Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

All About Baptism This Sunday

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

I'm praying and thinking about Kyle this morning, who even as I write this to you is undergoing brain surgery. Lord, guide the surgeon's hands please.

Kyle began attending Church Requel from the very first Sunday and hasn't missed since - unless he is working. He has defined who and what our church has become, perhaps as much as anyone. He was 16 when he first started coming and often I still think of him as that age (because unlike the rest of us, he hasn't seemed to get older on the outside.)

Yet Kyle has become an incredibly strong and independent young man, despite his disabilities. He holds down a job. He shares an apartment with his brother, Sean. He walks to Church Requel every Sunday morning.

Maybe as much as anything I admire his smile. I have never seen him not smiling. He enjoys life to the max - even if it means participating in a silly CR game like getting wrapped up as a mummy in toilet paper. Check out the Church Requel Facebook prayer page for updates today. And by all means, keep praying! (And pray for Rachel too. Tough morning to be Kyle's mom!)

Good news for Juanita! For those of you who were praying for Juanita's eye surgery yesterday morning, I'm told that everything went well! Good news for you Juanita! Happy for you!!!

Sunday - Reminder of the Importance of Baptism. We haven't talked about baptism in several years. During that time many of our young people have matured to the age that they are considering their commitment to Christ and their obedience in baptism. While this is an important talk for all of us - maybe some adults are also considering their own baptisms - this Sunday will be an especially important day to have our teenaged children in the service. If your family can't be there, by all means make sure your children watch the sermon video this coming week!

Our praise team Sunday will be made up of Brandi, Brian, Amy, Bessica and Stephenie! it's great to see Stephenie back in the lineup. Did you all see the WMFD chose to use Stephenie's picture as the face of the March of Prayer South Park event a couple weeks ago? If you haven't seen it, click here!

Those of us who know Stephenie, we know she is an enthusiastic worshiper regardless of whether she is standing up front or sitting in the back. (She much prefers to be sitting in the back.) 

For those of you who would like a head start on Sunday's talk about baptism, you can check out your Bible app under Events or you can click here. 

Hope to see you all Sunday morning! Love you! Pastor Mark

Resurrection Day Worship Plans

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

I write that greeting to you every Friday morning, but today it really IS Good Friday! Don't we have so much to celebrate? We don't have to wait until Sunday. Today stop and think about just how much God loves you, that He would give His only beloved Son. Such love is overwhelming. Stop and bask in His love today!

Before I tell you about our plans for worship Sunday, I'd like to write you just a few things about the March of Prayer. Last night was our final event out at South Park. What a spectacular way to end this special miracle of churches coming together to worship.

The band that played at South Park was amazing... not only the great sound, but also the fact that 7 different churches were represented. Our own Don Angel played bass guitar for last night's worship event and he played with his whole heart! I was so happy for him. Consider his journey these past 16 months. His son buys him a left-handed bass guitar for Christmas 2017. He joins the Jam Band at Church Requel, playing for the first time with us in public in April 2018 - exactly one year ago. Then last night he's a member of the all-star worship team. Wow! You go Don!!!

While I'm on the subject of the March of Prayer, I want to thank each and every one of you good folks from Church Requel for attending as many of them as you did. I could always count on seeing familiar, friendly faces from our congregation each night. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, but I am so fortunate to be your pastor!

Easter Worship Plans. Sunday morning we are planning quite the celebration! The Jam Band will be playing and the ladies trio will be singing... sometimes at the same time!!! Each one of us on the Jam Band was delighted when Brandi asked us to play for Easter. She reminded us that it had been one year since we played publicly for the first time. So she thought it only right that we celebrate by playing again this Easter!

We thought that was awesome and so we planned four songs to open our worship singing Sunday morning: (1) "Hallelujah for the Cross" by Chris McClarney, (2) "Because He Lives Amen" by Matt Maher, (3) "Cornerstone" by Hillsong, and (4) "Forever" by Kari Jobe.

The more we got thinking about it, though, the more we thought it would be even more awesome if the ladies trio came up and sang too. So Missie, Trish and Brandi will be leading on those last two songs, "Cornerstone" and "Forever." It should be pretty special! Before the morning is over our ladies will come up and lead in two more Easter celebration songs: "At The Cross" by Hillsong and "My Redeemer Lives" by Hillsong. When you leave church Sunday morning, you'll be walking about two feet off the ground!

Oh - and did I forget to mention that for one more time, Brian and the ladies trio together will be singing "God of This City?" Wow indeed!

