Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

Politics and Pulpit: 100 Days Of Love

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

Today marks a 100 day milestone in reverse. Today marks 100 days until our 58th quadrennial presidential election on November 8th. Both of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions are in our rear view mirror. One need not be a prophet to predict the great divisiveness and bitterness to come over the next century of days. Our United States will not seem so united. Without doubt we are about to witness a great time of lovelessness in our conversations and feelings toward one another.

Let this not be said of us at Church Requel. Rather, let this day be the first of 100 days of love!

I know there are strong beliefs - on both sides - that if the other side should be elected, life in this country would never be the same again. I know these views are not just those outside the church, but are felt strongly by good people within our beloved Church Requel. I implore you, as your pastor, to maintain great love for one another at all times in the 100 days to come.

Some have asked me - as your pastor - to express my opinions on the debate at hand, to use my influence to influence you as to how you should vote. I will not do so. I do believe I have the right to express my political opinion, even from the pulpit, so I will not disparage other pastors who will use their authority differently than me.

However, I believe my greatest influence upon you should be the influence to live for Christ and to build His kingdom for the glory of God. I will not sacrifice that influence upon the altar of political expediency. I can win your hearts for Jesus or I can win your hearts for a political result, but I cannot do both well. The end result of my political persuasion would be a church of like-minded political believers sprinkled with a minority of resentful, hurt opponent congregants struggling with divisive thinking.

This does not mean that I will not have opinions to share from the pulpit that you may find difficult to hear. I can promise that everything I talk about will be grounded in Scripture and will be a cause for us to think twice about some views we may take as a given. The Bible often speaks against our culture and our commonly held beliefs. My job as your pastor is to compare what the Word of God says with what our society tells us. They are not the same. From either side! I pray over these next 100 days that if my sermons should offend, that they would be equal opportunity offenders.

In the meantime, how should we love one another when we have so very different views about the direction our country should go? I recommend we listen without bias and speak with respect.

We listen without bias when we focus on what another person tells us, even when their opinion is much different than our own. We listen without bias when we hear what they are saying without spending our listening attention on coming up with counter arguments. We listen without bias when we acknowledge the other person's feelings, even when our own feelings may be hurt. We listen without bias when we grant their right to their view, even when we are most certain of the rightness of our different view.

We speak with respect when we say what we mean without being mean about what we say. We speak with respect when we love the person we speak to more than we love what we speak.  We speak with respect when we believe in our listener as much as we believe in our candidate.

Church Requel, I love you more than my words can convey. The only One who could love you more is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May I remind you that many in His day were most certain of their own political correctness. Yet Jesus did not respond to their divided acrimony with expected simplicity. His harshest response came upon those, who were most certain of his agreement. He surprised many others when he hardly responded to them with any harshness at all. 

So, let's not be quite so sure of ourselves and of our own correctness except in one choice, the right choice, the best choice: the choice to love one another.

Enough words for this week, I think. All my love, Pastor Mark

The Glory Of The Mountaintop [Podcast]

We need mountaintop experiences in our Christian lives. Life is filled with the mundane, dipping often into disappointment. Every now and again we rise above ourselves and our circumstances to see the Kingdom of God and recognize our good fortune to be God’s children. In this Church Requel sermon we talk about our mountaintop experiences and why we need them.

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.

The Glory Of The Mountaintop [Video Sermon]

We need mountaintop experiences in our Christian lives. Life is filled with the mundane, dipping often into disappointment. Every now and again we rise above ourselves and our circumstances to see the Kingdom of God and recognize our good fortune to be God’s children. In this Church Requel sermon we talk about our mountaintop experiences and why we need them.

The Glory Of The Mountaintop from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.

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

This Week At Church Requel: Mountaintop!

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

I'm excited to bring you God's Word this coming Sunday morning. Our talk will be about mountaintop experiences in our Christian faith. We'll learn that while we don't live on the mountaintop all the time, these mountaintop experiences are important to our faith. We need times when we experience God more than we usually do. Times when we see His glory. Times when we desire to worship.

