Hey everyone! Pastor Mark here with your weekly Church Requel update! Hope this Friday morning finds you up and at 'em, full of vim and vinegar! As my dad often reminded me: "The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the bees are making honey!"
POTLUCK THIS SUNDAY!!! Mention the word "potluck" to a requeler and his or her mouth will automatically start watering! People come from miles around to be part of the Church Requel potluck. I've already been receiving messages from some of the things you all have cooking up - and it sounds so fantastic. Bryan (pictured here) complained at our last potluck that we scheduled it on a weekend when he had to work. This time we checked first with Bryan's schedule (back in February!) so that he could again lead the line. Don't worry - even with Bryan getting first dibs, there will be plenty to eat for everyone!
Plan on arriving at the church by 4pm - two hours earlier than usual. We'll meet in the fellowship hall directly beneath the chapel area where we hold our services. Families should bring one main dish and one side dish or dessert. Single folks bring one dish of any kind to share with others. The church will provide plates, napkins, eating utensils and noncarbonated beverages.
A special message to some of our new families. I know coming to something like this can be intimidating. Trust me when I tell you there is no better way to get to know other folks at Church Requel. It's a fun, low-key, enjoyable event where you can make new friends and catch up with old friends.
Learn To Be Your Own Boss. That's sounds like an odd title for a Christian message. However that's the theme for our 6pm Church Requel service. We will meet in the chapel at 6pm like always. (Folks who come to the potluck will have to hike themselves up the stairs - no small challenge!) Part 3 of our God Life sermon series will help us with our self-discipline. We'll talk about our habits and the connections between our purpose, patterns and practices.
I have a wonderfully simple (and I hope memorable) special sermon planned for our elementary children. So make sure they come too! They will come up front with Pastor Mark before the regular sermon. If I do my job well enough, everyone will wish they were back in grade school!
One more piece of GREAT NEWS! We have a new nursery volunteer! Shannon Melton is "Mom" to Dylan, Drew, Lila, and Addie. Shannon contacted me this week and volunteered to serve once a month in the Nursery! She'll also be bringing snacks and a craft for the lucky pre-schoolers! If you have preschoolers at home - don't leave them behind... Bring them with you! With Shannon they will have a great church experience. If you see Shannon, let her know how much we appreciate her being a part of the Church Requel team.
Women's Bible Study Wednesday at 6:30pm. This study from the epistle of James includes a great video teaching from Beth Moore. Topics in this study include: joy, hardship, faith, reversal of fortunes for rich and poor, wisdom, gifts from above, single-mindedness, the dangers of the tongue, humility, and prayer. If you are a woman at Church Requel, you won't want to miss this chance to meet and know new friends and learn important, faith-building lessons. The group meets every other Wednesday at 6:30pm at Mary Kay's home. (It happens to be the same place where I hang out!)
New Members Class June 2nd. This is our first announcement for the new membership class. You may wonder why we are sharing this so early. Several of you have mentioned that you would like to join the church. We are letting you know about this June 2nd class so that you can make sure you keep this Saturday free. We'll start at 8:30am and will finish by 2:30pm. A continental breakfast and lunch will be included. If you come to the class you are not obligated to become a member. This is the best way to learn everything you ever wanted to know about Church Requel! There is no cost to attend. Email me if you would like to reserve your seat.
Church Requel Podcast Every Monday! Do you know about this? Every Monday morning I put together the Church Requel podcast. What's a podcast? It's an audio program that you can download from the Internet. It's like a radio show. Every week I talk about the things going on at Church Requel. Then we include the audio sermon from the Sunday night before. Here's a link to the podcast feed. Listen to the podcast here.
This is a great way to become a Church Requel insider. It's like sitting down and having a conversation with me every week. I love podcasts! I listen in the car when I'm driving and when I exercise. There's never any hurry or time constraints because I'm usually doing something else at the same time.
I'm putting together an email list of people who want to know when the podcast is actually up and ready to go every week. If you would like to receive this Monday message, send me an email. You also will have the chance to comment and share your comments with others who are on the podcast mailing list!
Good News About Lincoln. I know many of you have been praying for Lincoln Bohnke every day. Lincoln was born prematurely on March 2nd. He was only 25 weeks along. At the time he weighed only 2 pounds and 1 ounce. Now he is up to 3 pounds. The news this week has been good and we are grateful. However, he is still on a ventilator. His original due date was not until June 11th. I know Dan (pictured on the right) and Katie would really appreciate your prayers and encouragement. I encourage you to go to their Caring Bridge site and let them know you are thinking of them. (Click here to connect to the Caring Bridge site.)
One more prayer request - keep Dick Jourdan in your prayers. He is still in a great deal of pain from the shingles. And this is keeping him from having a needed surgery to remove a cancerous growth on his nose. I know Dick would love your prayers and encouragement too.
Thank you for your faithfulness. I would be remiss if I didn't also share with you that several of our small congregation have really taken our finances to heart and have been incredibly supportive. I only mentioned this once at a public worship service three weeks ago, but you have responded so beautifully. One man recently started a new, full-time job. His first response was to show up at Pastor Steve's home to sign up for online giving. Another woman met with me this week. She's working a new part-time job and wanted to donate her first paycheck. I can't begin to tell you how humbling this is for me as your pastor. We still have a ways to go to catch up with our budget for the year. However, I know two things. First, I know you love your church and are praying and sacrificing to make Church Requel possible. Second, I know that our God is good and will take us through this faith journey. I just want you to know that I LOVE going through this journey with you!
Ok. I think this long Friday message needs to come to an end. If you actually read this far I congratulate you! Why not share this with someone else? Forward this to a friend or family member along with your invitation to Church Requel this weekend. They will thank you. And so will I!
God bless! Pastor Mark
