Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

This Week At Church Requel: Proof Positive

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

I'm looking forward to talking to you all Sunday morning during my talk entitled, "Proof Positive." We will be addressing an issue that impacts so many in our culture today.  Allow me to make this personal by asking you a question.

Are you a spiritual seeker or a shopper? Do you know? What is the difference?

If you’re a  shopper, you’ll ask for a sign from God that fits into your reality, preferences and lifestyle. If you’re a seeker, you’ll ask to fit into God's reality, to know His preferences, and to change your lifestyle.

Sunday we will consider Luke 11:29-32 and discover Jesus’ pique when he was asked for a sign. We’ll also recall 3 truths about proving the reality of Christ in our own lives. I hope you'll start preparing your own heart in prayer right now for what God will do at church Sunday morning. Would you like a head start? Click here for the online sermon notes or open your Bible app and click "Events."

By the way I'm also excited to tell you that this Sunday will be our 40th talk from the Gospel of Luke this year. What do you  think? Is this verse-by-verse, dig-down-deep teaching from God's Word helping you? I love to hear your stories of how God is impacting you through His Word. Also awesome is that the entire series is now available on YouTube!

Of course Sundays at Church Requel are about a lot more than just the preaching. This week's worship will be especially joyful because so many of our children will be involved. You'll want to arrive on time so that you don't miss Paityn and Leia worship in dance! They've been preparing for the past month for this Sunday's service. They will dance to "Just Be Held" by Casting Crowns. What a great way to start off our worship!

Then, joining Brandi up front in our worship this Sunday will be Anna, Sicily, Violet, Emma, and Saudaie. They will lead us in singing "Every Move I Make," "Jesus Paid It All," and "Lay Me Down." Supporting them in the tech booth will be Grayden and Cohen. I love First Sundays when our kiddos take the lead. I want them to grow up knowing a love for their church. I want them to belong and own a responsibility for weekly worship gatherings.

This Sunday will be very special for another reason. We welcome eleven new members to Church Requel this week. They have all completed the Belong Class, have witnessed to their salvation through Jesus Christ, are involved in serving and have agreed to fully support our church family. Our new members will be Anna Scott, Chris Thoman, Amy Watson, Fred and Susie Wiegand, Ken and Karen Jacob, Aaron Parsons, Tamira Barnes, Ed and Paula Walker. Let's all plan to gather around them this Sunday and pray for God to do fantastic things through their Church Requel ministry.

Cookout and Bonfire - Next Friday, October 7th at 6pm. This has now become a favorite annual event at Jack and Sheri's home. They have a super nice place, complete with lots of land and a fishing lake. There will be a bonfire with wood piled high and flames shooting up even higher!

As you can see from the photo... Jack and Don take their bonfire building quite seriously. The fire will light the sky and warm you up from 20 yards away! Ha!

You'll want to bring a roasting fork to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. (Can you say s'mores?) You'll also want to bring your own lawn chair.

5th Sunday Open Praise Team - October 30th. 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 will be the chance for anyone and everyone to be part of the worship leadership up front! 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, October 30th.

KidsMin Christmas Prep - Tamira reminds me yesterday that we only 9 weeks to go before the big Christmas performance on Dec. 11th. (So NOW who is planning way ahead???)  So please, parents, try to get your children to every single Sunday morning KidsMin between now and then.  Our children are learning music, skits and making a video for the Christmas program. There will be no outside rehearsals except for a dress rehearsal at the end. Thanks Tamira for the reminder!

Chili Cookoff and Movie Night, Friday, Nov. 4th at 6pm. We are offering a new event on Friday, November 4th - a chili cookoff at the church. Put together your finest chili recipe and bring it. Everybody who comes can also judge their favorite chili. We'll also offer a few fun games for the entire family. Then we'll enjoy a double movie night with 2 different movies - one for the kiddos downstairs and another for the adults upstairs. Should be a lot of fun!

