Good morning Church Requel!
On this Friday morning as I write you this weekly newsletter I am reminded that many of our lives changed dramatically 50 years ago today when President Kennedy was assassinated on the streets of Dallas. For those of us alive then, we can clearly remember exactly where we were and what we were doing. For example, I clearly remember sitting in a 1st grade classroom and hearing the tragic news over the public address speaker. Hard to believe that such news would be broadcast to children, but it was a different time then.
I'm not the only one of us Requelers to remember exactly when and where we were 50 years ago today. Mary Kay tells me she was home watching her mom iron shirts when they both heard the news come across the TV. Marci tells me she was in the cafeteria at Mansfield Senior High. Steve remembers being in 8th grade English at Johnny Appleseed Junior High School.
Sheri was in 5th grade in Lubbock. Texas. She remembers, "They came over the intercom and told us. Then we had a prayer. We all started crying."
What about you? If you were around 50 years ago today, where were you and what were you doing? Write me back here.
Thanksgiving Feast This Weekend. I'm not sure there is a good transition from the tragic memories of yesteryear to the celebration that we are planning for this weekend. Except that perhaps it is in the midst of the difficult times that it is most important for us to give thanks. I've been studying all the "thanks," "thankfulness," and "thanksgiving" passages all week long in preparation for our next two weekends. There are 170 such references in my Bible. No, I'm not planning to talk about all of them in our sermons. I have, though, been impressed with the concept of "recounting" highlighted in this psalm.
“We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.” Psalm 75:1 ESV
Consider the verb, "recount." It is not enough to simply "count our blessings" as we have often been taught. The Bible actually teaches us to "recount." To count them. And then count them. And then count them again. We have a remarkable ability to forget the best news in the universe: that we serve a good God, who does wondrous deeds. We must recount to remember. There is no time when it is more important for us to recount than when we are going through tough times. (Check out these online Bible app notes.)
So we'll celebrate Thanksgiving as a church family this weekend. I have been hearing about all the plans you've been making for this Sunday's feast after church. We've only asked families to bring two dishes and single folks to bring one dish. But I've heard about multiple turkeys that will be roasted. I've also heard that our children have some special plans for decorating our fellowship tables.
Sisters Brandi Thoman and Trish Trubachik will lead our singing during our worship experience upstairs. I'm told they want us to leave our worship upstairs and move toward our celebration downstairs with the fun and joy we should have. So they've dusted off the 1971 Rare Earth song, "I Just Want To Celebrate." Now ask yourself this question: How many other churches will be singing this song this weekend? Ha! It promises to be a very REQUEL experience.
We've also invited the Skit Guys to pay us a video visit again for this weekend. The mini movie is called "I'm Full" and highlights the many blessings we should be "full of" as Christ-followers. Eddie plays the part of the eccentric uncle many of us recall in our own extended families. This is really funny!
To make the day absolutely and thematically complete, our greeting song is titled: "Don't Be A Turkey Just Say Thanks." I promise you this will be a Sunday morning you are not going to want to miss. I can't wait to celebrate with all of you!
Do you remember last year? Many of you may not because there are a LOT more people attending Church Requel this November than were last November. Every holiday weekend I make it a point to go back to the planning sheets for these weekends in years past. (I try not to repeat things too much.) Last year in this same weekend we were talking about changing from a Sunday evening schedule to a Sunday morning schedule, though we had no place to meet. Looking over that planning sheet I realize now just how desperate many of us were feeling. I was especially taken back when I watched this video prepared at the time by Diana Devolder. We should come to church Sunday and celebrate Thanksgiving - if for no other reason - just because God has been so generous in giving us the Point of Grace in which to celebrate!
Christmas Concert Scheduled! I hope many of you are passing out tickets to our Christmas Concert with Jeff Anderson scheduled for two weeks from today - December 6th.
There will be no charge for admission, but we will collect a love offering for our guest artist.
Jeff was the worship leader at the Columbus Vineyard before launching his touring career. You can learn more about Jeff, including listening to his music, on his website.
Remember the "invite alternative" for those with a Facebook account is to invite your Facebook friends to the event. This is really EASY to do! Click on this link to go to the CR concert event page in Facebook.
Here are the other great opportunities coming up at Church Requel in the coming weeks:
Church Requel Christmas Decorating Party - Next Sunday December 1st, we're asking for folks to stick around after our morning worship to decorate the church for Christmas. We plan to finish by 2pm. We'll make a pizza lunch available for everyone who helps. Do you all remember last year, when this event was our very first one in our new location? Wow! There is a signup Sunday so we can plan for enough pizza pies. (So many of you have already signed up! Thanks!)
Women's Bible Study - Ladies, you'll be taking off the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. So your next meeting will be Wednesday, December 4th at 6:30pm at the church.
Men's Breakfast - Fellows, our next breakfast together will be Saturday morning, December 7th. We'll meet together down at Paul Revere's Restaurant at 9am. We've reserved the small room in the back. There will be a signup sheet at CR in the lobby this weekend.
Neighborhood Meal - We will feed our neighbors a free meal on Saturday evening, December 7th. Plan on making all your fabulous desserts to give away. All the volunteers should show up at CR by 4pm. We will serve from 5pm until 6pm. Volunteers usually are finished cleaning up by 6:30pm.
What an THANKFUL time to be your pastor! I can't wait to see you on Sunday! We're going to have such a good time together. With appreciation, Pastor Mark
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