Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

#076: How To Disarm Your Button Pushers [Podcast]

This week we talk about 5 ways to disarm your button pushers.

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This Weekend at CR: Disarming Your Button Pushers

Cindy and the children of KidsMin pray over their new Adventure Bibles.

My dear Church Requel family,

Good Friday morning! I hope this day finds you healthy and happy and filled with God's possibilities for a wonderful day.

I know two CR folks, who are thrilled this day has finally arrived. This evening Cotton and Margie will be married at the church. I have the great privilege to officiate in their celebration. Their marriage is especially personal for me, because Cotton and Margie met at Church Requel and have served together regularly at the Saturday night meals. What a great affirmation that God knew exactly what He was doing when He planted the idea of CR in my heart! Congratulations Cotton and Margie. May your marriage be blessed, filled with serving one another and others.

I'm also thrilled to share this photo (above right) from KidsMin. The children and Cindy are gathered around their new Adventure Bibles as they pray together. I think this may be my all-time favorite photo from Church Requel. We continue to see many children coming to CR every weekend to learn more about Jesus. Next weekend, October 6th, Diana will bring the children up front of the congregation. They will play a Bible Trivia game to show off some of their newfound knowledge. Let's make sure to thank Diana Devolder and all the volunteers who have stepped up to make KidsMin a reality!

This weekend we continue our You Make Me Crazy sermon series. Last weekend we talked about 4 ways people express their anger: the Machine Guns, the Mutes, the Martyrs, and the Manipulators. If you missed it (or want to hear it again) you can watch it here or listen to it here. This coming Sunday we'll give you 5 ways to disarm your button pushers. How can you respond to the anger you feel when people push your buttons? I know you won't want to miss this talk.

Your response to these talks on relationship skills so far has been affirming.  One of you wrote, "Another day of getting schooled... Got to church with an open mind and heart and then the Holy Spirit comes in and fills us beyond our expectations every time!"

Several of you have wrote me notes like this person. "I'm loving this sermon series. I'm begging [my family members] to listen."

Yet another wrote: "Laughed out loud listening to you tell about your cousin Cheryl, and her southern 'bless your heart' expression. Reminded me of that character Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (played by actress Kyra Sedgewick) on the TV show 'The Closer.' ... I had no trouble IDing myself as the Mute."

How have these relationship talks impacted you? I'd love to hear from you. Write me an email and tell me how God is working in your life!

Who's Pushing Your Buttons? [Video Sermon]

Who's pushing your buttons? We talk about 4 ways people express anger: the Machine Guns, the Mutes, the Martyrs, the Manipulators. This talk was given at Church Requel on September 22, 2013.

Who's Pushing Your Buttons from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.

 

#075: Who's Pushing Your Buttons? [Podcast]

This week we talk about four ways people often express their anger - the Machine Guns, the Mutes, the Martyrs, and the Manipulators. Then we talk about the first strategy to use when you are angry and you want to keep it under your control.

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

Music for this week's podcast is "Move" by Mercy Me.

#074: 3 More Keys To Peace In Relationships [Podcast]

This week's podcast includes last weekend's sermon, "Three More Keys To Peace In Relationships." The photo for this weekend's podcast is by Dave Johnson, who took a panorama of our church during workship. Thanks Dave!

 

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

Three More Keys To Peace In Relationships [Video Sermon]

On Sunday, September 15th, we finished our two-part talk about how to be wise in our relationships.

 

This Week at CR: 3 More Relationship Keys & Flags Fly!

Dear Church Requel family!

As I write this note to you early Friday morning, it looks like Fall has unofficially arrived. It's a cool 51 degrees outside - perfect jacket weather - and I have plans to watch a high school football game tonight. Anyone else besides me excited about the change in the weather?

There's lots of exciting changes happening at Church Requel these days too! Last weekend was such a wonderful experience. Thirty-seven children attended CR last week for our KidsMin launch! Diana Devolder has done a wonderful job organizing this new ministry. I loved watching all the children and their parents lined up to register last weekend. At one point the line went out the door and down the steps. I think the image that will forever be on my mind - and on my refrigerator - is this photo of the children as they began to worship. 

Don't you love the look of excitement on their faces? If you haven't yet seen all the photos from last weekend, I invite you to check out this Facebook photo album from Diana. Also if you haven't heard the podcast from last weekend, you'll definitely want to listen. Diana and I sit down and talk about all the great God stories that took place at Church Requel. 

Of course this weekend is a new week and we anticipate another exciting time together Sunday morning at 11am. We intend for the momentum to continue with our KidsMin. In fact we've invited 3 of our children, Grayden, Anna, and Rachel, to participate in our worship together by waving flags during the first song. Many thanks go out to Sharma Swanger, who has been working with the children to prepare for this upcoming weekend. I snapped the photo on the right during one of their rehearsals a few weeks back. 

