Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

Sermon Notes: I Am Not Condemned

Every week I publish my sermon notes so that you may read them for yourselves.  For my parishioners, this could be a good review from the weekend before.  And it gives you a chance to see what I intended to say!  For other pastors and ministers, feel free to borrow and use any of this material.  I'd love for God to be glorified by you incorporating these notes into your own worship.

Listen to "I Am Not Condemned."

I KNOW: “I Am Not Condemned” 11.20.11

Scripture:  Romans 8:1-4 ESV 

Video: “I Know Promo” [2:33] 

Intro: Today we begin the “I Know” sermon series - 4 talks from Romans 8 that can help us.  Our Christian faith is not just one of knowledge nor one of emotions.  It’s both.  If we attempt to run our faith from either one exclusively, we have problems.  A “faith” of knowledge only is a dry faith. God touches us at a deep, emotional level.  However, there are times when our feelings can mislead us... times when we don’t “feel” God or his forgiveness.  Today I want to talk about our “sin” and “condemnation” and how our knowledge can help inform our feelings.

The Problem of Sin is a ___UNIVERSAL___ One.  Sin is when we do something or don’t do something that misses the mark.  When we don’t please God by what we do or fail to do.  The Bible tells us that...

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 ESV

 Often, we Christians will look at that sentence with a knowing and “past tense” attitude.  We “know” that sin keeps us at distance from God, hurts our relationship.  We often think of this in terms of past tense for ourselves.  “We used to be sinners, but now we are Christians,” as if the two were mutually exclusive.  But the Bible clearly addresses US...

“ If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.” 1 John 1:8 NLT

 We can take one of two attitudes about this condition.  First, we can be nonchalant about this issue, not be too concerned, and claim God’s grace.  This is dangerous, for as we’ll see, God did not send His Son so that we would remain chained in a sinful condition. God wants us to be free from sin.  When the religious leaders of Jesus’ day threw the woman guilty of adultery at his feet and dared Jesus to stone her, he forgave her instead.  We like that part of the story.  However, he also said, “Go and sin no more!”  If you take your sinful actions or inactions too lightly, you should ask yourself some hard questions about whether you really are a Christ-follower or not.  For no true Christian would grieve the heart of His Savior.  Sin causes God grief - and should also cause us grief.  As a Christian I cannot ignore the truth of 1 John 1:8 above. The fact I’m a sinner doesn’t make me happy.  It frustrates me.  Like Paul wrote...

 “I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.” Romans 7:19 NLT

 This is the 2nd response to sin... Does this sound familiar to you?  Wanting to do what is good, but doing the opposite?  Not doing what you know to do.  Here’s my question for you... and for me... this evening.  What do we do when we discover that we fail as a Christ follower?  What do I do when I’m feeling chained to sin, even when the Bible tells me that I’m “free” from sin?  How does “knowing” help and inform my “feeling” of condemnation, guilt and separation from God?  If this describes you, I have good news for you tonight.  I’d like to talk to you about the 4 Rs of our freedom: the REALITY of freedom, the REASON of freedom, the ROUTE of freedom, and the RESULT of freedom.

Audio Sermon: I Am Not Condemned

Romans 8:1 tells us that if we are Christ-followers, we are not condemned!  What does this mean? How can we know this?  Last night I talked about the 4 Rs of our freedom in Christ.

Listen to "I Am Not Condemned."

Subscribe to this audio podcast!  It's available every week on iTunes or for any other mp3 player.

Tonight: 4 Rs of Our Freedom In Christ

Good morning!  I am writing this to you from Celina, Ohio.  I am sitting at the kitchen table where I have shared many a breakfast with my wife's family.  I'm reminded of the very first time I made the trip to Celina, before Mary Kay and I were married.  The plate of bacon was passed first to me, as the guest, and I ignorantly piled on 4 slices.  Mary Kay later explained to me that no one ever took more than 2 slices.  One pound of bacon had to feed 7 siblings, Mom and Dad... and now one young, hungry suitor. This was not the way to make a great first impression!

