Hey everyone! Pastor Mark here with your weekly "what's happening" blog post. I hope you are enjoying this incredibly warm winter weather. I'm looking at the forecast and seeing 70+ temperatures every day for the next 5 days! I can hear the bike trail calling my name. How about you?
This weekend we have some great plans for our Church Requel worship service. March is Disabilities Awareness month here in Richland County. The primary message we learn from our friends with disabilities is that we should be aware of their great ABILITIES despite their disadvantages. There is no one for whom this is more true than Diana Devolder's young friend, Austin Wells. Austin is 15 years old and an 8th grade student at Clear Fork Middle School. He is a person with Down Syndrome; he was born with an extra 47th chromosome. Diana tells me that Austin has proved his "abilities" far surpass his "disability" and is an inspiration to everyone who meets him. We all will have the chance to be inspired by Austin Sunday night when he sings "Amazing Grace" for us. This will be a special moment for our entire Church Requel family and for Austin's family! You'll want to make sure you come to welcome Austin, his mother, Cortanee, and his entire family.
After Austin sings our children will be dismissed to Children's church - Lisa has prepared a FANTASTIC lesson for them! If you have an elementary child in your family don't let them miss out! When Lisa teaches, our kids always walk away from church with more than they had when they arrived! Our adults will continue our study of Romans chapter 8 - our 14th lesson in this series! Sunday we'll be focusing on verses 34-37. How do you define winning and losing? After Sunday evening you will gain the confidence to know that "hard times will not defeat me!" Want a head start on our teaching time Sunday? Click here to see the YouVersion sermon notes or open your Bible app on your mobile device, click LIVE and search for Church Requel.
Women's Bible Study. Our ladies met again this past Wednesday evening for part 2 of Beth Moore's James study. They all had a great time. Jana Edwards brought a small feast with her so our ladies fed their bodies while also feeding their souls. If you are a woman over age 18, don't miss out on this great opportunity to meet with the other women of our church. They had such a great time last Wednesday that they've decided to move up their meeting times to 6:30pm so they have an extra 30 minutes every other Wednesday. The next meeting will be Wednesday, March 28th.
Men's Breakfast. Great news! The only person who cooks a better breakfast than me is my dad! If you are lucky enough to be a guy, plan now to attend the next men's breakfast on Saturday, March 31st. Walt Pierce is already planning a great menu sure to include his famous fried potatoes. It also happens to be Walt's 81st birthday - he plans to celebrate by cooking up breakfast for you!
Easter Meal Donations. We plan to provide meals to those in need of a good Easter meal. Each Sunday we ask you to bring in cans of vegetables, stuffing mix, boxes of potatoes and dessert. Sheri and Jack will collect the food each week and will help coordinate the meal donations the week before Easter. If you know of a family who could use a meal, please email Steve Thoman. Let's make this the best meal donation yet!
Palm Sunday & Easter Plans. We are making special plans for our Palm Sunday and Easter worship services. We would love to have praise worship teams for both services. If you enjoy singing or playing a musical instrument and would like to be part of the praise team on either day, please let me know. We have a good start! Brandi Walker is leading on April 1st for Palm Sunday. Christy Anne Pierce, Tim and Jillian Vincent, and Dave Johnson will be leading on April 8th for Easter.
Prayer Requests. Keep praying for little Lincoln Bohnke. Lincoln was born 3 months prematurely, but he has survived his first (and most dangerous) two weeks. Every day brings new challenges. Lincoln's grandpa, Fred, told me this week that the doctors plan to keep Lincoln in the hospital until June 11th, his original due date. So this is no time for us to let up in our prayers for him, his mom Katie or his dad Dan. If you want to encourage Dan and Katie, you can link to their Caring Bridge site and let them know you're praying for them. Also remember Dick Jourdan, still suffering from shingles and still expecting surgery to remove a cancerous growth from his nose.
If you made it this far through our weekly "what's happening" then congrats to you! Do me one more favor. Don't keep Church Requel a secret. Tell a friend or family member about the great times we have together on Sunday evenings! Hope to see you Sunday at 6pm. Pastor Mark Pierce
