Good Friday morning Church Requel!
About a hundred worshipers joined us at Church Requel this past Sunday night. What a wonderful experience to see our church filled with enthusiastic worship participants! I don't know about any of you, but it was most definitely a shot in the arm for this pastor. And I couldn't have been more proud of all of you. Most of you showed up and were terrific hosts. I'm also most grateful to the efforts and sacrifice of our Requel Band, who faithfully invested eight hours of their time last Sunday. We all experienced just a little taste of Heaven!
And wasn't Alyse the best? She represented Catalyst well. Like many of you, I had no idea that Catalyst offered so many services to us here in Richland County.
Let's continue to join together to pray especially for the work Catalyst does with the drug addicted in our area. Their services are needed these days more than ever.
If you didn't get the chance to be with us Sunday night... or you just want to watch again... we have kept the live stream recording up and available. You can watch anytime you want. Here is the link.
https://www.youtube.com/live/FXcRJB2Olzs?feature=share
The March of Prayer continues each evening. Several of you have joined me at other churches. I encourage you all to get out to as many of these services as you can. Each one is unique. I can honestly tell you that I have experienced the Presence of our Lord's Spirit at each and every one.
Tonight the March of Prayer heads to Fusion Lexington, 2200 Industrial Parkway. The service begins at 6pm. I have heard that several of your Church Requel friends will be in attendance, so you won't be alone.
Saturday night's March of Prayer should be really special. The March comes back to the Point of Grace... in the Chome... where it all started 5 years ago. Jordan Baker has agreed to come back and lead about 45 minutes of worship. Paul and I will sing our 4 March of Prayer anthems together. And Susan Evans will lead from the piano, playing and singing any hymn you pick out. She is truly amazing! This service also begins at 6pm.
Bathroom Upgrades. I hope you all are thankful for Paul Lintern's leadership in getting these 40 different ministries to cooperate together each evening for the 40 days leading up to Easter. Our worship community is so fortunate to have him with us.
To give you some idea of his SERVANT leadership, he came into our church yesterday and painted the men's restroom last night. He wrote me and said that now that we have the lights working, the bathroom deserved to have some fresh paint.
And ladies, Paul also caulked the shower above the women's restroom as well. That should eliminate the leak into the ceiling of the bathroom. This should allow us to get up a new light fixture in your bathroom as well! Thank you Paul!
Sunday Worship Plans. We have some awesome plans for Sunday morning. Our sermon is titled "Home... Built By Jesus" and comes from John 14:1-6. I hope you will feel the same way I did as I wrote it. Inspired. Encouraged. Hopeful. If you'd like a preview, you can check out my sermon notes here: http://bible.com/events/49044217.
Here are the songs we plan to sing on Sunday: "Father's House" by Cory Asbury; "The More Of You I See" by Iron Bell Music; "History" by Matthew West; "Good Grace" by Hillsong; "The Way (New Horizon)" by Pat Barrett; "If We've Ever Needed You" by Casting Crowns; and "Confidence" by Sanctus Real. If you will be watching remotely, you can tune in on our Facebook page or on our YouTube channel. Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/live/lD2W0HTAh6U?feature=share
REMEMBER! We spring forward an hour Sunday morning. So while our service still begins at 11am, it will be EDT not EST. In other words we lose an hour. It will feel more like 10 than 11. The good news, of course, is that we should be able to enjoy another hour of sunshine in the evenings.
NEXT SUNDAY - ORDINATION! Make sure you mark down March 19th as a special Sunday morning you won't want to miss. We are planning to ordain Brian Betts to become a pastor. For the last year, he has told us that he feels called by the Lord to become a pastor. Our leadership team also confirms this calling in Brian's life. So we want to ordain him (anoint him, set him apart for ministry) next Sunday morning. This is a very memorable time for any pastor, so plan to be a part of Brian's special day.
We don't know yet where Brian will be called to minister. In the meantime, we hope God can continue to use him at Church Requel. Right now Brian leads a Bible study time on Saturday mornings. However, we need to be prepared that God could call him elsewhere. Our leadership team has not made any plans - one way or the other - to find my replacement as pastor when I retire at the end of November.
Potluck Meal After Sunday's Service. This ordination of Brian deserves every ounce of celebration we can muster. So plan to stick around after the morning worship service next Sunday for a potluck meal. The church will provide a ham as the main dish. We also will provide paper plates and utensils and drinks. You all bring everything else: salads, side dishes, casseroles, and desserts. Let's plan on a great time together next Sunday, March 19th!
Wow... for a small church we sure do BIG things! I love sharing this ministry with you. Hope to see you all this weekend! Love you! Pastor Mark