Zion E-News (9-22-2022)

In recent years, I’ve enjoyed increasing the amount of times I play golf.  I consider myself an average golfer.  I won’t be trying out for a U.S. Open qualifying event!  Each round, there are shots or putts I celebrate.  Then there are shots that don’t go as planned or don’t go nearly as far as I had envisioned before the swing.  If you golf, you know it’s a humbling sport.

                                                                  For some reason, I find delight in the midst of a round     when I find golf balls. It’s not that they are of immense value. Of course, I lose golf balls from time to time, so ending the round with more in my bag than I started with feels good. Golf balls come in different brands, colors and designs. Some that I find are clean, some are very dirty, and some have come into contact with a mower blade.

Luke 15 contains three parables Jesus taught.  These parables (lost sheep, lost coin, lost son) show us that spiritually lost people matter deeply to God.  In fact, “there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10).  God can redeem us through the blood of Christ – regardless of how messy our past has been, our background, age, skin color, or past hurt.

We rejoice when we find a lost set of keys, a misplaced wallet or even a dirty golf ball.  Do we care about spiritually lost and hurting people?  Do we celebrate when prodigal sons and daughters return home?  Or do we act more like the older son who sat outside angry and pouting over the grace shown to his rebellious brother?  Do we welcome people into the life of the church who have been away from the church or perhaps have no church background?

If the angels rejoice, so should we.  Here at Zion, the mission is “growing  disciples who make disciples.”  Every new disciple or growing disciple is a reason to praise God.  It’s ok to look for lost golf balls, but it’s way more important to be involved in the privilege of helping spiritually lost people know and love Jesus.  How can you be involved in that effort at Zion, in your home, in your neighborhood, at your workplace, or in your school?

On a related note, hopefully you had an opportunity to attend the input gathering this past Sunday or watch the recording that was sent out along with a link to the google survey.  Remember to complete the survey by this Sunday.  The input will help us assess how Zion can be even more effective at making disciples.

~ Pastor Steve

Connect to God
THIS WEEK we will gather for worship at 9:30 am. This weeks service will be at zionreformed.online.church and streaming on our YouTube channel. We will also rebroadcast a version of the service on WCET at noon on Friday and 10:30AM (note change in time) next Sunday. The service will continue to be available on YouTube to watch at your convenience.

THIS SUNDAY we begin a new message series called “The Church”.  This four-week series will look to God’s Word to provide a definition of what the Church is, what essentials each church should be carrying out and how a local church like Zion can faithfully focus outward (outreach), inward (discipleship) and upward (worship).

Grow in Community
TOM BOEVE is recovering from hip replacement surgery.  Continue to pray for those in our congregation who are dealing with ongoing health problems.

CONGRATULATIONS to Andrew and Ellen Moore on the birth of of their daughter Lucy Jade. Lucy was born at 9:14pm on September 15 weighing 6lb 12oz and was 19.5” long. Both mom and baby are doing well and Elliot is enjoying being promoted to big brother status.

WE EXPRESS our sympathy to Steve and Amy Mott, Ellie and Sydney in the passing of their father/grandfather Thomas Hollen on Sunday, September 18.  Visitation will be held at Park Church in Grand Rapids on October 7 from 5-8PM Funeral service will be at 11:00AM on October 8 with a visitation one hour prior to the service.

SANDY VERWYS lung cancer, which has been under control for almost 5 years, has now spread to her liver and brain.  She is currently feeling fine, just scrambling to get all the additional scans, tests and biopsies done.  She is being considered for a clinical research study through Astra Zeneca.  Please pray that she will be accepted into this program and that she will continue to feel well through the process.

ZION KIDS: All kids birth through 5th grade must be signed in at the Zion Kids Check-In Kiosk located in the lobby before the service. All Zion Kids must be picked up by a parent (please bring the corresponding tag to pick up your child) following worship. The nursery will be staffed for kids birth – 3 yrs. Preschoolers meet in room 206. K-2nd graders meet in room 205. 3rd – 5th graders meet in room 207. 

WE ARE starting to plan a family camping opportunity for summer 2023 at Dunes Harbor Family Camp in Silver Lake. While we don’t have a specific date (this will be determined later in October), we would like to determine if there is sufficient interest to move forward. If you would like to join us, please sign up ( you are not obligated at this time) on the bulletin board by the church office. Questions? Please talk to Pastor Rick or Jonell VanderWall.

ZION YOUTH:  Regular weekly meetings begin this Sunday.
High School Youth Group (9th-12th grade) meets every Sunday (unless otherwise noted) from 4 – 5:30 pm.
Middle School Youth Group (6th-8th grade) meets every Sunday (unless otherwise noted) from 5:45 – 7:15 pm.