We'll still share communion together and pray together. I've also prepared an Easter message for you from just two verses, John 11:25-26. To be as honest with you as I can be, I am just so full of God's goodness from these 52 days of the March of Prayer, I feel like I'm going to bust. I'm truly excited to share this talk with you on Sunday. My prayer is that this sermon will inspire you and encourage you to view your resurrected life like you've never seen it before. (Want a head start? Click here to read Sunday's sermon notes.) I hope you'll come and that you'll bring a friend!

I have so much more to say to you, but I think I'll keep it for Sunday morning. Blessings on you all. Love you much! Pastor Mark

Palm Sunday Is Diaper Sunday!

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

We surely have an exciting weekend scheduled - Camp Mowana tonight for the March Plus of Prayer, serving the Neighborhood Meal Saturday night, and then Palm Sunday, which will also be Diaper Sunday! Let's start with the last first...

Palm Sunday / Diaper Sunday!
We are super excited to welcome Jordon and Talon Baker to Church Requel this coming Sunday morning. Jordon has agreed to lead our worship singing Sunday morning in place of Brandi, who is off with her family for Spring Break.

Some of you have had the privilege of hearing Jordon lead worship for several of the March of Prayer events. He is a wonderful guitarist and vocalist. Jordon came to faith in Christ through IHOP - the International House of Prayer. Since then Jordon has led many "prayer burns" - times of extended worship and prayer.

Yes it will be a little different than we are accustomed to. But that's a good thing! I've learned to appreciate so many wonderfully diverse ways of worshiping our Lord and Savior. Come Sunday morning prepared to worship with all your heart and voice.

Joining Jordon on the Church Requel platform will be vocalist Isabel Hertz and pianist Camden Snively. These are both incredibly talented young people who have served as part of Jordon's worship team at other prayer burns and March of Prayer events. Oh yeah, there will be one more guy up front - a local ukulele player that you may know.

So what's all this about "Diaper Sunday?" You may recall that Jordon and Talon are expecting twin girls in July. So we thought it would be really great to shower them with lots of diapers. When you come to church Sunday, bring a package of diapers with you! We'll pile them up and give them to Jordon and Talon as a love offering. You can give any size diapers you want! With twins we are sure they will be able to use them.

We will continue our study in the Book of Acts. This will be our 32nd Acts sermon adventure together! We'll be looking at Acts 13:16-48. Our study of this passage is important for a couple reasons. First, it is the first recorded sermon by the Apostle Paul. Second, it is the first time we are introduced to the concept of justification. I'm really looking forward to this morning with you. If you want a head start on the study, open up your Bible app and search for Church Requel under "Events." Or you could also click on this link: http://bible.com/events/599761

Saturday Neighborhood Meal. Continuing our backwards progression through this weekend, Saturday night we will be serving our neighborhood much love in the form of a hearty, warm meal.

I want to extend lots of thanks and lots of support to Sheri, who is planning out the meal for tomorrow night. We all need to show up and help as much as we can.

IMPORTANT - SHOW UP AT 3:30!! We will need lots of extra help in getting things organized for the meal tomorrow. A couple weeks ago you will remember that the water backed up into our basement kitchen. The good news is that this is all cleaned up now. The bad news is that everything is still stacked up on the kitchen countertops and on the front platform. 

Sheri will need people to show up when she gets there at 3:30 so she can make room in the kitchen to cook the meal. So please come early to help out if you are available. And as always, bring your delicious desserts with you.

Camp Mowana / March of Prayer Tonight! Tonight at 6pm, come to Camp Mowana for our 43rd Night of Prayer. Take Ashland Road to Fleming Falls road, then south a short distance to the Camp Entrance on the right.  Go into the middle of the camp, around the pool, and park in the lot; worship will be at Oswego Lodge.

We will have a variety of songs, many from camp days, and will pray for ideas that have come up about what is next for us.  We also will walk and pray for the land as the camp enters its last year of service, and the transition that will happen as Richland County Park District takes responsibility.

Food (pizza) will be provided after the service, including whatever you bring to share!  Paper goods and water also will be provided. See you at Camp Mowana for our Day 43 of this March of Prayer!

Ok - that wraps up this week's Church Requel newsletter. But this is just the beginning of a very exciting weekend for our church. Let's make the most of every opportunity to meet with one another, to pray for one another, to serve one another, and to worship together with one another! Love you much! Pastor Mark