I want the church to know that Mary Kay and I are heading for home at noon today and we intend to see all of you tonight at Church Requel.  We cannot begin to tell you how very much we both look forward to our time together this evening.  You all did such a wonderful job being the church this past week during our absence.  I am still marveling that you fed so many hungry people over Thanksgiving!  Tonight we will give you some time to share stories of giving meals away.

We also will begin our sermon series from Romans 8 with the first topic: "I Am Not Condemned."  This was the sermon I had intended to share with you last weekend.  We will talk about WHY we can KNOW we are not condemned as Christ-followers.  We'll talk about the reality, the reason, the route, and the result of our freedom in Christ.  We will also watch a brief, dramatic movie that will help you know for certain that you are not condemned. Here's the YouVersion sermon outline for tonight.

From the bottom of both of our hearts, Mary Kay and I thank you for the loving support you have provided us during our week of grief.  We know how much you love us.  Your acts of love toward us this week have helped more than you could ever know.

With great affection, Pastor Mark

Empty Chair This Thanksgiving

The Pierce and Hawk households are experiencing a sad Thanksgiving week.  This past Sunday, my wife's mom, Marilyn, passed on and we have been mourning her loss.  The funeral will be Saturday.  In the midst of this grief, my turn for the News Journal Viewpoint came up.  Each Saturday a local pastor writes a column about the Christian faith, and this just happened to be my week. Coincidence?  Or God's timing? Tuesday morning I wrote and submitted what follows.  It will appear in Saturday's paper.

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The old white house, once so full of life and laughter, now sits empty.  The grandkids would be putting up the Christmas tree this weekend over in that corner. The kitchen table now sits with stacks of unopened mail, where stews and stuffing would be steaming.  The rug by the door, once overrun with shoes, now only holds empty oxygen tanks.  The air in our house is stuffy, filled with this “life goes on” staleness. For our family, though, life has stopped.

This Thanksgiving week we lost our mom.  After 80 full years Marilyn died leaving behind this large family without its center.  Like her house, our family today experiences only emptiness. That is, in our better moments, when we’re not overwhelmed with grief and tears.  Yet Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time of fullness, a time of celebration.  

I’m the brother who is the pastor.  Where is our celebration?  Where is our fullness?  Where is our thanksgiving?  What does the pastor brother say on a day like today?

Like many other families during the holidays, there will be an empty chair at our table.  Especially this year, celebration and fullness may be elusive.  But not thanksgiving.  And not hope.  These we will have in abundance.

Marilyn taught her children the love of Christ.  She taught them how to pray.  She filled them with faith and hope.  She never doubted.  She lived out her faith on the streets of real life, where we could watch and learn.  This Thanksgiving Day, in the place of celebration and fullness, we find comfort and hope.

In the first century there was another brother, Paul, sitting with his family of soul-mates, possibly also during a holiday week.  They wondered about their own loved ones who had passed from this life.  Here’s what Paul told them: 

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.”

Paul did not pen these hopeful words for some family whose names are lost in antiquity.  These are words written today for my brothers and sisters: Gene, Dan, John, Mary Kay, Rick, Patty, and Mike.  These are words written for me.  These are words written for you.

The Christian always has reason for comfort and hope and thanksgiving, regardless of the season.  Regardless of the circumstances.  This is Christmas and Easter and Thanksgiving all rolled into one.

There will come a day - and that day could be this day - when Christ will return.  Some people view this day of the Lord’s return as a day of foreboding.  Not this family.  This will be our day of reunion.  The day when we see our Savior.  The day when we are reunited with our mom.

