Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

Lots of Stone Throwing Going On

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

Has anyone else noticed this besides me? There's lots of "stone throwing" going on these days. Not literally. But with words - accusations, complaints, put downs, rumors and gossip. I can't turn on my television in the morning without hearing one side talking down the other side. I change channels and find the other side talking down the first side.

So it's incredibly timely that we come to Sunday's passage of Scripture. We'll be looking at an actual stone-throwing situation from John 8. Along the way you'll discover what God thinks of equal justice, how Jesus was a man way ahead of his time, just how many rules the people of his day were supposed to follow and the fascinating little fact on how they came up with that particular number of do's and don'ts. 

We'll have Don Causley from England read our Scripture Sunday morning. Then we'll ask ourselves 4 key questions. Along the way we might even discover some answers together. I encourage you to begin right now reading John 8:1-11 and allow it to begin simmering in your mind. What are the questions you'd be asking yourself? If you want a preview, you can read Sunday's sermon here: http://bible.com/events/49017692.

Here are the songs we are planning to sing this Sunday: "By The Spirit" by Pat Barrett; "Mighty To Save" by Hillsong; "Hurry" by Jesus Culture; "Break Every Chain" by Jesus Culture; "Tell Your Heart To Beat Again" by Danny Gokey; and "Unstoppable God" by Elevation Worship. I sure hope you can come to church in person Sunday morning. But if you cannot, you can also watch online on our Church Requel Facebook page or on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/wnNOgQg6bSA.

Love you all much! Pastor Mark

Making Sense Of It All

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

Do you ever look at the world around you and wonder? And not in a good way? I do. Maybe it's a sign of my age. But it sure does seem to me that our culture is asking questions that I thought were pretty well settled a long time ago. Last year a Supreme Court nominee could not answer the question, "What is a woman?" Personally, I settled this question in my mind many decades ago.

Why is this happening? That is the topic of our sermon this coming Sunday morning. Our Scripture mostly comes from John 7 and 8. I encourage you to give some time to reading these chapters so you'll be prepared for our study together on Sunday. For those who would like to read the sermon ahead of time, just click on this link: http://bible.com/events/49013716.

Brandi and her worship team have a wonderful experience planned for us. Here are the songs we are planning to sing together: "Great Things" by Phil Wickham; "Ever Be" by Bethel; "Fierce" by Jesus Culture; "Love The Lord" by Lincoln Brewster; "Stay Amazed" by Gateway Worship; "The Way (New Horizon) by Pat Barrett; and "Praise Your Name" by Corey Voss.

For those of you who cannot attend in person Sunday morning, you can watch the worship service live online by going to our Church Requel Facebook page or by tuning into our YouTube channel. Here's the link for Sunday - https://youtu.be/ahF9qKPu5io.

I'd also like to give a shout out to Eddie and the terrific job he is doing with our young people. If you know of someone in school not already going to church somewhere else, you should definitely invite them to join the Sequels on Sunday mornings. They have a good thing going downstairs. Eddie is very creative in putting together his lesson plans each week.

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

Are You Offended By God?

Good Friday morning Church Requel!

The title to today's newsletter to you is also the subject of our sermon Sunday morning. It's based on the back half of John 6. At one point Jesus asks his closest students, "Are you offended by me? Will you leave me too?"

I know our first response to this might be: "No way!" But hold on for just a second with me. Have there been times in your life when you prayed for something and it just didn't happen? Have you ever wondered how a close loved one could leave you - either through a breakup in the relationship or through death? Have you ever wanted to be free from an addiction but you just couldn't seem to lick it. You asked God for help. But still it just didn't happen?

Disappointment. Disillusionment. Unmet expectations. Sometimes our relationship with God can be more challenging than we think. And we then add on guilt because it can't be God's fault. We must be doing something wrong.

If that's the case then you will want to come to our worship service this Sunday morning at 11am. I have been deep in the weeds with this sermon topic this week and I hope you will find it to be as helpful to you as it has been for me.

I encourage you to read John 6 several times between now and Sunday. Try to put yourself in the scene. How do you think you would have responded? What would you have said?

If you want to read my sermon notes, you will find them here: http://bible.com/events/49009983

If you cannot come in person, you can watch online by tuning into our Facebook page or you can watch our YouTube channel by clicking here. https://youtu.be/VIjyt2ZI4CM

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