Zion E-News (4-2-2020)

One of my daily delights over the last week has been checking twitter to see what the National Cowboy Museum has posted recently. I have no idea where this museum is located. I have no intention of ever going to this museum. I had never heard of the museum until last week Thursday, but I love it.

Two weeks ago, the museum shutdown due to Covid-19 and gave control of its twitter feed to Tim, the head of security. When Tim started, he knew nothing about twitter. He did not know what a hashtag was and for the first few days simply wrote “hashtag.” He accidentally sends out tweets when he means to be searching on Google. He tells his grandkids good night. He doesn’t know what a selfie is and messes it up when he talks a picture of the selfie station in the museum. But he keeps learning.

And even better, people are showing him all sorts of grace and encouragement. He gets advice on how to get more people engaged. He has learned how to use hashtags. And, their twitter following has grown to over 270,000 people. He has gotten really good at this social media thing, as he puts it. They have even started selling a t-shirt with his signature hashtag and sign-off of “Thanks, Tim.” (Side note, Rachel ordered me one because I have found so much joy watching Tim learn.)

I think what I love about Tim right now its that he is all of us. We are all learning new things. We are all adjusting to a world we have not experienced before. We are learning new rules of social engagement. Watching Tim learn reminds me that we can all do this, too.

We can try new things and even fail at them miserably. And then we can keep learning. We can simply be our honest selves and find community and relationships in unlikely places. (For those who may not know, Twitter tends to be pretty snarky, sarcastic, and not always very kind place.)

We are learning at Zion, too. We will eventually get our livestream figured out. We are learning how to hold youth group without being present. Small groups are finding new ways to connect. Parents are learning how to engage their kids in scripture at home in our at-home Sunday school. And, perhaps most of all, during a time of limited contact and movement, we are learning what really matters in our lives.

This push to learn new ways of living and doing church is not unique to us and this time. The early church spent 100 years working through how to be church with Jews and Gentiles in the same room. Five hundred years ago, the church adapted to the printing press and the wide availability of scripture for all people, not just a few in the church. In the 1950s, churches adapted to television. In the 1980s and 90s to the changing music tastes of our culture. And now, we are living into a dispersed way of being the church. In every case, God was with us and he is still with us today. He will not fail his church and he will be glorified in us as we live for him.

So, let’s keep our eyes on Jesus even now as we learn and try new things.

Connect to God
This Sunday we celebrate Palm Sunday and Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. As he enters the city, the crowds come with all their expectations of the Messiah, but Jesus quickly fails to meet those expectations. God has another plan. Many of us today are living in the reality of unmet expectations, too. Cancelled proms. Cancelled spring vacations. And more. Join us Sunday as we consider how to respond when life or God does not live up to our expectations.

Joins us this Sunday for Zion worship online. You can find our service at zionreformed.online.church or from the first banner on our website atwww.zionreformed.org. Worship will begin at 9:30 am. There will be an opportunity in the service to chat with people who have gathered, help choose our closing song, and also make prayer requests. We look forward to being together online on Sunday. We will finish our series on the Sermon on the Mount as we consider how to follow the narrow way of Jesus in a time such as this.

There will also be a coffee time following church via a Zoom chat. The link for the Zoom chat will be shared during the service. If you have never used Zoom before, the link below provides a helpful introduction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E

Our Maundy Thursday service will be held next Thursday at 6:30 online at zionreformed.online.church. This will be a service of scripture and worship centered on the last few hours of Jesus’ life.

Grow in Community
We extend our sympathy to Tom and Megan MacGraw in the passing of Megan’s grandmother yesterday. A celebration of life service will be held when permitted at a later date.

Rachel Brower is sending information out to parents and Children’s Ministry volunteers each week for at-home Sunday school. She is also holding a weekly Bible story reading time with younger kids and a on-line game time fro older students. If you would like to receive this information as well, please email Rachel and she will add you to her list.

If you have a Middle or High School student who has not attended any of the youth meetings this week via Zoom, please contact Pastor Jeremyand he can send you the appropriate links and information.

If you have never read the Bible on your own or established a pratice of daily Bible reading and prayer, now is a great time to start. I would suggest starting with the book of Philippians as Paul wrote it while under house arrest (maybe you can relate a little more this week than you could a month ago). There is also a couple of great video study of this book on RightNow Media you can access here and here. If you do not already have access to RightNow media you can sign-up here.

Serve the World
During this time of physical and economic anxiety and disruption, we want to be a blessing in our community that in us people might glimpse the love of God for them. To that end, we want to let you know how we as a church are responding and how you can be involved:
1. We will continue running Hand2Hand and the Personal Care pantry to ensure the people we had been helping before this crisis continue to receive help.
2. We will the accepting donations of Personal Care items and food on Wednesdays from 1-3 pm at church. These donations will one used to assist both H2H and the Personal Care Pantry as well as being available to our members who may need some extra help during this time and for you to share with your neighbors and friends who may need help. Any excess donations will be brought to Love, INC or Sunrise Ministries to support their work in Eastern Ottawa county.
3. We are creating a list of people who are willing to pickl up groceries or medicines for those who are quarantined or need to stay isolated because they are at particular risk. You can sign-up to be a driver/shopper through this google form.

If you need help, either with food, personal care items, help grocery shopping, or with financial needs, please contact Shanda VandePol our chair of deacons and she can help connect you with the appropriate resources at Zion. Her e-mail is shandavandepol@yahoo.com and her phone number is 616-308-0700.

Administration
We continue to thank God for his provision of all of our needs and for the generous support of our congregation with their time, talent, and treasures. We are especially grateful this week for all those who have adjusted their means of giving to give online, through the mail, and via text. Zion’s members continue to strongly support the ministries of Zion during this time of uncertainty. Our P&A Committee is meeting every 2 weeks to monitor our financial situation. Some key numbers are shared below.

Fiscal Year to date budget: $488,040.08
Fiscal Year to date contributions: $457,663.17
Giving Last Week: $1,342.00
Cash on Hand: $103,384.95