Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

This Week at CR: MCS Image Sings

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

Have you ever been happy to admit that you were wrong? I know it must be rare. There are times we're wrong, but don't want to admit it. There are times we really don't think we're wrong, but happy to say we are wrong to keep the peace. But to be wrong and know it and glad to say it? I don't think that happens very often.

When it came to allowing Ireland to join the Pierce family in April 2005, I know I was wrong. And I'm happy to admit it.

My 17-year old daughter, Jessica, found Ireland at the Dog Shelter and immediately wanted to adopt him. For weeks I told her "no." A year earlier I watched Jessica and the rest of our family say goodbye to another pet, Blackie, after 15 years of lots of love. I didn't want Jessica to go through that kind of pain again and so, in typical Dad fashion, "no" seemed like the best answer.

Eventually I changed my mind. Ireland joined our family and has been a faithful companion to Jessica and to Dave. Ireland brought great joy to all of us, including me. Yesterday we all said goodbye to Ireland. It's a sad time for the Pierce and Johnson families.

I love my granddaughter Violet's prayer last evening: "And Lord, say hello to Ireland for us!" We're sure going to miss him.

MCS Image Sings This Sunday! We have a special Sunday planned for this weekend. We have invited Mansfield Christian School's ensemble and ministry team, Image, to lead our worship service this Sunday morning at 11am. 

This year's program focuses upon God's Guidance and is based on Psalm 23. They will sing and play music for us. They will perform a couple of skits. I promise you this will be a great experience for them and for you! Let's be great hosts!

Potluck Meal Afterward. We will continue our celebration downstairs with a potluck meal. The church has purchased a couple of hams. (Thank you Sheri!) We will also provide drinks and paper products. We are asking you to bring all the rest. Families bring a couple of dishes to share, either casseroles, sides, or desserts. Single folks please bring one dish.

Let's bring more than enough so that the MCS students and their supporting families might enjoy the lunch with us as well. They have a second performance at another church Sunday evening. They really appreciate your support. We will also be collecting a special love offering to support their ministry.

Women's Bible Study Begins Wednesday. The study books have arrived! I know many of you ladies have been looking forward to this study for a long time. We've had the best sign-up ever! But it's not too late to join in the fun.

This study comes from the award-winning creators of Fireproof and Courageous movies. They created a third film named, War Room, a compelling drama with humor and heart that explores the power that prayer can have on marriages, parenting, careers, friendships, and every other area of our lives.

The study will take place Wednesday evenings beginning next week at 6:30 each week. You will meet at Mary Kay Pierce's home. The study guides are available at church this Sunday for $8 each. See Mary Kay Pierce or Jan Calendine, both of who will be leading the study.

Let's keep praying! And not just because we have a study about prayer. The truth is this study is so timely because our church families have so much to be praying about. We continue to pray for David's, Stephenie's and Mari's recoveries. We know it's also been a tough week for Jack.

Mary Kay and I were talking last night about these and other prayer requests. There are times when the prayer needs appear overwhelming to us - yes, even and maybe especially to us - your pastor's family. Yet these are the very times when we most rely upon God's never ending strength.

Love you all much! Hope to see you Sunday. Pastor Mark

Cleansed Corruption [Video Sermon]

What is God’s intended good in your life that has become corrupted? Just like a computer file can become corrupted and thus unusable, our corruptions keep us from being used by God as He originally intended. In this Church Requel sermon we study Luke 5:12-16 and see Jesus heal a man covered with leprosy. We learn 5 lessons when struggling with whatever would corrupt us.

Cleansed Corruption from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.

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

Cleansed Corruption [Podcast]

What is God’s intended good in your life that has become corrupted? Just like a computer file can become corrupted and thus unusable, our corruptions keep us from being used by God as He originally intended. In this week's sermon we study Luke 5:12-16 and see Jesus heal a man covered with leprosy. We learn 5 lessons when struggling with whatever would corrupt us.

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.

This Week at CR: Cleansed Corruption

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

All the news this morning is about the big snow storm that will hit to our south and to our east. Sounds like we have dodged the blizzard this weekend. Whew! We've been lucky so far.  Last year we had one weekend when the weather didn't permit us to hold a worship service. Remember that if Richland County ever declares a Level 2 Snow Emergency we will close.

So what do you do on these cold winter days? The picture on the right is of me and my grandson, Theo. He stayed with us one day this week. Mary Kay was in charge of the bath. I was in charge of the hair style. Spikes all around!