Our Biblical text will be from Luke 9:28-37, what we typically refer to as the Transfiguration of Jesus. This was a unique mountaintop experience for Peter, James and John. We'll consider why it is so important for us, every now and again, to rise above ourselves and our circumstances to see the Kingdom of God.

If you'd like a head start on Sunday's sermon, just open your Bible app and click on "Events." You'll find all my notes, Bible verses and fill-ins right there. Some people have asked me why I publish this all ahead of time? "Aren't you worried about losing the surprise factor?" people will ask. As you might imagine, I've given this a great deal of thought. I believe we all learn differently. If you are someone, who really wants the sermon on Sunday morning to be a surprise, by all means don't look at the notes ahead of time!

On the other hand I know there are some folks, who really like to allow the Word of God to rest on their brains for a couple days in preparation for my talk. If being able to look at the notes ahead of time will help you, then use them. Also with the notes are all the announcements for the week. AND I've started including a Bible reading plan each week that focuses on our sermon topic. Cool! Here are the sermon notes for this coming Sunday morning, http://bible.com/events/68063.

Here is our group picture taken at last Sunday's picnic. Wow! I love it, don't you? I love everyone's smile. You all look so happy to be together. I love the wide range of ages we have represented from lots of children to one nonagenarian. And I just love the photographic evidence of how much we've grown! God is so good! Sunday morning at Church Requel we will show a few more fun photos from last Sunday's picnic! (Ken Jacob - thanks so much for taking this picture of us!)

Speaking of this coming Sunday's worship service, we're going to change things up a bit. Nancy will start us out again with our upcoming announcements. If you thought we skipped the announcements last Sunday, that just shows you that you got here after 11:05! Busted! Ha! Nancy is an on-time kind of person. So be here promptly at 11am if you want to hear what's happening.

Following our announcements, Brandi will sing a special song, "I Surrender All (All To Jesus)" by Casting Crowns. Then Jan will lead our communion service and Ron will lead our congregational prayer. I'll bring the sermon. Then our praise team will lead us to sing our worship songs together. In the past we've referred to this as our "upside down" kind of worship service. This week should be really special. Don't miss a second of it!

Splash Party August 6th. Our summer is moving past way too fast! Our picnic is behind us so we turn the page toward our next big summer event. For the past 2 summers we've enjoyed a special family filled fun time at the Ashland Kroc Center Spray Park located at 527 E Liberty St, Ashland, OH 44805. We have reserved the large pavilion from 11am to 1pm on Saturday, August 6th. We'll have some summer tunes playing. Everyone also brings some easy summer food to eat. Check out this picture from last year's splash crew!

Indians Game - Friday September 16th. Normally we wouldn't be promoting an event still two months away. Here's why it's important now. We need more than your reservations. We need your ticket money! We have reserved 36 tickets for you, about the same number as last year. We know many of you want to go, especially with the Indians being so hot this summer. However, the Indians need us to pay for the tickets a month before we go. That means we need you to give us your ticket money now. The tickets are $15 each. You can give your reservation AND your money to any staff member this coming Sunday morning.

That will wrap up this Friday's newsletter. If you are not receiving this each Friday in your email box - and you want it - just email me and I'll make sure to include you. I hope you all have a great weekend. I hope to see each of you Sunday morning at 11am at Church Requel! Love you! Pastor Mark

Cost Counting - Part 2 [Video Sermon]

Last Sunday we began a discussion about the costs of following Jesus. We know our salvation is offered freely to us by God’s grace. There is nothing we can do to earn it or deserve it. Yet Jesus also tells us that there will be costs to us if we follow Him. This week we consider 3 more costs to follow Jesus found in Luke 9:57-62.

Cost Counting - Part 2 from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.

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

Cost Counting - Part 2 [Podcast]

Last Sunday we began a discussion about the costs of following Jesus. We know our salvation is offered freely to us by God’s grace. There is nothing we can do to earn it or deserve it. Yet Jesus also tells us that there will be costs to us if we follow Him. We consider 3 more costs to follow Jesus found in Luke 9:57-62.