On this Saturday morning, while you are reading this, I will be sitting in a church with my family saying goodbye.  There will be tears aplenty.  Mom’s favorite flower was bittersweet, because she knew that God gave us life filled with both the bitter and the sweet.  Marilyn and Paul were of like mind. Paul did not say we do not grieve. Paul wrote that we do not grieve like others who have no hope.  We shall grieve with all of our hearts.  Hearts filled with loss.  Hearts filled with love.  Hearts filled with hope.  Hearts filled with thanksgiving.

This Weekend at Church Requel: No Condemnation!

Hi everyone!  This is Pastor Mark writing you to let you know what's going on at Church Requel this weekend.  I am writing you from the ICU waiting room at Riverside Hospital this morning.

Update on Marilyn. Mary Kay and I would like to thank all of you for your prayers on behalf of Mary Kay's mom.  Mary and I have been down to the Riverside ICU each day this week with Marilyn.  As most of you know, Marilyn suffered a stroke Tuesday morning while recovering from surgery.  This stroke was large and was on both sides of her brain.  We've had quite a few dark days with family, where there didn't seem to be much hope.  The health care professionals were preparing us for the worst.  However, this morning things are looking a little better.  Marilyn is breathing on her own and may have the ventilator removed later today.  She also has her glasses on and is looking around.  She is also squeezing our hands this morning.  The doctor has told us that she is doing much better than what her MRI would normally indicate.  Your prayers are working!  Please keep lifting Marilyn and her family up in your prayers!

Weekend at Church Requel. Sunday night, we will kick off our new sermon series from Romans 8. Fifteen of you helped me create the "I Know" promo video and several of you have asked that we play it again.  I'm very excited about the talk Sunday night.  Romans 8 is my favorite chapter in the Bible.  As I sat at the table in the ICU waiting room, I was forced several times to focus and narrow our talk for Sunday night.  In the end, I plan to cover just the first four verses - but what GREAT verses they are!  We are not condemned!  We are free in Christ.  We'll talk about the 4 Rs of this freedom - the REALITY, the REASON, the ROUTE, and the RESULTS of our freedom.  If you have ever struggled with feelings of guilt or doubts, you will not want to miss this talk!

In addition, we have a very special video called "The Verdict," which we will play after the talk.  This video features Eddie James, who many of you know as one of the Skit Guys.  Normally Eddie and Tommy make us laugh.  However, in "The Verdict," Eddie takes us into the court room to help us truly understand the significance of our freedom in Christ.  It's dramatic and memorable.  It is the perfect ending to our evening's Bible lesson and the perfect introduction for our communion celebration!

Church Requel Will Feed 16 Families! Because of Christ in you and your generous response to our community's needs, we will be distributing enough food Sunday night to feed 16 local families. These are families you have identified as being in need of a good meal.  These meals are not meager, but are full Thanksgiving meals with all the fixings!  Thanks so much to Sheri, Steve and Randy for coordinating all of the details in my absence this week.

You may also continue to bring more food each week between now and Christmas.  We will continue to distribute food to financially strapped families in the Mansfield area.  You may also bring additional financial contributions if you would prefer to help in that way. Also bring names of people that you know could use this blessing of an abundant meal.  You will have the opportunity to give us the names and contact information on the back of your Connection Card Sunday night.

I can't tell you enough how much you have blessed me through this tough week.  I'm so fortunate to be your pastor!  I'm really looking forward to our Sunday evening together!

With great affection, Pastor Mark

Sermon Notes: Strong and Courageous

Every week I publish my sermon notes so that you may read them for yourselves.  For my parishioners, this could be a good review from the weekend before.  And it gives you a chance to see what I intended to say!  For other pastors and ministers, feel free to borrow and use any of this material.  I'd love for God to be glorified by you incorporating these notes into your own worship.  Here are the notes and audio from last week's sermon.

