Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

This Week at CR: Dr. John Byron Speaking!

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

I'm really pumped about our Sunday morning together this weekend. Dr. John Byron, my New Testament professor at Ashland Theological Seminary, will be our special guest speaker. You are in for a treat!

This week I pulled out my notes from my New Testament II class back in March 2006. Each evening I typed 10 to 12 pages of notes! Why so much? Aside from my own OCD tendencies, each of John's lectures were filled with personal discoveries of his own studies and travels, which I found to be fascinating. In fact, the very first night of class, a colleague of Dr. Byron's had to fill in for him. John was still in Israel, where he has taken many seminarians on multiple tours.

This Sunday morning Dr. Byron will be speaking to you on a passage from 1 Thessalonians. John literally wrote the book on Thessalonians. Last year John's commentary on 1st and 2nd Thessalonians was released. You don't have to be a seminarian to read it, understand it, or appreciate it.

Some of you may be thinking that Mark is just enthusiastic about his seminary professor. I am. But I have good reason to be. Don't just take my word for it. Ask Dave or Jenny Repp, who traveled with Mary Kay and me up to Ashland a couple months back to hear John give a public lecture. They'll tell you our time together whizzed by.

So what specifically will we be studying during our time together Sunday? We will be considering the progression of the gospel message in the church at Thessalonica in the 1st century. This model still works today - for us at Church Requel in Mansfield, Ohio. Want a head start? Check out the Bible app sermon notes.

Of course our Church Requel worship services are never just about teaching. We will worship in singing, praying, communion, fellowship. The whole experience should be ... well, an experience! I'm especially excited that Dave Johnson has agreed to lead us in our singing time. It's been far too long. Ian will join him on the bass guitar. And rumor has it that Tim and Jillian will be driving up from Dayton to join us too. 

As I see it - you're going to want to be at CR Sunday morning. And you're going to want to bring a friend. They will thank you!

We have some other great opportunities to look forward to as well...

• Mansfield Christian School Image and Potluck. Next Sunday will be another great opportunity. Twenty-two young people will sing and share their personal faith stories with you. Afterward we'll all enjoy a fabulous potluck meal together!
• Mother's Day - Watoto African Children's Choir. We'll have a great time together Mother's Day morning. Then you'll want to celebrate with a great Mother's Day feast at home. THEN you'll want to come back to Church Requel at 7pm to watch and hear this phenomenal children's choir. I've seen videos of their tour. It's truly exceptional!
  
  
• Sweet Williams Trio on June 7th - I'm 90% sure on this one, so I'll include this too. Mark your calendar on June 7th for some bluegrass gospel music! Envision this in your head - one hammer dulcimer + one banjo + one acoustic guitar + our own praise team singing. It's going to be so much fun. I guarantee you will - ahem - fly away!

We are making big plans for our church. Every week this summer will be special! The best part, though, is just getting together with all of you. I love our fellowship time together. One of the things you're going to learn from Dr. Byron this weekend is that the gospel spread in Thessaloniki because people were hearing good things about the people and what they were doing. The same thing, I believe, is true about you. Christ's love in us, expressed outwardly to one another and to our neighbors, is being talked about. Keep on loving! See you Sunday at 11! - Pastor Mark

Eight Truths Every Child Should Know About God [Podcast]

The Lord's Prayer is not just a prayer to pray. It’s a template for life! In this model prayer we will learn 8 truths, which are the antidote to the 8 biggest emotional problems kids of all ages face today.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.

Click to Listen!

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

Eight Truths Every Child Should Know About God [Video Sermon]

We turn our attention to the Lord’s prayer. Did you know that this is not just a prayer to pray? It’s a template for life! In this model prayer we will learn 8 truths, which are the antidote to the 8 biggest emotional problems kids of all ages face today.

Eight Truths Every Child Should Know About God from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.

This Sunday At CR: Child Dedication

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

Are you ready for THE SPRING OF CHURCH REQUEL? There are so many exciting things planned for our church over the next weeks. We're hoping for the best Spring ever!!! Want to join in the fun and excitement? Read on! Read all!

Child Dedication This Sunday. We are planning another FIRST for Church Requel at the Point of Grace! Sunday morning we will be dedicating 7 children from 4 families. The dedication ceremony involves children, parents, families, and the entire Church Requel congregation.  

What exactly IS a child dedication service? Like Hannah with her baby boy Samuel or Mary and Joseph with their baby boy Jesus, we dedicate ourselves to raising our children within our faith. We pledge ourselves to do everything we can to bring up our children to know Jesus' commands and to experience His love. It should be a really special time for our church family. You WILL want to be a participant in this worship experience!

