Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

Want A Friend? Be A Friend!

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

They call this Black Friday because of all the sales that go on. But this year I hope most of you are shopping safely from home. Personally I took advantage of some of the Black Friday sales for tech items that we needed for church. Yay! 

So how was your Thanksgiving Day yesterday? Mary Kay and I spent a quiet day at home. Only Jessica and Dave came over for dinner last evening. But we had the opportunity to talk with all our children and grandchildren throughout the day. It was not the kind of Thanksgiving Day we normally enjoy with the house full of family. However the quiet moments gave us a chance to reflect on all the things for which we are grateful. I am so thankful for each one of you, who call Church Requel your church home. What a blessing each one of you are to Mary Kay and me!

Sunday morning we will continue our Wisdom series from the book of Proverbs. I hope you are enjoying these teachings as much as I am. It gave me great joy to be back in the pulpit this past Sunday morning.

This Sunday we will be talking about friendships. We'll be focusing on real friends and on quality of friendships, not quantity. (Not the Facebook kind of friends!) PARENTS - If ever there was a time for you to get your children to listen in, this is it! The kind of friends we make... make the kind of life we will enjoy! If you want to know the kind of person you are, look at the kind of friends you have!

The key lesson Sunday morning will be this: the type of friend you are is the type of friend you will attract!

We will focus on 6 attributes of a true and loyal friend. We will personalize it by teaching that this is the kind of friend we want to be to others. So this will be a good sermon for everyone, but I think it would be especially good for all of our younger audience to hear too!

Advent Begins Sunday! I know. It just doesn't seem possible. But we will be lighting the first Advent Candle this coming Sunday - the candle of HOPE!

We have something very special lined up for you all! Don and Vanessa Causley will be joining us from their home in England and will begin our Advent celebration this week. Don has some words of encouragement about the importance of this Advent season and Vanessa has prepared a glorious song! Then Don will pray for us all. It is so rich! You won't want to miss. Thank you Don and Vanessa for your continued contributions to Church Requel!

The Songs We Will Sing Together... (1) "Because He Lives Amen" by Matt Maher, (2) "Goodness of God" by Bethel, (3) "Nobody" by Casting Crowns, (4) "Praise Him Forever" by Chris Tomlin, and "Friend of God" by Israel Houghton.

Let's keep on being a friend to one another and giving encouragement in any way we can. Love you all so much! Pastor Mark

Out of Quarantine - Back In The Saddle!

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

I'm so excited to be writing to you this morning. I want to shout out to the world, "I am free! I am free! I am free at last!" Ok, that's probably a little over dramatic, but whoever has accused me of underdoing things? Ha! Seriously, the good news is that both Mary Kay and I are out of our quarantine. We are over the vast majority of our Covid-19 symptoms. We are feeling so good, as a matter of fact, that we are both back to our exercise routines. There's no doubt that we were fortunate to not have suffered through the worst of symptoms like so many others have.

Being out of quarantine also means that I get to be back in church this coming Sunday morning! Yay! I have missed being there so much these past two Sundays. I believe we should all thank Brian Betts for doing such a great job of taking my sermons and delivering them with such authenticity and enthusiasm. It's one thing to teach your own sermon - a sermon that you have thought about and worked on, maybe for weeks. It's another thing altogether to get the phone call on Friday that you need to be in the pulpit on Sunday. We are SO BLESSED to have such a willing and humble servant as Brian on our volunteer team! Thanks Brian!

I also want to give a big shout out to Brandi. This past Sunday our praise team was down to only she and Brian. She didn't blink - at least not publicly. Rather she soldiered on singing and playing the piano and praying and leading worship. Again, just how blessed can we be as a church to have such a willing leader!? Thanks Brandi!

And while I'm giving out thank-you's... let's also be thankful for Chris Thoman! Do you know he hasn't missed a Sunday this year? You never see him - he works in the sound booth and is also usually making sure that our online streaming camera is working ok. These past two Sundays he's also taken the offering deposit and made sure they made it to the bank on Monday. Again - humble, behind-the-scenes serving! Thanks Chris!

This coming week I won't be the only one back leading worship with Brian, Chris and Brandi. I understand that Dave and Trish will be back on the team too. I'm so looking forward to being back with most of the worship team. We'll eventually get everyone back! One week at a time!

Here are the songs we are planning to sing this coming Sunday: "The Whole Earth" by Gateway Worship; "Graves Into Gardens" by Elevation Worship; "No Sweeter Name" by Kari Jobe; "Old Church Choir" by Zach Williams; and "Love Is The Reason" by Unspoken.

