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What do you do when you feel disappointed by Christ? Most Christ-followers experience a dark time of their soul when God does not respond the way they thought. In this podcast I consider the story of Mary, Martha and Lazarus from John 11 to discover how our faith survives grief and disappointment.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download this PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.
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What do you do when you feel disappointed by Christ? Most Christ-followers experience a dark time of their soul when God does not respond the way we thought. This morning I considered the story of Mary, Martha and Lazarus from John 11 to discover how our faith survives grief and disappointment.
Lifeless Lazarus from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download this PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.
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Good Friday morning Church Requel,
We wake up this morning to the tragic news that the likely cause of the Germanwings crash was the deliberate act of a co-pilot, who also has experienced depression. Let's talk about this first, before we look forward to this coming weekend at CR.
Depression is a real mental illness. It's not a character flaw. It is not a sign of spiritual failing. Depression is a serious mental health condition that requires understanding and treatment. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, an estimated 16 million American adults - almost 7% of our population - suffered from at least one major depressive episode of depression last year. As your pastor I think it's safe to say that we have seen even more than our share of depression within our own congregation.
In my experience (the Germanwings tragedy notwithstanding), people suffering from depression pose a much greater risk to themselves than they do to others. According to Webmd.com, depression carries a high risk of suicide. Would you be surprised to learn (I was!) that suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in our country?
Bottom line for us this morning, depression should be taken seriously by everyone. We should not shame this condition or ignore it. The stigma of admitting depression to our friends and families is very real. Can we make a pact together? Between you and me and all the others at Church Requel? Let's not be ashamed of depression. Let's talk about it. Let's share it. And most importantly, let's get help for it.
I know I am horribly biased - not to mention madly in love - with Mary Kay Pierce. That being said, we have within our congregation someone who really gets it when it comes to mental illness in general and depression in particular. She is the director of our NAMI organization in Richland County. What that means for you and me is that she is an amazing resource of connections for our families. If you or someone you love suffers from depression, I urge you to have a conversation with Mary Kay.
Beyond Mary Kay's help, also know that in our church family you always will find an open, loving, accepting family of people. We promise not to think less of you if you share your mental health condition with us. We will love you as one of our own. And speaking very personally, I will love you and even admire you more for breaking down the foolish barriers of stigma.
Neighborhood Meal Saturday. We have the privilege of being the hands and feet of Jesus tomorrow evening. When we've served these meals in the past, we have seen at least a hundred hungry souls walk through our doors - sometimes twice that many!
Sheri Nichols will lead our efforts, but she will need lots of your help! Volunteers should show up here at the church around 4pm. We begin serving the meal at 5pm. We are usually finished (walking out the door) by 6:30pm.
Will you invest two and a half hours of your time this weekend to do the good the Gospels clearly instruct us to do? (Want some motivation? Check out Matthew 25:35.) Besides willing hands and feet, we'd also welcome your desserts to give away. I hope to see many of you tomorrow evening.
Lazarus Readers Theater. We have something very special lined up for this Sunday morning at Church Requel. Nine of your fellow parishioners have volunteered to read dramatically through John chapter 11 - the story of Mary, Martha, Lazarus and Jesus. Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is filled with exciting lessons of hope for all who claim to be Christ-followers. This Sunday you will hear the story of Lazarus like you've never heard it before.
I'd like to tell you the story behind the story of Sunday's Readers Theater. Back in January, Brandi and I began talking about this Readers Theater. We thought it would a great way to bring the Scriptures to life. Brandi was tasked with the job of finding the people to read for us. For a large church, finding nine people to read might not represent much of a problem. But for a church our size? That's a big commitment.
Two weeks ago Brandi sent out a mass message on Facebook. As soon as I saw it go out I thought to myself that we had made a mistake. I've been trained not to ask a large group of people to volunteer. I've been taught to go to people one on one. Why? Because when you ask a large group at the same time, it's a lot easier for folks to assume that the other guy will do what needs to be done. Consequently few people will usually respond to a mass volunteer invite.
That may be true in other churches and other volunteer organizations, but in this case Brandi had a much better sense of our pulse than I did. I sat back in amazement as almost everyone responded. Some people responded that they'd love to read, but that they had other CR commitments that morning. Others responded that they were not comfortable reading, but they would be happy to take on the prior commitment of the first group to free them up to read. In the end almost everyone responded positively one way or another!