Sunday's Sermon: "8 Truths About God Every Child Needs To Hear." By the way, this is not just a talk for parents. I presume that everyone at church Sunday will be a child of someone - so this should be applicable to everybody. Our text will be the Lord's Prayer, what I am calling Jesus' Model Prayer. This is not just a prayer, but a template for life. We will learn eight truths, which are the antidote to the eight biggest emotional problems kids of all ages face today. Want a head start on the sermon notes?

One more peek into Sunday... right before the sermon we will play the short video we recorded a year ago of our children reciting the Lord's Prayer. It's pretty special. If you haven't seen it, you don't want to miss it. If you've already seen it, you know you want to see it again.

Next Sunday - Dr. Byron speaking! I hope you are as excited about this as I am. John Byron was my seminary professor for New Testament II. He challenged me to think much more deeply about the cultural setting and history as well as giving me an appreciation for the original language of the New Testament. Dr. Byron still lectures for the public at the Ashland Theological Seminary and often speaks in many area pulpits. There has never been a time when I have sat under his teaching that I haven't walked away with something new.

You are in for a treat next weekend! Not only will Dr. Byron be teaching, but Dave Johnson has agreed to lead us in worship. Also I understand my daughter Jillian will be driving up from Dayton and has planned something special for you! And of course Brandi has found some special worship elements for you - but I've been sworn to secrecy so I can't tell you more.

Mansfield Christian School Image and Potluck. The exciting times continue to roll two weekends from now, when on May 3rd, twenty-two different high school students from MCS will lead you in a unique worship experience. We are especially excited about this because our own Haleigh Trubachik will be one of the singers!

After the worship concert we will all gather downstairs for one of Church Requel's infamous potluck meals. All the students and their families will be joining us, so you'll want to bring plenty of food for our guests. Sheri will be heating up a ham for everyone. We'll also provide all the drinks, paper products and eating utensils.

New Women's Bible Study: "Brave" We have finalized our plans for the women's Bible Study for this spring. I think you're going to like what you hear! Beginning Wednesday, April 29th at 6:30pm, we will offer the new Bible study entitled, "Brave: Honest Questions Women Ask," written by Angela Thomas.  Here's a one-minute video link describing the study.

Here's some really cool good news: we'd love to see many of our moms of younger children be able to attend this study too. But we know it's not always possible to find someone to watch your children. So we're going to cover you! For seven Wednesday nights, from April 29th through June 10th, we are going to hire two babysitters to watch your children for you from 6:30 to 8:30pm. Is that cool or what?

Sign up this weekend (we'll have a sign-up sheet in the lobby) and let Mary Kay Pierce know if you'd also like to purchase a Bible study book. We'll be selling them for $10, which is less than we paid for them. And of course, if the 10 bucks isn't possible right now, we'll take care of that for you too.

Belong Membership Class - May 2nd. Would you like to know more about Church Requel? How we got started? Where we're headed? What we believe? Are you interested in becoming a member at Church Requel, but you're not really sure yet? Then the Belong Class is for you! We will have a continental breakfast waiting for you at 8am. The class begins at 8:30am. We will also bring in lunch from Subway. Usually the class is finished by 1:30pm. 

If you wish to become a member of Church Requel, then this class is a must. On the other hand, you do not have to become a member if you attend the class. So far we only have one person signed up. We will need several more to make this one a "go." So make sure you sign up on the signup sheet in the lobby this weekend if you are interested. Our next Belong Class will be offered in November.

Watoto African Children's Choir - Mother's Day! Are you ready for this? Can you believe it? The Watoto African Children's Choir will be HERE at Church Requel for an evening concert on Mother's Day, May 10th at 7pm. There are eighteen children who sing and dance and worship God in ways you may never have experienced before. It's almost as if they are from an entirely different continent! 

This is their Oh What Love U.S. tour. If you haven't heard about them before, you'll want to check them out. They have a vibrant, urban sound and color that is guaranteed to take you on an emotional journey. Their entire concert is based on the Bible verse of 1 John 3:1: "See what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God!" This will be a Mother's Day treat to remember!

So what do you think? Will this be the Spring of Church Requel? I'm still in awe at all the great things happening at Church Requel. What a blessing! I've been praying for God to expand our territory. Seems to me He is answering in powerful ways.

As always, I love being your pastor! Blessings to you and yours, Pastor Mark

4 Jobs Of The Parent [Podcast]

The job of raising kids today is tougher than ever. Sunday morning I  taught moms and dads about the 4 main jobs of parenting: #1 Prepare your kids for life; #2 Protect your kids in storms; #3 Play with your kids for fun; #4 Point your kids to God.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the fill-in-the-blanks PDF sermon outline. 

Click to Listen!

