Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

Road Tips With Jesus [Video Sermon]

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to take a road trip with Jesus? I examine the story of 12-year-old Jesus traveling with his parents in Luke 2. We consider 4 tips for traveling with Jesus.

Road Tips With Jesus from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.

Road Tips With Jesus [Podcast]

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to take a road trip with Jesus? Pastor Mark examines the story of 12-year-old Jesus traveling with his parents in Luke 2. We consider 4 tips for traveling with Jesus.

Click to Listen!

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

This Week At CR: Candlelight Christmas Eve

Good Christmas Eve morning everyone!

Anyone else excited besides me? I'm so pumped up I can hardly sleep or even talk. Well... ok... it could be that I haven't been feeling so hot this week, but I'm going to chalk it up to excitement nonetheless. Nothing is going to keep me from enjoying my church family tonight or my grandchildren tomorrow! All eight will be over to Grandma and Grandpa's house - I can hardly wait to snap THAT photo in front of the Christmas tree! It will be Titus's first Christmas with all his Pierce cousins!

But first - our church family gathering tonight! I LOVE this photo of Grandpa Fred and Granddaughter Sami, who will sing together tonight. The picture tells the story of what you can expect at 5pm tonight. Families coming together. Offering their gifts of music and story to the Christ child and their fellow congregants.

I love how Fred is looking at Sami. I love how Sami is feeling the love of her grandfather. I love how they are doing this together, something they will always remember. I love how we get the opportunity to share this moment with them tonight, something we will always remember!

When Brandi and I first came up with the idea of opening up our Christmas Eve service to anyone who wanted to offer their gifts to Jesus, we really didn't think we would get many takers. We are both overwhelmed and filled with gratitude at the response and attitude of our church congregation.

Tuesday night almost 30 different folks came to rehearse - pretty much everyone who will be participating! What a great sacrifice to give up another evening during Christmas week. Though no one seemed to be feeling the sacrifice, but rather the fun and the love. 

I especially enjoyed watching Brandi lead so magnificently as she coordinated everyone and let them know when they went up and what they would be doing. She has grown so much in her leadership role at Church Requel. What a pleasure to watch her be so rewarded in her ministry!

I learned so much about some of our parishioners Tuesday night. For example, I had no idea that Paityn and Grace (pictured above) could play the flutes so beautifully. Now that I know we have two fantastic flautists among us, I promise you tonight will NOT be the last time you hear from them!

Nor did I have any idea that Chris Thoman and Tamara Engstrom (pictured at the right) could sing! But they can - really well!!! They will be joining Brandi, Trish and Missie leading us in a Christmas medley at the beginning of our time together tonight. 

I knew that David Hill (pictured below) could sing and play the guitar. But I had no idea that he could also play the piano and sing at the same time. But he can! (I have a feeling this will not be his last time either! Now that the pastor knows!) 

And did you know that Susie Wiegand and Ken and Karen Jacob are all such great story tellers? They are! Susie will be inviting all the young children to come up front with her. Ken and Karen will be telling a story to the big kiddos! Don't worry. You can stay in your pew seats. Haha.

It was one year ago tonight that we all discovered Brian Betts could sing so beautifully. He will be back again tonight. We'll also enjoy the rock style Christmas guitar music of Dan Logan during our greeting time. Finally, we'll hear the Christmas Bible reading from Loni, Paula, Fred and Shelli. Awesome!

I did not know that Rachel knew sign language, but she does!!! As you are lighting your Christmas Eve candles at the conclusion of tonight's service, make sure you look up to see Rachel bringing her birthday gift to Jesus. This is a HUGE step for her. Rachel does not like being in front of people. But she does love Jesus and want to bring him this gift. I couldn't be more proud!

I've written a small talk, broken up into two short segments about the Hide and Seek of the Christmas story. I can't wait to share it with all us seekers tonight. It will be my birthday present to Jesus.

I will also be working with our tech team tonight, working the sound board and watching Don on the cameras, Grayden on the computer and Cohen on the lighting. By the way, tonight's lighting will truly shine more than usual, as today is one of the shortest periods of daylight in the year. So it will be dark outside by the time we get started.

