Good Friday morning Church Requel!
This is a HUGE weekend for us. No really. I mean it! We have the concert tonight, breakfast with the men tomorrow morning, feeding the hungry tomorrow night, and the start of our new sermon series, Amazing, on Sunday. Mary Kay and I were at CR last night getting prepped. The Point of Grace looked so beautiful I just had to take the panoramic photo above.
Christmas Concert with Jeff Anderson. Tonight is our big opportunity to reach our friends and families and invite them to CR. Jeff Anderson is a grammy nominated artist, who will help us bring in the Christmas season with his voice and guitar. The concert begins at 7pm. Our greeting and parking teams should show up at 5:45. For everyone else, I would recommend coming early. I'm guessing the front pews will get filled up pretty quickly.
Here are a few suggestions for our concert tonight. #1 - Pray. This could be a huge opportunity for people to see Christ in a new light. #2 - Invite. Even if you've already talked to your friends, call them up again and remind them. Even if you haven't called yet, do it today. Lots of people make last minute plans. #3 - Promote. This is the day to use social media to talk about the concert. This will create a buzz factor that might get someone to come to our church sometime, even if they don't come to the concert tonight. #4 - Be a host. If you are a regular Church Requeler, then tonight is your chance to be kind. Let's do all we can to make room for our guests, to show them the church in the best light possible.
There is a spiritual battle going on today and you are not watching from the sidelines. You are a vital participant for the Kingdom of God! Take advantage of your opportunity!
Men's Breakfast at 9am Saturday. Guys, we've reserved the back room at Paul Revere's in Lexington for our monthly breakfast. Jeff Anderson and his son will be joining us as well. (So this would be a great chance, dads, to bring your sons as well!) Let's fill up that back room.
Feed Our Neighbors Saturday Evening. This weekend also happens to be our church's turn to feed the hungry in downtown Mansfield. We've invited a fantastic organist to play the pipe organ upstairs as people are coming in. Voluteers should show up by 4pm. Dinner will be served at 5pm and end at 6pm. It takes another 30 - 45 minutes to clean up. If you can manage it, bring homemade desserts with you too. Our neighbors always know when CR is serving by the delicious desserts you so unselfishly provide.
Our New Christmas Sermon Series - Amazing - Sunday Morning. We start our new sermon series this weekend too! I'm really excited about this study. If you're like me, you've heard this story so often that you've lost some of your amazement of the good news. Recapture the Christmas "WOW!" This weekend we'll discover some things about the story that you either have never heard before or have long since forgotten about. (Here's the sermon notes for this weekend.)
This will be yet another opportunity to invite family and friends. Lots of folks, who don't normally go to church any other time of year, will say "yes" to your invitation during the Christmas season.
We have an AMAZING opportunity to advance the Kingdom of Christ in Mansfield, Ohio this weekend. Let's each do our very best and then trust our LORD to make our efforts matter for eternity. Privileged to be your pastor! Blessings, Mark
