Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

7 Principles of Giving - Part 1 [Sermon Notes]

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.

Splits & Royalties: 7 Principles of Giving (Part 1) - 02.24.13

Matthew 25:14-30 NIV

Introduction: We are in the My Story sermon series, learning how to tell our life story in the best way possible. What is the story we want to tell with our lives? What will be our legacy? What story do we want others to remember about us?

Writing and selling books is as much a business as it is an art form. The author makes a contract with the publisher to sell and market his book. In this contract an agreement is reached for how much of the book proceeds is SPLIT between the writer and the publishing company. The author also receives ROYALTIES back for every book sold.

We often think our relationship with God is this same way. We put a name to it - tithing and offerings. Sometimes we have the idea that God expects a percentage of what we produce, sort of like a tax. The truth is that giving is an important part of who we are if we if we are a Christ-follower, but the reason behind our giving is just as important as the fact of our giving.

Why Giving Is So Important:

Reason #1 - Giving makes me ___MORE LIKE GOD___.

“God so loved the world that He gave his only Son ...” John 3:16 ESV

God is a Giver! He gave us life. He gave us this world to enjoy. He even gave us his only Son so that we might have a relationship with Him. That most famous of verses, John 3:16, shows us the connection between loving and giving. You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving!

Reason #2 - Giving draws me ___CLOSER TO GOD___.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21  NIV

Where I put my money, my time, my efforts, my thinking, my life... that’s where my heart will be! So where do I want my heart? If I want to be more like God, then I’ll also want to be closer to God. When I give out of a heart of love and compassion, I’ll find that I’m also next to God’s heart.

Reason #3 - Giving strengthens my ___FAITH___.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding.  Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce.” Proverbs 3:5, 9 NLT

Nothing strengthens my faith more than giving when I don’t understand how in the world I possibly can do so. Giving the way God gives - and the way He wants us to give - goes beyond our budgeting. It requires faith. The more I give, the stronger my faith will become. This is so because I discover that I cannot out give God. The more I give, the more He provides me the ability to give.

“Give, and it will be given to you... For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38 NIV

Giving of our money and material possessions is the only place in the Bible where God literally says, “I dare you.” Here is Mark’s translation: “Give with a cup and you will be measured back a cup. Give with a dump truck and you will be measured back with a dump truck!”

This Weekend at CR: Parable of the Talents!

 Good Friday morning everyone!

I hope you've had a good week and are looking forward to coming together as a church family Sunday morning. I've had a terrific week of study prep. I put everything else aside and invested most of my week in studying Matthew 25:14-29, what most people will recognize as the Parable of the Talents.

I've never actually taught on this passage before. As you can imagine the resources available are immense. After 3 days of research I had far more material than I could possibly fit into one weekend. So we're going to split up the talk over two weeks. I hope you can come to both because I think there is so much we can learn together! Can you tell I'm more than a little excited?

The children of Church Requel should all come Sunday too. If you're wondering how we are going to top the brownie sermon from two weeks ago, I think I've figured out a way! I'm giving money away! Yes, you heard me right. I'm going to pay kids to come to church! Ha!

Actually, I'm investing into them. I figure the best way to learn the parable of the talents is to see it in action. So I'm going to give each elementary age child at crisp, new 10-dollar bill. Then I'm going to ask them to put that money to work in some way over the next 4 weeks. Maybe some will buy brownie mix and then sell the brownies. Maybe some will buy and sell candy... for a profit. Maybe someone will buy a snow shovel and shovel out some driveways. The possibilities are too many to list.

I'm confident that my money will be well invested with the kids for the Church Requel ministry. In 4 weeks - on Palm Sunday - we'll bring the kids back up front and find out how they did. And, yes, they will have the opportunity to drop their profits along with my original investment into the offering basket.

In other news...

Church Requel Audio Podcast for this past week is now up for your listening pleasure. I update you on what's been happening this week. And you have the chance to listen to last week's sermon, "How To Relate Wisely To Others." Click here to listen!

Zumba Class Tuesday!!! Many of you have been asking for this. Our own Sara Scott is a Zumba instructor - par excellent! She is offering weekly Zumba classes in the downstairs fellowship hall at Church Requel every Tuesday. Meet her and many of your friends at 7pm. The cost will be $5. The class lasts for one hour. This is a great way to support one our own members, as well as to enjoy some fitness, fun and fellowship! Thanks Sara!

Women's Bible Study This Wednesday - The ladies will meet for the 3rd time at 6:30pm Wednesday evening, Feb. 27th, at Mary Kay Pierce's home. The women are starting a new study, "Esther: It's Tough Being A Woman." This would be a great opportunity to join this wonderful group of ladies. Good food. Sweet fellowship. Great learning!

