Zion E-News (7-23-2020)

We had a great first Sunday gathering again for in-person worship. Due to rain, we move the 9 am service into the building and I am sure that affected some people’s plans.

After our first week of holding two services with social distancing measures, I am particularly grateful this week for Rick, Jeremy, and Rachel for all the work they put into making the day go well. I also am thankful or our praise team, sound and video teams and greeters, some of whom were at church for about 4 hours in order to serve at both services.

I am also thankful this week for all of you. I have been talking with business leaders, ministry leaders, and other pastors the past few weeks and many of them have numerous stories of people berating employees or attacking them for instituting social distancing policies and following the Governor’s Executive orders. Others have regularly had angry and even crass confrontations with people who simply refused to follow the orders. I have not experienced any of those situations in our church.

Two different passages have been running through my mind the past several weeks. First, I think of Romans 13 and the command to show respect and submit to those whom God has placed in authority over us. Living in a democratic republic, rather than the dictatorship of Rome, this passage requires some careful application to our very different context. After all, we vote to elect our leaders and have legal rights to protest and so on that Paul could never have imagined possessing himself. And yet, it seems, simply as an ambassador of God’s kingdom, the least we can do here is to speak fairly and respectfully both to and of our leaders and to submit to orders and laws that do not violate the commands of God.

As our children watch us, I wonder what they are learning when they see adults rant and rave about this politician or that, about this response to the virus or that, or this response to police misconduct and protests or that one. Do they see people transformed by the love of God or people consumed with anger, hate, and/or fear?

The second passage running through my mind is the simple command of Jesus to love our neighbors as ourselves. This is a huge part of our witness as Christians. Do we love people who disagree with us? Do we love people our live next door to us or shop at the same store as us? Personally, I am not very worried about Covid-19 for myself. I am in relatively good health. Not too old. Only have a few pounds I should lose. And, I read just this week that people with type-O blood tend to have the least severe symptoms and that includes me, Rachel, and all our kids. And, I love many of you, so I wear a mask (which I wash regularly), stay 6 feet away from people, and wash my hands. I do these things not because the government told me to do so, but because I want to love my others by doing what I can to not spread this disease. (On a side note, I really want schools to be able to meet and that is less likely to happen if we have an outbreak here so I really, really, really want to keep us all healthy so my kids can go to school.)

I mention these two passages not to rebuke anyone at Zion, but because I see so many of you already living these scriptures out and I want to tell you how proud I am to be your pastor.

Have a great week and I hope to see you Sunday or at least have you see me online!

– Pastor Greg

Connect to God
This Sunday we will gather for worship both in person and online. We will gather by the playground for an outdoor service at 9 am and indoors in the sanctuary at 11 am. If there is a likelihood of rain or if the grass will be wet from rain over night, we will move our 9 am service to the sanctuary. We will try to announce any change in venue by Saturday night on our facebook page.

If you are not able to join us in person or would simply prefer to not gather in a large crowd yet, you can still join us for online worship. We will be live streaming our 11 am service at zionreformed.online.church and Zion’s Facebook Page. We will also rebroadcast the service on WCET at noon on Friday and 4pm next Sunday.

As we gather physically together on Sunday, we continue a sermon series entitled 20 Minute Theology. Over the past 6 months, we have come face-to-face with the reality that the world is no longer the Garden of Eden. Our economy is struggling and millions are out of work. Protests continue in our cities and tensions between police and some citizens remains high. Conflict with China is on the rise and our relationships with allies are strained. And, the Corona Virus seems to be overtaking many states in our country rather than on the way out. All of this has revealed tensions in marriages, exacerbated addictions and unhealthy coping mechanisms and the unchanging reality that our world is not under our control. This week, we consider where the world went wrong and how God begins to put it back together again. Join us for the latest installment of 20 Minute Theology.

Grow in Community
While we have not been able to meet together face-to-face, our Elders, Deacons and Pastor Rick have been doing a great job touching base with members over the age of 60 every couple of weeks. As our time apart has grown, our Consistory has recognized the need to expand our care to those under 60 as well. To that end, we are forming Covid-19 Connect Groups until we are able to meet together regularly as a congregation Each person under 60 who is not already in a small group or discipleship triad is being randomly assigned to one of these groups. The leaders will be calling to check-in on members every couple of weeks and, now that they are allowed, planning an opportunity each month to meet physically together. If you would like more information, please contact me at gbrowerzionreformed.org.

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
Sunrise Ministries has transitioned to a personal care pantry and will no longer be distributing food. If you would like to support their personal care pantry, donations can be made at Sunrise Ministries. We continue our Personal Care Pantry in partnership with United Church Outreach Ministries in Wyoming under the direction go Tom Boeve. If you would like to get involved in our care pantry, please contact Tom at 616-885-8362;

If you need help, either with food, personal care items, help grocery shopping, or with financial needs, please contact Chip Harkes our chair of deacons and he can help connect you with the appropriate resources at Zion. His e-mail is chip@harkeslandscape.com and his phone number is 616-299-4804.

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.

Fiscal Year to Date Budget: $73,543.96
Fiscal Year to Date Contribution: $63,515.14
Giving Last Week: $7,971.82
Cash on Hand: $149,736.80