Once again, I am humbled to be your pastor. Once again you are teaching me how to be a leader at Church Requel. You are a good people, willing to do almost anything for the Kingdom of Christ - if only given the opportunity. Our thanks go out to Dinah, Kay, Loni, Fred, Brian, Shelli, Paula, Judie and Roger, who will read for us this Sunday.
Easter Invites. As we wrap up this week's pastoral newsletter, may I remind you that Easter is only one week away? This will be a great opportunity for us to invite family and friends to worship with us. I've seen the plans for our Easter celebration. All cylinders will be firing at Church Requel!
Tamira has amazing plans for our children that day. Many of you will be stuffing Easter eggs this Sunday afternoon. (I'm sure she has more room at the table if you want to help!) Also - everyone - remember to bring in your plastic eggs and individually wrapped candies this Sunday! I've also heard through the grapevine that our KidsMin will enjoy a scavenger hunt next Sunday to discover the real meaning of Easter. If you know a kid who won't be going to church next Sunday, invite them!
Brandi has amazing plans for our worship that day. A large praise team (including yours truly) will lead our worship singing. We'll be singing some of the greatest songs about Jesus' resurrection. It will really be a party! As it should be! Brandi has also written a special monologue for Trish Trubachik to perform. It involves a full-length mirror and is titled, "Easter Reflections." There will also be two musical specials with songs by Nichole Nordeman and the Newsboys. If you know someone who won't otherwise be going to church next Sunday, invite them!
Jesus has amazing plans for all of us that day! We celebrate not only his resurrection but the promise of our own some day. That's worth the extra effort and the special invite, don't you think? It's going to be ... well, amazing!
Love you all much! Pastor Mark
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Like the John 8 woman caught in adultery, we stand before Jesus alone and accused. Jesus does not condemn the woman and, if we stand with Jesus, he will not condemn us either.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.
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Like the John 8 woman caught in adultery, we stand before Jesus alone and accused. Jesus does not condemn the woman and, if we stand with Jesus, he will not condemn us either.
Adulterous Act from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.
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Good Friday morning Church Requel!
What a great Sunday morning we have planned for this weekend. It's all Mandisa music! This is the brain child of Brandi Walker, who tells me she loves listening to Mandisa's upbeat and encouraging lyrics on Christian radio. "Why not have a Sunday when every worship song and every special comes from Mandisa?" Brandi asked me one planning meeting a couple months back.
Joining Brandi on the Praise Team this weekend will be Missie Miller and Trish Trubachik. After individually listening to the set for the last three weeks, the local trio got together and practiced this past Wednesday evening. One thing they can all agree on: Mandisa makes it look a lot easier than it really is. They plan on practicing again tonight. I think we should thank them all this Sunday for their dedication to leading us in our worship.
So what Mandisa songs will we be singing together? Here's this week's praiselist: "Stronger," "My Deliverer," and one of my all-time favorites: "Overcomer." Would you like to get a head start on your own praise singing? Check out this YouTube playlist of all the songs we've sung together at Church Requel so far this year! We update it each Monday morning, but I went ahead and put up the three Mandisa songs early just for you!
YouTube CR Worship Playlist. By the way - the 2015 CR Playlist is a great playlist to bookmark. I always find the music uplifting. It's hard to believe, but we already have 36 songs on the list, and it's only March 20th! We should doubly thank Brandi Walker, who is the one responsible for the songs we sing each week. I love what she's done so far this year!
Speaking of music, didn't you love the kids praise team last Sunday morning? We are also blessed to have Tamira on our staff, teaching our children. Six of our kiddos volunteered to sing with her at Church Requel last Sunday morning.
I have to admit that Tamira was more certain than I was that you all would be able to do "the wave" in the middle of one of our praise songs. She was right! You all looked like you were having as much fun as she was.
Easter Egg Hunt. Tamira is also leading the way toward the first-ever Easter egg hunt for Easter, coming up on April 5th. I've heard back from several of you that you've already gone shopping for Easter candy and plastic eggs. You can begin bringing your Easter goodies for our children to the church service this coming Sunday morning.