Next Neighborhood Meal - Saturday, March 2nd - Sheri Nichols tells me that we are planning a spaghetti dinner with meatballs. Here's how you can contribute. This will be your last Sunday to bring food to church. We're looking for boxes of spaghetti (not the thin kind, Sheri says), jars of spaghetti sauce (any kind - we'll combine them together), and cans of fruit or fruit cocktail. A few days before we cook up the meal, we'll buy the meat for the meatballs and the bread. That night everyone can bring desserts just like last time. (Dessert hint: the pies were gobbled up first!)

Membership Class - March 23rd. We plan to offer our next Membership Class on Saturday, March 23rd. We'll hold the class at Church Requel and will begin at 8:30 am with a continental breakfast. We'll be together all morning and will serve a noon lunch for all who come. If you'd like to be an official member of CR, this class is a must. You can come even if you are not sure you want to be a member.

I think that will be more than enough for all you Church Requelers! I can't wait to see you Sunday morning. Bring a friend with you! We still have plenty of seats available! With great affection, Pastor Mark

#046: Relating Wisely [Podcast]

How do we relate wisely with other people? On this week's podcast we'll discover six ways to be wise in our relationship from James 3:13-18. I also catch up with what's been going on this past week in the Church Requel ministry.

Click to Listen!

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.

Music for this week's podcast comes from "You Are The Way" by Rick Muchow.

This Weekend at CR: Game Night Tonight, Relating Wisely Sunday

Happy Friday everyone! 

Pastor Mark here with your weekly "What's Happening at CR" blog post. Wow! Isn't there a bunch of exciting events going on in our church!?!

Tonight- Game Night! The first ever game night at Church Requel is happening tonight at 7pm! Should be a blast! Lots of fun. Lots of games. And LOTS OF DESSERTS! Will be fun for kids of all ages. Thanks so much to Diana Devolder and Sara Scott for organizing this. I wonder what the prizes are going to be? Guess we'll have to show up to find out!

Sunday - "How To Relate WISELY To Others." Yes, we will be continuing our My Story sermon series. Have you ever considered that it takes other people to get your story published? Authors write, but they need to depend on others to get their story out there.  The same is true for us in telling our Christian stories. That will depend upon the kinds of relationships we forge with others. We will talk - in a very practical way - about 6 ways to relate wisely with other people. Do you have someone in your life - a boss, a friend, a spouse, a mom or dad, a child - who you are really struggling with relationship right now? We'll take a look at James 3:13-18 for some down-to-earth advice on how to improve your relationships with others.

Along the way Sunday we'll enjoy some great worship music. I practiced this morning with Cindy Thoman, who will be joining me in leading the singing Sunday. Nancy will remind us of all the things going on at CR. Randy will read our Scriptures. We'll pray together and share communion together. It should be a wonderful worship experience Sunday morning at 11am! Invite a friend or family member to join you!

Podcast - "Lent Is Like A Box Of Chocolates." I just published last weeks podcast and thought you might like to know about it. There are 3 talks on it - two from last Sunday - and one from Ash Wednesday. I spoke at the Noon Lenten Luncheon at the First United Methodist Church. I tell the story of learning about Lent from Mary Kay and her family and friends from Celina, Ohio. The talk is only 13 minutes long. Click here to listen to the podcast.

In other news...

Zumba Classes Begin Tuesday!!! Many of you have been asking for this. Our own Sara Scott is a Zumba instructor - par excellent! She will begin weekly Zumba classes in the downstairs fellowship hall at Church Requel this Tuesday. Meet her and many of your friends at 7pm. The cost will be $5. The class lasts for one hour. This is a great way to support one our own members, as well as to enjoy some fitness, fun and fellowship! Thanks Sara!

Women's Bible Study, Feb. 27th - The ladies will meet for the 3rd time at 6:30pm Wednesday evening, Feb. 27th, at Mary Kay Pierce's home. The women are starting a new study, "Esther: It's Tough Being A Woman." This would be a great opportunity to join this wonderful group of ladies. Good food. Sweet fellowship. Great learning!

Next Neighborhood Meal - March 2nd - Sheri Nichols tells me that we are planning a spaghetti dinner with meatballs. Here's how you can contribute. Each Sunday when you come to Church Requel bring boxes of spaghetti (not the thin kind, Sheri says), jars of spaghetti sauce (any kind - we'll combine them together), and cans of fruit or fruit cocktail. A few days before we cook up the meal, we'll buy the meat for the meatballs and the bread. That night everyone can bring desserts just like last time. (Dessert hint: the pies were gobbled up first!)