We have another "first" happening at Church Requel this coming weekend. Stephanie Medina will be joining Cindy and me up front for our worship singing. Stephanie has a great voice and a worshipful heart. I really enjoyed our rehearsal yesterday morning. I learned that Stephanie is also pretty handy with power tools! A week ago I put out a request on Facebook for a table for our toddler room. Stephanie immediately replied that she would make one herself.  Pastor Steve will love it! Another wood craftsman in our midst!

I'm also looking forward to continuing our You Make Me Crazy sermon series Sunday morning. We'll talk about 3 more keys to peace in relationships that we learn from James 3:17. I've heard a ton of positive feedback from last weekend's first message and I'm hoping this week's talk will be just as helpful. We'll talk about how we can be oversensitive sometimes to other people's suggestions. We'll discuss that if we want to be wise in relationships we won't emphasize other people's mistakes or disguise our own intentions. I'm really looking forward to being with you Sunday!

Our ladies have a launch of their own this week. On Wednesday evening next week - September 18th - our women will begin a new Bible study by Beth Moore called, "Living Beyond Yourself." 

Beth walks participants through each trait listed in the fruit and encourages women to know the freedom of a Spirit-filled life. Through this study participants will look at the supernatural aspects of the fruit of the Spirit. Beth will challenge our ladies to develop the fruit by maintaining an intimate relationship with the Spirit of God. If you haven't already registered for this study, talk to Mary Kay Pierce. 

I think that will wrap us up for this weekend. I'm so thrilled to see our church growing, to see new relationships forming - both vertically with Christ and horizontally with one another. If you have a friend or family member that has not yet experienced church Requel style, why not invite them to come Sunday with you?

Love you all much! Pastor Mark

#073: New KidsMin Launched! [Podcast]

We launched our new KidsMin children's ministry yesterday with the new LIVE curriculum from Group.com. I invited Diana Devolder as my guest to talk about the fantastic results. Plus we share the first sermon in the You Make Me Crazy sermon series - "Three Keys To Peace In Relationships."

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

Music for this week's podcast is "I Want Crazy" by Hunter Hayes.

This Week at CR: Meal, Guest Singers, KidsMin Launch, & New Sermon Series

Dear Church Requel family,

You know when one types the title to a post and it takes two lines that either one's editorial skills are severely lacking OR there's just a lot of things happening. I choose to go with option #2!

Neighborhood Meal. Let's start with Saturday night. Last month we fed almost 200 people from our neighborhood! I wouldn't expect anything less this Saturday. Let's come together and serve the hungry. Sheri and Jack and a few others will start in the kitchen at 3pm. We're asking everyone else to show up at 4pm. We'll begin serving meals at 5pm. Usually we have everything cleaned up by 6:30pm or so. This is a great opportunity to teach your children the value of helping others, so bring your elementary age children or grandchildren with you. Also, we still could use lots of desserts!

KidsMin launches this Sunday! Diana Devolder has worked really hard preparing for this weekend. I snapped this photo of her downstairs setting everything up so our kiddos will have a great experience. The new screen has been installed. (Thanks Steve!) Kids NIV Adventure Bibles have been purchased. New posters have been printed and hung up. You won't want those precious children in your life to miss this first weekend of activities and learning!

Speaking of precious children, we also will begin a new security process this weekend of checking in every child. You can do that when you first come to Church Requel Sunday morning. Look for the check-in table in the lobby. Also we will be asking our parents to go down to the KidsMin and Toddler/Nursery rooms after church is over to pick their children up. While you're there, you might say a "thank-you" to Diana for all her hard work that has gone above and beyond the call of duty.

Guest singers Jeff and Tamira Barnes will lead us worship singing this coming Sunday morning! Jeff has been a pastor much longer than me and has inspired me with his commitment, teaching, and musical talent. Tamira has graced the CR platform earlier this year when she accompanied their daughter, Brianna. It also just happens that Jeff and Tamira are our neighbors. I'm really excited to be partnering with them in ministry this Sunday morning at CR. I know you will all have a great worship experience too!

"You Make Me Crazy" Sermon Series Begins! The graphic on the left is from our new website front page.  So who are the crazy makers in your life? Over the next 3 months we're going to learn what the Bible can teach us about relational health. If you have some chaos in your relationships - and let's be honest... who doesn't? - then this teaching series if for you. (Here's a link to all the topics in this series.)

We kick off our series with a discussion of 3 keys to peace in our relationships. We'll talk about the three things that wise people never do. All of this good advice comes straight to us from James 3:17.

This weekend will be a GREAT opportunity to invite family and friends to church. In fact I'd go so far as to say that you will never have a greater opportunity than this! It's the right season. People are in "back to school" mode and are more open to a church invitation. The new KidsMin will be terrific for little kids. And our new teaching series on relationships will be terrific for the big kids.

I can't wait to celebrate with you on Sunday! Pastor Mark

#072: Bringing Children To Jesus [Podcast]

Mary Kay Pierce is my guest on this Labor Day edition of the Church Requel Audio Podcast. We talk about the exciting things happening at CR this Fall. We also listen to Sunday's CR talk, "Bringing Children To Jesus."

Click to Listen!

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

Music for this week's podcast is "Into The Bible" from LIVE Children's Curriculum.