Speaking of getting started, I would suggest that everyone arrive well before tonight's 5pm start time. Here's why. 1st - you won't want to miss Dave and Jen Repp lighting the Advent candle tonight. Given Jen's health challenges in 2015, I don't know how anyone will be able to watch that without wet cheeks.

2nd - you won't want to miss out on Marci's annual birthday presents. It wouldn't be a birthday party without birthday cake. Marci will be bringing those delicious Christmas cupcakes. She brings more every year, but they never last! Come early and claim your cupcake...

3rd - ... and your seat! This service is one of those few when our pews are really in demand. And of course you will want to sit with your whole family together. The best way to insure that is to come early.

One more word about the logistics for tonight - let's talk parking. Did you know that within one city block of Church Requel that there are actually MORE parking spaces than there are pew seats in our church? It's true. What's not the case, however, is that our church parking lot across Marion Avenue will have empty spaces. Those will probably go pretty quickly.

Here's my request - if you know your way around and you're in pretty good health, how about parking away in one of the other spots and leave the church parking lot available for our visitors and guests? 

Speaking of visitors and guests, please invite people TODAY! They will come if you ask them. Many of your friends are actually looking for a place to worship tonight. This is a great opportunity for us to share our church family with others. So invite them. Stop right now and just think about who you might know who would appreciate an invitation. They will thank you. So will I!

Merry Christmas Blessings! See you tonight by 5pm. Pastor Mark

Five Present Presents [Video Sermon]

God grants us five Christmas presents from that first Christmas. In this video of Sunday's Christmas sermon we discover 5 godly gifts from Gabriel and Mary's exchange in Luke 1.

 

Five Present Presents from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.

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

Five Present Presents [Podcast]

God grants us five Christmas presents from that first Christmas. In Sunday's sermon we discover 5 godly gifts from Gabriel and Mary's exchange in Luke 1.

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

Click to Listen!

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

This Week At CR: Star Trip - 5 Presents + Neighbor Meal

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

I pray this morning's newsletter finds you well and excited for the Christmas holiday. This is a big weekend for the Pierce clan. Our family is traveling up from Mason, over from Massillon, and down from Barberton to celebrate with us tonight. Altogether we are expecting 27 family members!!! Many will be staying the night. It's been a long time since our home has been this full. Mary Kay and I are thrilled. Can't wait!

Five Presents Sunday. We are also looking forward to being with all of you this coming Sunday morning at Church Requel. Our theme Sunday morning will be "Five Present Presents From That First Christmas." We will study Luke 1 and Mary's encounter with the heavenly messenger, Gabriel. (Click here for an online version of the sermon notes.)

How many times have you received news that has changed the direction of your life? It's frightening at first. I'm sure that Mary must have been fearful, yet she received good news that changed the world for good forever. We'll consider that famous exchange between Mary and Gabriel to discover five presents that God wants to give to us in our present moment from that first Christmas greeting.

Neighborhood Meal Saturday. This weekend we also have our last opportunity to be Jesus' hands and feet to our neighbors in 2015. We meet at the church at 4pm Saturday (tomorrow) to serve free meals at 5pm. Once again Sheri Nichols will lead our charge. (Thanks Sheri!) Please bring desserts with you, if you can.

I received a letter from Paul Lintern this week with our 2016 schedule. I'll post it for you soon so you can update your calendar for next year. Paul wrote to me that, together with our other partners, we served over 6,000 free, warm meals to those hungry folks in our neighborhood, who needed them. What a great testimony to God's goodness!

Last Sunday's Star Trip... I usually try to keep these newsletters focused forwards, but I just have to say a word or two about last Sunday. Wow! (That's a word) Fantastic! (That's two.) Thank-you to all who worked so hard to give our children a positive, Christmas play experience. I'd like to especially thank Tamira, who led this production from the beginning. 

We did not actually count the number of folks, who came Sunday morning. We are estimating between 130-150 - the largest attendance at church, by far, this year. So thank you all too for inviting your family and friends. At right-above is one of 33 photos we took of the play. You can view the entire Star Trip Photo album here.

