    The event, which begins on the day of the biblical Feast of Trumpets, and concludes on the Day of Atonement, is scheduled for 6:30-8 p.m. each evening at the following locations:    

• Friday, Sept. 18 — The ARC, 378 Park Avenue West
• Saturday — Kingdom Grace Fellowship, 105 Reba Ave.
• Sunday — Church Requel, 2 Marion Ave.
• Monday — Maddox Memorial COGIC, 1148 Walker Lake
• Tuesday - GracePoint Sanctuary, 36 Eagle Court, Lexington
• Wednesday — First Church of the Open Bible, 1150 Rayfield
• Thursday — Ontario Christian Fellowship, 636 South Lex-Springmill
• Friday — Bible Walk Museum, 500 Tingley Rd.
• Saturday — Fusion Church, 220 Industrial Pkwy, Lexington
• Sunday  —  Evening Prayer Walk, 6-7:30 p.m, at a location to be named.
• Monday, Sept. 28 — Sar Shalom Messianic Congregation, 2510 W. Fourth St., 6-7:15 p.m.

   The times of the final two evenings is moved to 6 p.m. because of sunset soon after 7 p.m.
    The Saturday event at Fusion will be preceeded by additional two-hour prayer sessions at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
    All events will be streamed live on the Godsfield facebook page.
    The model of various congregations hosting prayer services on successive nights is a September version of the March of Prayer, held in 2019 and 2020, involving more than 50 nights of prayer with hosts representing more than 25 denominations.  This year’s event, schedule for 65 days, required an adjustment of the last 45 nights on the Godsfield page of Facebook live, plus a 28-hour prayerathon on that site, during the National Day of Prayer, May 7.
    Oktoberfest last fall involved more than 20 congregations hosting prayer events, and the Facebook site featured 6 a.m. prayer times each morning in July and August.
    “All of it is placed under the theme, ‘Mansfield is Godsfield, Richland is God’s Land,’ ” Rev. Akuchie says.
    The final night, at Sar Shalom, coincides with its regular Day of Atonement service, which concludes at sunset, ending a 10-day fast.
    “All events are free and open to all.  This is a good opportunity to experience worship in arenas that may not be what is most familiar to many, but which will be very familiar in the topic of prayers and the focus on our Heavenly Father, and his son,” according to Akuchie.

   This Sunday - Sept. 13th. As far as we know the entire Requel band will be back together again. Here are the songs we are planning to sing: "Raise A Hallelujah" by Bethel; "Reckless Love" by Cory Asbury; "Champion" by Bethel; "Good Good Father" by Cory Asbury; "Great Things" by Phil Wickham; and "Praise Him Forever" by Chris Tomlin. Wow - those are some great songs! Thanks for picking them Brandi!

   Our sermon will be from Matthew 6:19-24 and is titled "The Divided Heart." I'm really looking forward to sharing it with you all!

Hope to see you Sunday. Blessings! Love you! Pastor Mark

Church Requel Hosts Worship & Prayer Event Sunday Evening Sept. 20th

Good Friday Church Requel!

Hope you are enjoying a FANTASTIC Friday!

I have some great news to share with you today. Church Requel's Praise Band will host a worship and prayer concert SUNDAY EVENING SEPTEMBER 20TH AT 6:30PM. We will play and sing all of our favorite worship songs from this year and will pray for our community and our country.

This worship concert will be a part of the nine evening "September Return" series of other worship and prayer events throughout the Richland County area, all hosted by area churches, all from 6:30pm to 8pm in the worship and prayer style of each church. These 9 evenings will lead up to The Return, a national and global day of prayer and repentance on September 25th and 26th on the National Mall in Washington DC.

For those interested in the Richland County events, here is a schedule - all at 6:30pm EST:

• Friday, September 18th - ARC Empowerment Center
• Saturday, September 19th - Kingdom Grace Fellowship
• Sunday, September 20th - Church Requel
• Monday, September 21st - Maddox Memorial
• Tuesday, September 22nd - Gracepoint Sanctuary
• Wednesday, September 23rd - First Church of the Open Bible
• Thursday, September 24th - Ontario Christian Fellowship
• Friday, September 25th - Bible Walk
• Saturday, September 26th - Fusion

We invite all of our parishioners to be a participant in our Church Requel worship and prayer event on Sunday evening, Sept. 20th. You can participate in one of three ways, depending on your comfort level with the risk of the Covid-19 virus.  Here are your three options:

1. First - you can come inside the church sanctuary and sit in one of the pews. This will give you the closest views and the best sound. We will continue to maintain social distancing and ask that you wear a mask as you enter and exit the building. Every other pew will be roped off and we ask that you distance yourselves from people from homes other than your own. 
2. Second - we are hoping for great weather that evening. We will open all the windows and doors. Bring a lawn chair and sit outside and listen to the music and the prayers. This could be a great way to close the last evening of summer! Bring a picnic or a snack! Make it fun!
3. Third - Tune in to Facebook LIVE. For those who feel the risk is too great to even sit outside - we understand, we really do! You can watch online by going to our Facebook page a little before 6:30pm.

We have tried to create an opportunity to allow our community to gather together for worship and prayer together in a safe format. We really do feel that this is an important time to pray for our country and to continue to pray for our community. And we feel that it is important to provide a safe way to gather together in a social way! We usually have many summer events at church. Because of Covid, we haven't had any. We hope this will be a good option for many of you.

I have to tell you that our praise band is really excited about the possibility. We actually had been talking earlier this summer about how we as a band might offer a worship and praise service, but just couldn't figure out a way to make it happen. Then a couple weeks ago, Paul Lintern contacted us about The Return week. Every band member responded positively. I love that!!! So honestly, we don't know if anyone will come or not. We sure hope many of you do. But even if it's just us in the sanctuary, we are going to sing and play and pray our little hearts out to the Lord Jesus! We sure hope you join us!