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

4 Jobs Of The Parent [Video Sermon]

The job of raising kids today is tougher than ever. I taught moms and dads about the 4 main jobs of parenting: #1 Prepare your kids for life; #2 Protect your kids in storms; #3 Play with your kids for fun; #4 Point your kids to God.

Four Jobs Of The Parent from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the fill-in-the-blanks PDF sermon outline. 

This Week at CR: Easter Afterglow

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

I don't know about you, but your pastor is still in the Easter after-glow! What a terrific weekend we all enjoyed together last week! I loved everything about our worship service. What a celebration! Lots of new faces! The Easter Egg Hunt at the end of the service was a huge hit too! I'm sure it's going to become a future tradition at Church Requel. 

This week we push forward, knowing that God still has many good things in store for us. Last night I had the privilege of watching our young praise team rehearse for this coming Sunday morning. They sure are an enthusiastic bunch!

One of the other things I noticed was the maturing of our Worship Director Brandi Walker. She's really come a long ways in her first year in this role. Leading these young ladies was as much about spiritual leadership as it was musical leadership. That's priceless!

By the way, this pastor has heard through the grapevine that Steve and Cindy are back from their multi-month travels across the U.S. of A. Welcome home! You picked a good week to be back.

4 Jobs Of The Parent - This will also be a great week for all of our parents. Have you ever wondered what your Biblical responsibilities are in the raising of your children. We'll have a good reminder this weekend. Parenting today’s kiddos is tougher than ever. No matter how much you think you know about being a mom or a dad, there are days when your supposed expertise flies right out the window. Yet, being a mom or a dad can be one of the greatest joys in life. Sunday we will talk about the 4 jobs of the parent. Even if you’re not Mom or Dad to a little one these days, this talk will be good for everyone. We should all have children in our life in one way or another.

Next Sunday - Child Dedication. It has been a long time since we've dedicated children at Church Requel. We think it is high time we bring that tradition back. So next Sunday we will have at least two families dedicating their younger children.

We have another family considering dedicating one of their older children. I want our congregation to know that this is fine as well. It's the intent of the heart that our Lord looks at. If you feel like this would be appropriate for your family, let me know. We'd be happy to include you.

Also know that this idea of child dedications is not something that will go away anytime soon. I have a feeling that we are becoming a growing church with new children and so we hope to see many child dedications as we move forward. In the future we will include child dedications as part of our normal weekly worship services. If you have any questions about child dedication, pick up one of the brochures we've printed for you located in the lobby.

April 26th - Dr. John Byron Speaking. We have a couple of very special weeks to look forward to within the next month. I'm really pumped about Dr. Byron speaking at Church Requel on the 26th of this month. John was my New Testament professor at Ashland Theological Seminary. He challenged me to think about New Testament times beyond the normal lens of my contemporary setting. For that I will always be grateful. 

Dr. Byron has been following the Church Requel story with great interest. For me, it's like two great friends getting to meet for the first time. We have been communicating via email over the last week. His talk to you will be from 1 Thessalonians, which is pretty cool. John literally wrote the book on Thessalonians! You're in for a treat.

For those who might be interested, Dr. Byron has kept up a blog for the last 5 years. For a while he was writing a weekly piece called "Tuesdays With Thessalonians." My personal favorite was "On Preaching A Difficult Text," which encouraged me to not avoid any particular Biblical text as I'm working through a verse by verse Biblical study for our congregation.

May 3rd - Mansfield Christian School Image. Also in the "you're in for a treat" department, Mansfield Christian School's traveling ensemble group, Image, will be coming to Church Requel on May 3rd. This week Brandi and I have been working closely with Heidi Zentz, this year's director of Image.

They will be leading you in praise, sharing personal testimonies, singing special songs, doing special narrations... overall leading you into a very different kind of worship experience. We booked Image back in September, when we found out that our own Haleigh Trubachik was selected for her second year. 

We are also planning to enjoy a big potluck meal together with the MCS students and their families. So plan now to bring lots of food to share! This should be a wonderful day for all of us!

Wrapping up this week's Church Requel newsletter to you, I'm excited about the opportunities ahead of us. As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, I now write to you:

I "give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in [my] prayers, remember before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3)."

Hope to see you on Sunday at 11am! Pastor Mark

Radical Resurrection [Podcast]

For Church Requel's Easter morning, I talked about why belief in the resurrection is so important to our authentic Christian faith.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon notes.

Click to Listen!

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

Radical Resurrection [Video Sermon]

For Church Requel's Easter morning, I talked about why belief in the resurrection is so important to our authentic Christian faith.

Radical Resurrection from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon notes.

This Week at CR: Resurrection Celebration!

Good morning Church Requel!