I love writing you all each week. As I write I often think of you individually and say a prayer for you. I hope you think and pray for Mary Kay and me also on a regular basis. Love you! Hope to see you Sunday! Pastor Mark

The Binary Choice [Podcast]

We each have a choice. We can choose to be on the side of Jesus. Or we can choose against him. There is no neutral, middle ground. This truth was given by Jesus himself in Luke 11:14-28. We learn the implications of this choice for our lives and the spiritual battle we face every day no matter which choice we make.

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 Binary Choice [Video Sermon]

We each have a choice. We can choose to be on the side of Jesus. Or we can choose against him. There is no neutral, middle ground. This truth was given by Jesus himself in Luke 11:14-28. We learn the implications of this choice for our lives and the spiritual battle we face every day no matter which choice we make. 

The Binary Choice 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: Prayer Simulcast Review

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

I am still riding high from our Wednesday night simulcast with The Gathering. What a wonderful, prayerful experience. This is a new giant step for our church, I believe. Watch for big things to start happening! I don't mean any new programs or man-made ideas. With all my heart I believe God answers the prayers of His people when they pray according to His will and purpose. We did that for two hours Wednesday night, along with thousands of other churches.

We all found out together what a 2-hour prayer meeting looks and feels like! I loved watching you. Many of you stuck around and talked for another 30 to 40 minutes simply because you knew you were experiencing something really special and you didn't want to leave.

I had the privilege of joining other pastors and leaders for 3 hours on Wednesday afternoon. I took a few notes, which I put up simultaneously on my Twitter and Facebook feeds. Here are a few gems to remember:

• Do we spend more time in our church services on announcements about our agenda than we do in praying for God's agenda to be accomplished?
• This election we should all remember - God will not skip the Church House to fix the White House. (Let's make sure our own house is in order!)
• I can choose my actions or I can choose my consequences, but I can't choose both.
• While we are waiting for Jesus to show up, Jesus is waiting for His church to stand up!

KidsMin "Brave" Series. I love what Tamira is doing with this new "Brave" series - and it looks like our kiddos are loving it too. These pictures are from Tamira as she watched her students really get into the learning process! (Click on the photo to see a much larger version!)

Last Sunday the children learned about Peter and his bravery. As Tamira taught it - and all of us can benefit from her lesson - sometimes Jesus asks us to do things that are hard for us to do because He wants us to learn to trust Him. Wouldn't that be a great lesson to learn while you're young?

Many thanks go out to our KidsMin team this week of Tamira, Karen, Cindy, Rachel, Loni, Sara and Jen. We are so fortunate to have so many dedicated children's servants.

Children's Christmas Program and Potluck December 11th. Now I know what you're thinking - why even think about the Christmas program now? Isn't it too early? In a word, no. Here's why: (1) Getting the word out early helps everyone to schedule. And in fact, when we first sent out this notice 2 weeks ago, we heard back from several families that some children were not going to be available on Dec. 4th, when we originally scheduled this. (So please ignore my email from 2 weeks ago!) (2) Because we don't have all of our children on every Sunday, we need to make the most of our practice times when we do have the children here. So getting the scripts and songs to the children as early as possible is a great idea!

Prayer Buddies Started This Week. Tamira had a great idea to support each one of our students in prayer from as many of you as would volunteer to pray. This past week we sent out the contact information to each of you prayer buddies so that you can begin praying and supporting your kiddos. Let's be faithful and creative in our support for the next generation. Faithful - don't forget to pray for your prayer-Godchild often. Creative - let your prayer buddy know you are thinking and praying for them by sending cards and notes. Let's work hard to create a positive church experience for each of our youngsters.

This Sunday Morning. We continue our study through the Gospel of Luke, this week focusing our attention on Luke 11:14-28. We will learn that we each have a choice. We can choose to be on the side of Jesus. Or we can choose against him. There is no neutral, middle ground. This truth was given by Jesus himself in our passage. We will learn the implications of this choice for our lives and the spiritual battle we face every day no matter which choice we make. You can get a head start by opening your Bible app and clicking on "Events" or by clicking this link.