Play Strong and Courageous Sermon

Veteran’s Day: Be Strong and Courageous 11.13.11

Scripture:  Joshua 1:5-9 ESV 

Video: “I Know Promo” [2:33]

Intro: “I Know” sermon series starts next week.  Study of Romans 8, “greatest chapter.”  The one we go to most often in times of trouble.  When we need assurance of God’s goodness and love.  Our focus will be on the difference between knowing and feeling.  We often live our Christian lives off of our feelings.  Problem is that our emotions betray us. There are things we need to KNOW when we don’t FEEL it.

 One of those things we need to be reminded of we find in Joshua 1.  “Be Strong and Courageous because God is with us.”  Background - Joshua greatest army general of the Bible. Led people into promised land when Moses died.  

This advice is especially important to me WHEN...

• I’m going through times of  ___TRANSITION___.  Joshua was facing a transition in leadership.  Moses had been the greatest leader ever known.  Led Israel out of Egypt.  How do you follow a guy like that?
• I’m attempting something ___NEW TO ME___.  Political and religious leadership was new to Joshua.  One thing to be the 2nd in command - another entirely to BE THE leader!
• The odds are ___OVERWHELMING___ against me.  Joshua was facing tough odds.  Crossing into a land described 40 years earlier as containing “giants!” 
• I’m feeling ___INADEQUATE___ to the task. Leading the people of Israel tough for Moses.  How could Joshua do it?  Surely he was feeling inadequate.
• I believe I’m ___OBEYING GOD___.  Doing what God requires is never as easy as we might think.  At best inconvenient.  At worst dangerous.  To obey God requires God’s help!

 The time to BE strong & courageous is when I FEEL...

 ___WEAK___ and ___FEARFUL___!!!

 “Therefore my spirit faints within me, my heart within me is appalled.” Psalm 143:4 ESV

 “I am losing all hope; I am paralyzed with fear.” Psalm 143:4 NLT

 It’s not when we are FEELING strong and courageous we need to be strong and courageous.  It’s when we are most vulnerable.  When things go wrong.  When I feel inadequate.  Personal Story of this week.

Transition: KEY QUESTION TODAY!

How can I BE strong and courageous when I FEEL the opposite?

Video Sermon: Strong and Courageous

Being strong and courageous usually happens when we feel weak and fearful.  In this video sermon we learn three ways we can BE strong and courageous, despite how we FEEL.  Join me in this video sermon as we study Joshua 1:5-8.  This talk was given to Church Requel over Veterans Day weekend on November 13, 2011.

 

Here are the resources to support this sermon.  You may want to download the weekend program and follow along.  Or perhaps you'd like to have a copy of my notes.  If you are a pastor or ministry leader of another church, you are most welcome to use these resources in any way that could build the kingdom of Christ.  We're on the same team!  Download any of the following:

• Weekly program without answers (PDF - 1.2 MB)
• Weekly program with answers (PDF - 1.2 MB)
  
• My personal sermon notes used in pulpit (PDF - 129 KB)
  
• My sermon notes in Kindle format (AZW - 16 KB)
  
• Notes with graphics / slides in margin (PDF - 2.6 MB), used by our tech team
  
• Weekend worship planning sheet (PDF - 36 KB), for ideas to support the theme
  

All of the Church Requel sermons are available either in the CR Video Library or the CR Audio Library or you can listen on the Church Requel Audio Blog.  Would you like to subscribe to the weekly audio podcast and receive the sermon each week?  Subscribe here for iTunes or here for all other mp3 devices.  You can also subscribe to the weekly video podcast.

Audio Sermon: Strong and Courageous

Being strong and courageous usually happens when we feel weak and fearful.  Here are three ways we can BE strong and courageous, despite how we FEEL.  Join me in this audio version of last night's talk as we study Joshua 1:5-8 together.

Play Strong and Courageous Sermon

Subscribe to this audio podcast!  It's available every week on iTunes or for any other mp3 player.

Video Sermon: Thanks For Everything

How do you know your dreams come true are God'd dreams and not just your own desires? In last weekend's talk, we examined Joseph's life and learn 4 ways to know if our dreams have come from God.  Enjoy this video!  Thanks to Dave Johnson for his editing work!