This past week we edited the morning's service into a movie. As we speak, we are putting that movie onto DVD discs, which we hope to be able to distribute FOR FREE to all our children's families this Sunday. So make sure you show up for your copy! You'll want to show it to the rest of your families over the holidays. Our children will celebrate together in KidsMin by watching the premiere. Should be a lot of fun for them. (There will be no online version produced this week.)

Plans For Christmas Eve. What a great evening we have planned together to celebrate Jesus' birthday. It will be a party you won't want to miss! We begin the celebration at 5pm (one service only), but you'll want to get to church early to hear Dave Strong play your favorite Christmas music on the pipe organ. And you sure won't want to miss out on the Christmas cupcakes provided so generously by Marci!

Over 20 different folks will be participating this year. Dave and Jen will light the Advent candle. Fred will sing with his granddaughter, Sami. Siblings Brandi, Trish and Chris will join Missie to lead us in singing Christmas carols. Brian Betts, David Hill and Brandi Walker all have selected special Christmas music to sing for us. Paityn and Grace will play their flutes. Susie will gather the children to her side and tell the story of the candy cane. Ken and Karen will tell us the history of the "Star In The East." And yours truly has prepared a few words of encouragement.

Before we leave, we'll light the candles together and sing "Away In The Manger," a favorite closing tradition on Christmas Eve at Church Requel.  Though we will do one thing new at the end - Rachel has agreed to come up front and sign as we sing together. I love how we have become a church family, each taking a part. How we have grown since that first Christmas Eve service 3 years ago!

We have such good news to celebrate together! Let's not miss a single opportunity. One last request - invite a friend to come to Church Requel with you this year. You'll be surprised how readily folks will respond enthusiastically to your invitation. They will thank you... and so will I!

Merry Christmas blessings! Pastor Mark

This Week At CR: Star Trip - Our Faith Awakens!

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

This is a HUGE weekend for our church!!! (Yes, I'm aware I used 3 exclamation marks. That's after I edited myself and took one away - that's how huge this weekend is for us!)

This is the Sunday our children will be performing Star Trip: Our Faith Awakens, the Christmas story with a Star Wars theme. Our children, our parents, our KidsMin team and our staff have all been working hard on this project for the past month. Memorized lines. Songs. Solos. Motions. Bible readings.

By far this program will be the largest children's program we have ever produced at Church Requel. We must say a big thank-you to Tamira Barnes, who dreamed of this weekend last summer. Tamira loves big shows. She has a track record of leading children in musicals celebrating Jesus' birthday. This year she shares her dream and talent with us.

Tamira's dream matches a love for performance of many of our children.  For a small church we have a surprisingly large number of kiddos who enjoy drama and singing. They will bring their gifts to the CR platform this Sunday morning at 11am. I would recommend that parents and grandparents arrive early for those front, photo-taking seats. 

What are the children's schedules for this weekend? They have a full tech / dress rehearsal tomorrow morning (Saturday) from 10am until noon. Then, on Sunday morning, the children should be at church - ready to go - by 9:45am for a final run-through. We would appreciate all the parents, who can do so, to stick around both rehearsals to help us provide supervision. Also parents, work with your children today and tomorrow, helping your child with his/her lines and songs. This should be a weekend to remember for your children!

The entire Sunday morning experience will devoted to our children's program. After Star Trip, we will all head downstairs to celebrate a potluck meal together. So that means that you will want to bring a dish to share with others. We are asking families to bring two dishes. Single folks bring one dish. The church is providing a main dish - two large hams - along with paper plates, cups, drinks, and silverware. Sheri and Mary Kay would love help setting up the downstairs. If you can help, show up at 9:30am.

This will be a great opportunity to invite family and friends to Church Requel. Not only do we have the opportunity to show off the youngest group at our church, but we also have the opportunity to be generous with a wonderful, shared meal. Some of our best times together have been around the potluck dinner table. Let's not keep Church Requel our little secret. Others would love to share in the fellowship too!