This Weekend - "Cleansed Corruption." We turn our attention to Luke 5:12-16. While the passage is specifically about Jesus healing a man from his leprosy, I couldn't help but think of all the corruption from which we could be healed. Not only physical, but emotional, relational, financial.

We serve THE Creator, Who made all there is. Our spiritual enemy cannot create anything and can only corrupt the good that God has made. So whenever you think of anything in this world that is corrupted, you could also think of the good that God intended. 

I hope to be able to talk about 5 lessons about corruption we will learn from Luke 5:12-16. If you'd like a head start, you could check out these online sermon notes.

Worship and Tech Teams. This year has started off great for two of our Sunday morning teams. For most of this past year, Brandi has been working on setting up our worship leadership teams to serve on a once-a-month rotating schedule. I'm pleased to report to you that we now have such a schedule of volunteers! Way to go Brandi! Way to go worship leaders! The photo on the left is from this past weekend. I really loved watching Haleigh and Lauryn sing together. Sunday was Lauryn's first time ever on the team. Let's all hope it's not her last time!

Our tech team also gained a couple new members this past week. Chris Thoman and Tamara Engstrom will now be training to serve once each month. This pic on the right is of Chris learning about the sound board from Jonathan Pierce this past Sunday. Tamara will be running our computer graphics and lighting. Thanks Chris and Tamara for stepping up and joining the Tech Team!

Still Recovering... This has been a tough year already for several of our parishioners. Please keep David Hill in your prayers as he continues to recover from a stroke. He is hospitalized at Riverside in Columbus. Brandi and I visited and prayed with him this past Tuesday. David is recovering, but has a long road in front of him.

Also in the hospital this week is Stephenie, who was admitted to MedCentral earlier this week with a high fever. She also would greatly appreciate your prayers. Mari is now home recovering. She thanks all of you for your meals you have brought over to her and her family. Let's keep Mari in our prayers as well. Finally, let's keep Nancy in prayer today. She lost her oldest brother early this week. She will be attending her brother's funeral today. Tough day for her.

Creative Kiddos. I haven't written a lot so far this year about all the creative energies going into our children's programs. However, I want to also throw out a big thank you to Tamira and Cindy for their work with our children.  The picture on the left is from KidsMin downstairs, where our younger elementary students met this past Sunday morning. I'm not sure what they are creating, but I have a feeling it turned out delicious.

We're also thrilled with our older students who are learning about communion up in the Chome with Cindy. They are working on a skit to help us (and them) understand the importance of the communion ordinance. They will present it to us the first weekend in February.

Here's what else is happening this month at Church Requel...

John Byron Lecture NEXT THURSDAY January 28th. Many of you enjoyed Dr. Byron's guest sermon at Church Requel last year as well as his guided tour of the Bible Museum. John will be sharing a public lecture up at Ashland Theological Seminary on Thursday, January 28th from 7:30 - 9:00pm. The title of the lecture is "Corruption, Conspiracy and Confusion: Can we trust the New Testament?"

Dr. Byron will lecture in the Smetzer Auditorium located inside the Gerber Academic Building. The lecture is free and open to the public. I'm planning to attend and hope many of you will join me! John's lectures are always so good and helpful. I have a sign up sheet in our lobby for you and will give you the chance to car pool up to Ashland early. More info about the lecture can be found here. Not many of you have signed up so far. I hope you will this Sunday. You really will be glad you attended!

MCS Image and Potluck - NEXT SUNDAY January 31st. Mansfield Christian School's ensemble and ministry team, Image, will lead our worship next Sunday morning January 31st. We invited them to Church Requel last year and received much positive feedback.

Like last year, we'll also enjoy a potluck meal provided by all of you for the MCS students and their parents. Our church will buy a couple of hams. We ask CR families to bring 2 side dishes or desserts and single folks to bring one dish to share with others. And Dave Johnson - we've had many requests for your shredded chicken sandwiches! Your secret hero ability is now known.

New Women's Bible Study! I'm so excited to share this news with you ladies. Mary Kay and Jan will team up to lead a new Bible study beginning Wednesday evening, February 3rd. The study is named, "War Room," and is from the award-winning creators of Fireproof and Courageous. War Room explores the power that prayer can have on marriages, parenting, careers, friendships, and every other area of our lives. The study will last 5 weeks, every Wednesday night from Feb. 3rd to March 2nd, starting each week at 6:30pm. The study will take place at the Pierce home. The book for the study costs $8. We'll have a signup sheet in the lobby Sunday morning.