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 Church Requel: Picnic Fun!!!

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

It's Picnic weekend! Yay! At Church Requel we have a long history for this annual fun event! There is always plenty of food, games and a group photo. Last year - with the great help of Eddie - we added a new element, line dancing. You all love to line dance! (Just one more thing I wished I would have known about you earlier!)

Here are the things you will want to know about CR Picnic 2016:

(1) Bring food to share. We are asking families to provide 2 dishes or desserts. Single folks bring one dish to share. The church will buy hamburgers and hotdogs. We will provide fruit punch to drink. We'll also provide plates, napkins, cups and eating utensils. All the rest of food and drinks are up to you all collectively! (Thanks Mary Kay for buying our paper products. Thanks Sheri for buying the meat and the buns. Thanks Bryan for the Benson 5000 grill and grill master!)

(2) We will meet at the air-conditioned pavilion at North Lake Park as soon as church is over - around 12:30 or so. Plan on staying longer than our lunch. We have lots of fun activities planned. It would probably be a good idea for you to bring lawn chairs.

(3) Speaking of those fun activities - Yours Truly is in charge of the games this year. We will be forming up 3 teams and will play 3 or 4 fun picnic games designed for EVERYONE to participate. Should be a blast! As mentioned earlier, we also hope to repeat last year's line dancing fun.

(4) Finally, we would love to get a group photo with everyone included. We hope this picture will be a keepsake for each of you!

Doesn't this all sound like FUN!? Don't miss out!

Many THANKS! Several men gathered this week to paint the Nursery for our children downstairs. MUCH appreciation goes out to Dave Repp, Don Angel, Jack Nichols and Ken Jacob. (Hope I didn't miss anyone who might of snuck by when I wasn't looking.) These guys demonstrate what it means to be great servants with huge hearts!

Sunday Morning Worship. We are thrilled that Brandi and her family will be back to lead our worship with us Sunday morning. Joining Brandi will be Missie and Trish. Believe it or not - they will be leading with 4 new worship songs that they have all been practicing while on vacation together! (Their idea of fun, says Brandi!) They have even volunteered to sing a special song together before our communion time. Once again we are so fortunate to have such dedicated servants!

Our sermon this Sunday will continue from last Sunday with Part 2 of "Cost Counting." We know our salvation is offered freely to us by God’s grace. There is nothing we can do to earn it or deserve it. Yet Jesus also tells us that there will be costs to us if we follow Him. Sunday we'll consider 3 more costs to follow Jesus found in Luke 9:57-62. Would you like a head start? Here are the online sermon notes. (Or just click on "Events" in your Bible app.)

Half Year Financial Review. Sunday you will also see our financial picture for our first six months of this year at Church Requel. Our offerings are down by 12% this year compared with last year ($29,175 vs. $32,864). We have cut our expenses 10% but not by enough to keep ourselves from a deficit. Please continue to be faithful in your financial support of your church. Thank you!

5th Sunday Praise Team. We love it when we have a fifth Sunday of the month! It gives our worship teams the opportunity to do something new and exciting. This month on the fifth Sunday - July 31st - will be the chance for anyone and everyone to be part of the worship leadership up front! Please talk to Brandi Walker. She would love to include you in our praise plans for July 31st. She will give you a CD or MP3 so you can know the songs. And there will a rehearsal during the week before the Sunday you sing.

Go To Indians Game With CR! We’ve secured 36 tickets for the September 18th game against the Detroit Tigers. Game time is 7:10 pm. And it’s Dollar Dog Night! Yum! Tickets cost $15 each. Get your money and your reservation to any staff member. We need all money paid by August 7th. Tickets are going fast!

I think that wraps up all the things you need to know about Church Requel right now. I don't know about you, but in this dark world filled with terror attacks, I'm so glad I have the opportunity to go through life with each of you - experiencing God's love and grace together. I pray for you often. I hope you do the same for me and Mary Kay. Love always, Pastor Mark

Cost Counting - Part 1 [Podcast]

We address a challenging teaching from Jesus. We know our salvation is offered freely to us by God’s grace. There is nothing we can do to earn it or deserve it. Yet Jesus also tells us that there will be costs to us if we follow Him. What are those costs? Today we consider 4 costs from Luke 9:18-27. Next week we’ll turn our attention to 3 more costs found in Luke 9:57-62.

