Above The Grind

When the celebrations are over, family and friends all go home, and we’re back to the daily grind, how do we get by? How do we get ABOVE THE GRIND when we’re discouraged or disappointed? In this final sermon of the year I share the biblical encouragement we need to hang in there & to celebrate even in the tough times of life!

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download this PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.

Nobody's A Nobody With God

It’s easy to feel like we’re nothing special. Especially at Christmas time. While many love being engaged with family, many others feel disconnected. Even if you are a nobody to the world, you are a somebody to God! Last evening we looked at the first Christmas through the eyes of Anna in Luke 2, where we learn the twin lessons of purpose and peace.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.

Waiting Is An Action Verb

Instant gratification can be our enemy. We learn that when we wait upon God, we will learn patience and come to know Him and the reward of His promises so much better. Through our godly waiting we can even bless others! Join me in this audio version of Sunday's talk as we consider the story of righteous and devout Simeon, who was rewarded for waiting.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.

My Response To The King

Our response to the babe born in the manger requires more than the belief that the prophesied King Jesus was actually born. If Jesus really is the King of kings, we should respond in obedience to the commands he taught. In this audio version of Sunday's sermon I examine the unrighteous believer of Herod the Great and share 4 Christmas lessons from Herod's story.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.

Doubts and Faith

As humans, we're right about some things and wrong about others. The key is to be right about the right things. Our Christian faith is one of those tricky things that is easy to be wrong about. Knowing the facts of our Christian faith isn't the same thing as possessing a Christian faith.

In this first Christmas teaching of 2014, I consider the life of Zechariah from Luke 1. Like him we can also be righteous doubters.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.

RELATE @ Work

Work could be considered worship if we do it right! I give Biblical advice to employers and employees alike for how they should relate... at work. From Ephesians 6:5-9.

You can follow along with the online sermon notes or download the fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.

How To Be Model Parents

Parenting children has never been more challenging. What advice does the Bible give to today's moms and dads? In this audio version of Sunday's sermon, I share 5 key recommendations for how to raise kids. Along the way I share lots of personal stories from my own parenting adventures.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.

Marriage Talk - Husbands

The Bible teaches that husbands should love their wives as Christ loves the church. How exactly can men do this? In this audio version of this morning's sermon, I teach about marriage from Ephesians 5 with lots of examples and helpful suggestions for today’s men.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.

Marriage Talk - Wives

Submission is a two-way street between husbands and wives. In this first of two parts, we focus our attention on wives from Ephesians 5:21-24. Mary Kay Pierce joins Pastor Mark to describe the 4 ways  wives submit to their husbands.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.

Friend or Fool?

Does BFF stand for Best Friend Forever or Baloney From a Fool? In this audio from Sunday's sermon I share 6 traits to look for in a friend. "Friend or Fool" uses Ephesians 5:15-20 for a Biblical text.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.

Both Feet In

Are you “both feet in” when it comes to your Christian faith? I explain that living to please God and still living in a way that doesn’t please God is a “double-minded” existence. We consider 5 heart checks of whether we’re all in with Jesus. Then we talk about 3 ways to make sure we’re both feet in with God.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.

The Myth Of More

The myth of more is that the more we have, the happier we will be. Not true. In fact, always wanting more of what others have is a sure way toward unhappiness. I discuss 5 hard truths about coveting as well as 4 ways to practice the antidote to always wanting more. Based on Ephesians 5:1-6.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.

4 Ways To Improve My Relationships

Many of us want better friendships in our lives. Jeff Barnes tells us that the best way to start is to become better friends ourselves to others. In this October 12, 2014 Church Requel audio talk, we learn 4 ways to improve our relationships from Ephesians 4:25-30.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.

The New Self

Christians are to put on a new self and take off the old self. Desiring to change from the old me to the new me is called repentance. In this October 5th Church Requel talk, Jeff Barnes shares 5 things we should know and do about repentance.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download this PDF fill-in-the-blanks sermon outline.

Grow Together

How does the church grow? What is the objective of church growth? Is there something more to grow than MORE? In our study of Ephesians 4:14-16, we learn why our maturity is so important. We conclude with two ways we grow as a church.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the fill-in-the-blanks PDF Outline.

