Good Friday morning Church Requel!
Or should I say good "Black Friday" morning to you? Anyone out shopping the deals today? I've never been much of a Black Friday shopper myself, preferring to let my fingers do the walking! Ha!
But I know that some of you love this shopping day. How about it? Do you have story to tell about your shopping experience? Write me back and let me know. I just may be able to use your story in Sunday's talk!
What is the the talk about? We return to our Luke series, with a focus on the next passage - Luke 12:13-21. I'm calling the sermon, "Rich To God." I'm really looking forward to being back in the pulpit. Speaking of which, I really am going to be "in the pulpit" this Sunday. Brandi has designed this Sunday's worship event around the communion table. She has moved the big communion table up front for this Sunday's service - which means I have the opportunity to preach from the beautiful, wood carved pulpit. This should be really special. I love Brandi's creativity. You won't want to miss this Sunday morning!
Padding The Pews! I understand that the work has begun on the new pew covers. So far we have refurbished a total of (and I know this is accurate because I counted) ONE pew. Ha!
Seriously though, many thanks go out to Tamara Engstrom for figuring out the best way to do it. She and Paul figured that the best way to do this was to add one of the new foam pads right on top of the existing padded pew and then use a staple gun to affix the new material over the entire pew pad. The end effect is to have a pew that is twice as cushiony! I guess that means my sermons will have to be twice as interesting!
We have plenty of foam fillers and plenty of new material. What we need are some willing hands to staple the new pew pads together. Would you be willing to help? Talk to Tamara this Sunday. Maybe we could get a pew pad party going?!
Christmas Decorating Party! Speaking of parties, don't miss this Sunday's decorating party after church. This should be more fun than ever! We've done this for 4 years now. (Can you believe it's been 4 years?) Our first worship service at The Point Of Grace was Christmas Eve 2012!
When we first decorated the church with all the nativity sets, Paul had collected just under 100 nativity scenes. This year that number has doubled!! We have so many nativity sets to display this year that we cannot fit them all on the windows and tables around the sanctuary. So this year we are doing something new. We are adding boards on the outsides of the pews on the outer sides under the windows as well as on the inside pews from the communion tables back to the tech booth. The result will be a church that can be more decorated than ever!
So plan to stick around after church to set up all the decorations. I will go out and buy enough pizzas for everyone who participates. This is an extra special time for families with children, who really enjoy setting up the nativity sets.
Children's Christmas Program. Speaking of children and Christmas - we are only two weeks away from this year's special Christmas program. We appreciate Tamira and all her helpers and all you parents, who have been working with our kiddos. Just a reminder - this year's Christmas extravaganza will take place Sunday morning, December 11th at 11am. That means our children only have three rehearsals left to prepare - the next two Sundays and then a special Saturday morning rehearsal on December 10th at 10:30 am. Parents, do your best to get your children to these rehearsals AND encourage them to practice their songs and lines at home.
“Home For The Holidays” Concert Sunday Night. Come and enjoy an evening of Christmas favorites and songs of the stage and screen with Brianna Barnes Sunday evening at 7:00 at Church Requel. Brianna is now pursuing her musical theater career in New York City. She is home and ready to start our holidays with music! Admission is free with donations appreciated.
Benefit Spaghetti Dinner and Nativity Open House. Next Saturday, December 3rd, come to St. Luke’s Point of Grace from 4-6 pm for a Spaghetti Dinner and Open House. Donations for the meal will benefit the St. Luke’s neighborhood meal program. The church will be open so you can enjoy the more than 200 nativity sets. This is a great opportunity to bring guests to see the church at its best. And they will have the opportunity to give to support the neighborhood meals. Many people actually appreciate the opportunity to support the ministry of feeding the hungry during this holiday time of year.
Christmas / New Years Schedule. We want to make sure that everyone knows the Holiday church schedule since Christmas and New Years both fall on Sunday this year:
We WILL have a full Christmas Eve worship service at 5pm on Saturday evening, December 24th. This service will include all the elements of our normal Sunday service, including worship singing, prayer, sermon, and communion. We will close with our traditional candle lighting Christmas Eve event.
- We WILL NOT conduct a Sunday Christmas morning worship service on December 25th. We know this is a special time for our members to enjoy their families on Christmas morning. So make sure you attend the Christmas Eve worship event the night before.
- We WILL conduct our Sunday New Years morning worship service on January 1st at our normal time of 11am. This will be a great opportunity to start the new year off right! And here is NEW NEWS! Paul Lintern and I will combine our pastoral talents and our 3 churches together for the New Years Day worship service! I love it! Having partnered with Paul now for the past 4 years, I've come to expect the unexpected!
Wow! Can you believe all the great things going on at Church Requel these days!? Mark your calendar right now with all of these dates and events so you don't miss a thing! I love being a part of the Church Requel family - especially during the holidays. I can't wait to see you this Sunday morning at 11am. Love you all much! Pastor Mark
