Good Friday morning Church Requel!
I'm truly excited to tell you about the new summer sermon series that I've been arranging for us. Each Sunday we will take a different old hymn of the church and talk about the story behind the hymn. Who wrote it? Why? What was going on in their lives to motivate them to write that hymn? What can we learn from their story and their hymn about our own faith in Jesus Christ? Each Sunday we will focus on just 4 important lessons from the Hymn. (Hence the name: Hymns 4 Him!)
I hope to be musically creative with you during these sermons by taking my own tiny soprano ukulele and teaching you the hymn as we go through the sermons. Want to join in the fun? Maybe we could all sport Hawaiian wear each Sunday morning? (Just a fun suggestion!)
Our First Hymn Sermon: Blessed Assurance. I could not think of a more appropriate starting place than to talk about Blessed Assurance and the truly remarkable lady behind the song: Fanny Crosby. Did you know that she wrote more than 8,000 hymns and spiritual songs? Wow! She also penned another thousand songs besides the hymns. Talk about prolific! What is behind her story that equipped her to be so eloquent? You'll have to come Sunday morning to find out.
OR... you could also take a sneak peek at the sermon text for Sunday morning, which you'll find in your Bible app. You could also check out this link: http://bible.com/events/48902252.
Our Worship Plans For Sunday. In honor of our new hymn focus for this summer, Brandi has planned for us to sing together more than we usually do. Here is what she has lined up for us this Sunday morning: "There's Nothing That Our God Can't Do" by Passion; "The More Of You I See" by Iron Bell Music; "Death Was Arrested" by North Point Worship; "King Of My Heart" by Bethel; "Cornerstone" by Hillsong; and "Something Good" by Gateway Worship.
For those of you who will be watching Sunday's worship online, you can watch either on our Facebook Page or on our YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/NetMyi9j4Eg.
If you are like me, you are most grateful for all the work that Brandi does to prepare our worship together each Sunday. THANK YOU BRANDI!!!
This past week we updated our music spreadsheet, where we track all the songs we have sung together as a congregation. Our worship band led music for the first time in April 2018. Since that time - just a little over 4 years - we have sung 155 different congregational songs at least once. Wow!
There are 4 songs that we have sung 13 different times - the highest repetition. They are: "God So Loved" by We The Kingdom; "Old Church Choir" by Zach Williams; "The Way (New Horizon)" by Pat Barrett; and "Who You Say I Am" by Hillsong.
If you are willing to get into the songs sung weeds with me a little bit, there is actually one other song that we sometimes sing by itself... then sometimes we sing it as a mashup with another song... and if we added those together, it would be our #1 song with a total of 15 repetitions. Any guesses? (The answer will be at the bottom of this week's newsletter.)
Final Update on our Sound System Fund Raiser. Thank you one and all for your faithful giving to our new sound system fund raiser. We told you we would open up a special giving account in the months of April and May to raise funds for a new in-ears monitor system for our praise band.
The plan is to replace all the different platform speakers and amplifiers (some weeks we have over 10!) with a new in-ears system. When completed each band member will control and hear what they need to hear through special ear buds in their ears.
The good news for all of us is that each member of the praise team will be able to better hear what they need to hear AND (this is the best part for our congregation) the only sound coming out to the sanctuary will be from our main speakers on the side. (Even now I can hear Chris - our sound guy - shouting, "Thank you!")
You have all been incredibly generous. Through April and May we have raised $2,408. We have placed our order for the new equipment and the cost will be $3,543.49. We plan to take the difference out of our savings. (Of course we won't stop anyone from giving to the sound system fund, but we won't be asking you to do so.) Hopefully we will receive the new equipment and have it installed by the end of this month. Again... thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Neighborhood Meal - Our next opportunity to serve our downtown neighbors a warm, healthy meal will be Saturday, June 11th. There is a signup in the church lobby and we see that several of you have already signed up to volunteer. This coming Sunday will be your last chance to signup and let Don and Stephenie know that you can come and help out. Volunteers should plan to arrive at church by 4pm. We are usually finished, cleaned up and walking away by 6pm.
These are good days for us at Church Requel! Let's celebrate Sunday morning! Remember to wear your Hawaiian shirts, if you are of a mind to do it. (Yes, even those watching online could get in the spirit of the occasion!)
Love you all much, Pastor Mark
P.S. - The song we have sung the most? "What A Beautiful Name" by Hillsong - 15x since April 2018.