 

Here are the resources to support this week's sermon.  You may want to download the weekend program and follow along.  Or perhaps you'd like to have a copy of my notes.  If you are a pastor or ministry leader of another church, you are most welcome to use these resources in any way that could build the kingdom of Christ.  We're on the same team!  Download any of the following:

• My personal teaching notes I used in the pulpit (PDF - 110 KB)
• Same notes but in Kindle format (AZW - 15 KB)
• Sermon notes with graphics in the margins (PDF - 2.2 MB), used by our tech team
• Our Weekend Planning Sheet (PDF - 36 KB), for ideas to support the theme

All of the Church Requel sermons are available either in the CR Video Library or the CR Audio Library or you can listen on the Church Requel Audio Blog.  Would you like to subscribe to the weekly audio podcast and receive the sermon each week?  Subscribe here for iTunes or here for all other mp3 devices.  You can also subscribe to the weekly video podcast.

Strong and Courageous Weekend at CR

Hi everyone!  Pastor Mark here with important info about this weekend.  So please read on!

First, though, I want to thank many of you for your prayers for Mary Kay's mom, Marilyn.  Marilyn was taken to the Riverside Emergency Room Wednesday with symptoms of shortness of breath and fluids swelling in several extremities.  She was diagnosed with an pericardial effusion and subsequently that evening, Marilyn underwent an emergency thoracotomy.  To translate that last sentence into the kind of English I can understand, she was building fluids up around her heart and lungs.  So her surgeon drained the fluids from her left side.   As I write this on Friday afternoon, Marilyn is still in the intensive care unit at Riverside.  Mary Kay has been by her mom's side since Wednesday, staying overnight at the hospital the last two nights.  Needless to say, we appreciate your continued prayers for Marilyn.

Potluck Meal at 4pm.  Church Requel will enjoy a potluck meal at 4pm in the fellowship hall beneath the chapel.  If you'd like to join Cindy, Nancy, and Lisa - they will be setting up for the potluck at 3pm. Families should bring two dishes; single folks bring one dish.  The church will provide plates, napkins, silverware, lemonade, and coffee.  We also have several folks with disabilities who could use a ride into the church.  If you can offer transportation or would like the details, email me or call my cell 419.564.1525.  This should be an enjoyable time for our church family.  You won't want to miss it.

Bring Food For Thanksgiving Meals. Remember that we are also providing Thanksgiving meals for the hungry.  Please bring canned fruits and vegetables, boxed desserts, mashed potatos, stuffing mix, and anything else that would be appropriate for a Thanksgving meal.  Also please think of families who you know could use a little extra help with their Thanksgiving this year.  You could let us know their names and give us contact info Sunday night.

Worship Service Theme - Strong and Courageous.  We'll enjoy our worship time together Sunday night at 6pm.  Since this is Veterans Day, we've asked my favorite veteran - my father - to read our Scripture from Joshua 1:5-9.  I've got some other surprises in store for you Sunday night, including a visit from Indiana Jones!  I promise this will be a great weekend to be at Church Requel!

Love you all much!  Thanks for your ongoing prayers!  Pastor Mark

P.S. I wrote an article on my blog about my own struggles with courage this week. Read it here.

P.P.S. If someone sent this message to you, here are directions to our church.  

Courage For The Small Church Pastor

This week I'm preparing a talk for my congregation from the great text found in Joshua 1:9. "Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."  As so often happens God is allowing me to learn these great truths of His Word through the pages of my life as each day turns anew.

I know that this divine encouragement was given to the great army general, Joshua. Especially as we honor our veterans this week I am reminded of the courage of each of our men and women who have served their country despite their fears.  However, on this day, God is reminding me of the courage necessary for church planters and small group pastors.