This Sunday Morning. Here are the songs we will be singing: (1) "Nobody" by Casting Crowns; (2) "Who You Say I Am" by Hillsong; (3) "Do It Again" by Elevation Worship; (4) "Your Name Is Power" by Rend Collective; (5) "Christ Lives In Me" also by Rend Collective; and (6) "All Things New" by KXC Worship.

Brandi will lead our communion time together. Roger will lead our prayer time together. And Brian will bring our sermon Sunday morning! He will be teaching from Galatians 2:15-21. I'm sure it will be very special and you won't want to miss!

Hope you have a great Labor Day weekend. Love you all much! Pastor Mark

Faith Not Fear During Covid

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

We are on a path this year of 2020. It most likely is not the path that we would have chosen for ourselves, if we had been given a choice. More often than not we do have choices for ourselves. That's what makes living in this country and in this century so very marvelous. But still... there are times when we don't have a choice, when life decides for us a path not of our own choosing. In those times we have only the choice of attitude - to walk the path chosen for us in fear or in faith.

This is what I want to talk to you about this coming Sunday morning - "Faith Or Fear During Covid." Brandi and I sat down and thought through all the challenges the members and friends of our church have already faced together in 2020. And the year is not even close to being over! You all have done a great job in walking this path - and yet, I believe it's always good to remember why and how we can exhibit faith when challenging times come our way.

I'm also excited that more and more of you are choosing to come to church on Sunday mornings. We're still well within our limits of keeping everyone socially distanced from one another. Yet it is also encouraging to actually see more and more of the body physically in one place. As always, make the decision that is best for you. No pressure from your pastor. But know that more of us have chosen to come back and so far it's been a very good thing.

The Pantry Is Almost Bare. Here is one thing you can do to help out others. We've given away food from our food pantry just about every week this year. Yet - during Covid - we've had very little food coming in. If you do decide to come to church Sunday morning, how about bring a bag or two of groceries with you so that we may continue to bless those who need it?

Wendy Sings An Original Song! One of the really great things that has happened during this Covid-19 year is the addition of many people to our church, who worship with us online. Wendy from Alabama is one. She wrote an original song, "Wake Up My Soul," which she will sing publicly for the first time in our church this Sunday morning! Isn't that awesome?

Also, Cheryl from Virginia has agreed to read our Scripture reading from Matthew 14:22-33. She does such a great job reading with enthusiasm! Let's just say she puts you right into the boat! Wow! Thanks Wendy and Cheryl and all the rest of you who watch each week from afar.

The Praise Team Is Back In Full! We've had several weeks of vacations for many from our praise team, but as far as I know, the whole crew will be back to lead our worship singing Sunday morning.

Here are the songs we are planning to sing: (1) "Love The Lord Your God" by Lincoln Brewster; (2) "Waymaker" by Leeland; (3) "Tremble" by Mosaic MSC; (4) "Evidence" by Josh Baldwin; and (5) "Only A God Like You" by Tommy Walker.

Sunday sounds like it will be another encouraging and uplifting time of worship. I hope you can make it - either in person or by watching the Facebook live stream. Love you much! Pastor Mark

Anniversary Week For Your Pastor

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

This has been anniversary week for Mary Kay and me. Tuesday we celebrated 41 years of marriage. For many years now we have turned this occasion into the cause of a week-long celebration. In the past we have traveled to a distant location for this purpose. This year, because of Covid, we remain close to home. But we have taken day trips together each day celebrating the life we share together! Many of you have written to us this week sharing the joy of our celebration. We just want to thank you for being such an important part of our lives!

Sunday morning we will talk about "5 Things You Should Know If You Want To Follow Jesus." Most of these 5 will come as a surprise to you, so you'll definitely want to be a part of our fellowship Sunday morning - either in person or on our Facebook online live video stream.

Here are the songs that we will be singing together: (1) See A Victory by Elevation Worship, (2) Graves Into Gardens, also by Elevation Worship, (3) How Great Is Your Love by Phil Wickham, (4) Holy Water by We The Kingdom and (5) Sing Wherever I Go, also by We The Kingdom.

I look forward to worshiping with you each week. Hope to see you one way or the other Sunday morning at 11am. Love you much! Pastor Mark

Questions In Questionable Times

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

And YES it is GOOD! We have to take the good wherever we can find it in the year 2020, right? I heard a good one the other day. "2020 is a unique leap year: 29 days in February, 300 days in March, 5 years ever since." Ha! How many of you want a 2020 do-over?

"Mulligan!" I called it! Ha!

More seriously, some of us are really struggling this year - questioning everything we thought we knew - about our lives and about our faith.

Sunday morning we'll take a page from the gospels, Mark 10 and the story of the blind beggar. Hopefully we'll take away some encouragement about the questions we are asking.

I'm excited for another reason! The band will be back. Last week many were on vacation resulting in Dave, Brian and Yours Truly holding down the fort. Personally, I think we did ok - but I'm really glad the platform will be full again!

Here are the songs we will be singing Sunday morning: "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)" by Chris Tomlin, "The Blessing" by Kari Jobe, "Champion" by Bethel, "Glorious Day" by Passion, "Here In Your Presence" by New Life Worship, and "Build Your Kingdom Here" by Rend Collective.

We hope you will attend - either in person or online with our Facebook LIVE Video feed. (We certainly understand for those who live far away or feel safer with the virus risk.) Either way we will "see" you Sunday! Love you! Pastor Mark