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To follow God's direction for our lives, we need first to focus on God. In this audio version of the sermon, I provide 3 reasons to focus on God as well as 3 ways to maintain our focus on Him.
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.
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To follow God's direction for our lives, we need first to focus on God. In this June 29, 2014 Church Requel sermon, I provide 3 reasons to focus on God as well as 3 ways to maintain our focus on Him.
Focusing Life from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the fill-in-the-blanks PDF Outline.
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With great affection, Pastor Mark
I'm back from a week's vacation - hence the reason you didn't get an email from me last Friday. Hope you have had a good start to the "official" summer. I know I'm loving it. I got in almost 200 miles of bicycle riding and at least 5 books this past week. That's the way I spell E-N-J-O-Y!
I'm also having so much fun being a part of the Church Requel team. For far too long the staff was only yours truly. Then - after we began adding staff members this past year - I would usually meet with each individually. This past week that all changed. Now Brandi, Tamira and I meet together every Monday as a team. The result - if our first meeting is any indication - is a powerful multiplyer of our individual efforts.
For example - as we were brainstorming this past Monday about this coming Sunday morning - we came up with the idea of a "backwards - upside down" worship service. The idea is that we'll start at the end and end at the beginning. We posted a 45-second clue video on Facebook yesterday. Here is the 90-second solution video posted this morning on YouTube. Fun!
Lions Tigers & Bears - Oh My! And speaking of good times, check out this photo of a couple of our kiddos from last Sunday. I originally thought these must be sunflower children, but my grandson was quick to correct me. These are their lion costumes from their "Daniel in the Lion's Den" lesson. Our children are surely enjoying their KidsMin times with Tamira this summer.
I am told that they will be taking a page out of Daniel's book - learning about how to turn to God for courage. The kiddos will be using water squirt guns and toilet paper to learn their courage lesson. Hmm. I don't ever remember my own Sunday School classes sounding like so much fun!
Our children will begin their lesson time right at the beginning of our worship service Sunday - so parents, you might want to get to church a little early this week. (And I'll understand if you'd rather stay in KidsMin and have a fun and courageous lesson! - Ha!)
How To Focus On God. I can't promise squirt guns, but I am excited about our adult lesson at Church Requel Sunday morning. We will be starting a new sermon series Sunday, what I'm calling "Directions For Living." Last weekend I talked about living a life that is adventurously expectant. We'll spend the next 4 weeks talking about how to do that.
Our first directions lesson is a lesson on focus. We have to focus on where we want to go if we have any hope of getting there, right? My focus Sunday will be on God - specifically why you and I want to focus our lives on God... and 3 suggestions for how we can go about doing that.
To help us focus on God, Jana and Missie will be singing with Brandi for our worship singing. The dynamic duo have also agreed to sing a duet: "Live For Today." Brandi will lead our communion time with a song too: "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus." We'll wrap up the worship service with the beginning... haha!! ... singing "Forever Reign," "Mighty To Save," and "The Stand."
All week I've been telling people, "You don't want to be late on Sunday, because you might miss the ending!" It really is true.
Good Friday morning Church Requel!
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What do you expect out of life? Are you hopeful about your future? The Message version of Romans 8:15 tells us that this resurrection life of the Christ-follower should be "adventurously expectant." In this Church Requel audio sermon from June 22, 2014, I talk about 7 ways we can remain adventurously expectant no matter what.
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.
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What do you expect out of life? Are you hopeful about your future? The Message version of Romans 8:15 tells us that this resurrection life of the Christ-follower should be "adventurously expectant." In this Church Requel sermon from June 22, 2014, I talk about 7 ways we can remain adventurously expectant no matter what.
140622AdventurousExpectations from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.
Follow along by downloading this PDF sermon outline.
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Real Dads of Genius are dads who are caring, consistent, close, and Christian. This is the Father's Day talk delivered by me to Church Requel on June 15, 2014. It also includes 4 "Real Dads of Genius" videos of real dads within our congregation. The cover art photo is my son, Jonathan, with his 4 children: Grayden, Lila, Lincoln, and Cohen.
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.
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This is the video of my Father's Day sermon on June 15, 2014. Many thanks to Eddie and Brandi Walker, Jonathan Pierce, Bryan Trubachik, and Fred Wiegand, who helped to produce the "Real Dads of Genius" segments. There is also a funny laugh at about the 25:00 mark, where I accidentally let the cat out of the bag about my daughter, Jillian, expecting a baby. (That would be why I've taken a few weeks to post this on the Internet!) Enjoy!
Real Dads of Genius are dads who are caring, consistent, close, and Christian. This is the Father's Day talk delivered by Pastor Mark Pierce to Church Requel on June 15, 2014. It also includes 4 "Real Dads of Genius" videos of real dads within our congregation.
Real Dads of Genius from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF Outline.
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Good morning Church Requel!
I woke up at 5am this morning. My first thought was, 'Ugh, it's 5 in the morning.' My second thought was, 'This morning I get to write to my Church Requel congregation!'
It's Friday! Yay! I hope you have big plans for this beautiful weekend in Richland County. And I hope those plans include Church Requel for Father's Day morning at 11!
Real Dads of Genius. We've named our theme for Father's Day, "Real Dads of Genius." We have some genius dads at CR and we plan to feature 4 of them! This will be fun as well as inspirational. You will want to be there to celebrate these genius dads with us. What makes them "genius" is not that they are perfect dads, but that they model their "dad-ness" on Our Father in Heaven. They work on being caring, consistent and close to their children. (Want to get a head start on Sunday's talk? Here are the sermon notes.)