I remember those intense days of three years ago on Thanksgiving 2008, when Church Requel was given its first breath of life.  Because of the horrible local economy, I lost my middle management position as an executive pastor of a megachurch.  I remember thinking - as my father had taught me repeatedly - that this setback was not the problem it appeared to be, but rather an opportunity to do something new and something different.  Rather than look for another pastoral position with an existing church, we would start a new church with a few friends and see how God would bless it.

Currently I'm reading The Strategically Small Church by Brandon J. O'Brien.  I have so identified with O'Brien's first chapter where he talks about reimagining ministry success.  He writes about the ministry career arc many of us expect to experience.

At some point in your life you sense a clear call from God to enter the ministry.  It makes a better story if this happens after years of success in a lucrative secular career or a period of profound and sinful rebellion.  After a time of preparation - whether in seminary or through a careful perusal of church planting materials - you take a position in a small church. Over the next several years, your ministry grows. You see people reconcile with God, lives are changed, and you feel confident you are squarely within God's will.  You've found your calling. Either your church plant grows rapidly or you move from church to church - usually (and fortunately) to increasingly larger, more vibrant congregations.  Soon your peers recognize your success and a publisher asks you to write a book about your story.  You share it at conferences.  You have arrived.

I'm embarrassed to admit it - but these words struck home with me.  Even the part about changing from a lucrative secular career in my life's first half described me perfectly.  Three years ago - coming from a large church management experience - I expected that by now we'd be about halfway through that paragraph.  Yet, no publisher has called to ask me to write about our story.  And the only conferences that call are the ones who want me to pay to attend so I can hear other pastors' success stories.

"I KNOW" Promo Video

Would you like a sneak peak at our next sermon series?  Here's a cool promo video we put together today.  We started with the original video from Shift Worship.  Then we added 15 voices from our own congregation.  I'm thrilled with the way it turned out.  This 2 1/2 minute video will be on the front page of our website for the next 5 weeks.  What do you think?

 

Sermon Notes: Thanks For Everything

Every week I publish my sermon notes so that you may read them for yourselves.  For my parishioners, this could be a good review from the weekend before.  And it gives you a chance to see what I intended to say!  For other pastors and ministers, feel free to borrow and use any of this material.  I'd love for God to be glorified by you incorporating these notes into your own worship.

Listen to Thanks For Everything!

Dreamcoat Part 4: Thanks for Everything 11.06.11

Scripture:  Genesis 41:37-43 NIV84 

Video: “In Everything” by Centerline New Media 

Intro:  This is the month of November.  That means that Thanksgiving is right around the corned.  And yes, as this video tells us, we should give thanks in EVERYTHING, all day every day - every second of the day - 86,400 times a day!  Today, though, I want to focus in on the conclusion of our Dreamcoat series.  Being thankful for our God-dreams. Especially when they come true!  How do we know they are God-dreams or our dreams? And what indicators can we find that when our dreams come true, that they really were God-dreams to begin with? 

4 Ways To Know My Dreams Come From God

When my God-dreams come true...

1. Other people will say, "___YAY GOD!___"

You never have to worry about stealing credit from God.  When you accomplish something really BIG, people will know!  I love to say around here that we dream so big that if we accomplish half of what we want to do everyone will know it had to be God!  ‘Cause it sure couldn’t have been us!  When Joseph was given his job as second only to the king, the credit for his advancement was given to God, not to Joseph.

So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?” Genesis 41:38 NLT

Example - Stop and think about when we gave away those 100 turkey dinners last April.  Did anyone sit around and say - Wow, CR - you did something awesome? No!  Everyone knew we couldn’t have possibly pulled that off on our own.  God moved in people’s lives.  Same is true now.  Let’s dream big for Thanksgiving - only 3 weeks away.  Who could we benefit with turkey dinners?  Who does God want us to bless?  Let’s have a big heart and a big dream and know at the end of it that everyone will know it came from God - That everyone will say, “Yay God!”