Membership Class - March 23rd. We plan to offer our next Membership Class on Saturday, March 23rd. We'll hold the class at Church Requel and will begin at 8:30 am with a continental breakfast. We'll be together all morning and will serve a noon lunch for all who come. If you'd like to be an official member of CR, this class is a must. You can come even if you are not sure you want to be a member.

I think that will be more than enough for all you Church Requelers! I can't wait to see you Sunday morning. Bring a friend with you! We still have plenty of seats available! With great affection, Pastor Mark

#045: Like A Box Of Chocolates [Podcast]

The podcast is very special this week. I share 3 talks! (1) Kids'sermon "Follow The Directions." Listen as the children and I whip up a batch of brownies right in church, while I teach them the value of reading their Bibles. (2) The sermon from last Sunday, "Plot Lines: The Golden Rule of the Christian Life." We talk about why doing to others as we would have them do to us keeps us on the narrow path. Finally (3) and my favorite, by the way, "Lent Is Like A Box of Chocolates." I tell the story of how I learned about Lent with a couple of humorous stories.

Click to Listen!

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.

Music for this week's podcast is "All I Want Is You" by Phil Wickham.

Lent Is Like A Box Of Chocolates

This is the talk that I shared with the Noon Lenten Lunch at First United Methodist Church in downtown Mansfield, Ohio this past Ash Wednesday. I thought you might enjoy reading the text.

 

Click to Listen!

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.

Lent Is Like A Box of Chocolates - 02.13.13

Joel 2:12-13 / Psalm 51:10 NIV 

I was raised in the Pilgrim Holiness church and so I never knew much about the practice of Lent. Then, as a young man, I fell in love with a beautiful Catholic girl, who came from a large practicing Catholic family in Celina, Ohio. I married that beautiful Catholic girl. For the last 34 years I’ve been learning about the Christian practice of Lent.

Illustration - In Celina the story is told of Tom, a Baptist fellow who moved into the all-Catholic community. Every Friday during Lent, Tom would grill a big, juicy steak. While all his neighbors were sitting down to their tuna fish dinners, they could smell the roasting meat wafting from Tom’s grill. They decided they needed to do something about this temptation so they talked to Tom about becoming Catholic. He met with the priest, took all the classes. Eventually the priest sprinkled water on Tom saying, “You were born a Baptist. You were raised a Baptist. Now you are a Catholic.” All Tom’s neighbors were thrilled because now they had eliminated the temptation to eat meat during the Fridays of Lent. So you can imagine their surprise when the first Friday of next year’s Lent - as they were sitting down to their tuna fish dinners - they once again smelled the aroma of seared steak wafting from Tom’s grill. All the neighbors immediately made their way to Tom’s house where they found him with a pitcher of water sprinkling the steak saying, “You were born a cow. You were raised a cow. Now you are a fish.”

Plot Lines: The Golden Rule of the Christian Life [Sermon Notes]

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.

Plot Lines: The Golden Rule of the Christian Life - 02.10.13

Matthew 7:12-14 NIV  

Introduction: If you become a reader you’ll quickly discover that a great plot makes for a great book. A lousy plot makes for a lousy book. What is plot? It’s the sequence of events in the story combined with the motivation for why the characters do what they do. Plot is both the WHAT and the WHY!

When it comes to writing my story of my Christian life, the plot is also crucial. It’s WHAT I do as a Christ-follower combined with WHY I do it. A great plot leads to a great Christian story. Lousy plot, lousy story. The question we want to answer today is this: What makes for a great plot in my Christian life? To answer that we go to the pinnacle of Jesus’ teaching in his Sermon on the Mount.

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. ¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:12-14 ESV

This is the plot of the great Christian story: FIND the narrow gate, ENTER through the narrow gate, and WALK the narrow road. 

This Weekend at CR: Baking Brownies & Golden Rule

Hi everyone!

It's been a busy week here at Church Requel. Many of you were a part of the team that served 120 meals this past Saturday night to our hungry neighbors! If you haven't seen the photos yet, definitely check them out here! Many thanks go out to Sheri Nichols, who coordinated such a wonderful and delicious meal for so many people. If you'd like to hear more about last week... or missed last weekend's sermon, make sure you listen to the podcast!

We continue to work on wiring up the sanctuary for the tech improvements. Every week we get a little bit more done. I'm hoping that by this time next month - and definitely by Easter - we will be able to remove the lighting and projector pole up front and have everything hanging from the rafters.  The new screen also has arrived and we're in the process of obtaining the necessary hardware to hang it. Paul Lintern has also been busy working on plastering the back wall of our sanctuary.