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.

Cost Counting - Part 1 [Video Sermon]

Our salvation is offered freely to us by God’s grace. There is nothing we can do to earn it or deserve it. Yet Jesus also tells us that there will be costs to us if we follow Him. What are those costs? We consider 4 costs from Luke 9:18-27. 

Cost Counting - Part 1 from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.

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

This Week At Church Requel: Be The Light!

Good Friday morning Church Requel...

... Though if you are like Mary Kay and me, this morning you have to think a little harder about the issue of "good Friday morning." We slept little last night with our attention focused on the horrific scenes coming from Dallas. Both Mary Kay and I feel a close bond with our police officers, who stand between us and those who would do us harm. Many times last night I heard Mary Kay whisper, "no, no, no."

So perhaps some of you, like us, wake up this morning and truly wonder what is good about it. Fortunately we are not forced to find the answers within ourselves or our own attitudes. We are not our own. We are not alone. The great benefit to being a Christ-follower is that Christ's Spirit is always with us. He never leaves us.

We also have the benefit of God's Word, which helps us in times of trouble and despair. We are not like those who wonder why things have gotten so bad. We know.

"The light has come into the world, but men loved darkness more than light, because their deeds were evil." John 3:19

We are not without responsibilities. Jesus as the light of the world is more than an historical event. His light still shines, if we will allow it, through us! Remember His instructions to us?

"You are the light of the world... Let your light shine before others." Matthew 5:14 & 16

So it is during these times of darkest night, when our own souls hurt the most, that we must also be the light of Jesus to others. In the midst of hopelessness, Jesus gives us the jobs of providing hope. In the midst of despair, Jesus gives us the jobs of encouragement. In the midst of hate, Jesus gives us the jobs of love.

How do we provide hope, encouragement and love? We must VERB-a-lize them. And I most definitely don't mean that we just talk about hope, encouragement and love. I mean we take action. We make verbs out of the nouns. We work it, even - especially - when we don't feel like it.

Today, Church Requel, you act! Be the action of hope, encouragement and love in your world. Take one action today that allows Jesus' light to shine before others. In the process of acting out hope or encouragement or love, see if you don't also feel a little more hope, a little more encouraged and a little more love.

Feed The Hungry. Our next opportunity to serve our free neighborhood meal is tomorrow evening, July 9th. We will need volunteers to arrive by 4 pm and plan to serve until 6:30. We would also appreciate your donations of desserts to share. Please help us share God’s love with those who live near us.

Cost Counting. For the next two Sundays we address a challenging teaching from Jesus. We know our salvation is offered freely to us by God’s grace. There is nothing we can do to earn it or deserve it. Yet Jesus also tells us that there will be costs to us if we follow Him. What are those costs? Sunday, we consider 4 costs from Luke 9:18-27. Next week we’ll turn our attention to 3 more costs found in Luke 9:57-62. For those who want a head start, open your Bible app and click on Events OR check out the online sermon notes.

Church Picnic July 17th. Our next summer fellowship will be our picnic at North Lake Park after church next Sunday, July 17th. We will all head to the air-conditioned pavilion right next to the northern end of the B&O Bike Trail. Bring food to share with everyone. Church Requel will provide hot dogs & hamburgers, buns, condiments, drinks, plates, cups, napkins and silverware. Come expecting fun and games! And come to be included in our annual church photo! Should be a great day!

5th Sunday Praise Team. We love it when we have a 5th Sunday of the month! It gives our worship teams the opportunity to do something new and exciting. This month on the fifth Sunday - July 31st - will be the chance for anyone and everyone to be part of the worship leadership up front! Please talk to Brandi Walker. She would love to include you in our praise plans for July 31st. Email Brandi.  She wants to hear from YOU!