Do you realize just how special Sunday morning will be? Yes the music will be awesome (more in a moment on that score) and yes the delight in the children's eyes will be wonderful (more about that too!) Sunday's Resurrection Celebration will be special because it will be in a "requel" church with "requel" people. 

Requel is that special place between sequel (been there done that) and prequel (empty tomb? what are you talking about?) Requel is a retelling of THE story in a new and fresh way. When we talk about a "requel" church, we're not talking about any of the many reiterations of the church that have been in existence for the last 2,000 years. We're talking about church as those first Christians experienced it.

Recently I've been re-reading my church history, especially the early history of the first two centuries. I always appreciate the "requel" label more after I've had a chance to think about the many "sequels" of church. Here's a truth I've come to recognize. We couldn't be Church Requel without the struggles of the church sequels to figure out what Christianity is really all about. We have the opportunity for a "do over" knowing the mistakes we don't want to make again.

What particularly excites me about this is not just the concept of the church in requel mode, but its people in requel mode. You. Me. Everyone else who attends Church Requel. Not only are we Church Requel but we're people requel too. We each have a new chance to tell a new story in a new way with Jesus at the center of our story.

For most of us, this is not our first attempt at church. We are in need of a do-over. We are in need of people who understand that we've blown it. And love us anyway. And accept us anyway. We are in need of people who will encourage us to walk the path of Jesus in obedience and joy this time. 

Sunday morning when we're singing about the empty tomb, when we hear the words, "He is risen," and when we repeat with everyone else, "He is risen indeed," we will be celebrating as fallen people. As forgiven people. As restored people. As requel people. And I can't wait! How about you?

Large Praise Team In Celebration Mode. I had the privilege to practice with Jeff, Brandi, Trish, Dinah and Missie this past Wednesday evening. I wrote to my Facebook friends later that night, "It's the most fun I've had in church in a long time." We experienced a lifting of our spirits and a bonding of togetherness, when we sang those songs. Truly, I'm so hopeful that you will experience those same feelings this coming Sunday morning.

Brandi has planned out our Easter worship experience in a unique way. She will start the service singing a song to invite the Holy Spirit into our midst. It's a simple vocal song with Dan playing his guitar alongside. After this Brandi will invite us to take communion together and then we'll pray together, thanking God our Father for sending His Son. We begin with communion and prayer and then move to celebration singing. I think we'll celebrate that much more as a result!

Before our sermon we will watch a special monologue performed by Trish Trubachik. She'll say the words that some of us will be feeling that morning. Brandi will sing another special song, "What If" by Nichole Nordeman. The song and the monologue were designed to fit together and to support the theme of our talk - our belief in the resurrection. This will be the final talk in the Signs and Wonders sermon series, and I hope it will be one of the best. I'm really looking forward to sharing it with you.

At the end of the worship service, our special Easter praise team will come up one more time to sing "We Believe" by the Newsboys. Jeff Barnes really knows how to raise the roof with this song - which is saying something given the height of our ceilings at Church Requel! 

Easter Egg Hunt After Church. Our children will be dismissed after our worship singing to a very special KidsMin downstairs. Our elementary aged children will participate in a scavenger hunt, a fun-filled learning experience about the real meaning behind Easter. Each clue will point them closer to their goal (and closer to Jesus' resurrection!)

After church we will enjoy one last celebration together - our first ever Church Requel Easter Egg Hunt! I took this picture on the upper right this morning. It's just one of our crates of Easter egg treats. (Thanks SO MUCH to the team who assembled all these last weekend!) We have hundreds of eggs for our kiddos to find!

You could help us in two ways. First, we need some hiders! If you are available an hour early (10am) this Sunday, show up at church and help us hide the eggs. We'll hide them all outside on the sides and front of our property on the point of Marion Avenue and Park Avenue West.

Second, we'd like all the adults in our church to step outside at the conclusion of our church service and line our two busy streets. You will be the guards to make sure our children stay "in bounds." Parents of our little ones will accompany their children. Our elementary children will want to find their eggs on their own (and thus we'll need our adults to stand guard.) We anticipate that this entire event will be go by quickly.

Parents, make sure your children bring bags or baskets to store their easter egg candies. However, Tamira is bringing extra bags for those children who forget to bring one.

Invite! Invite! Invite! This Sunday morning will be a super special event for Church Requel. We know this could be one of our most attended worship services ever. Please invite your family and friends to come with you. They will thank you... maybe for eternity!

The reason I am so certain of this is that several of you, who are now regular weekly worshipers at Church Requel, started coming during an Easter celebration! Let's not keep Church Requel our own little secret. Let's share the good news of Jesus' resurrection and what He is still accomplishing in our midst.

He is risen! He is risen indeed! - Pastor Mark