Zion E-News (4-30-2020)
Our family had a lively conversation last night spurred by our Ephesians devotional all about how we can find creative ways to connect with our neighbors during the shutdown. (We are a couple of days behind in the devotional.) We talked about messages in sidewalk chalk, organizing a coffee time with our neighbors at the end of our driveways. dropping off gifts at neighbors homes, and a few more.
And then, this morning I received an e-mail from a member of our church about how their family made Easter cookies for all their neighbors a couple days before Easter and then invited each to join us for worship on line on Easter Sunday. While many of their neighbors already attend church, one family did not and this past week one member from the family joined us in worship. They found it interesting and different than they had expected. They said they are planning and joining us again.
While our movements may be more limited right now, the Spirit of God is still going wherever God desires. Doors are open to people connecting with Jesus. Doors are open to prayer. Doors are open to questions. Doors are open for us to help. Let’s not miss the opportunities God has created in the midst of this uncertain time.
If you would like some help thinking of how you can reach out to and care for your non Christian friends and family, check out this article from Christianity Today.
Connect to God
This Sunday we will once again gather for worship online. You can join the service at zionreformed.online.church or from the top banner of our website at www.zionreformed.org. You will also be able to watch the live stream via our church’s Facebook page. The stream will begin at 9:15 with a few worship songs prior to the service starting just a couple minutes after 9:30. Beginning this week, our services will once again be shown a week later on WCET at noon on Fridays and at 4 pm on Sundays.
I would like to thank all the people who participated in our service this week: Josh Sanders, Ellie Mott, Adam and Emily Morehouse, the Gerken Family, Jeremy and Olivia Zoet, and Ethan Brower.
We continue our sermon series entitled Made for More this week. Many of us have been raised in a church culture that told us, however unintentionally, that our role was to come to worship, volunteer in something, give a little money and then let the professionals do the ministry. But what if we were made for more than holding down a seat or filling a volunteer slot. What if we truly are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do? What if we were made for mission, to both be a disciple and make disciples, as well as filling a unique role in God’s kingdom to show God’s love and care for this world. What if we were made for a life overflowing in the life of Jesus and guided in mission by his Spirit? This week we shift our attention from our common identity in Christ, to our common call to both be a disciple of Jesus and to make disciples of Jesus.
If you are not able to watch online, but still want to read the sermon, please contact Connie Stegeman and she can mail you a hard copy of Pastor Greg’s rough draft. (You may have to endure even more than the average number of typos.)
You are also invited to join us for a coffee hour after church via a zoom call. The link will be shared during the service in the chat box. Last week, we had about 8 families join us for a brief talk in response to the sermon and just to catch up. You can learn more about how to use Zoom at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E
Grow in Community
Connected to our new sermon series, we are also engaging in a 30-Day devotional as a congregation. The devotionals will walk us through the book of Ephesians as we together consider how we are Made for More. The devotionals can be downloaded here.
Rachel Brower is sending information out to parents and Children’s Ministry volunteers each week for at-home Sunday school. If you would like to receive these resources, please contact Rachel and she will add you to her distribution list.
If you have a Middle or High School student who has not attended any of the youth meetings via Zoom, please contact Pastor Jeremy and he can send you the appropriate links and information.
We also still have numerous Discipleship Triads meeting. If you would like to learn more about how you can connect with other people at Zion to encourage one another to follow Jesus well, send me an e-mailand I can help get you connected.
Serve the World
We continue accepting donations of personal care items and food on Wednesdays from 1-3 pm at church. As an additional note, Sunrise Ministries is in particular need of empty egg cartons. If you could bring any to church next Wednesday, it would be greatly appreciated.
Administration
Our annual Congregational Meeting is scheduled for this Sunday following morning worship. We will hold our Congregational Meeting via a Zoom conference call. The link for that call follows:
https://zoom.us/j/96721047181?pwd=ZjdFbFZ2VnBIb3hnZkw5Y040OUF1dz09
At this meeting, we will be approving our slate of Elders and Deacons and then selecting our new Elders and Deacons via lot. We will also receive a report on the state of our church and approve the budget for our fiscal year 2020/21 which begins on June 1.
I know many people may not yet be familiar with Zoom or may feel uncomfortable in this type of setting. Recognizing these challenges, we will hold a Zoom orientation meeting tonight at 8 pm. At this meeting, we will help you learn too some basic tasks like muting and unmuting yourself as well as practicing voting via polls for during our meeting on Sunday. Thank you in advance for your flexibility in trying new things during this time of physical distancing. The link for this orientation is below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/95560347857?pwd=NXlZYSs2MWpXckJGS28wTmZUTW5qZz09
If you are still nervous, you can also learn more about how to use Zoom through the YouTube video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E
The proposed budget can be found here.
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.
Year to Date Budget: $532,407.36
Year to Date Contribution: $513,728.60
Giving Last Week: $ 8,315.20
Cash on Hand: $99,897.39