So many great opportunities for our church family! We truly are blessed! Love you much, Pastor Mark

Good Vs. God [Video Sermon]

What is your goal - good or God? In this Church Requel sermon, we discover a progress of relationship and trust with Jesus through the life of Peter. What is the connection between risk, faith and priority when following Christ?

God Vs. Good from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.

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

Good Vs. God [Podcast]

What is your goal - good or God? In this week's sermon, we discover a progress of relationship and trust with Jesus through the life of Peter. What is the connection between risk, faith and priority when following Christ?

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.

This Week at CR: Good Vs. God

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

Sunday morning we continue in our adventures in the Gospel of Luke, this week moving on to chapter 5. This is a great passage as we get to see the beginnings of Peter's faith in Christ. The interesting thing about preparing for this is that traditionally we consider this as one of the first miracles. Peter and his partners had been fishing all night without catching a thing - except a sleepless night. But because Jesus asks they push back out to the deep waters. They catch so many fish they almost sink!

As I have studied the passage I have been overwhelmed by the progression of Peter's faith. It is so much like our own, progressing from little to much and always empowered by God's faith in us. As our faith grows, so grows our willingness to risk whatever we have for Christ and His ministry on Earth. 

For each one of us there is a key moment when we either choose to take a step of faith - a change in our actions or behavior at the request of Jesus - or not. In this passage that key moment comes right in the middle of Luke 5:5. It seems to me there is an unvoiced, but very real choice that Peter makes in the middle of that verse. Can you find it? Can you see yourself in the middle of 5:5? I hope so. For all who name Jesus as Lord have come to that same 5:5 decision as Peter.

What I also love about this passage is that as developed as we will see it become Sunday morning, it is still only the beginning of Peter's faith. He still makes lots of mistakes. He still struggles with obedience. He still makes wrong choices. Yet because of that 5:5 choice he is always on his way through the struggles to become that man of God that Jesus knew he could become. Again, the same is true for each of us.

I can't wait to share this with you. Can you tell? Here's what else is happening this month at Church Requel...

John Byron Lecture January 28th. Many of you enjoyed Dr. Byron's guest sermon at Church Requel last year as well as his guided tour of the Bible Museum. John will be sharing a public lecture up at Ashland Theological Seminary on Thursday, January 28th from 7:30 - 9:00pm. The title of the lecture is "Corruption, Conspiracy and Confusion: Can we trust the New Testament?"

Dr. Byron will lecture in the Smetzer Auditorium located inside the Gerber Academic Building. The lecture is free and open to the public. I'm planning to attend and hope many of you will join me! John's lectures are always so good and helpful. I'll have a sign up sheet in our lobby for you and will give you the chance to car pool up to Ashland early. More info about the lecture can be found here. 

MCS Image and Potluck - January 31st. We're happy to announce that Mansfield Christian School's ensemble and ministry team, Image, will lead our worship on Sunday morning January 31st. We invited them to Church Requel last year and received much positive feedback.

Like last year, we'll also enjoy a potluck meal provided by all of you for the MCS students and their parents. Our church will buy a couple of hams. We ask CR families to bring 2 side dishes or desserts and single folks to bring one dish to share with others. And Dave Johnson - we've had many requests for your shredded chicken sandwiches! Your secret hero ability is now known.

New Women's Bible Study! I'm so excited to share this news with you ladies. Mary Kay and Jan will team up to lead a new Bible study beginning Wednesday evening, February 3rd. The study is named, "War Room," and is from the award-winning creators of Fireproof and Courageous. War Room explores the power that prayer can have on marriages, parenting, careers, friendships, and every other area of our lives. The study will last 5 weeks, every Wednesday night from Feb. 3rd to March 2nd, starting each week at 6:30pm. The study will take place at the Pierce home. The book for the study costs $8. We'll have a signup sheet in the lobby Sunday morning.

Love you much, Pastor Mark

Jesus Performance [Video Sermon]

What Would Jesus Do? WWJD presumes we would know the answer. But many of those in his hometown were both amazed and surprised at what Jesus had to say. Pastor Mark considers the story from Luke 4 and asks how we might respond if Jesus told us what we did not want to hear.

Jesus Performance from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.