Also make sure you plan to stay a little after the service on Easter morning to participate in the Easter Egg Hunt fun. We need all of our adults to line up on our property along Marion Avenue and Park Avenue as a human barrier. Plus - think how much fun it will be to watch our little ones find their eggs? Also - if you know of any children in your life, who don't have a church home - make sure to invite them to Church Requel for Easter morning. Tamira has come up with a creative way to tell the real Resurrection story in KidsMin through a scavenger hunt downstairs during our teaching time upstairs. What a terrific Easter she has planned for KidsMin!
First Homegrown Program. I know this week's newsletter seems to have turned into a staff bragfest. I can't help myself. I guess I'm feeling so blessed this morning. I have to tell you about one more "staff" member. Marci Crawford isn't on the CR payroll, but she's one of us all the same.
Marci volunteers her time each week to produce our weekly program. For several years she's written and edited the program from her own home and then sent it off to Nancy Roop, who used her office printer (with the appreciated permission of Quest) to print out the programs. Mary Kay or I would usually swing by Nancy's office to pick up the printed programs and make sure they arrived timely at Church Requel.
This week for the first time Marci used our new CR office to write, edit, print and fold the programs - all in house! Yay! For many churches this might seem like no big deal. But we know what a big deal it really is. Thank you so much to everyone who sacrificed so much to make this small office happen - the men who worked on construction and everyone who gave financially toward the project.
In Coming Weeks... Here are some other things we have to look forward to in coming weeks!
On my way to the office this morning I experienced the same thing many of you did - SNOW! On the first day of Spring too! The good news is that we know this is Winter's last gasp. Spring literally is right around the corner. When I look at our plans for this Spring (above), I know it's going to be the best season we've had yet at Church Requel.
Can't you feel it? New people are coming. People are praying for one another and supporting each other throughout the week. There's anticipation for each and every Sunday morning.
Last week our attendance was down just a little bit. When Mary Kay and I were talking about it after church, we realized that a year ago we would have been so thrilled with the number who attended on Sunday. Let's remain faithful and focused on following Christ to our very best ability... and enjoy the ride!
Love partnering with you, Pastor Mark
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Jesus miraculously healed a man born blind. That was an incredible miracle. Today He does an even greater miracle all the time - He heals us of our spiritual blindness when we become Christ followers. Sunday morning I considered 6 responses from the man born blind to help us SEE how to respond to our own miracle today.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.
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Jesus miraculously healed a man born blind. That was an incredible miracle. Today He does an even greater miracle all the time - He heals us of our spiritual blindness when we become Christ followers. This morning at Church Requel I considered 6 responses from the man born blind to help us SEE how to respond to our own miracle today.
Born Blind from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.
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Good Friday morning Church Requel!
We have lots to tell you about this coming Sunday morning, so stay tuned. But first let me tell you about this picture on the right. At first glance it looks like it's a photo of Brandi holding a stapler. And... that's what it is - a photo of Brandi holding a stapler.
Why start off with this as our lead in this week's edition of the Church Requel newsletter? Because it's the first stapler Church Requel has purchased... EVER! I know it probably doesn't seem like a big deal to anyone else. To us, though, it means we are experiencing God's blessings. We can afford to supply our own office!
This week we're feeling all grown up. We installed our office computer and printer. We not only bought the stapler, but pens and pencils (and pencil sharpener!), paper clips and tape dispenser. We received a donation of an entire case of paper! (Thank you anonymous parishioner! The donated paper will work wonderfully in our anonymously donated printer!) Over the next week we plan to decorate our walls and make it our "home" office at church.
On Monday, Marci Crawford will continue her labor of love - publishing the weekly program from our new computer and printer. For the first time our weekly bulletin won't have to be designed on one person's computer, checked on another person's computer, emailed to a third person, who sends it to her printer, folds them and gives them to a fourth person to deliver back to the church.
We really do thank you all for your continued financial support of making this possible for us. Your staff and volunteers are grateful for a space to call their own. Yay God! Awesome!
Kids Praise Team This Sunday! Speaking of awesome, you won't want to miss this Sunday morning at Church Requel. Last night six of our children practiced the four praise songs they will sing Sunday along with KidsMin Director Tamira Barnes. I think the adjective that best describes this praise team is... energetic! Come prepared to "Put Your Hands Up" to show you're "Happy and You Know It" with "Every Move [You] Make."