Audio Sermon: Thanks for Everything

How do you know your dreams come true are God's dreams and not just your own desires? We examine Joseph's life and learn 4 ways to know if our dreams have come from God. Join me in this audio sermon from this past Sunday evening.

Thanks For Everything!

Subscribe to this audio podcast!  It's available every week on iTunes or for any other mp3 player.

Video Sermon: Thanks For Nothing

There are down times in our lives when our soul says, "Thanks for nothing," times when our dreams don't seem to come true. Join me in this video sermon as we examine Joseph's life to learn 6 ways to remain U.P.B.E.A.T. in these down times.

 

Here are the resources to support this week's sermon.  You may want to download the weekend program and follow along.  Or perhaps you'd like to have a copy of my notes.  If you are a pastor or ministry leader of another church, you are most welcome to use these resources in any way that could build the kingdom of Christ.  We're on the same team!  Download any of the following:

• My sermon teaching notes for "Thanks For Nothing" (PDF - 115 KB)
• Same sermon notes, but in Kindle format (AZW - 15 KB)
• Sermon notes with graphics in margins (PDF - 1.6 MB), used by our tech team
• Our Weekend Planning Sheet (PDF - 36 KB), for ideas to support the theme

All of the Church Requel sermons are available either in the CR Video Library or the CR Audio Library or you can listen on the Church Requel Audio Blog.  Would you like to subscribe to the weekly audio podcast and receive the sermon each week?  Subscribe here for iTunes or here for all other mp3 devices.  You can also subscribe to the weekly video podcast.

Video Sermon: The Green Giant

The phrase "Green With Envy" demonstrates that envy makes us sick.  In this video sermon, I  share 6 reasons envy why envy hurts us. Randy Craig shares his own stuggles with envy.  Scripture from Genesis 37:18-28.

 

Here are the resources to support this week's sermon.  You may want to download the weekend program and follow along.  Or perhaps you'd like to have a copy of my notes.  If you are a pastor or ministry leader of another church, you are most welcome to use these resources in any way that could build the kingdom of Christ.  We're on the same team!  Download any of the following:

• My personal sermon teaching notes (PDF - 134 KB)
• Same notes, but in Kindle format (AZW - 15KB)
• Sermon Notes with graphics in margins (PDF - 2.9 MB), what our tech team uses.
• Weekend Planning Sheet (PDF - 35 KB) - for ideas to support the theme

All of the Church Requel sermons are available either in the CR Video Library or the CR Audio Library or you can listen on the Church Requel Audio Blog.  Would you like to subscribe to the weekly audio podcast and receive the sermon each week?  Subscribe here for iTunes or here for all other mp3 devices.  You can also subscribe to the weekly video podcast.

Thanks For Everything - Especially Our Dreams!

Hey everyone!  Pastor Mark here with our plans for Church Requel this weekend.  We have lots of great things happening Sunday evening, so stop and take just a quick minute to read about what's going on!

I'm thrilled to tell you that Brandi Walker will be leading our worship singing this weekend.  Brandi loves to sing and she loves to worship.  I promise you'll have a great worship experience at Church Requel with Brandi Sunday night.  We'll sing "Love the Lord," "For All You've Done," "Revelation Song," and "You Are My King."  I'm looking forward this weekend to sitting with all of you and following Brandi's lead!

There's more to great worship than singing.  We'll share communion together and pray for our requests and praise with our answered prayers.  Marci will read our Scripture from Genesis 41:37-43.  And we'll be reminded by this special video that we each have 86,400 seconds in every day to be thankful.

This also will be the first weekend when we'll be collecting food, finances, and family names for our Thanksgiving meal donations.  Sheri and Randy have agreed to lead this exciting opportunity.  I wrote a special message about how you can partner with us, if you'd like.  If you haven't read it yet, check it out here.  We only have 3 weekends to collect everything whatever God leads us to do.  I'm looking forward to seeing our foyer loaded with food for the hungry this weekend!