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

Jesus Performance [Podcast]

What Would Jesus Do? WWJD presumes we would know the answer. But many of those in his hometown were both amazed and surprised at what Jesus had to say. Pastor Mark considers the story from Luke 4 and asks how we might respond if Jesus told us what we did not want to hear.

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.

This Week at CR: Is WWJD The Best Question?

Still enjoying Christmas decorations in the Pierce home!

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

How are you doing this fine January day? We now have a week under our belts in this new year of 2016. I pray that you a still resolved in your resolutions. Many of you have shared your goals for this year with Mary Kay and me. We are so thrilled to be a part of your lives. We cheer you on! We pray you continue to do the same for us!

This Sunday at Church Requel. We will continue our study of the Gospel of Luke. Our focus will be on Luke 4:14-44. Have you ever heard the question, “What would Jesus do?” Doesn’t the question presume that we know Jesus so well that we would also know the answer?

Sunday we consider a story about Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth. These are the people who watched Jesus grow up. Presumably they were folks who knew Jesus the best. They thought of themselves as being able to answer, “What would Jesus do?” better than most. Yet their presumptions took a very wrong turn. Maybe there are a couple other questions we should be asking.

We'll be asking those 2 questions this Sunday! (Want a head start? Here are the online sermon notes.)

Serving Our Neighbors A Free Meal THIS SATURDAY! I hope many of you are planning to join us here at the Point of Grace tomorrow evening. We'll gather for setup at 4pm. We'll serve the meal at 5pm. We are usually finished by 6:30pm. Your desserts are most welcome too! Many thanks to Sheri Nichols, who leads our charge in serving meals.

Would you like to know our schedule for 2016? This past Wednesday, our leadership team approved 7 meal serves for 2016. Mark these Saturday nights on your calendar: Jan. 9th, March 12th, May 14th, July 9th, Sept. 10th, Nov. 12th, Dec. 10th.

Praying for Mari.  Many of you have heard that Mari was diagnosed with breast cancer this past week. She will be having surgery on Monday. Many of you have already been praying. Mari and her bother, Amie, appreciate your continued prayers. We will gather around Mari Sunday morning and pray together as a church. We also will be providing meals to the Jensen family on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays over the next two weeks. There will be a meal signup sheet in the lobby on Sunday.

Dr. John Byron shows us the many ancient Bibles last June.

John Byron Lecture January 28th. Many of you enjoyed Dr. Byron's guest sermon at Church Requel last year as well as his guided tour of the Bible Museum. John will be sharing a public lecture up at Ashland Theological Seminary on Thursday, January 28th from 7:30 - 9:00pm. The title of the lecture is "Corruption, Conspiracy and Confusion: Can we trust the New Testament?"

Dr. Byron will lecture in the Smetzer Auditorium located inside the Gerber Academic Building. The lecture is free and open to the public. I'm planning to attend and hope many of you will join me! John's lectures are always so good and helpful. I'll have a sign up sheet in our lobby for you and will give you the chance to car pool up to Ashland early. More info about the lecture can be found here. 

MCS Image and Potluck - January 31st. We're happy to announce that Mansfield Christian School's ensemble and ministry team, Image, will lead our worship on Sunday morning January 31st. We invited them to Church Requel last year and received much positive feedback.

Like last year, we'll also enjoy a potluck meal provided by all of you for the MCS students and their parents. Our church will buy a couple of hams. We ask CR families to bring 2 side dishes or desserts and single folks to bring one dish to share with others. And Dave Johnson - we've had many requests for your shredded chicken sandwiches! Your secret hero ability is now known.

New Women's Bible Study! I'm so excited to share this news with you ladies. Mary Kay and Jan will team up to lead a new Bible study beginning Wednesday evening, February 3rd. The study is named, "War Room," and is from the award-winning creators of Fireproof and Courageous. War Room explores the power that prayer can have on marriages, parenting, careers, friendships, and every other area of our lives. The study will last 5 weeks, every Wednesday night from Feb. 3rd to March 2nd, starting each week at 6:30pm. The study will take place at the Pierce home. The book for the study costs $8. We'll have a signup sheet in the lobby Sunday morning.

2016 Off To A Great Start! We celebrated Christ among us so well in this past Advent season. Honestly I wasn't sure it could get any better. As always God continues to bless us as a church. Yet I'm also very much aware of the many important prayer requests you all have. Let's remain faithful to one another to laugh with joy when the times are good, but also to weep with one another during the tough times of life. No matter what happens we affirm the Apostle Paul's teaching to "rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep."