Neighborhood Meal - December 19th. Speaking of sharing a meal, we also will have the chance to be Jesus' hands and feet to our neighbors a week from tomorrow, on Saturday, December 19th. This will be our last serve together for 2015. Let's end the serving year with a bang! Sheri will lead the charge. Volunteers should arrive by 4pm. We begin serving meals at 5pm. We finish serving at 6pm and usually have everything cleaned up by 6:30pm. Homemade desserts would also be most welcome.

Christmas Eve Plans. Last Sunday Brandi announced that we plan to have a 'family' Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve - Thursday December 24th at 5pm. She invited all who wanted to share a birthday present to Jesus to let her know. To be honest, we weren't sure anyone would respond. Boy, were we ever wrong! (I've never been so glad to be wrong before in my life!)

Many of you have been in touch with Brandi and are planning to participate in the Christmas Eve service. Dave Strong will play the pipe organ for our Christmas prelude.  Sami Russell and Grandpa Fred Wiegand will sing "Silent Night." Siblings Brandi, Trish and Chris will sing "Christmas Medley." Susie Wiegand will tell the story of the candy cane. Brian Betts will sing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." Ken and Karen Jacobs will share the history of "The Star In The East." Fred Wiegand and Loni Nauman (and maybe more - let Brandi know if you'd like to be included) will present a Bible reading of Luke 2:1-20. I love this spirit of gift sharing!

Rachel Barr has even volunteered to do sign language as we sing "Away In A Manger" during the candle lighting ceremony! This is a big step for many of you. I do understand that! Rachel recently posted on Facebook: "I am not one to go in front of people to sing or talk..but...Christmas Eve I am going to be in front .. Signing to Away in manger. ..I pray I get through it with out anxiety attack." We will be right there praying with you Rachel!

What a special way to enter into the Christmas night - with our church family together loving on one another! If you have your own family members here with your for Christmas, please invite them to come with you. We should have enough candles for everyone!

This Christmas Eve marks another special anniversary for us. This marks the end of the 3rd year of our ministry here at The Point Of Grace. Christmas Eve 2012 was our very first worship experience here. As I look at these photos of our children I realize that God had some very special plans in mind for us. I'm reminded of what God promised Jeremiah.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

If you are like me this Christmas will be one of thanksgiving for what God has provided to us. We are not the church I thought we'd be. And I'm so glad that's true. God's planning is always so much better than our own. I never would have imagined all the children or new families who have come since 2013. But I'm thrilled. And I'm looking forward to what God may have in store for us in the next 3 years!

Blessings on you and yours, Pastor Mark

Identity Choices [Video Sermon]

We are a product of our pasts, but we’re not a prisoner of our pasts! We can’t control everything in our lives, but we can control the controllables. In this video sermon from yesterday, I teach about the 5 factors that shape our identities. Then we discover 5 winning choices that will help us become the people that God designed us to be.

 

Identity Choices from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.

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

Identity Choices [Podcast]

I’m a product of my past, but I’m not a prisoner of my past! I can’t control everything in my life, but I can control the controllables. In this audio version of Sunday's sermon, I teach about the 5 factors that shape our identities. Then we discover 5 winning choices that will help us become the people that God designed us to be.

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

Click to Listen!

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

This Week At CR: Christmas Decorating!

Good Friday morning Church Requel family!

Sunday will be one of the CR events I most look forward to every year: the day we decorate our church for Christmas. Our very first service at our current location was on Christmas Eve 2012. Believe it or not this will be our 4th Christmas here. Wow! Time flies when you're having fun.

And fun is what we will have on this particular decorating Sunday. After church yours truly will go buy pizza pies for everyone who sticks around to decorate. Decorating + Pizza. Now a Church Requel tradition!

How is this organized? Not at all! Ha! Seriously. We open up all our decorative ornaments, wreaths and trees. Some folks bring in decorations they would like to add. We all go to work. Somehow it all works out. With many hands the decorating usually gets done in about an hour. By that time the food has arrived and we're all ready to enjoy eating pizza together. This is a great event for the entire family. Kids love to decorate too. I hope many of you will stick around for the festivities.