Brandi, Bessica, Stephenie and Makayla will lead our praise team. Nancy will keep us posted on the latest and greatest announcements. Roger and Judie will setup our communion and prepare our sanctuary this week. Trish is bringing the snacks. Brian will greet you at the door. Chris and Tamara will be running our tech booth. Thanks all for your help!

New Members Join October 2nd. We completed our membership class and I'm excited to report to you that most of those attending have committed to join our church family. Yay! That's so exciting and affirming. We will set aside a special time during our worship next Sunday. Plan to be there to congratulate all the new members! 

Cookout and Bonfire - Friday, October 7th at 6pm. This has now become a favorite annual event at Jack and Sheri's home. They have a super nice place, complete with lots of land and a fishing lake. There will be a bonfire with wood piled high and flames shooting up even higher!

The photo above and left still cracks me up. This picture is from 2 years ago. Don Angel built a serious bonfire. You can see that we couldn't get real close to it right away. Ha!

You'll want to bring a roasting fork to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. (Can you say s'mores?) You'll also want to bring your own lawn chair. Email me if you need directions.

Chili Cookoff and Movie Night, Friday, Nov. 4th at 6pm. We are offering a new event on Friday, November 4th - a chili cookoff at the church. Put together your finest chili recipe and bring it. Everybody who comes can also judge their favorite chili. We'll also offer a few fun games for the entire family. Then we'll enjoy a double movie night with 2 different movies - one for the kiddos downstairs and another for the adults upstairs. Should be a lot of fun!

Financially Challenged September. We are so grateful for your financial support of our church. You will recall that we all celebrated 3 weeks ago when we finally had a positive cash flow month in August... of $3.54! God provides just what we need when we need it. I met with our church treasurer, Nancy, on Thursday. She let me know that the first 3 weeks of September, we have seen much lower giving than normal. We are praying for your generosity and for God's continued faithfulness as we enter our 4th and final Sunday in September and the last of the 3rd quarter. If you'd like to make a donation online, you can do so here. Thank you!

We do have a good time together - even in the tough moments. Let's keep praying for and encouraging all of our brothers and sisters. We especially want to remember Jen Repp, Jack Nichols, Mari Jensen and Wyatt Stanfield - all going through one health challenge or another. Hope to see each of you Sunday morning at 11am! Love you! Pastor Mark

Two Gifts Of Prayer [Podcast]

How you imagine God impacts how you pray. Is God far from you or near? Powerful or passive? Disgusted with you or in love with you? Does God care? Can God help? We turn to Jesus’ words in Luke 11:11-13 to discover our two greatest gifts of prayer.

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.

Two Gifts Of Prayer [Video Sermon]

How you imagine God impacts how you pray. Is God far from you or near? Powerful or passive? Disgusted with you or in love with you? Does God care? Can God help? We turn to Jesus’ words in Luke 11:11-13 to discover our two greatest gifts of prayer.

Two Gifts Of Prayer 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: Two Gifts!

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

This has been an absolutely delightful week for me in the ministry. I have enjoyed so many positive, rewarding conversations with so many of you. I am truly blessed to be your pastor!

Sunday morning we conclude our mini-sermon series on the topic of prayer. I am praying that your prayer life has been improved from what we have learned together. If you need to catch up, you can do so here. Sunday we will talk about the two great gifts we receive when we pray. Here's a link to the sermon notes for those wanting a head start. 

Special one-liner insider - Mary Kay and I stopped by the church last night near the end of praise team practice and oh my! Sunday we have a ladies trio singing with a special song for you with heavenly harmonies. Don't miss!

