Zion E-News (5-14-2020)

Earlier this week, I ran across a video reflection by Nadia Bolz-Weber. She is a Lutheran pastor with whom I rarely agree theologically, but whose heart of grace and mercy for the broken and downtrodden encourages me. She shared some of her own emotional struggles during this time of physical distancing and not being able to gather with her church. It is hard to be away from each other for all of us.

In her reflection she shared a story Jim Collins tells in his book Good to Great about Admiral Jim Stockdale. Jim spent 8 years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. Eight years of imprisonment, beatings, and torture. Collins asked Adm. Stockdale how he made it through and Adm. Stockdale pointed to his unwavering faith that he would one day get out. When asked who didn’t get out, Adm. Stockdale responded immediately “the optimists.” They would look ahead and tell themselves they would be out by Christmas or by spring or by the summer and each time the day would pass and they would sink a little further into despair until finally they died. It is this paradox, the ability to both have an unwavering confidence that you can persevere in difficult times and a willingness to face the brutal facts that allows its to get through difficult times.

As I look back on the past 8 weeks, I can see that pattern in myself and others. When I put my hope on gathering on Easter Sunday or by Pentecost, and that date passes (Pentecost will come soon), I can feel the despair. Just last week, I heard our governor imply churches may not be gathering for worship until next year. And then, in the last 24 hours, I heard that major concert promoters are not planning on any large concerts until at least the fall of 2021 and that congregational singing is particularly dangerous for spreading the virus and some are advising churches to forgo singing when they begin to gather again, I felt the despair sink in. It is hard grieving all these losses and potential losses.

But then as I was praying through these feelings, I was reminded I know how this story ends. Jesus comes back. Death is defeated. Earth is made new and whole again. And eternal joy with our God begins. We will get through this. We will persevere.

Even without looking that far into the future, we can look to the past. God’s church has survived pandemics in the past. Rather than running from those diseases, Christians ran to care for the sick. We want to stand with those on the frontlines today. In 1918, churches closed until the Spanish flu had passed (because that infection moved so quickly, the flu had passed in most cities in about 2 months). They did so without live streaming services or video conferencing. They persevered. We will persevere.

I will not pretend to know what is coming next: maybe we will be gathering for worship this summer, maybe it won’t be until sometime next year. But, we will persevere. Maybe the economy will bounce right back and maybe it will be a long slow slog back to a healthy economy. But, we will persevere. Maybe everything will change over night with some effective new treatment or maybe we will never find a vaccine. But, we will persevere.

We do not want to be pollyanna-ish living in denial of reality, nor do we want to live in despair because we follow a God who holds all times and all places in his hands and he has ahold of us in this moment too. We can trust God and trusting God we will persevere. Keep the faith my friends. Face the hard facts. And live in confident hope of the provision of our God.

In looking ahead to possible futures, our staff, in consultation with Consistory medical professionals, has put together some contingency plans for how or when we will be able to gather in worship again. You can see a graphic summary of what this might look like below. Consistory is re-evaluating the plan and any decisions to begin worship each month.

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. Our services are once again 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: Sean and Sarah McAnally, the Eriks Family, Todd Kempema, Jesse Vasquez, Kelly Osterink, Riley Fahner, Micah Zondervan, and our praise team.

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 to our unique identity based on how God intentionally shaped and formed you before you were over born and throughout your life.

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

Next week Sunday, we will include the celebration of communion in our service. if you would like to participate in communion, please make arrangements to have bread and juice in your home or whatever food would remind you of God’s love and provision for you during this time.

Grow in Community
Join us at 9 am for Zion Kids Worship/Sunday School! We will be live streaming directly from the same website where you already watch our worship service. You can find the Kids Worship time at https://zionreformed.online.church.

Connected to our 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.

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-mail and 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. We are partnering with Sunrise Ministries in Jenison for a weekly distribution. We also continue our monthly partnership with UCOM through our Personal Care Pantry. Thank you for your support of these important ministries at this time.

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.

Year to Date Budget: $554,591.00
Year to Date Contribution: $527,536.82
Giving Last Week: $ 6,323.00
Cash on Hand: $95,317.50