« January 2017 | Main | March 2017 »
Jesus is the ultimate promise keeper! That isn’t just a statement about our future, but also about our present. We talk about how Jesus promises to become our protection in times of difficulty. We can choose to focus on our problems or on Jesus' promises to us. From Luke 13:31-35.
Shelter Under The Wings from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download this PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.
| |
|
Jesus is the ultimate promise keeper! That isn’t just a statement about our future, but also about our present. We talk about how Jesus promises to become our protection in times of difficulty. We can choose to focus on our problems or on Jesus' promises to us. From Luke 13:31-35.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download this PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.
| |
|
Good Friday morning Church Requel!
The sun is shining. It's going to hit 70 today! It's been beautiful all week long. I look at the calendar and am shocked to find out it's still really only February. Let's enjoy this warm-up one last day. The weather will only give us 38 degrees on Sunday. Back to winter we go.
Sidewalk Prophets Sunday. Our worship singing will be all Sidewalk Prophets all morning long this coming Sunday at Church Requel. This contemporary Christian band led by singer, David Frey, and rhythm guitarist, Ben McDonald, is one of my favorites. Their Something Different album is also one of the best out there, in my humble opinion.
So when Brandi Walker told me last month that on February 26th we would be singing all songs by Sidewalk Prophets, I was thrilled. I hope you will be too. Brandi has really done a great job in designing our worship experience for this Sunday. We will enjoy praising our Lord in music BOTH at the beginning of our worship and at the conclusion. If I dare say it... worship this Sunday at Church Requel will definitely be something different! You won't want to miss it!
One other piece of great news for Sunday... as of this writing Trish Trubachik is planning to join her sister and sing! (They all practiced together last night.) Don't you love it when Brandi, Trish and Missie lead our worship experiences?
But if it works out that Trish can sing this coming Sunday, it will be a real answer to prayer. You might recall that Trish had shoulder surgery just a week ago Thursday. Everyone tried to dissuade her from singing on Sunday, but she wouldn't hear of it. She may be singing in a sling. (Sling singing - Ha!) And occasionally we may not know if she is expresing a grin or a grimace, but by golly she will be there! That's dedication! Trish, we pray God will bless you richly!
Promise Keeping Sermon. I can't wait to bring you God's Word on Sunday. I've titled the sermon, Shelter Under The Wings. We'll learn that Jesus is the ultimate promise keeper! That isn’t just a statement about our future, but also about our present.
Sunday we will talk about how Jesus promises to become our protection in times of difficulty. You may want to open your Bible to Luke 13:31-35 ahead of time and prepare to be encouraged in your faith!
I plan to tell you a chicken story that will help you always know just how much Jesus loves you and wants to protect you. This story - originally shared by Dr. James Montgomery Boice, the famous pastor of the historic Tenth Presbyterian Church - will inspire you in your faith. And THAT'S a promise!
THANK YOU KAREN! I must include a note in our weekly newsletter about what a fantastic job Karen Jacob has been doing with our KidsMin class lately. She has volunteered to fill-in as teacher, while we search for a permanent replacement for our Children's Ministry Director. You might think that as a volunteer that Karen would just wait until the last moment to come up with a lesson plan and then just hope to get through the class as quickly as possible. But no! Not Karen! She has upped her creative juices 100%.
Last Sunday I walked downstairs about an hour before worship service and found Karen on her knees. No, she was not in prayer (though that wouldn't surprise me one bit.) She was creating a Books of the Bible Hopscotch game so that our children might be able to memorize the Old Testament books in a fun and creative way. Awesome job Karen! Keep up the great work!
Spiritual Discipline Class Times. Would you like to be a part of a 13-week study of the Christian Disciplines? So far there are 12 of us who will be studying this together. We have two different weekly times for you to choose from:
Tuesday mornings at 10am or Saturday mornings at 10am.
Our class book will be Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney. If you’d like to join us, you could just write me back here. Or Sunday morning put your name and the time that works best for you on the back of a connection card and drop it in the offering basket. We will begin the class soon!
Online Giving. May I thank you all again for the beautiful way that you have responded to our financial needs this year? So far our first two months of 2017 have been so much better than the last two months of 2016. I know it's because you have prioritized your tithes and offering. Thank so much for your faithfulness. Remember that you can now make one-time online donations by going to this special website: give.churchrequel.org. It's really easy.
That's enough for this week. Steve and Trish, we're all still praying for you. Aimee, we haven't forgotten to pray for you either. Sheri, we're still praying for your grandson J.R. Sara, we're still praying for your friend, Melissa. Love you all much! Pastor Mark
| |
|
This sermon’s Scripture from Luke 13:22-30 is a sobering reminder to continuously examine our Christian walk to be certain of our salvation. Jesus tells us that not everyone who believes they are a Christ-follower really is one! How can we know for sure? And what about salvation… is it by God’s grace alone or must there be effort on our part? We will talk about the balance we need to know between God’s work on our behalf and what effort is needed from us.