KidsMin This Sunday: Tamira tells me that last week in KidsMin we kicked off our new series called Brave. Tamira talked to the kiddos about how Jesus wants us to follow him. They learned about Peter and the way he listened and obeyed Jesus. This week our children will continue to learn about something brave Peter did as he followed Jesus. Sometimes Jesus asks us things that are hard for us to do, because he wants us to trust him to help us.

Have you checked out this song, Grow Up Like Jesus ? It's become a favorite song for the kiddos. Tamira tells us that our kids are facing a lot these days: "We have a family that's been without electricity for a month. We have a kid getting teased and made fun of everyday at school. We have another kid that isn't allowed to sit at the 'popular' table at school." So our children need to be prayed over. We will be starting our prayer buddies this week! Look for an email soon to find out who you will be praying for this year.

TONIGHT: Indians Game With CR Friends! This is the day we have been looking forward to all summer. We started collecting money back in June! Some of you thought we were crazy talking about a September event back then. "The summer just got started and you want us to plan for September?" Yes, there was more than one incredulous voice. Well... here we are! Ha! The day has arrived. I'm so excited. Personally, I'm hitching a ride with my son and grandsons. However, I understand that there will be a car pool leaving the Church Requel parking lot at 5pm. Be there if you want to go up to the game with a CR friend. The game starts at 7:10pm. Don't forget that it's also dollar dog night!!!

Also Playing This Weekend... The movie-documentary, "Hillsong - Let Hope Rise," is coming to Mansfield Cinemark 14 this weekend. Movie start times are 7pm and 9:45pm on Friday and at 5 different times on Saturday and Sunday.

What's the big deal about Hillsong? So many of the worship songs we sing at Church Requel got their start "down under" at the Australian church named Hillsong. This movie is your opportunity to learn more about why their songs are sung by so many millions of Christians all over the world.

Our own Tamira and Jeff will be heading to the theater to watch and worship. Tamira especially wanted all of us to know about the movie and the powerful experience it could bring to those who attend.

Eleven best-selling albums later, one band member laughs as he says, "We're the biggest band you never heard of." Check out the movie trailer here.

Wednesday at 8PM - The Gathering. The national solemn assembly of churches from all over these United States will gather together via simulcast next Wednesday. The start time for us will be 8pm (7pm in Dallas, where the event originates.) I received an email from Tony Evans yesterday. He said, "We are pleased to have you with us in this historic occasion, when the body of Christ will come together in repentance, prayer and fasting for our nation."

How can you prepare? 4 ways. 1st - pray. You don't have to wait until Wednesday. Start praying for our nation and for this assembly right now. 2nd - fast. Give up one meal and when you normally would be eating, make it a time of devotion and prayer. 3rd - invite. Tell others about this event. Don't come alone. Bring a family member or friend with you. 4th - attend. Be here. Be committed.

New Members Join October 2nd. We completed our membership class this past Sunday and I'm excited to report to you that most of those attending have committed to join our church family. Yay! That's so exciting and affirming. We will set aside a special time during our worship on the first Sunday in October. Plan to be there to congratulate all the new members! 

Cookout and Bonfire - Friday, October 7th at 6pm. This has now become a favorite annual event at Jack and Sheri's home. They have a super nice place, complete with lots of land and a fishing lake. There will be a bonfire with wood piled high and flames shooting up even higher!

The photo above and left still cracks me up. This picture is from 2 years ago. Don Angel built a serious bonfire. You can see that we couldn't get real close to it right away. Ha!

You'll want to bring a roasting fork to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. (Can you say s'mores?) You'll also want to bring your own lawn chair. Email me if you need directions.

Chili Cookoff and Movie Night, Friday, Nov. 4th at 6pm. We will offer a new event on Friday, November 4th - a chili cookoff at the church. Put together your finest chili recipe and bring it. Everybody who comes can also judge their favorite chili. We'll also offer a few fun games for the entire family. Then we'll enjoy a double movie night with 2 different movies - one for the kiddos downstairs and another for the adults upstairs. Should be a lot of fun!

