Good Friday morning everyone!
I'm writing to you from my patio, enjoying the beautiful June morning. I'm doing my very best to listen to the birds singing and trying very hard NOT to hear the cacophony of the cicadas drowning out almost everything else. Truth be told I have grown accustomed to the noise. When friends or family visit they ask me how I can stand the racket. Naturally this provides the perfect lead-in...
Sermon This Sunday - "Master Over The Voices"
We'll examine our next passage, Luke 8:26-39, the strange story of when Jesus confronts a man possessed by a "Legion" of demons. Jesus casts out the many demons, who inhabit a herd of pigs, which promptly rush off a cliff into the water. I'm sure there must be so many different sermons that could be written about this passage. I chose to consider the many voices that this poor man must have been listening to in his head.
Sermon writing can be a challenging experience. My homiletics professor challenged us to not only get into the text, but also to come out of the text and into life. (My brother Todd challenges me here all the time too.) Believe it or not the first part - getting into the text - is the easiest part. I love studying the Bible, the words, the history, the context. That's only half the battle. Coming out of the text is the application part. What does this mean in our contemporary world? How can I apply this text to our lives?
In this particular case I had the text - verses 26-39 - and had been studying them for weeks. But nothing naturally came to me about the application in our modern world. Then one evening I had dinner with an old and trusted friend. He told me that he had recently been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Syndrome and had started taking a low dose of Ritalin. He also told me how wonderful it was for him not to hear all the voices in his head telling him all the things that needed to be done.
At that moment I knew I had a sermon. How unusual it must be for a man in his retirement years to learn so late in life that he suffers from ADD! And yet what a relief it was for him. He was genuinely excited to tell me about his self discovery.
For several weeks I had been struggling with this particular Biblical text. The application was immediately apparent to me during the dinner with my friend. We each struggle with various voices from the evil one suggesting one thing or another contrary to the truth of God's love and God's commands. How do we deal with those voices? I love it when God's Word and contemporary life intersect - which actually happens all the time if we simply have "ears to hear." I can't wait to share this talk with you. For those who want a head start, open up your Bible app and click on "Events" OR go to this link.
TONIGHT! Putt-Putt Dairy Bar All American Fellowship and Fun! Wow - that's a mouthful! Tonight from 6:30 to 8:30 show up at Kelly's Miniature Golf, 1280 S. Main Street for food and fellowship with all your Church Requel friends.
If you have never attended this before, believe me when I tell you this is an event for kids of all ages. Obviously if you like to play miniature golf then this event is for you. But what if you're not a putt-putt fan?
You should come tonight if... (1) you like to hang out with your CR friends. (2) you enjoy eating ice cream; (3) you like hamburgers, french fries or other American grill specialties; (4) you like being with other people who are having a good time.
SPECIAL GOOD NEWS - If you buy food or ice cream treats, then your putt-putt is FREE!!! So come tonight and go to the back picnic tables under the tents. Yes there is shade provided too - at no extra cost! If you want to sit on something other than a picnic table, then bring a lawn chair or two too.
Promotion Sunday. We have several children who will be "moving on up" this coming Sunday morning. They are more than ready to be promoted from Nursery / Kindergarten into the KidsMin class taught by Tamira Barnes and her team of creatives. We look forward to hearing from Tamira this Sunday, when she talks to us about what's happening these days in KidsMin!
Worship Team Sunday. Speaking of Tamira, she also will be on the team leading our worship singing on Sunday, along with Jeff, Brandi, Dan and Ian. Together we all will be singing "Hosanna," "Awesome God," "In Christ Alone," and "Break Every Chain." Nancy will share our announcements. Brandi will lead our congregational prayer. Jeff will lead our communion time. Jeff will also be singing a special song made special by Big Daddy Weave entitled, "Overwhelmed." Perfect for our theme on Sunday!
Community Night Of Worship - June 21st. Keep this date on your calendars. It's a Tuesday night - unusual middle of the week date for us. Something special that I want all of us to be able to enjoy together. We'll be gathering with another 7 or 8 churches in our community for one purpose - to worship our Lord Jesus together. Worship leaders from each of the churches will be leading at least one of the worship songs, including our own Brandi Walker. I believe this is a healthy thing for us as a church and as a community. Let's participate fully! Let's start practicing now for the way we will be worshiping in heaven some day! The location for our gathering will be Crossroads Community Church. The worship begins at 7pm, but it would be a good idea to arrive early so we can find all our Church Requel friends and family.
Some personal good news. Finally, Mary Kay and I learned this morning that Jillian and Tim are expecting ... A BOY!!! Jillian posted this photo this morning after Titus found out he will be getting a little brother. If I did the math right in my head, Titus and his little brother will be even closer in age than Todd and me. (I wonder if they will fight as much as we did?)
This means Mary Kay and I will have 9 grandchildren, made up of 6 grandsons and 3 granddaughters. What tremendous blessings!
Congrats Tim, Jillian and Titus!
I would love it if you would continue to pray for Jillian and her pregnancy that all would go well for her.
Love you all much. Hope to see many of you tonight at Kelly's. Hope to see all of you Sunday morning at 11am at Church Requel. Many blessings, Pastor Mark
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