Two Final Rehearsals - Star Trip. Speaking of our children, this Sunday will be the next-to-last rehearsal for Star Trip - our children's Christmas program scheduled for next Sunday, December 13th. The final rehearsal will be Saturday morning December 12th from 10am - noon. We hope most of our kiddos will be able to make both rehearsals.

We also need to be praying for Tamira, our children's ministry director, and the one with the vision for this event. Tamira is experiencing some serious back pains. She was forced to leave church (and rehearsal) last Sunday morning, because her back was causing her so much discomfort. Let's pray that she (and her doctors) can get this health issue figured out. Not only for our sake, of course. Tamira will be the mother of the bride in four weeks! Lots happening for the Barnes family right now.

Parents, the best way you can assist is to help your children review their parts and - if at all possible - get them to the two final rehearsals and early on the morning of the performance next Sunday, December 13th.

This should be a lot of fun for our entire church family. I've been working on the tech side of things this week (and next) and I'm really impressed with how Tamira has tied in a popular cultural event (Star Wars movie) with THE event of history. Our children will never forget this Christmas at Church Requel. I hope that's true for our big kids (you and me) too! Sunday our kiddos will be passing out invitations for you to pass out to all your friends and family. This should be a great opportunity to invite new folks to Church Requel.

Potluck Next Sunday. Big events are always better when they are accompanied by food, don't you think? Next Sunday, after the big Star Trip Christmas production by our children, we'll all head downstairs to the kitchen for a celebratory potluck meal. The church will provide one main meat dish (a couple boneless hams... thank you Sheri!) along with paper plates, eating utensils, lemonade and coffee. Families should bring two dishes of any kind to share. Single folks bring one dish to share. We always end up with more than enough food.

I'm sitting here thinking about the dessert table. What a great temptation that will be for this pastor, who has just finished preaching a sermon series on God's plan for our fitness and health! Ha!

Women's Christmas Social Gathering. Ladies, you are all invited to Tamira's home this Sunday evening from 6 - 8pm. Yes, this is the same Tamira with back problems, who is organizing our kids' Christmas program. However, in my conversation with her earlier this week, she insisted that she should still be good for this event. She's looking forward to it! She said that it would be easier at her home - she wouldn't have to go anywhere. She added that the ladies should be bringing hors d'oeuvres with them - so not too much work on her part. What a great attitude! How blessed are we? Sounds like a great time for all the ladies in our church. Plan on coming and enjoying an encouraging time together.

Neighborhood Meal Sunday December 19th. We will be serving our neighborhood with a free meal on Saturday evening, December 19th. What a fantastic opportunity to be Jesus' hands and feet on the weekend before Jesus' birthday! Most of you know the drill by now, but for those who haven't done it yet (or in a while):

1. show up at 4pm to help us get everything ready. The meal actually begins at 5pm;
2. bring desserts to the church with you if you're going to serve, or drop them off anytime after 2pm;
3. plan on serving until 6:30pm. We usually are done by then.
4. Between now and then, if you would like to donate food, bring in large cans of fruits or vegetables with you to church on Sunday mornings.

Sheri Nichols is our coordinator for the Neighborhood Meal, so talk to her if you have any questions.

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at 5pm. As I mentioned at the top of this week's newsletter, this Christmas Eve will be our 4th one since coming to Saint Luke's Point Of Grace. Each one has been special. It's a great way to start the actual Christmas celebration - with a birthday party for Jesus at church with your church family.

This year Christmas Eve is on a Friday night. We'll begin the evening with one service only at 5pm. It should last about an hour and will conclude with a candle lighting ceremony, a favorite for kids of all ages.

If you or someone in your family would like to participate with some kind of special song, music or reading, please contact Brandi Walker this week. She is planning out our worship time. If a special someone in your life has been practicing something good for Christmas, please share it with your church family!

This is such a special time of year. So many great events are happening within our church. Let's not ever forget the reason for the season. The Son of God came as a little baby in a manger so that we might have a personal relationship with God the Father. How amazing!

Love you all much! Pastor Mark