I love that our children are so involved at Church Requel. We believe that children are the church of today, not just of tomorrow. We don't just believe it, but we live it out. Once a month our kiddos stay upstairs with Mom and Dad and worship together as families. During this one Sunday every month, we try to involve our kids as much as possible in the worship service.
And not just singing either! They share our announcements. They greet folks as people come in. They help set up. Wyatt, Liam and Grayden are even learning how to run the tech booth! The photo on the left is Grayden practicing our lighting cues last night.
While we are on the topic of the children and their involvement in our worship services... Did anyone else love how they came upstairs from KidsMin at the end of our teaching time last week to deliver their own version of the loaves and fishes?
Let's thank Sheri Nichols, who cooked up those sandwiches for us. How cool for Tamira and the whole KidsMin team to be able to teach the "Loaves and Fishes" miracle and then follow it up by providing that treat for the adults? On the right you can see Wyatt with a mountain of fish sandwiches. To the far right is a photo with all the kiddos making the fish sandwiches under the guidance of Jack and Sheri.
Sunday's Sermon - "Born Blind" We continue our Signs and Wonders sermon series from the Gospel of John with a focus on the miracle of the healing of the man born blind. We may not have been born blind, but we have all been born with another deadly congenital disease. We all have been born with the inward inclination toward sin. Just as Jesus healed the man born blind, he also offers to heal us of our corrupt natures. When you think about it - this is an even bigger miracle, one that leads to eternal life! This Sunday we'll learn from the once blind man on how we should respond to so great a miracle!
Christian Service. We call our worship times "services." Have you ever wondered why? Because it provides us the opportunity to serve. This isn't just the job of the minister - it belongs to each one of us. At Church Requel we are blessed with an incredibly high participation rate. Every member (and most every attender) serves at our church in one capacity or another. Setting up, tearing down, running the tech, reading, singing, cleaning, teaching, greeting, giving, cooking, constructing are all examples of ways our people serve God and one another.
If you're not on a team, there's no better time than now. We're just now putting our schedules together for the second quarter. (Team leaders take note!) If you're not officially on a team yet, talk to someone about it. Literally - anyone! The chances are good you'll find someone who is already involved doing something. Or you could fill out one of the connection cards and one of our staff members will help guide you to the right team for you.
Next Sunday - Mandisa Songs! I love working with our staff. They are so creative. About a month ago Brandi began working on an idea that will come to fruition next Sunday, March 22nd. Each of the songs in the worship service - 3 specials and 3 congregational songs - will be songs that have been made famous by the recording artist, Mandisa. On the team with Brandi will be Dinah Stanfield, Missie Miller and Trish Trubachik. This should be another great worship experience. Tell someone you know who listens to popular Christian songs on the radio. They will be so glad you told them about this special event!
In Coming Weeks... Here are some other things we have to look forward to in coming weeks!
I don't know about you, but it seems like these are some of the best days Church Requel has ever experienced. Our church is growing. People are faithful. Change seems to be happening around every corner!
I walked into the church earlier this week to discover Paul Patton hand painting these beautiful crosses on each of our eight pillars in the sanctuary. They perfectly match one of the colors in our stained glass.
When I went downstairs and sat down, I had to offer up a small prayer of thanksgiving. These developments are not the result of my planning and efforts. It's all God! It's as if He is telling me (and you): "Remain faithful, keep doing what you know to do, then watch Me work!" His work is always the best, isn't it?
Humbled with the privilege of leading you, Pastor Mark
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Today I sit down to write my Easter sermon. My parishioners may be surprised to know that this sermon is one of the hardest to write. What can I say that hasn't been said before? How do I keep it fresh and engaging? When I finally get over these concerns and start writing, I'm immediately slammed with another issue - how can I say everything that needs to be said and still keep my sermon down to the time I have to talk?
Here is what I remind myself each time I write the Easter message for my congregation.
Each year is different. The idea that I cannot write anything new or different is a fallacy of my limited imagination. The truth is each year is different. My audience is different. There will be people sitting in our pews that have never heard an Easter message in my church before. Even those lifetime members with perfect attendance haven't heard the Easter sermon for at least 52 weeks. Most importantly I am different.