Go To Indians Game With CR! Wouldn’t you love to go to an Indians game with all of your Church Requel friends? The Indians are hot right now, but we’ve secured 36 tickets for the September 18th game against the Detroit Tigers. Game time is 7:10pm. And it’s Dollar Dog Night! Yum! Tickets cost $15 each. Get your money and your reservation to any staff member. We must have all the money paid in by August 7th. Go Tribe!

Nursery + Hope. Finally I leave you with this photo and a request for your consideration. Tamira sent me this picture this week of our pre-schoolers last Sunday. Doesn't this pic just completely lift your spirit? Kids. In Church. Having Fun. I love the opportunity that we have to provide Jesus as hope to the youngest members of our neighborhood. Don't you?

Here's the request. I received a text this week from Dave Repp that he and others think our nursery needs to be spruced up a little bit. Some paint to brighten it up. Maybe some new flooring. Maybe remove the divider grill between the two rooms and open it up a little bit. Yay Dave! Thanks for being so inspired!

Wouldn't you like to be on Dave's team? I don't know the plans other than he wants to get started next week. So if you'd like to help out, please talk to Dave and let him know. We would all appreciate your assistance if you have the time and the ability.

Last Encouragement. Mary Kay and I attended a dinner party last night up in Barberton, Ohio. I was asked about the church and how it was doing. I love it when I have the chance to brag on you. I said you excelled at loving each other, that you were quite an active bunch, and that these days I have a hard time keeping up with you! All true! Love you much, Pastor Mark

Talking About Jesus [Video Sermon]

We celebrate our nation’s freedoms on this 4th of July weekend. Two of our most important liberties are found in the first amendment to our Constitution - our freedom of religion and our freedom of speech. Jesus told us how we should handle these freedoms for His kingdom in the beginning of Luke 9 and Luke 10. We learn 4 lessons and 4 applied truths when we talk about Jesus.

Talking About Jesus from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.

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

Talking About Jesus [Podcast]

We celebrate our nation’s freedoms on this 4th of July weekend. Two of our most important liberties are found in the first amendment to our Constitution - our freedom of religion and our freedom of speech. Jesus told us how we should handle these freedoms for His kingdom in the beginning of Luke 9 and Luke 10. We learn 4 lessons and 4 applied truths when we talk about Jesus.

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 Church Requel: 4th Of July Celebration

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

Welcome to the 4th of July weekend! Wow - this summer is speeding by way too fast! The Pierce home has had Pierce guests every night since Tuesday and I'm thrilled. I hope you will have the opportunity to celebrate our freedoms with friends and family too. Bring them with you to Church Requel Sunday morning. I'm excited that Tim, Jillian and Titus will be with us Sunday morning. If I could get my dad to come down, we'd have the entire Pierce clan with us! 

Our Freedoms. When James Madison sat down to pen the Bill of Rights - the first 10 amendments to the Constitution of the United States - what was the very first freedom he wanted to be guaranteed by our government to our people? Freedom of speech? Freedom of the press? Freedom to assemble? After all, aren't each of these freedoms included in the first amendment?

The correct answer is none of the above. The very first freedom James Madison wrote down was the freedom of religion! It's true. Read it for yourself. I admit I was a little tricky in my question, since the other freedoms listed are also included in the first amendment. How insightful, though, that the first freedom listed in the first amendment is our freedom of religion!

How easy it is for us American Christians to take this freedom for granted. We don't usually even consider the horrors of the Reformation period that led so many Christians to eventually flee to this new land, where they could practice their religion without fear.

If I may be permitted to digress from my usual Friday morning writings to remind you of WHY it is so important we stand up for the first freedom of the first amendment. In case you're wondering what I mean by this - the freedom from any "law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" does not specifically mention OUR religion of Christianity at all.

The first freedom of the first amendment provides for the practice of ALL religions. This includes Christianity. This includes Judaism. This includes Islam. As unpopular with some as it may be to write this in these terror-ridden days, an infringement of this freedom to ANY religion in America is an infringement against ALL religions. Enough said?