We also have some special videos lined up from Jack and Cheryl, who watch each week from their home in Virginia. Cheryl will lead a Bible reading from Psalm 136. We're even going to give a corporate response together saying, "His Love endures forever!" This is the perfect thanksgiving Psalm for us this week. Then Jack is going to sing a great solo, "Thank You" by Ray Boltz. How perfect for the Sunday before Thanksgiving?

By the way, this reminds me, for anyone who watches our worship services each week - we would love to have you participate too! Especially with Christmas coming up - if you have a song to sing, an instrument to play, a Bible reading to share, or a prayer you would like to offer - we would love to include your act of worship. Please let Brandi know and she will schedule it in for us! Also... don't wait long to let her know! Brandi is already making plans for the remainder of the year!

I will also be back in the pulpit this week with what I hope will be a very timely sermon for all of us. We will be continuing our sermon series, "God's Practical Guide To Good Living," this week with a focus on Reducing Stress. These are clearly stressful days for our country and our community with Covid-19 running so rampant. I hope to share some wisdom from Proverbs on how we can line up, lighten up, loosen up and look up! You'll have to tune in or come to Church Requel this Sunday to see what I'm talking about!

Love you all more than you know! Pastor Mark

Living with the Coronavirus - One Week In

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

One week ago today I tested positive for Covid-19. This past Monday Mary Kay tested positive as well. We are both doing much better today. My symptoms were mostly those associated with a severe head cold - laryngitis, runny nose, stuffy sinus, at times uncontrolled sneezing and at other times a dry cough. And always - fatigue. Most nights I go to bed at 7pm and sleep until 7 the next morning. Mary Kay's symptoms were different. She ran a low grade fever (I never did) and suffered from headaches. She also experiences fatigue. The earlier part of this week was the most difficult for us, but we seem to be on the positive side of this thing now. And we consider ourselves most fortunate that our symptoms were not much worse.

We are both following the isolating protocols of quarantine. Today is Day 7 for me. The Health Department contacted both of us and instructed us to quarantine for 10 days - or longer if we show any signs of a fever. So needless to say, I won't be leading worship at Church Requel again this Sunday morning. That honor will be given to Brandi and to Brian. Both remain symptom free and both want to maintain a live worship opportunity at our church. Thanks to both of you!

So for those of you who live in the Mansfield area, you will have the choice to attend worship locally at 11am. If you do, please wear a mask, maintain a social distance from one another, and make liberal use of the hand sanitizers. Several within our church have tested positive for Covid-19 this past week (besides Mary Kay and me), so we completely understand if you decide to play it safe and watch the worship stream on Facebook this week. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that this pandemic is hitting all of us very close to home. 

Brian has agreed to preach the second sermon in the new series from Proverbs - God's Practical Guide To Good Living. This week the title of the sermon is "Earning Respect." I believe this will be an encouraging and helpful talk for all of us. Thank you Brian!

The songs we are planning to sing include "See A Victory," "Who You Say I Am," "What A Beautiful Name," "Stand In Your Love," and "Glorious Day."

Once again I will be worshipping beside many of you online. After I did this last week, I have some suggestions for those of you worshipping with us online. First, prepare your heart ahead of time. Don't just click in at the last minute. But start your own focus on the Holy Spirit about a half hour ahead of time. Anticipate the worship experience.

Second, I found out that it really helped me to make comments throughout the worship time. When we are present it is easy to clap and smile and participate. But we can participate online too! We just have to be a little more deliberate about it. I loved that several of you actually responded to others online writing that you were praying for them. Way to go!

Finally, it is really easy to miss out on the communion and prayer time and just allow your brain to go into stagnation. It helps to actually have the communion elements in hand as well as writing out a list of prayer requests.

This is a difficult time for all of us. We are each doing what we can to make the best of it. Hopefully the end of this pandemic is in sight. In the meantime, let's continue to hold one another up in prayer, encouraging one another with affirming words. I appreciate each of you! Love you! Pastor Mark

Pastor Mark Tests Positive For COVID-19

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

Well... I have some unfortunate news to report to you, my church family. This morning I tested positive for COVID-19. Thus far my symptoms are relatively minor: laryngitis and a higher heart rate than normal for me. My first symptoms were overnight and I got myself tested first thing this morning. So I will appreciate your prayers on my behalf.

Of course, neither Mary Kay and I will physically be at Church Requel this coming Sunday. Possible longer - I honestly don't know what the current quarantine protocols are. I was told this morning that the Health Department will be contacting me soon to go over the details. For this Sunday, the Praise Team (without me) will lead worship. And I've given my sermon notes to Brian Betts and he has graciously agreed to preach my sermon for me.

We'll take the rest one day at a time. Fortunately, Church Requel is bigger than me. I am so glad we have others who will continue to minister in my place until I am permitted back in the saddle.

Thank you so much for your ongoing prayers. Love you all much! Pastor Mark