The Game Plan

What is God's game plan for the church? We study Ephesians 4:11-13 to learn the surprising truths about leadership, ministry, and responsibilities of everyone who belongs to the body of Christ.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the fill-in-the-blanks PDF outline.

Free To Relate

In our relationships unity does not demand uniformity. How do we see our differences as reasons to celebrate rather than as reasons for conflict? Pastor Mark shares three reasons we are free to relate from Ephesians 4:7-10.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the fill-in-the-blanks PDF outline.

Attitudes That Relate

What are the best attitudes we can have for ongoing, lasting, and fulfilling relationships in life? From Ephesians 4:1-6, we discover 5 attitudes that are sure to relate. Join me as we learn about relational basics from Scripture.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the fill-in-the-blanks PDF outline.

Unremitting Love

The greatest joy in life is experiencing unremitting love, when someone loves us no matter what. The greatest hurt comes when someone we thought would love us stops loving us. How do we find unremitting love? How do we give unremitting love? Join me as we discover 4 truths about love from 1 Peter 1:22-25.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the fill-in-the-blanks PDF outline.

Foundational Christ

We love salvation stories in our books and movies. Many point back to THE salvation story found in God's Word. In this week's talk from 1 Peter 1, we discover that God's salvation was not a plan "B." He created mankind even knowing the sacrifice required of God's Son. Join me as we celebrate the greatest story ever told.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the fill-in-the-blank PDF outline.

Holy Conduct

If we call ourselves Christ-followers, then our conduct should match our name. God is holy and He expects us also to be holy. How do we conduct ourselves as Christians? Jeff Barnes takes us through 1 Peter 1:13-19 and tells us how to live out this high calling.

Follow along with the online sermon notes or download the fill-in-the-blanks PDF outline.

Tested By Fire

Shouldn't our lives be better because of our Christian faith? Shouldn't our lives be easier because of our Christian faith? Better yes. Easier no. As a Christ-follower, the Bible tells us that we will be tested. In this talk from 1 Peter 1:6-9, I talk about WHY we are tested and the resulting benefits to our faith.

Imperishable Inheritance

In this talk from 1 Peter 1:3-5, Pastor Mark takes us behind the scenes and considers our Christian lives from God's perspective. We discover that God gave us new life, provides an inheritance not subject to entropy, defends us, and will come back for us.

Elect Exiles

We begin our study of 1 Peter, chapter 1, with just the first two verses. Here we discover 5 characteristics of who we are in Christ as Christ-followers.

Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone

Faith is believing that God is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do. Trusting God usually takes us out of our comfort zone. I tell the story of the Empty Jar and the Widow and, along the way, we learn about 4 steps that take us outside of our comfort zone.

Making My Time Count

Our time on Earth is so short compared to eternity. We all want to make our time count. But how do we do that? What matters most is not the duration of our lives, but the donation of our lives.  In this July 13th talk at Church Requel, I teach the A,B,C's of time management.

Staying Mentally Fit

The Bible teaches us to remain mentally fit.  We do that in three ways: (1) Guard access to our minds; (2) Learn new things continuously; and (3) Exercise our minds continuously. In this audio sermon I  teach practical habits from the Bible to keep a sound mind.

Focusing Life

To follow God's direction for our lives, we need first to focus on God. In this audio version of the sermon, I provide 3 reasons to focus on God as well as 3 ways to maintain our focus on Him.

Adventurous Expectations

What do you expect out of life? Are you hopeful about your future? The Message version of Romans 8:15 tells us that this resurrection life of the Christ-follower should be "adventurously expectant." In this Church Requel audio sermon from June 22, 2014, I talk about 7 ways we can remain adventurously expectant no matter what.

Real Dads of Genius

Real Dads of Genius are dads who are caring, consistent, close, and Christian. This is the Father's Day talk delivered by me to Church Requel on June 15, 2014. It also includes 4 "Real Dads of Genius" videos of real dads within our congregation. The cover art photo is my son, Jonathan, with his 4 children: Grayden, Lila, Lincoln, and Cohen.