Narrow Wide Door from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download this PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.
| |
|
This sermon’s Scripture from Luke 13:22-30 is a sobering reminder to continuously examine our Christian walk to be certain of our salvation. Jesus tells us that not everyone who believes they are a Christ-follower really is one! How can we know for sure? And what about salvation… is it by God’s grace alone or must there be effort on our part? We will talk about the balance we need to know between God’s work on our behalf and what effort is needed from us.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download this PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.
| |
|
Good Friday morning Church Requel!
How are you doing this beautiful, sunny, still chilly Friday morning? I pray you are all doing well.
Along with most of you, Mary Kay and I have been praying and thinking a lot about two of our beloved parishioners, Steve and Trish. They both had shoulder surgery yesterday morning - the first father-daughter shoulder surgery performed back to back at OSU. Both of their procedures went well, I'm pleased to report.
This photo of Trish was taken as she arrived home yesterday afternoon. She's all smiles, which is understandable since her pain block was still working strong. Having been through this same procedure with Mary Kay last April, I know that sometime overnight that pain block probably wore off. So I'm betting that both Steve and Trish would appreciate your prayers throughout this day. The first day post op is usually the toughest. Hang in there guys! It gets better fast after today. From all of us - we LOVE you both!!!
The Narrow Wide Door. I'm looking forward to sharing God's Word with you this coming Sunday morning. We will be talking about Jesus' description of salvation in Luke 13:22-30. I urge you to read the passage in preparation for God to speak to us Sunday. Many of us have the same question that was asked of Jesus: "Will there be many or only a few who will be saved?" What the Savior says about salvation is worth knowing and remembering!
This study of Luke's Gospel has been a challenge for me and I hope for you too. There's something so raw about reading the words attributed directly to Jesus. He didn't fit easily into the framework of religious thought 2,000 years ago. You know what else? He doesn't fit easily into our concept of religion today either - even what we call the Christian religion.
Read this passage for yourself. Allow yourself to struggle a little with what Jesus says. Ask yourself how this fits with what you understand about entering into Heaven. If you'd like a head start on how God has been working in my life with these verses, here is the sermon outline in the Bible app.
Awesome Worship Team Sunday! Are you looking forward to our worship experience this weekend? You should be! Joining Brandi will be Chris, Bessica, Tamara, Brian and Makayla. I love this large team of volunteers. They are so dedicated.
Did you know that Brandi gives them their music and their music CDs three weeks in advance? Then they are singing these songs everywhere they go. They show up for a Saturday rehearsal with Brandi for a couple hours and then come to church on Sunday 75 minutes early to practice again! By the time you walk into the sanctuary, they are so ready to lead you in worship!! Come early and sit close to front to give them all the encouragement they deserve! Thanks worship team for your leadership and example!
Karen, Cindy, Mary Kay & Loni. While we are thanking people, we should not forget to thank our devoted and faithful team of children / student ministry volunteers. Karen continues to teach our KidsMin students in K - 4th grade. Cindy is doing a great job teaching our Middle School aged students, who now name themselves "Missionaries."
And many thanks go out to Mary Kay and Loni for teaching and loving on our toddlers in the Nursery. Ladies, your love is making all the difference in the world! (Don't you love this picture of Quasar and Theo that Mary Kay took the last time she was in the Nursery?)
Thank YOU for your faithful support! While I'm in a thanking spirit, I need to thank all of you for your faithful financial support of Church Requel this year. Last quarter I had to tell you that our finances were not looking very good by the end of 2016. We're not out of the financial woods yet, but things are looking much better six weeks into 2017. Thank you so much! Please keep it up. I pray that God would abundantly bless you as you are in turn blessing us!
Can't wait to see you Sunday morning! Love in Christ, Pastor Mark
| |
|
What is the Kingdom of God like? It’s a question that Jesus’ disciples ask - both 2,000 years ago and today. Jesus answers that it’s like a mustard seed and yeast. What does that mean? How does it change how we live? We discover mind bending truths to the physics of God’s Kingdom.
Small To Great from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download this PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.
| |
|
What is the Kingdom of God like? It’s a question that Jesus’ disciples ask - both 2,000 years ago and today. Jesus answers that it’s like a mustard seed and yeast. What does that mean? How does it change how we live? We discover mind bending truths to the physics of God’s Kingdom.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download this PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.
| |
|
Good Friday morning Church Requel!