Let us always consider how we might stir up one another to love and good works! Love you much, Pastor Mark

Temptations Tests [Video Sermon]

In this first sermon of 2016 I examine Luke 4 and Jesus’ 3 temptations. Along the way we’ll learn 3 reasons for our temptations, the 3 times we are most tempted, and the 3 types of temptations we’ll face over and over again.

Temptation Tests from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.

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

Temptation Tests [Podcast]

In this first sermon of 2016 I examine Luke 4 and Jesus’ 3 temptations. Along the way we’ll learn 3 reasons for our temptations, the 3 times we are most tempted, and the 3 types of temptations we’ll face over and over again.

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: Temptation Tests

Happy New Year Church Requel!

Pastor Mark here with your Friday morning newsletter. And it just so happens to be New Years Day. Cool! Back during our Physical Fitness sermon series I asked all of you to make one commitment to improve your physical health. Today would be a great day to review that commitment and recommit for this new year. Sure it's what everyone else is talking about today. Why not capitalize?

In my case I made two commitments. One goal was to seek a new doctor and get a physical. I completed that commitment on December 14th. I don't think I ever followed up with you afterward. All my tests came back in good shape. I'm so thankful for that.

My second goal was to commit to being a part of a group that would hold me accountable and encourage me to meet my physical goals. I've been a regular at the YMCA Running Club for the last 3 months. They sponsored a New Year's morning run today. I told them a couple weeks ago that I would show up this morning. Honestly I don't think I would have gone out today without that commitment. 

I hope today finds you as healthy as can be. And I pray that you would commit to both your physical and spiritual goals for 2016. What spiritual goals could you set for yourself this year? Have your read all the way through the Bible yet? This could be your year! It only takes about 15 minutes a day. Or maybe today would be a great day to start a reading plan on your Bible app. There are dozens of choices available - I'm sure you could find something that would encourage your soul.

Or maybe prayer could be your spiritual goal in 2016. Lately I've been examining some of the great choices available on our smart phones to help us connect with God and remember our commitment to pray for others' needs. If you're interested, check out this article about the best prayer apps for 2016.

Our First Sunday of 2016. It just so happens that this coming Sunday will be not only the first Sunday of the new year, but also the first Sunday of the month. Duh! Haha. But what happens the first Sunday of every month? We invite our children to worship with us for the entire service. Often these children take leadership roles in the worship, and this Sunday is no exception. Leia Walker will be leading worship singing with her mom, Brandi. Isabelle Thoman will be bringing our announcements. Elijah Jensen will be giving us communion instructions. Anna Scott, Grayden Pierce and Cohen Pierce will be reading our Scripture in a dramatic way. Grayden and Cohen will also be working in the tech booth Sunday morning. Awesome day! 

We will be continuing our teaching from the Gospel of Luke. Sunday we'll consider Luke 4:1-13, the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. We'll learn 3 reasons why we're tempted, 3 times we tend to be tempted the most, and 3 types of temptation that are common to us all. Would you like a head start on Sunday's talk? Here are the online sermon notes. (Or just go to "LIVE" on your Bible app.)

Undecorate Sunday + Chili!We have had 14 folks sign up to help take down the Christmas decorations after church this Sunday. If you have signed up - THANKS! And don't forget to stick around. Many hands will make the work go quickly. Sheri has committed to making us a great chili lunch together. Should be a good time together. What if you haven't signed up but would like to help out? No problem. Sheri told me she has made plenty, so stick around and help!

Neighborhood Meal - Saturday, Jan. 9th. Next Saturday will be our first opportunity to serve FREE, HOT meals to our neighbors in need. Volunteers should show up by 4pm. We begin serving at 5pm. We are usually finished serving and cleaning up by 6:30 pm. We also appreciate (and our neighbors LOVE) your homemade desserts. Thanks!

MCS Image Sings on Jan 31st + Potluck. Last year was our first year to invite Mansfield Christian School's Image group to come in and sing and lead our entire worship service. It was one of our best Sundays of the year. We have booked them again for the 5th Sunday of this month. Afterward, we'll invite all the MCS students and their families to come down for a potluck feast together.

I hope you are enjoying a great holiday today. I also hope you will continue to worship our Lord Jesus with us as best you can in 2016. Many blessings upon you! Pastor Mark