Sunday morning my focus will be on two of the freedoms we have promised us in the first amendment to the Bill of Rights - our freedom of religion AND our freedom of speech, meaning we can freely talk about Jesus! Luke 9:1-9 (as well as the first few verses of chapter 10) show Jesus telling his disciples to talk to others about Him. He also gives us some insight as to what we disciples of Christ should remember when we do talk about Jesus. Sunday morning we'll consider 4 lessons when we tell others about Jesus. If you want a head start, open your Bible app and click on "Events" OR click on this link for the online sermon notes.

Children Lead Worship! I'm also excited about our kiddos being so involved in this weekend's worship events. The first Sunday of every month our children remain in the worship service with the adults. This Sunday morning Phyllis, Saudie, Emma (all pictured above), Leia and Anna join Cindy, Dinah and Brandi. They rehearsed last night and did a wonderful job! These ladies will bring 5 songs to us on Sunday. If you are a friend or family member, I'd come early to grab a good seat!

Also Elijah will bring our announcements, Wyatt will be a greeter, and Grayden and Cohen will work in the tech booth. Yay kiddos! You're all growing up so fast! 

Neighborhood Meal. Our next opportunity to serve our free neighborhood meal is Saturday, July 9th. We will need volunteers to arrive by 4 pm and plan to serve util 6:30. We would also appreciate your donations of desserts to share. Please help us share God’s love with those around us.

Church Picnic July 17th. Our next summer fellowship will be our picnic at North Lake Park after church on Sunday, July 17th. We will all head to the air-conditioned pavilion right next to the northern end of the B&O Bike Trail. Bring food to share with everyone. Church Requel will provide hot dogs & hamburgers, buns, condiments, drinks, plates, cups, napkins and silverware. Come expecting fun and games! And come to be included in our annual church photo! Should be a great day!

5th Sunday Praise Team. We love it when we have a 5th Sunday of the month! It gives our worship teams the opportunity to do something new and exciting. This month on the fifth Sunday - July 31st - will be the chance for anyone and everyone to be part of the worship leadership up front! (If you don't volunteer - you see who our team will be in this picture!) Do you love to sing, but just haven’t had the time to be a regular team member? Do you have a desire to share whatever gift you have - singing, speaking, reading, acting - as a worship participant? Please talk to Brandi Walker. She would love to include you in our praise plans for Sunday, July 31st.

Watch The Tribe With Church Requel! Finally, I know it still seems really early, but if you'd like to go to our Indians event on Friday evening, September 18th, you're going to need to let us know AND give us your money so we can keep your reservation. The photo above is from last year's CR Tribe event - and that was with a losing season. Now the Indians are in first place. In fact they haven't lost a game since the Cavs won the championship. Thirteen winning games in a row! Who woulda thunk it? We have reserved 36 seats this year at a cost of $15 each. Tell Brandi, Tamira or myself if you want to go. Did I mention that we will beat the Detroit Tigers that night? Did I mention that it's also $1 hot dog night?

Prayers Prayers Prayers. We also pause and pray with several of our Church Requel family members who are struggling right now. DeeDee lost her father (also Liam's grandfather) earlier this week. Let's pray for their entire family. Bessica's father-in-law (Quazar's Grandpa Art) is recovering from a heart attack. Many members of our congregation are praying for Baby Kenzlee, born premature 3 weeks ago and fighting for her life. We are also still praying for good friends of ours, who are grieving the loss of their grandson. Georgiana, our dearest nonagenarian congregant (and who never misses!), is still grieving the recent loss of her older sister. And I'm sure there's more I haven't thought to mention. We are a family! We keep praying for one another!

This week I have been reminded afresh of how much of a family you all are to one another. Wednesday morning, while Marci and I were working on the bulletin for Sunday morning, Sheri came down and brought a family with her. She opened up the food pantry and loaded them up with provisions. I know several have provided rides to a family struggling with no car this week. Your love for one another astounds me and speaks to the world so much better than words alone of Christ's love in you. Keep up the good work. Keep up the Good Word. Keep up the good love!

Celebrating with you who are celebrating and grieving with you who are grieving, Pastor Mark