Good Friday morning to you! Pastor Mark here with your weekly update about everything happening at Church Requel. I'm loving this more summer-like weather this morning! I'm finally enjoying the warmer temperatures this June! What about you? I hope you are fully engaged in summer: BBQs, baseball, family picnics, hiking.
Personally I headed down to Mohican State Park this past Monday afternoon to enjoy some of the hiking trails. The photo on the right is taken on the Big Lyons Falls trail on the way to the Pleasant Valley Dam. The Big Lyons falls are not so big, but it was fun anyway. And it gave me a chance to practice what we're going to talk about this Sunday evening... a Sabbath!
Sunday evening we will learn about a disease many of us have. I confess to personally suffer from "hurry sickness." The cure is the practice of a weekly day of rest. Sunday we will discover 4 Sabbath concepts and we'll learn together 7 hints for keeping the Sabbath as a day of rest. My intent is for Sunday evening's talk to be informative and well... restful. I suppose it's the only sermon ever delivered where if you fall asleep during the talk then I'll think to myself: "Mission accomplished!" Ha! Would you like a head start? Check out Sunday's sermon notes from YouVersion.
What's been happening at Church Requel. It may be summertime, but things have sure been busy at Church Requel since I last wrote to you.
Wedding Bells Chimed. Well maybe not wedding bells, but the birds sure did a lot of chirping! Jack and Sheri got married this past Saturday at their home. They invited two dozen of their closest friends who watched them share their vows with each other in their beautiful back yard. It was my great privilege to share the morning with them and share a few words about the wonders and work of marriage. The Nichols plan to invite everyone to their place for a big party and reception on Saturday, June 30th at 1:30.
Bible Study Completed. Also this past Wednesday, the ladies completed their Bible study from the book of James. I'm really proud of them. I can tell you from personal observation that I've never seen Mary Kay more engaged with her own private study. I'm sure this was true for many of you ladies. Congratulations! Enjoy your summer off and come back this fall ready to study hard again!
CR Online Goodness! The international headquarters of Church Requel have been busy this past week with lots of great things for you to read and hear. Listen to this week's podcast and you'll hear an accurate forecast for stocks (hey, everyone gets lucky now and again), a conversation about the Hatfields & McCoys, and insight into just how Christian (or not) Richland County really is (or isn't!) Also we published an article about why Facebook for the under-13 crowd is such a stinker of an idea. And if you missed it - or just want to read it again - last week's sermon notes about caring for the environment is now posted.
Leadership Team Met Last Night. Finally your leadership team met last evening over at Steve Thoman's home. I'm so fortunate to be surrounded by such smart and caring leaders. We reviewed the finances for the church. We are still behind on our budgeted revenues, but there is good news! The online giving at Church Requel is working well. In fact we learned last evening that almost two-thirds of our offerings this year have come from online, automated contributions. Thanks so much for your faithfulness! That should work well for us this summer - a time when giving to churches everywhere slows down. As far as the budget goes, we're cutting back on the expenditures as best we can to live within our means.
Prayers. Let's all say prayers of support for Jack and Sheri's new marriage. May God bless them richly! Yes please also pray for Church Requel's finances. Let's thank the Lord for what He has provided and pray that we might have new donations coming in to support the ministry. Sunday afternoon Sean and Kyle will officially graduate from High School. Let's pray for their new direction in life. Keep praying for Dick Jourdan. He's still suffering from shingles and is facing heart bypass surgery on June 25th. Finally, let's keep praying for Lincoln Bohnke. Katie and Dan met with the doctors yesterday and learned more about Lincoln's illness. You can learn more about Lincoln's condition and post your kind support over on their Caring Bridge website.
That will wrap up this week's edition of What's Happening at Church Requel. I hope to see all of you Sunday evening at 6pm. It should be good! Love you all! Pastor Mark