I am in a unique place in my Christian journey. This year I will reflect on the resurrection story differently than I have in the past or will in the future. The art of sermon writing is not in the uniqueness of observing something never seen before. The art of sermon writing comes from observing the unique way I see the message intertwining with my life and in the life of my congregation.
Write passionately and particularly. Today's pastors are daily faced with their larger-than-life peers with huge mega-churches or immense television and radio audiences. When I sit down to write today, I will force those self-imposed comparisons out of my mind. The Lord God calls me to preach to this particular congregation in this particular year. Deliberately I think of the man with stage 4 cancer, the woman struggling to breath through her worsening lung disease, the single mom with questioning teenagers, the couple married this year without any family support, the daughter who just buried her beloved dad, and the moms who gave birth since last Easter. No other pastor, no other sermon will reach these loved children of God in quite the same way!
Rest in The Spirit's Leading. When we pastors get right down to the truth of the matter, it's not our own cleverness that makes for powerful, life-changing sermons. It's God's Holy Spirit working freely through our thoughts (and word processors.) The starting point for the Easter sermon is not the title or the outline. It's not even the passage of Scripture. The place to start is with the prayer: 'Forgive me of my sins. Create a clean heart within me. Help me today to hear You. Work through me.'
This is my Super Bowl. Telling the good news story is why I became a pastor. As the old hymn sings, "I love to tell the story!" Telling the good news story on THE Good News day is even better! It's the biggest single day on the Christian calendar. People will come to church on Easter, even if they don't come any other Sunday. We have the best news ever to share with them. This is BIG TIME! Even for the small church pastor.
So go ahead and get excited. Give it your best effort. Know that God has called you and will work something special through you, if you allow Him. Have fun with it. Rejoice in this moment. It's special and you won't have many of them.
Super Bowl victors receive a ring. We receive a crown of life. Even more special, we make it possible for the men and women in our pews to also play in the game and receive their own crowns of life. What could be better?
So don't be intimated by the bigness of the day. Don't look upon this sermon writing task with dread. Don't drag out that old sermon from your file or look to what other pastors have preached. Enjoy this experience with your Lord. Allow Him to bless you as He did in your youth. Forget all the other demands of your day. Get away with your Bible and your writing utensil of choice and watch God do something exciting in your heart and uniquely life-giving in your sermon.
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Sometimes God wants to do the impossible through us just to remind us that everything is possible through him. In this week's podcast I consider Jesus' miracle of feeding the five thousand. Along the way we will discover 4 lessons about financial faith miracles. We also learn how to discover the possible within the impossible.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the fill-in-the-blanks PDF sermon outline.
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.
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Sometimes God wants to do the impossible through us just to remind us that everything is possible through him. In this morning's Church Requel talk, I considered Jesus' miracle of feeding the five thousand. We discovered 4 lessons about financial faith miracles and how to discover the possible within the impossible.
Fish Feed 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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Good Friday morning Church Requel!
Did you know that today is the National Day of Unplugging? From sundown tonight to sundown tomorrow night those who make the pledge will unplug their lives from the internet and from their devices. Instead of posting to Facebook, checking their email, or playing the latest round of Trivia Crack, the "unpluggers" will create a Sabbath space for themselves, relaxing, reflecting and connecting with loved ones.
The idea sounds intriguing to this most-plugged-in pastor. I actually loved being plugged in, because it allows me to be closer to all of you. And let's face it - you couldn't read this email newsletter unless you and I were plugged in. Still the idea of taking a break from it all one day a year has merit. What do you think? Let's post comments on our Facebook page today. We have until sundown to decide if we'd like to try this as a group. (Don't have Facebook? Then you probably don't have an "unplugging" problem. LOL.)
Spring Forward!!! Don't be like the Skit Guys video we watched last Sunday and show up an hour late this Sunday. This Sunday morning at 2am we all set our clocks ahead by one hour. That means our 11am start time will feel like 10am, but alas, will be 11am. You won't want to miss. We have some great things in store. Read on!
Fish Surprise This Sunday! We continue our Signs and Wonders sermon series this weekend by considering the miracle when Jesus fed the 5,000 starting with just 5 loaves and 2 fishes. When you read John 6:5-15, do you think of a financial miracle? The disciples thought they had a resource problem. Sunday we'll look at this most famous of miracles with our money filter and learn four lessons that could impact how we see faith opportunities all around us. Oh... what's the fish surprise? Well, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told you, would it? Ha! You'll just have to come and find out for yourselves!