Finally this weekend we will bring the Dreamcoat sermon series to an end with a study on God-given dreams.  How do we know if our dreams come from God or not?  There are valuable lessons we learn from the life of Joseph in Genesis.  In fact, we'll consider 4 ways to know if our dreams are from God.  So bring your Bibles and be prepared for an awesome evening together at Church Requel!

Thanksgiving Meals: Food, Finances, and Families

Hey everyone! Pastor Mark here.  I'm writing this special message to let you know that we will be helping financially strapped families this Thanksgiving with all the food and fixens necessary for a great family Thanksgiving meal. Over the next three weekends we'll be gathering food, finances and families whom we may serve.  I'd like to give you plenty of time to pray and consider how you might help.  There are 3 ways you can be a partner with us!

Food -  We will be collecting groceries over the next 3 weekends at our Church Requel services.  You may bring can goods or boxed goods.  Anything that will keep and that would fit the theme of a Thanksgiving meal would be welcomed. Cans of vegetables or fruits would be great.  Boxes of stuffing or boxed desserts would be wonderful too.  As a church we'll raise the money to purchase turkeys, potatoes and yes, even the turkey pan.

Finances - If God should lead you to be generous in your finances, you may give money to help us make these food and fixens purchases.  Also, if you are not a regular attendee of our congregation - but want to help - you can give this way.  

Families - We'd also like you to begin thinking of families that could use the extra help this year.  (It could even be you!  That would be great!)  You can email me, or call me (419.564.1525), or - if you attend CR - fill out the names of people on the back of the Connection Card in church.  It would really help us if you could give us the family's address, contact name, and phone number too.  We hope to distribute the meals the week of Thanksgiving.

How many meals might we give away this year?  I have no idea.  Let's leave that up to the food, finances, and families that God lays on our hearts.  All I do know is that this is the kind of thing a requel church does as a normal kind of thing.  Thanks for your generous support!  And thanks also to Sherry and Randy for their passion and leadership this Thanksgiving season!  - Pastor Mark

Sermon Notes: Thanks For Nothing

Every week I publish my sermon notes so that you may read them for yourselves.  For my parishioners, this could be a good review from the weekend before.  And it gives you a chance to see what I intended to say!  For other pastors and ministers, feel free to borrow and use any of this material.  I'd love for God to be glorified by you incorporating these notes into your own worship.

Play "Thanks for Nothing" while you read the sermon!

Dreamcoat Part 3: Thanks for Nothing 10.30.11

Scripture:  Genesis 39:9-23 ESV [reading v. 11-14;19-21]

Video: “Psalm 42” by Shift Worship

Intro:  Praising God and being thankful for His many blessings is one thing when life is going well and we are living out all of our dreams.  But what about the down times?  What about those times - and there are many - when our dreams are not fulfilled.  What do we do when our dreams mock us? When our real life is so distant, so opposite our dreams, that our real life seems more like a nightmare.  That’s what we discover in Joseph’s life.  He dreamed as a young man that his brothers and father and mother would one day bow down to him.  Eventually his dreams came true.  However, as we see in today’s Scripture, there were a lot of down times for Joseph between the dream and the reality of it.  We would be tempted to say, “Thanks for NOTHING!” Not Joseph...

 How To Be U.P.B.E.A.T. In Down Times

U _UNDERSTAND_ that bad things happen to good people.

Real life doesn’t work out sometimes like we dream it will.  The Bible tells us of 3 different times in Joseph’s life when his life was a nightmare compared to his dream:

 When his brothers sold him into slavery:

“Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.” Genesis 37:28 ESV

When Potiphar threw him into prison:

“So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained.” Genesis 39:20 NLT

 When the cup-bearer forgot all about him:

“Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought.” Genesis 40:23 NLT

 We must understand that bad things do indeed happen to good people.  This goes against our perception of how the world should be. We want to cry out that life is not fair! Which leads us to “P”.