Hello Church Requel! Pastor Mark here with all the week's news you want to know about CR. Rain! Yay! Can you tell we're parched? We get a day of rain and we are thrilled! Sadly we learned this week that it's too late for my wife's family's corn crop in Celina. The whole crop has been declared lost for this season. First time ever. The good news is that the crop was insured so we won't lose the grain. Still, we're thankful for the local rain for our local growers.
We plan to have "showers of blessings" Sunday night at Church Requel. You won't want to miss. Our Summer Singles teaching comes from Exodus 18:13-18. This is the part of the Bible where Moses is overwhelmed with the administration of the new nation of Israel. His father-in-law, Jethro, provides some helpful advice. We learn that one is the loneliest number, 3 reasons why we need TOGETHER, and 4 practical tips to make it happen. Want a preview? You can check out the online sermon here.
Sunday night we'll experience "grace like rain" for other reasons too. Nancy will read our Scripture. Shannon will be partying with the preschoolers. For the first time ever, Brandi will be leading our elementary children's time together. But only after she sings a special song for all the big kids and small kids alike: "Together We Can Change The World." I don't know about you, but I LOVE it when Brandi sings. She's so enthusiastic. I can't wait to hear her sing this one! And who knows... since it fits the theme so well, maybe we'll even hear Three Dog Night sing "One!"
Church Picnic Saturday July 28th at 4pm - I hope you all already have set aside a week from Saturday afternoon for our annual Church Requel picnic. Steve reserved the North Lake Park air-conditioned pavilion for our use. There's lots of space for all the great food you are planning to bring! Yours Truly and Pastor Steve will grill the burgers and dogs on Bryan's new Binford 5,000 rocket-fueled grill!
New Christian Radio Station - Have you heard about the new contemporary Christian radio station in town? It's called Positive Hits 99.3 The Light. Beyond featuring only uplifting and positive music, 99.3 The Light will also feature positive local news and weather. Program Director Tony Mitchell in a recent News Journal article had this to say about the new station:
"In this day and age, there's so much negativity, and what we really wanted to do was have a station on the air that would only focus on the positive. You won't hear about any murders or shootings."
You can listen to 99.3 The Light online here. You could also follow the new station on Facebook.
CR Podcast Reaching Out - The new Church Requel Audio Podcast continues to reach new audience members, both locally and around the country. Local CR parishioner Mike Gilbert listens every Monday as he makes the long drive back to his job in Marion, Indiana. This morning I received an email from Len Edgerly, who told me that he has been enjoying the Wrestling with God podcast on his drives to Kennebunk, Maine in the mornings. Last week Bryan Person tweeted:
@ChurchRequel Enjoying your podcast this week, including your reading of portions of Edwards' sermon. #Awesome
— Bryan Person (@BryanPerson) July 11, 2012
Are you taking advantage of this free weekly audio program? If you'd like to receive an email when the podcast is posted each week, just send me an email.
Thanks For Your Prayers - Dick Jourdan continues his heart bypass surgery recovery. If he feels up to it he will return to Church Requel this Sunday evening. We also received good news about Lincoln Bohnke this week. His ventilator oxygen settings are now down to 46%. At 40% they hope to wean him off the ventilator. So close! His dad says he's a little fighter and now weighs 8 pounds 8 ounces.
That will wrap up this week's edition of What's Happening. I hope you soak in all of God's love this weekend. See you Sunday night at CR! - Pastor Mark