#112: Interview With Tamira Barnes / Prayer

We interview our new Interim Children's Ministry Director, Tamira Barnes, talking about children's ministry and her first day on the job. Our sermon is "Prayers That Get Things Done - Part 2" taken from the prayer of Nehemiah. Fun, enjoyable, informative and helpful podcast this week!

#111: Prayers That Get Things Done - Part 1

I catch up on the great weekend both personally and at Church Requel. In the sermon segment we talkk about prayers that get things done. We learn that effective prayers provide God's presence, strength, peace, answers and change us, our circumstances and our world.

Music for this week's podcast is "I Say A Little Prayer" by Aretha Franklin.

#110: Bring Out The Best In Your Kids

How do we bring out the best in our children? The Bible teaches 5 ways to help your kids be all that God has created them to be. I also share some of my Memorial Day weekend events. Music for this week's podcast is "On The Beach (In The Summertime)" by The Fifth Dimension.

#109: Five Conversations Parents And Children Must Have

We talk about the five purposes of our lives and how we teach these truths to our children using 5 key questions. The music for this week's podcast is "Happy Birthday" by DJ Bobo.

#108: Eight Truths Every Child Needs To Know

On this 108th edition of the CR Audio Podcast I talk about planning for our Mother's Day service yesterday, about partnering with Pastor Steve to lose 100 pounds of unneeded weight between the two of us, and our decision to offer a Vacation Bible School in August. This week's Mother's Day sermon comes from the Lord's Prayer, where we learn eight truths parents should teach their children about God.

The music for this week's podcast is the themesong from the TV show, "Everybody Loves Raymond."

#107: Four Jobs Of The Parent

In this week's podcast I talk about the great Sunday we had at Church Requel and then share Sunday's talk to the congregation. This is the second talk in our Raising Amazing Kids series. There are four fundamental jobs for the parent, according to the Bible. #1 - Prepare your kids for life. #2 - Protect your kids in storms. #3 - Play with your kids for fun. #4 - Point your kids to God.

#106: Raising Today's Kids

I introduce the new sermon series, Raising Amazing Kids, with some personal thoughts to why raising children today is such a challenge. The expectations for mom and dad and their family is very different than when I was a kid - and these pressures are continuing. But raising a family today is not at all impossible. Teaching godly principles is just as important to success as ever.

In this first sermon, we talk about 4 challenges of raising kids in today’s world. We consider 3 reasons why it’s so important to give our children a spiritual foundation. Finally we provide 3 suggestions for today’s parents.

Music for today's podcast is The Andy Griffith Show themesong.

#105: Easter at Church Requel

This week on the podcast I talk about our Easter service at Church Requel and then share our Easter sermon. Jesus reenergizes our lives by filling us with Himself whenever we're empty, by sending us wherever we're needed, and by helping us to believe wherever, whenever, whatever.

Photos of the children's "Empty Tomb Garden" crafts can be seen here.

The movie of people nailing their thank you notes into the cross can be seen here. 

Our music for this week's podcast is "My Redeemer Lives" by Hillsong.

#104: How Jesus Reenergizes Us

Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? We all get down and disappointed sometimes. If we are Christ-followers we need to know that Jesus will reenergize us. We learn the first four ways in this week's podcast.

Music for this week's podcast is "After Taxes" by Johnny Cash

#103: Where Best To Invest

Jesus taught that we should store up for ourselves treasures in heaven. In this podcast we'll discover 5 ways to “send it on ahead” and invest into our heavenly bank accounts. I also discuss what I've learned about preaching in series. I'm still refining and learning. Finally I share specifically what I've learned about preaching on the topic of money.

Music for this week's podcast is "Something Changed" by Sara Groves.

#102: Eight Habits For Financial Fitness

In part two of "8 Habits for Financial Fitness," we learn about the priority of saving our money, keeping track of where our money goes, and the importance of a spending and savings plan. We study many verses from Proverbs to learn the difference between God’s plan and man’s plan for our money.

Music for this week's podcast is "Money Money Money" by Meryl Streep.