I surely have thought a lot about you this week. I know that may sound obvious for any pastor to say about his church. However, pastors are just like everyone else in many respects. They can get so wrapped up in their day-to-day tasks that they don't think about the big picture as much as you'd think.
This week, though, I've been preparing for Sunday's sermon, which centers around Jesus' parables about the mustard seed and the yeast in Luke 13:18-21. (I considered titling this week's post "Yeast Infected Church," but decorum and wisdom ruled the day.) As I have studied this week, I have thought often that we are a mustard seed kind of church.
We are small and powerful!
Do you find it fascinating that when asked about the Kingdom of God, Jesus - the author of creation - chose the mustard seed for his simile? He could have chosen so many other comparisons, but he said the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. Wow! In our day of large-equals-successful and larger-equals-even-more-successful, I find comfort in Jesus' mustard seed.
Of course there's nothing wrong with large. And there's also nothing wrong with small! If we really think about what Jesus was saying - and I hope you will do exactly that between now and Sunday - we walk away thinking that size really matters very little.
It's what's inside that counts!
I am blessed with the privilege of pastoring a small church. We are close to one another. We know one another. We work closely with one another. We enjoy being with one another. We are family to one another. We serve the world with one another. We serve one another... with one another!
I've never been part of any church that has more involvement than our beloved Church Requel. More people are actively engaged in ministry at CR - as a percentage of attendees - than any other church I know about. Think about it for a moment. Pick any person who attends and you can immediately think of one ministry - at the least - in which they participate. Most people are involved in two or more ministries!
Most of my professional life I've heard that 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. Not so in a mustard seed church. You all break all the rules when it comes to involvement. And it's not like we don't do much. Things happen all the time around here. Most of the good ideas for what we do come from you and not from me! I'm just trying to keep up!
The reason I take so much of our week's newsletter to write you about this is that I want you to know that I appreciate you. I also want you to appreciate you. Seriously. We don't know how good we have it. We are a part of a family with love at the core of everything we do. In action. Not just in words. Nevertheless a word reminder of our mission:
To be a community loving God and loving people.
It's one thing to write down those nine words when founding a church. Hope springs eternal in those early days. It's another thing entirely to watch that mission unfold into reality over years of great experience.
I've watched you as you have cried over one another's disappointments. I've watched as you've prayed for one another's illnesses. I've watched as you celebrate God's love for us each and every week. I've watched as you have shown up - time and time again - to sacrificially serve the world with God's love. You simply do not quit.
Do we have problems? Surely we do. We are human beings, after all. Born with selfishness at our cores. But we face these problems. Together. We overcome selfishness with love. Together. We choose to work through conflicts. We choose to see the other person's viewpoint. We choose to accept each other. Because together is better.
A Mustard Seed Church is like Heaven on Earth.
If you are like me, at this point in our love letter journey, you are appreciating just how good we have it. Finding lasting love in this world is a special and rare thing. So let's not mess it up. Let's keep things just exactly as they are. Let's just keep this good thing going... for ourselves.
Isn't it amazing how quickly selfishness can even attack our love? Selfishness never quits either. It would even take over our love, if it could. But it can't - if you don't let it. Your love is stronger.
The thing about a mustard seed church is that it can't help but grow. Because of what's inside it. We have the gospel of Jesus' love within us - and that overpowers our fear of losing intimacy when the church adds new people.
New people come into the mustard seed church all the time. Some of them even stick around. You know why? Because they want the same Love that you want. They seek the same togetherness and intimacy that you seek. They know a good thing when they see it and want that good thing for themselves too.
Ultimately we conclude that all this wonderful family feeling isn't really all about us. It's all about God and what He wants. So what does God want?
People matter to God, so then people better matter to us too!
How much does God love us? So much that He gave His only Son for each of us... and for all of us. All of us includes more than all of US. (Think about it.)
I believe that just like the smallest mustard seed, when planted, can't help but grow into a tree so large that it can even hold up the birds, our smallness can't stay small forever. Not if our love outwards is as strong as our love inwards.
So serve with passion. Worship with passion. Love with passion. This weekend as you come to the church Saturday evening to serve meals to our hungry neighborhood, come thinking about this special Love we have to share. We really do become Jesus' hands and feet as we bake those desserts, as we pass out a warm meal, as we clean up afterwards.
"Let's not tire of doing good." Galatians 6:9 provides pretty good advice. It also comes with a promise: "At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up."
I used to think that this "right time" was the time of Jesus' return. Well, 'dat too is still 'dat true! But don't we reap a harvest of blessing every time we gather to love and to serve? Talk about your cake and eat it too!?!
This Sunday, when you come to church to worship, raise your hands and your heart in God's love embrace. Know that He has granted us His special favor in so many ways. Not the least of which is His gift of Church Requel to us.