This Sunday. I have some great plans for our worship experience Sunday morning at Church Requel. The children will join me up front for a delicious kid's sermon. I plan on mixing up a batch of brownies - in church - while teaching them important lessons found in Ezekiel 20:19. If you have children in your home, they will definitely not want to miss CR this Sunday! (You say you didn't know that Ezekiel 20:19 had anything to do with baking brownies? Hmm... you should DEFINITELY come to CR Sunday!) One more thing regarding the kids' sermons - I'd love to have some bean bag chairs for them to sit in during the childrens' talks on Sundays. If you can donate any, that would be awesome!

We also continue our teaching series, My Story, for the adults. This week's sermon is titled "Plotlines" and focuses on living out the golden rule.  Our Bible study verses will come from Matthew 7:12-14. Do you want a preview of the sermon outline? (It's also already loaded in your YouVersion Bible app!) We will also watch a short, powerful video by One Time Blind that will challenge our "comfort" level of serving Jesus. Finally, we'll take communion together at the end of our worship experience Sunday. Church Requel is shaping up to be a great worship time this weekend - I can't wait to share it with you!

In other news...

Women's Bible Study, Feb. 13th - The ladies will meet for the 2nd time at 6:30pm this coming Wednesday evening at Mary Kay Pierce's home. The women are starting a new study, "Esther: It's Tough Being A Woman." This would be a great opportunity to join this wonderful group of ladies. Good food. Sweet fellowship. Great learning!

Noon Lenten Service, Feb. 13th - I'm not sharing this because I expect you all to come. But I thought some of you might like to know about it. I will be speaking at the Noon Lenten Lunch at First Methodist Church on the Downtown Square next Wednesday. It's the first time I've been invited to be a part of this and I think my invite has something to do with our new location at the Point of Grace.

Dessert / Game Night Feb. 15th - One week from tonight, next Friday night at 7pm, we will enjoy desserts and games together. Let's all thank Diana Devolder and Sara Scott for arranging this fun night for us. Bring a dessert to share. I'm told that we will enjoy playing Ping Pong, Pool, Sardine Hide & Seek, Gau Gau Ball, and BYO Favorite Board Games. There will be a sign up sheet at church on Sunday morning.

Next Neighborhood Meal - March 2nd - I spoke to Sheri Nichols this morning. She tells me that we are planning a spaghetti dinner with meatballs. Here's how you can contribute. Each Sunday when you come to Church Requel bring boxes of spaghetti (not the thin kind, Sheri says), jars of spaghetti sauce (any kind - we'll combine them together), and cans of fruit or fruit cocktail. A few days before we cook up the meal, we'll buy the meat for the meatballs and the bread. That night everyone can bring desserts just like last time. (Dessert hint: the pies were gobbled up first!)

Membership Class - March 23rd. We plan to offer our next Membership Class on Saturday, March 23rd. We'll hold the class at Church Requel and will begin at 8:30 am with a continental breakfast. We'll be together all morning and will serve a noon lunch for all who come. If you'd like to be an official member of CR, this class is a must. You can come even if you are not sure you want to be a member.

I think that will be more than enough for all you Church Requelers! I can't wait to see you Sunday morning. Bring a friend with you! We still have plenty of seats available! With great affection, Pastor Mark

Ghostwriting: Making Jesus The A.U.T.H.O.R. Of My Life [Sermon Notes]

Everyone has authority in their lives. Some are intentional and some are not. In this week's sermon I talk about 4 unreliable authorities in our lives. We then learn how to make Jesus the A.U.T.H.O.R. in our lives. Along the way I tell the story of running the Marine Corps Marathon 12 years ago. 

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.

Ghostwriting: Making Jesus The Authority in My Life - 02.03.1 / Hebrews 12:1-3

 Introduction: I’ve noticed a trend in many popular novels these days. There are lots of ghost writers. Have you noticed? James Patterson has an entire production of writers for him. His name in big letters (what sells) followed by someone else (smaller letters). Same is true for Tom Clancy & Clive Cussler. It got me thinking - “Who is the author of my life / story?”

When I type “author” in my Bible search, 121 results, “authority”

Author is the root word in authority. Who is the author of my life? Who is the authority? If I don’t deliberately and daily choose Christ, then one of these 4 will default to my authority:

#044: The A.U.T.H.O.R. Of Your Life [Podcast]

This week Mark talks about a local family's tragic house fire, feeding 120 people in the neighborhood, and the funny story of leaving his mobile phone on during his sermon. And we have the 2nd sermon in the My Story sermon series, "Ghostwriting: Making Jesus the A.U.T.H.O.R. of My Life."