#101: First 3 Habits Of Financial Health

This week's special guest on the podcast is our new Worship Arts Director, Brandi Walker. She tells us about her new job and some background on juggling multiple jobs and family life.

This week's sermon from Pastor Mark is "The First 3 Habits of Financial Health." (1) Remember that God is my source. (2) I must make money honestly. And (3) honor God first.

Music for this week's podcast is "Soak Up The Sun" by Sheryl Crow.

#100: Four More Laws of Sowing & Reaping

We learn 4 more laws of sowing and reaping. We always reap in a different season than we sow. We always reap more than we sow. We can increase our harvest by planting more seed. To reap the harvest I must be patient and not give up. Join me for this very special 100th episode of the Church Requel Audio Podcast!

Music for this week's podcast is "Amazing Grace - My Chains Are Gone" sung by Haleigh Trubachik (pictured on the cover art.)

#099: Five Laws of Sowing & Reaping

The Bible teaches that you will reap what you sow. This is so much more than an agricultural principle. This really is the way God made the universe to work. We learn 5 ways to apply this to our lives. In this week's podcast, we not only share Sunday's talk on sowing and reaping, but I introduce the sermon with why this subject is so important to me... and I think should be for you too!

Music on this week's podcast is "Let's Go" by Group 1 Crew, sung by Eddie and Brandi Walker.

#098: The Law of Contentment

We learn 5 outcomes of always wanting more. Then we talk about 4 ways to discover contentment. Also included in this podcast is more discussion about my early days of discontentment as a young stockbroker. Grayden Pierce reads the Scripture. And 4 of our young people act out the skit, "More."

Music for this week's podcast is our own children singing "Put Your Hands Up" by Planetshakers.

#97: Seven Laws of Financial Freedom

From Jesus most famous Parable of the Talents we learn God's 7 laws of financial freedom. Join me as I teach from Matthew 25.

The music for this week's podcast is "Can't Buy Me Love" by The Beatles.

#096: Four Ways To Be Sent

Our fifth calling in life is to be sent to share the good news of Christ and what He has done for us. Pastor Steve Thoman teaches this final Purpose Driven Life sermon at Church Requel and shares 4 ways we can be sent out.

This special podcast includes a rare intro by Mary Kay Pierce, wife of Pastor Mark Pierce. Enjoy!

Music on this week's podcast includes "Good News" by Chris Rice.

#095: Four Benefits of Serving Others

God calls us to bless one another. How? By serving them using the gifts and talents that God has given to us. We talk about 4 benefits we receive when we serve others unselfishly.

Also in this podcast I review Brandon Cox's new book, Rewired: How Using Today's Technology Can Bring You Back to Deeper Relationships, Real Conversations, and the Age-Old Methods of Sharing God's Love. 

I mention DJ Chuang's podcast, the Social Media Church Podcast. Good listening!

Music for this week's CR podcast is "Do Something" by Matthew West.

#094: 8 Ways To Grow In Christian Faith

I had way too much fun recording this podcast this morning. We talk a little Super Bowl trash talk  with Seattle powerful dominance over the Denver Broncos. I even talk about the commercials and thumbs up and down for Fox's coverage of the game. We review some other fun weekend stuff, celebrating Roc's 56th birthday (pictured above.) We had an awesome day at Church Requel yesterday morning too and I talk about that.

Here are links to the 3 commercials I talk about:

• Mazerati Official Super Bowl Commercial
• Bank of America's Red Commercial
• Budweiser's "Puppy Love" Commercial

Yesterday's talk at Church Requel was all about spiritual growth. Christ-followers are called to become like God’s Son - Jesus Christ. I encouraged his congregation with 8 ways to grow in our Christian faith.

Music for this week's podcast included "Seattle" by Perry Como and "Live Like That" by Sidewalk Prophets.

#093: Realize Your Real Hope

Christ followers have a real hope. But we often don't realize our hope. In this podcast we learn 3 reasons why we have hope and 4 ways to realize our real hope.

I talk about the latest SisterLit podcast by my daughters. You can listen here.

Music for this week's podcast is "Looks Like A Cold Cold Winter" by Bing Crosby.