Zion E-News (10-8-2020)
On Tuesday night this week, I had the privilege of meeting with the team overseeing City Chapel, our downtown church plant. As you can imagine, this season has had some significant challenges for a new church with no building. Do to restrictions on gathering indoors, there has been no place for them to meet inside and there may not be for quite some time.
They have been meeting outside while the weather has remained good at a local park and they continue to stream their worship services. They are doing all they can to continue gathering in some form for worship. But there are many things they simply cannot do.
But, they have not been focused on their limitations, Instead, they have focused on what they can do. They can meet in small groups. They can meet virtually. They can financially support a family in particular need. They can pray for each other. They can gather outside. And God has been blessing that work.
Following is just one example. At the beginning of March, they had two small groups meeting, while they met with about 80 people in worship each Sunday. When everything shut down in March, several of their members started organizing new small groups to stay connected. Today, they have 7 small groups and about 55 people are meeting regularly to encourage each other, study scripture, and pray.
As they shared this story, Mike Hoogeboom (from LaGrave) and I both expressed our jealousy as almost no church we know has over 2/3 of their weekly attendance regularly gathering in smaller groups. Sometimes, there are advantages in having limited options because it forces us to find new ways to do life together as Christians.
How have you been finding ways to embrace the yeses of life when so many are focused on the limitations?
– Greg
Connect to God
This Sunday we will gather indoors at 9 and 11 am. In order to ensure we are able to practice social distancing indoors, we are asking people to sign-up for the service they are planning to attend. You can sign-up to attend worship either using the links in below or on the front-page of our website beginning on Monday mornings. Following are the links to sign-up for worship this Sunday:
9 am service: https://zionreformed.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/570301
11 am service: https://zionreformed.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/570302
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. For at least the first couple of weeks, both our 9 and 11 am services will be live streamed We will be live streaming both services 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.
This week, we continue a series entitled “Christians at Our Best,” inspired by the book Christians in an Age of Outrage by Ed Stetzer. Living in a culture addicted to anger and outrage, it is easy to begin to take on the habits and practices of a world consumed with picking sides, dividing groups, and creating scapegoats. In this series, we will think together about how we can live as Christians in a way that brings the light and hope of Jesus to a world moving from one temper tantrum to another. In the midst of the outrage of our world, we can often struggle to differentiate between righteous anger that seeks to bring about God’s justice and the outrage of our world. This week we consider how to tell the difference and James’ wise counsel to be slow to speak and be quick to listen.
Grow in Community
We have a few congregational care updates to share this week.
1. Barb Overweg is recovering from kidney surgery on Wednesday and is doing well.
2. Teresa Beute was hospitalized this week with some pressure in her chest. She is currently waiting for a heart catheterization sometime during the day on Thursday.
3. Harv Berens had a pacemaker put in this week and is recovering at home.
4. We extend our sympathy to Bea VanHouten in the passing of her sister, Eleanor Van Leeuwen, on September 30 and to Harv and Harriet Berens in the passing of Harv’s sister Janice Elliston earlier this week. Please pray for peace and comfort for these families during this difficult time.
5. We also pray for Kim Little and Rachel Montgomery as the memorial for their son and brother Josh Montgomery will be this Sunday at 2 pm at English Hills Terrace, 5179 West River Dr. NE, Comstock Park.
We have recently started a closed Zion group on Facebook to create a place to discuss sermons, share prayer requests, and stay connected asynchronously when direct face-to-face connections are more challenging. If you want to join the group, you can request to join at this link: www.facebook.com/groups/ziongrandville/
Children’s programming for kids Pre-school through 5th grade begins this week at both our 9 and 11 am services. Kids will begin in the church service as in prior years and will then be dismissed to their classrooms. They will be in 3 classrooms and we will practice social distancing by requiring masks for children in K-5th and attempting to keep unrelated children 6 feet apart. We intend to follow the recommendations in the MI Safe Start for Schools documentation.
Serve the World
Hand2Hand began delivering food for the weekend to Grandville students recently. If you would like to get involved in Hand2Hand or learn more about the ministry, please contact Sheila Johnson (sheilaj2494@yahoo.com) or Shawn Sanders (joshandshawn@hotmail.com).
If you would like to support our Personal Care Pantry, following items (full size – not travel size) are needed and can be dropped off on a Sunday morning or during the week Monday through Thursday:
Laundry Soap Bar Soap Dish Soap Disposable Razors
Shampoo Conditioner Toothpaste Paper Grocery Bags
Deodorant Tampons Maxi Pads Paper towels (1 or 2 pack) Toilet paper (1-4 pack)
Donations can be placed in the box in the narthex marked “pantry donations”.
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.
Fiscal Year to Date Budget: $189,113.04
Fiscal Year to Date Contribution: $159,236.51
Giving Last Week: $17,533.00
Cash on Hand: $163,166.51