Mustard seed? You bet! Small. Powerful. Flavorful. Not easily dismissed.
Thank you for your love... and God's love. I love you all more than you'll ever know!
Pastor Mark
| |
|
Jesus healed people on the Sabbath, according to Luke 13:10-17 and 14:1-6. What should we learn from His example about rule keeping and commandment observing? We consider 4 misunderstandings about the Sabbath and then 3 applications for ourselves.
Rule Keeping & Heart Freeing from Mark Pierce on Vimeo.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download this PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.
| |
|
Jesus healed people on the Sabbath, according to Luke 13:10-17 and 14:1-6. What should we learn from His example about rule keeping and commandment observing? We consider 4 misunderstandings about the Sabbath and then 3 applications for ourselves.
Follow along with the online sermon notes or download this PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.
Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play or Download in new window.
| |
|
Good Friday morning Church Requel!
Coach Tom Landry, famed coach of the Dallas Cowboys for 29 seasons, described his job this way: "to make men do what they don't want to do in order to achieve what they've always wanted to be." This could also be the job description of a pastor for his flock.
Last Sunday at the conclusion of our worship service, I offered a Spiritual Disciplines class and small group. Thus far a dozen people have taken me up on my offer. I am keeping the offer open and available for another week.
Here's what the class will look like. I envision a weekly meeting for 13 weeks. Each session should last 90 minutes. The first half of our time together will be a class, where we will review one of ten spiritual disciplines. The last half of our time together will be a small group, where we will talk about spiritual disciplines and how we're applying what we are learning.
Our text will be the Bible and the book, Spiritual Disciplines For the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney. There are 13 chapters and each chapter will correspond to our week's lesson. The book can be purchased new from Amazon for $9.78 (paperback) or the Kindle version for $9.07. This book has been available for decades and used copies can be had for under $6.
What is a spiritual discipline and why do I think this is important for our church now? Donald Whitney describes them this way:
"The spiritual disciplines are those practices found in Scripture that promote spiritual growth among believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are habits of devotion, habits of experiential Christianity that have been practiced by God’s people since biblical times."
I believe that many of us at Church Requel are ready for the next growth spurt of our spiritual journey. We believe and affirm our Christian faith. We attend church and volunteer to serve one another and the world around us. Yet our personal experience with the Spirit of Christ may seem tenuous. We may feel like we're often on our own, without the strength and peace of God promised in Scripture. How can we live each day of our lives more connected to Jesus? Spiritual disciplines may hold the answer for many of us.
When will this class / small group meet each week? I don't know the answer to that yet - as of this writing. I have been in touch with each of the 12 people and asked them for their schedules and availability. The only thing I've concluded so far is that there is no one time that will work for everyone. So we may have to offer this course twice each week to accommodate everyone.
Would you like to know more about spiritual disciplines? Would you be willing to try something new if it meant a closer walk with Jesus? If so, write me back and let me know you are interested. By the way, this should not be only limited to Church Requel folks. If you know someone else who could benefit, please feel free to pass this invitation on to them.
Children Participate In Worship This Sunday. This Sunday, the first one in February, will be one in which our children will worship together with their families (except for the preschoolers.) We believe it is important that children of all ages (we have one child who is 90+) appreciate the opportunity to worship as one large family. Consequently many of our younger children will serve this weekend. Paityn, Leia and Anna will help lead worship singing. Grayden and Cohen will help out in the tech booth. These boys will also pull double duty with Cohen sharing our announcements and Grayden leading our Scripture reading. Sicily will play her flute during our offering collection. Should be a spiritually uplifting worship time.
By the way - speaking of children - we need another person to volunteer to serve in the Nursery to help out Jennifer Carrick. Are you available? Write me back if you can help out Sunday.
Rule Keeping? I've written a sermon that I believe could be helpful for children of all ages. It's entitled "Rule Keeping & Heart Freeing." What is the purpose of rules in our lives? When is it ok NOT to follow the rules? What did Jesus teach us in his examples of healing on the Sabbath?
Pew Crew & Neighborhood Meal. We postponed today's pew crew to next Friday. We are hoping one more Friday morning will help us finish upholstering our pews. Join us Friday morning, Feb. 10th, if you are available. We really do have fun together.
Our next Neighborhood Meal will be Saturday evening, February 11th at 4pm. If you'd like to help serve, come at 4pm. We begin serving warm, free meals to our neighborhood at 5pm. We usually finish by 6:30pm. Bring desserts if you want to knock your serve out of the park!
Thank you all so much for responding so favorably to every opportunity at Church Requel. It truly is a privilege to be your pastor! Hope to see you Sunday morning at 11am. Love, Pastor Mark
| |
|
Recent Comments