My oh my! I get down to the end of these weekly emails to you all and feel like I'm just getting started! God is giving us so many opportunities this Fall. I hope you'll take advantage. I'm looking forward to infiltrating our culture with the good news of the gospel TOGETHER! What a great privilege. Hope to see you all this weekend. Love, Pastor Mark

The Audacity Of Prayer [Podcast]

Have you ever heard someone say that you should pray with boldness? What does that mean? How did Jesus describe the way we should enter into God’s throne room? We also talk about our famous instruction to Ask, Seek and Knock. Is there more to prayer than just a conversation with God? We answer all these questions as we study Luke 11:5-10.

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 Audacity Of Prayer [Video Sermon]

Have you ever heard someone say that you should pray with boldness? What does that mean? How did Jesus describe the way we should enter into God’s throne room? We also talk about our famous instruction to Ask, Seek and Knock. Is there more to prayer than just a conversation with God? We answer all these questions as we study Luke 11:5-10.

The Audacity Of Prayer 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: Audacious!

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

Audacious. Adventurous. Bold. Courageous. Original. Lively. Unrestrained. When I think of you as a church, especially as we enter into these next few months, this is how I think of you! How exciting are the plans that God has laid before us! 

Feed Our Neighbors Tomorrow Evening. We gather together to feed the hungry in our neighborhood. We expect 80 to 120 to arrive by 5pm at our church doors. Sheri will take the lead. Those willing to help us, show up by 4pm. If you can, bring desserts to share. We should be done by 6:30 pm.

The Audacity Of Prayer. That's the topic of our sermon Sunday morning from Luke 11:5-10. We can shamelessly enter into God's throne room with great boldness. We'll discover why this is so. We'll also discover that God will A.C.T. (Answer, Comfort, Transform) when we A.S.K. (Ask, Seek. Knock). You do not want to miss this sermon. Indeed I believe this is one you will want to hear again and again for your great encouragement! Get started early with these sermon notes.

Audacious Worship. Jeff and Tamira, Dan, and Brandi will lead us in our singing. Within our worship set, we'll sing a brand new song by Chris Tomlin, "Jesus." Brandi will also sing two new songs for us before and after the sermon (what we now call the sandwich sermon approach.) We also have a powerful video lined up on the topic of prayer from the Skit Guys!

Brave - KidsMin. We begin a new, 4-week program for our KidsMin children. Appropriately for our day's theme it is called, "Brave." The children will be learning about Peter. Jesus called Peter to follow him, and Peter did. He found out that following and obeying Jesus wasn't always easy. It required a lot of bravery, but it was totally worth it!  Kiddos will be watching videos , learning new songs , doing crafts and games and having fun! Don't miss a Sunday!

Membership Class After Church. We complete our 3rd and final membership class Sunday for the 14 people who are registered. We'll celebrate with a meal! (Thanks Sheri!) This should be a wonderful time together as we choose to belong to the family at Church Requel.

Indians Baseball Friday, Sept. 16th. Thirty-six of us have tickets to go to the game to watch the first place Tribe play against the Detroit Tigers. It's also dollar dog night! I have heard of a couple of folks that may not be able to go to the game, who have tickets. If you wanted to go to the game but either couldn't afford it or didn't schedule it, you now have a second chance. Let me know and I'll connect you.

The Gathering - Wednesday, Sept. 21st at 8pm. We join with thousands of other churches, who desire to pray for our nation and pray for our communities. This LIVE event will take place at The Gateway Church in Dallas, Texas. We will join in via Simulcast on our own big screen in the sanctuary. I have spoken with a few other pastors and invited them and their congregations to also join us. This is a big step of faith on our part - I am praying you will come and that you would bring friends with you. I invite you to check out all the information online about this national solemn assembly.

Cookout and Bonfire - Friday, October 7th at 6pm. This has now become a favorite annual event at Jack and Sheri's home. They have a super nice place, complete with lots of land and a fishing lake. There will be a bonfire with wood piled high and flames shooting up even higher! You'll want to bring a roasting fork to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. (Can you say s'mores?) You'll also want to bring your own lawn chair. Email me if you need directions.