I know that Father's Day is not always a celebration for everyone because we all haven't been blessed with such "genius" fathers. According to today's Richland Source, one in 3 children in America live without their biologicial fathers. Even more local, 47% of Richland County households are "female-headed with no husband present." For those of you who are in this category - and many of you are - please come Sunday anyway. We will be celebrating the One, Who is the original and best Father of all.
"As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who honor him. " Psalm 103:13
"The Lord is near all who call upon Him." Psalm 145:18
Old Rock and Roller at CR! Sunday morning we will also enjoy a hilarious visit from Joff Barnes. You've met Jeff Barnes, who leads our worship singing sometimes at CR. This is Joff - Jeff's legendary rock and roll twin brother. We grabbed a snapshot of the famous singer while recording his latest raspy licks at Church Requel studios. He will revive his "Real Dads of Genius" just for us this weekend. Seriously - you won't want to miss this!
Children at Church Requel. Of course we can't talk about dads without also highlighting the children's activities. After all, you can't have dads without kids. (And vice versa!)
I have to confess I don't know everything going on with KidsMin Sunday. But I have watched with fascination as Tamira as been making her plans for an awesome, fun and educational morning for our children. She borrowed all my ties for a game. (Nice that they'll be used for something.) She has also been looking all over Mansfield for stuffed animal pigs - yes, I said pigs! Not only that, but she's looking for 2 fake beards. What do stuffed pigs and fake beards have in common? I don't know, but I bet it will be fun. (If you could help her out with these unusual requests, please let Tamira know.)
There is so much more that I could write to you, but I'll leave it there. God is good. He has blessed us more than we deserve. Let's rejoice together this Sunday morning at 11am!
With great affection, Pastor Mark
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Prayer still works! Prayer that changes the world. Prayer that changes our circumstances. Prayer that changes us. We study the prayer of Nehemiah to learn 7 attributes of how to pray a prayer that gets things done.
Prayers That Get Things Done - Part 2 from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the fill-in-the-blanks PDF sermon outline.
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We interview our new Interim Children's Ministry Director, Tamira Barnes, talking about children's ministry and her first day on the job. Our sermon is "Prayers That Get Things Done - Part 2" taken from the prayer of Nehemiah. Fun, enjoyable, informative and helpful podcast this week!
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.
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Our children performed this skit on prayer last Sunday at Church Requel. Awesome! So proud of each of them!
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Good morning Church Requel!
It's been a busy week at Church Requel central this week as we've been preparing for the next couple of weeks. We're all really looking forward to Tamira Barnes teaching our children in KidsMin this Sunday. I've met with her several times in preparation. She is a real pro with 24 years of children's ministry teaching experience. We began and ended our meetings with prayer. She wanted to know about each child so she could start praying for them. She took notes! She's even praying for moms and dads.
Her lesson for the kiddos this weekend is "Follow The Holy Spirit's Leading." Other lessons for this summer include:
If I were a CR mom or dad, I'd make sure that my children attended every Sunday morning and not miss a single lesson. This is going to be a special summer for our children and their parents!
Real Dads of Genius Next Weekend. Brandi Walker and I have have been busy too! We are meeting with several dads and granddads in our congregation for something really special next Sunday on Father's Day. The theme of the day will be "Real Dads of Genius"! I promise you it will be a fun, affirming, godly time together and will really honor our fathers as well as our Heavenly Father. I love working with Brandi. She is unusually productive for us because she has the unique combined abilities of organization and creativity. It's been my experience that creatives aren't always well organized. Nor are organized people usually particularly creative. Brandi is special.
Prayers That Get Things Done This Weekend. We wrap up our mini-sermon-series on prayer this Sunday. Last weekend I described what effective prayer looked like. This weekend we'll talk about how to pray prayers that get things done. We'll use the story of Nehemiah from Neh. 1:4-11. For those of you who would like a head start, here are the online sermon notes. (Or just click on "LIVE" on the Bible app on your mobile device.)
I'm also pretty excited for this weekend at Church Requel for another reason. You don't know them, but Bill and Lynn Geiger - long term friends of mine - have been praying for you as a congregation for years. They are faithful prayer warriors and trusted confidants. For the first time they will be sitting in the Church Requel pews this Sunday. (They've been living in the foreign land of Wisconsin until very recently.)
Bill and Lynn possess a very important place in my own spiritual journey. Back in the early 1980s they were our neighbors and invited Mary Kay and me to a neighborhood Bible study. At the time I was an up-and-coming businessman trying to live for Christ on a part-time basis. That Bible study helped me to realize that being a Christ-follower was an "all-in" proposition.
Over the intervening decades, Bill often has asked me penetrating questions that caused me to think and reevaluate a habit or position. He almost always asks me what I'm reading. And on the fun side, Bill invites me to one Ohio State football game every season - something I look forward to for months.
They will be staying with Mary Kay and me Saturday night and coming to church with us Sunday morning. I'd appreciate it if you would welcome them as warmly as you can. I firmly believe one of the reasons I am your pastor today is because of Bill's influence on me many years ago.
That wraps up this week's pastor's e-letter. I know I tell you this all the time - I hope you're not tired of hearing it - I love being your pastor. You are such a loving, faithful, affirming congregation. You encourage me so much by the way you demonstrate your genuine love for each other.
Can't wait to see you Sunday morning at 11am at Church Requel. With affection, Pastor Mark
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In this first sermon on prayers that get things done, we learn that effective prayers provide God's presence, strength, peace, answers and change us, our circumstances and our world.
Prayers That Get Things Done - Part 1 from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.
You may follow along with the online sermon notes or download the fill-in-the-blanks PDF Outline.
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I catch up on the great weekend both personally and at Church Requel. In the sermon segment we talkk about prayers that get things done. We learn that effective prayers provide God's presence, strength, peace, answers and change us, our circumstances and our world.
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.
Music for this week's podcast is "I Say A Little Prayer" by Aretha Franklin.
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