Click to Listen!

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.

The music for this week's podcast is "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield.

This Weekend at CR: WOW Weekend!

Hi everyone! Pastor Mark here with your "What's Happening at CR" weekly post. This really is an extra, extra special edition because there is so much going on right now.  Make sure you check it all out so you don't miss anything!

Our First Neighborhood Meal. Saturday night will be our first opportunity as a church to provide a free meal to those in our neighborhood who could use a good, warm, tasty dose of home cooking! Here's what's on the menu:

Salisbury steak, real mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, fruit cocktail, and all the great and wonderful desserts you all are planning to bring.

Our thanks go to Jack and Sheri Pryor who, even as I type these words, are out shopping for the meat. We also thank Sandy Hill Fruit Farm for donating all the potatoes. And of course we thank you all for providing all the rest.

Here's the schedule for Saturday. Sheri and several of you ladies will gather at the Point of Grace around 2pm to start preparing the meal. The rest of the church volunteers should show up by 4pm. You can bring your desserts with you - or if you're not staying Saturday evening - drop off your desserts any time after 2pm. The meal will be served between 5pm and 6pm. We're expecting 60 to 100 folks to come and eat. Cleanup should be finished by 7pm.

My Story Chapter 2 - "Ghostwriting" We continue our new sermon series this coming Sunday morning at 11am. I'm really excited about this particular talk. God met with me this week in a powerful way as I was preparing this weekend's sermon. We'll take a focused look at Hebrews 12:1-2. Along the way I'll use illustrations from my Marine Corps Marathon experience 12 years ago. There are stories that I've never told in public before and I think the talk could be a powerful one. Come and learn how we make Jesus the author... and the authority... of our lives!

Let's Help The Smith Family. Some of you may have heard about our neighbors, Robert and Ashley Smith and their 4 children. Monday night their Hammond Avenue home burned down. (Here's the article about it in the News Journal.) The Smiths were not home at the time, but tragically they lost their pet dog, Thunder. The Red Cross provided 3 nights stay at a local hotel. On Church Requel's behalf, I contacted the hotel and provided another night's stay. I've also used online social networking to raise a hundred dollars for them. I'm hoping some of you could be generous toward this family with your financial gifts as well on Sunday morning. They pretty much lost everything they owned. I'll keep collecting money for this family for the next week.

The Red Cross provided them with funds to buy one change of clothes at WalMart.  I've had some clothing already donated on their behalf. They could use more clothes as well. Here are their sizes: Rob Smith wears size 34 pants, medium to large shirt. Ashley wears size 6. The nine year old son wears size 10-12 shirt and size 14 pants, the 8-year-old daughter wears size 8 girls, the 5-year-old son wears size 4-5 and they have a 5-month old baby boy. Anything you could bring for them would be most welcome.

Some of you have asked me how I know the Smith family. The answer is that I didn't know them before I read about the fire. I figure God has placed our church in this neighborhood for a reason. We want to be the hands and feet of Jesus, right? 

Ladies Bible Study. Ten of you met this past Wednesday night for the introductory lesson from Beth Moore. The name of the study is "Esther: It's Tough Being A Woman." It looks like this is going to be an awesome study!  The ladies plan to meet again on Wednesday, February 13th at 6:30pm at the Pierce home. If you didn't make it to the first, introductory lesson, it's not too late to join in. The books arrived yesterday. Talk to Mary Kay or Cindy if you want to purchase one.

Church Improvements. We had another good week of work behind the scenes at the church. Much of the conduit has been installed up in the attic above the sanctuary. The power and data lines have been installed on the 2nd rafter for the projector. Also our new screen was delivered on Thursday. We will definitely need some extra muscle power to get it installed because it is so large and so heavy.

Thanks this week go out to Randy Craig and his cousin, Brian Blair, who provided an entire day of work! Also thanks go out to Larry Shick who came in Wednesday evening to do some electrical work for us.  

Some of you have asked about the ladder we have laying on top of the pews in the santuary. No, it won't always be there. But it will be there for awhile while we are doing the work in the sanctuary. This weekend you'll see the large box containing our new screen right next to the ladder.  Pardon our dust... and ladder... and screen!

This is a great time for Church Requel. We are growing every weekend. It's exciting. Don't miss out on the opportunity to invite a friend or family member to come with you either Saturday night or Sunday morning at 11am.  Love you all much! Pastor Mark