Awesome Worship! Didn't we have a blessed worship experience last Sunday, when the praise team from Rolling Plains UMC came up to share with us? The morning snows were frigid and frightening outside, but we were rocking and rolling God's goodness on the inside!
We're not going to slow down one iota this coming Sunday. I had the great privilege of watching this week's praise team practice last night. Pictured on the left are Jeff Barnes, Ron Bolesky, Brandi Walker, Dan Logan and Tamira Barnes, who will all lead our worship together.
Want to get started with your own worship practice? We'll be singing "Come Thou Fount" by Gateway Worship, "Awesome Is The Lord Most High" by Chris Tomlin," "Open The Eyes Of My Heart" by Michael W. Smith, and "Your Great Name" by Natalie Grant.
We all such a good time together last night, laughing and singing. I hope Sunday morning you'll leave Church Requel with a song in your heart too.
KidsMin Fun. Tamira tells me that our children have been learning about the life of Jesus. Recently they talked about how Zacchaeus' life was changed when he met Jesus. Even though "Zach" was an unlikeable person, Jesus showed him love. This led to a good discussion about kids at school and how hard it is to love some, who are unkind.
Our Preschool kiddos even got into the act, learning the story of Zaccheaus. In this picture on the right, they are making mean faces as they act out the story.
This Sunday KidsMin's topic will be "Let's Do Lunch." They will be talking about Jesus feeding the 5,000 and how God can use their small gifts in mighty ways!!! (Sound familiar?) They also have been talking about serving others with a generous heart. They have some fun relays planned, a science experiment and a picnic with... you guessed it... some bread and fish!
Condolences to the Reed Daniel Family. This past Wednesday, Paul Lintern and I had the privilege to officiate over the funeral of Reed Daniel. Reed lived to 91 years of age. He was baptized as St. Luke's Lutheran and attended all his adult life. His last year he came often to Church Requel with his daughter, Aimee Medina, and granddaughter, Mari Jensen. We extend our sympathies to Aimee, Mari and all their families during this grieving time. Reed will be greatly missed in our midst.
Our 500th Church Requel Audio! We hit a milestone this past Monday as we posted our 500th Church Requel audio file. Yay! Seems to us that anything done 500 times should be celebrated, right? You can find all of our audios on the Church Requel Audio Podcast page. Our first year - as mostly a house church - we posted over 200 of them, including many 10-minute studies from the Gospel of Matthew. We also enjoyed a couple years in 2013-14, when we attempted a longer podcast-style production.
Now we post the Sunday sermon each week on Monday morning. We still have more people who listen online each week, in one form or another, than who actually come to Church Requel on Sunday morning. Would you like to be on our audio email list? We send an email each Monday morning to those who want to know when the audio is posted. Just let me know and I will include you too.
Office Equipment Ordered. Writing about those early days reminds me of just how far we've come since the early living room church. This past Wednesday evening, our leadership team made the decision to go ahead and order the office equipment for our new office space downstairs at Church Requel. Several of our men have been working this year to create an office area for our staff and volunteers. They are almost finished.
So we have gone forward with our plans and purchased a computer and high speed printer / copier. This equipment should arrive in the next couple of weeks. We could not do this without your ongoing financial faithfulness. Thank you so much. For such a small church, you donate with large and generous hearts. We have received about half the money we need to complete this special project. If you haven't been downstairs yet to see it, make sure you check out our new digs on Sunday!
In Coming Weeks... Here are some of the things we have to look forward to in coming weeks!
These first two months of 2015 have literally flown by! We have endured a harsh winter and have come through it in the best shape our church has ever been. I'm looking forward to springing forward with all of you. Don't forget to set your clocks Saturday night. Can't wait to see all of you Sunday morning. With a pastor's passionate heart for you, Pastor Mark
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If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat! We consider the gospel story of Peter walking on the water to Jesus. Along the way we learn 8 ways to to great steps of faith in becoming the people God has created us to become.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the fill-in-the-blanks PDF sermon outline.
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.
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If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat! In this morning's sermon I considered the gospel story of Peter walking on the water with Jesus. Along the way we learned 8 ways to take great steps of faith in becoming the people God has created us to become.
Water Walk 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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