Zion E-News (10-29-2020)
This weekend is Halloween. While some Christians choose not to participate in Halloween, many others enjoy the fun of dressing up as something they are not. In my house this year, we have a greek goddess and a Michigan fan wearing a dunce cap. As a child, my mom was willing to go all out making costumes for Halloween and one year I went in a full E.T. hand made costume including a glowing heart and finger. In college, I borrowed a costume from the Holland Chorale Tulip Time show and went to a party as a One Eyed, One-Horned, Flying, Purple People-Eater. It’s fun to dress up for a night and pretend.
As a child, playing dress up and putting on costumes is a way to imagine what it could be like to be an adult or to think about how other people live. It’s why kids play house, cops and robbers, and school. They are making sense of their world and figuring out how they fit in. It’s fun to put on a mask and pretend for a while.
As a young adult, I was working at Herman Miller during a round of layoffs. People were tense. Scared. Short with one another. For a couple of years, it felt like one reorganization after another. I was talking with an executive about the anxiety and worry people had and she said, “Sometimes, you just have to fake it ’til you make it.” I have heard that advice several times since and it is often good advice. Sometimes we have to put on a brave face and just face the challenges we find overwhelming. Sometimes we have to pretend we know what we are doing as we figure it out.
But, when we are always faking it ’til we make. When we are always hiding behind a mask of competence and having our life figured out. Pretty soon we can begin to lose who we are. We can begin to think our value and worth comes from the mask we wear rather than who we truly are.
The beauty of Jesus is that he unmasks our false selves, the people we pretend to be, and then when we finally see ourselves as we really are, he tells us we are loved. We see this over and over in the gospels. He sees Zachaeus in the tree. He sees the rejection of the woman at the well. He sees the sin of the woman caught in adultery. The denial, false braggadocio and fear of Peter. The doubts of the crowd. He sees them as they are and he accepts and loves them.
At our best, this is the beauty of the church. It is the one place we can go, messed up lives, doubts and fears, failures and successes, and know we will be accepted and loved just as we truly are. This is a place we do not need to pretend. It is a place we can be known.
Afterall, the church is God’s house. The same God who knit us together in our mothers wombs and knew us before we were born and knows us now even better than we know ourselves and he loves us enough to give up his life for us. Take off the mask this week and come to Jesus and receive his rest.
– 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/598009
11 am service: https://zionreformed.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/598010
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 both our 9 and 11 am 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.
On Tuesday next week, many people will go to the polls. Votes will be cast. Those already submitted will be counted. And then, on Wednesday or maybe a few days later after all the early ballots have been counted, our nation will have chosen its leaders for the next few years. Based on news accounts, social media feeds, and conversations, many people are anxious about this election. It feels like the most important election of their lives. As we consider Isaiah 40 this Sunday, we remember God is our true hope. He is our true security. And in him we find the joy and life we need.
This Sunday, we also have the joy of celebrating the baptism of Jason Sietsema, the son of Joe and Jill Sietsema. In baptism, we are reminded again our salvation is found not in any of our deeds or even the strength of our faith, but in the gracious and unfailing faithfulness of our God to his children.
Grow in Community
Meeting as a small group poses some particular challenges during this time of Covid. Between health concerns, deciding if you want a babysitter in your house, or if you even want to meet with several other families in person leave many unsure what to do. Let me offer a couple of suggestions. Some small groups have chosen to meet at church in one of our large education rooms. You can socially distance and still be in physically together. Or, if your group is doing a video study with RightNow Media you can now simul-stream (is that a word) to your whole group. The interface looks a lot like a zoom call with the video in the center of the screen and little videos of all the participants on the side. It is a great way to still study scripture, talk about life, and be sort of together when being all crammed in a small space isn’t an option. If you want to check our RightNow Media and need to sign-up you can do so here.
This Advent we will begin a church wide campaign to read through the New Testament together. We will not be reading at a breakneck pace. Instead, we will read 1 chapter a day, Monday through Friday for a year. In addition to reading scripture, we encourage you, if able, to use the app Through the Word, available on Apple and Google devices. We will be sharing more int he next few weeks, but I wanted to give you a heads up.
Zion Kids will be making a video of the kids telling us the Christmas story, using green screens and various backgrounds, in lieu of our typical Christmas program this year. If your child is interested in participating (in grades 3-5), please contact Rachel Brower by Sunday as the script is being finalized.
Serve the World
Last week, I shared an opportunity to help support Hand2Hand and Matthew Radcliff by donating your popcans. Matthew, with his parents, will take them to the store to get them recycled. All proceeds will go directly to Hand2Hand. This Sunday is your last chance to donate any cans to Matthew for Hand2Hand so don’t forget to bring them Sunday morning. So, if you want to feel good about all your returnables, bring them to church and let’s turn them into food for local students.
Our Hand2Hand began ministry is currently serving 52 students in the Grandville school district. If you want to support 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: $220,631.88
Fiscal Year to Date Contribution: $187,642.57
Giving Last Week: $6,577.06
Cash on Hand: $168,604.05