NEW: Chili Cookoff and Movie Night, Friday, Nov. 4th at 6pm. This past Wednesday evening our leadership team made several important choices. The first one is that we will not be able to do the Fall Festival as originally planned. We simply don't have the resources this year. However, we will offer a new event on Friday, November 4th - a chili cookoff at the church. Put together your finest chili recipe and bring it. We'll have an impartial judging for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. We'll also offer a few fun games. Then we'll all go upstairs for movie night with popcorn. Our chosen flick? "Luther," the 2003 movie starring Joseph Fiennes. After watching this movie, you'll definitely appreciate more what the Protestant Reformation was all about, as well as the origins of the church building within which we worship.

NEW: Children's Christmas Program and Holiday Potluck - Sunday, Dec. 4th. Our children will be singing and sharing their parts on the first Sunday in December. Parents and grandparents, begin your front pew reservations early. (Just kidding.) No sermon that morning (at least from me.) We'll follow up with a Thanksgiving / Christmas Holiday Potluck meal afterwards.

NEW: Christmas Eve Service at 6pm / NO Christmas Day Service. Christmas this year falls on Sunday. Realizing that most of our folks will be celebrating Christmas morning at home with their families, we've decided to focus our week's worship on the Saturday night before at 6pm. We'll have our full weekly worship experience concluded with a traditional candle lighting.

Aren't you glad you read to the bottom of the newsletter this week? Many thanks go out to our leadership team of Dave, Dan, Roger, Nancy and Sheri as well as our staff, Brandi and Tamira, for working our way through the calendar plans for the rest of this year. Sounds exciting as well as... audacious! Love you all much, Pastor Mark

The Model Prayer [Video Sermon]

Is there a “right way” to pray? Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them how to pray. He responded with The Lord’s Prayer. Was Jesus telling them and us that we should pray with these specific words? Or was he giving them a model of prayer to follow? In this sermon we consider 6 parts to Jesus’ model prayer.

The Model Prayer from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.

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

The Model Prayer [Podcast]

Is there a “right way” to pray? Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them how to pray. He responded with The Lord’s Prayer. Was Jesus telling them and us that we should pray with these specific words? Or was he giving them a model of prayer to follow? In this sermon we consider 6 parts to Jesus’ model prayer.

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: Pray Pray Pray

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

As we enter into this Labor Day weekend I'd like to tell you about the new mini-sermon series we start this Sunday on the topic of prayer.  I have learned never to discount the seeming coincidence of God's working through His Word as I work to prepare sermons. I think you may also find these "coincidences" of God's working to be inspirational.

As you know we made the decision late last year to begin preaching and teaching our way through the Gospel of Luke. Thus far we have taught 35 different sermons from Luke. In June I presented my proposal to our leadership for the Labor Day weekend. It appeared we would be ready to begin chapter 11, Luke's shortened version of the longer Lord's Prayer found in Matthew 6.

Normally I would have preached one sermon on the first 13 verses. Pragmatically I was thinking we must pick up the pace to finish Luke's Gospel. But as I began working on these sermons in July, God's Spirit began working profoundly upon my spirit. I discovered new truths in each of these 13 verses I had never before seen. I must also tell you that rarely have I enjoyed sermon prep the way I did when working on these verses. Each morning I'd wake up, jump out of bed, eat breakfast, and rush to my study table.

Eventually I settled on 3 sermons - the ones you will hear over the next 3 weeks. The first one, the one you will hear this Sunday, is one I have prepared 12 years earlier on the Lord's Prayer. This is a study that has thoroughly changed the way I personally approach my own prayer life. I had never considered the Lord's Prayer as anything beyond a beautiful, poetic, and powerful prayer memorized as a small child. Something prayed together with other Christians across denominational divides. Something prayed at funerals and sometimes weddings. Something always prayed in churches, who follow a liturgy. (Oh good - I know that one!)

Now I see the Lord's Prayer as a model prayer, upon which I may build my own prayers to God. There are six parts to the model. Each begin with P - though even as a preacher I often forget the "P" words. I NEVER forget the prayer itself. So I begin my own praying with the Lord's Prayer and then remember what I'm supposed to do as I work through each section. If you've never heard the Lord's Prayer as a model prayer before, you owe it to yourself and your family to come this Sunday. (You can start early with these notes.)

As powerful and helpful as is this first model of prayer found in Luke 11:1-4, it's only the beginning of the prayer goodness Jesus shares with us. In week two - September 11th - we will talk about the Audacity of prayer. If you stop and think about it, the very fact that we can boldly enter into the throne room of the Most High God and ask for anything - that's Audacious (with a capital "A"!) The NIV translation of verse 8 even gives us the words, "shameless audacity!"

When I got to the part where Jesus tells us to "ask, seek, knock," I made a real breakthrough. I had always thought of those 3 words - again - in the poetic sense of Jesus repeating the same thing using three different words. I have since discovered that this is not at all the case. Words matter. Each of these words give us a different sense of what prayer is all about. Only one of the 3 gives us the traditional idea of prayer as a conversation. Two of the three words give us the idea of doing something about it. 

Then on September 18th, we come to the last 3 little verses, 11-13 - so easy to dismiss as these verses stand in the shadow of the great verses that come before them. Yet when I began writing about these I was overwhelmed with just how much our Father God loves us. I then was overjoyed at the gifts He wants to give us. These gifts are no small trifles!

So we have us a 3-week mini-series combined with a most prolific month of sermon writing back in July. Is there anything more? Fast forward to a week ago Thursday as I was attending the brown bag lunch with other evangelical pastors. The meeting was going well - we were all sharing what God was doing along with the great community needs. At the end, almost as an afterthought, Pastor Jerry Laudermilk told us about the upcoming 8pm event on September 21st, "The Gathering." This would be a time when local churches could gather together with other churches all over the country to pray for our nation and to pray for our communities.

The Holy Spirit knocked on my heart and said, "This is what I have been preparing you for!"

In July, when I was writing the prayer sermon series, I had no idea this prayer event would take place. But God knew. In December, when we were planning to teach our way through Luke, I had no idea we'd arrive at Luke 11 just as a national prayer event would take place. But God knew. Three years ago, when we installed all the video tech into this old church building, I had no idea we'd need it this September for a simulcast. But God knew. You want to call all that coincidence? Go ahead. But I know better!

This week I have begun the work of setting us up for the September 21st event. I have spoken to all our own leaders. I talked to Pastor Paul Lintern and asked for a faster Internet connection. (He's already done it!) I have been in contact with some of the other pastors from the brown bag group I know. This morning I even received an email about this event from a pastor I've never met. He heard we were doing it and wanted more info for his own church. (Coincidence?)

With all that in mind, 'What does this have to do with me?' you may be asking. Simply this. If this is a God-incident... if He has arranged all this so that we might play a part in what He has already planned... don't you think you should be making sure you're also involved?

Think about it. Who might you know that just coincidentally could really benefit from real prayer with God? Shouldn't they know about this sermon series? Shouldn't they know about this simulcast? If God has been working behind the scenes to make all this happen, would you really be surprised that people you talk to would respond with great affirmation? "I've really been needing something like this. How did you know?" Coincidence? 

Surely I don't even need to mention the needs of our nation right now. Do you think God's calling us to prayer at this particular time is merely coincidence?

So let's commit together over these next 3 weeks to view our prayer life as we've never looked at it before. Let's take nothing for granted. Let's see nothing as coincidence. Let's go to God and let Him know we're all signed up and committed to do whatever it is He calls us to do!

"If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

Love you all much! Pastor Mark