Serve the World
A SPECIAL OFFERING to support the Benevolence Fund will be received on Sunday, October 2. Zion’s Benevolence Fund balance is running low. Benevolent funds are managed by the Deacons and are used to help people in the church or surrounding community through financially-difficult times.

DONATIONS of the following items (full size – not travel size) are needed for the Personal Care Pantry and can be placed in the box in the narthex marked “pantry donations”.  Laundry Soap,    Bar Soap,    Dish Soap,        Disposable Razors,  Shampoo,    Conditioner,  Toothpaste,     Paper Grocery Bags,,  Deodorant,   Tampons,   Maxi Pads ,  Paper towels (1 or 2 pack)  and   Toilet paper (1-4 pack).

HAND2HAND could use donations of the following food:  Snack Pack / Jello pudding cups, bags of cracker or snack cracker packs,rice krispie treats (prepackaged), granola bars, slim jim beef snack sticks, fruit snacks, and microwave popcorn.

IF YOU need help, either with food, personal care items, help grocery shopping, or with financial needs, please contact Jerrod Holzgen, our chair of deacons, and he can help connect you with the appropriate resources at Zion. His e-mail is Jholzgen@yahoo.com and his phone number is 616-520-1771.

Administration

LAST CALL: If you would like any books from our library they are in room 207 and are free for the taking until the beginning of October, when the remaining books will be donated.
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.

Fiscal Year 2022/23 Budget:  $164,178.72
Fiscal Year 2022/23 Contributions: $136,303.46
Giving Last Week: $6,404.50

Zion E-News (9-15-2022)
We kicked off youth group this past Sunday by having our rained-out pool party turn into a party at church. I’ve been reflecting on Sunday ever since, and I have a few joyful moments that I’d like to share.

1. It was so good to meet together as a group again! I don’t want to take that for granted after all the restrictions COVID put on us in the past couple of years. Just being together with youth and youth leaders playing games together, getting to know one another, and laughing was good for our souls.
2. A girl who has been going to Camp Zion since 2019 graduated from the Camp Zion program this summer and joined middle school youth group! The goal of Camp Zion is not to get kids or parents to come to our church, it’s to reach out to the community to love and help meet the needs of children/families while expecting nothing in return. But I can’t help but celebrate when a relationship that has started at Camp Zion doesn’t have to end. Our group of leaders and youth did a great job welcoming her and I am certain she had a great time!
3. The Johnson’s (Ken & Sheila) have a high school exchange student from Germany that came to youth group. I have never seen our youth be more welcoming to a new person like I did Sunday night. By the end of youth group, she was laughing with a group of girls and becoming friends with them on social media.
4. At Zion we have been blessed with an overabundance of youth leaders over the years. For all different reasons (no scandalous reasons ), seven youth leaders stepped down this fall. When gifted people move on from ministry areas, it can provide openings for new people to grow and flourish. Josh Verbrugge and Bronson Swan were new to the team and stepped right in this past Sunday. They did such an amazing job interacting with the youth and helping things run smoothly. We already have enough great youth leaders to safely run youth group, but there are also a couple other people who are still discerning if they should join the youth leader team.

These are just four of the many reasons I’m praising God this week. I want to invite you to praise God with me for these wonderful things that happened at Zion Sunday night and invite you to take some time to reflect as well. What are 3-4 reasons you can think of right now to give God praise?

~Jeremy

Connect to God
This week we will gather for worship at 9:30 am. This weeks service will be at zionreformed.online.church and streaming on our YouTube channel. We will also rebroadcast a version of the service on WCET at noon on Friday and 10:30AM (note change in time) next Sunday. The service will continue to be available on YouTube to watch at your convenience.

Grow in Community
TOM BOEVE is recovering from hip replacement surgery. Sydney Mott completed her 8th chemo treatment this week and continues to do well.  Ellie Mott started chemo and radiation treatments on September 2 and is handling them great so far! Continue to pray for those in our congregation who are dealing with ongoing health problems. 

ZION KIDS: All kids birth through 5th grade must be signed in at the Zion Kids Check-In Kiosk located in the lobby before the service. All Zion Kids must be picked up by a parent (please bring the corresponding tag to pick up your child) following worship. The nursery will be staffed for kids birth – 3 yrs. Preschoolers meet in room 206. K-2nd graders meet in room 205. 3rd – 5th graders meet in room 207.

CHILDCARE will be available for the Zion Input Gathering. Nursery will be available for children birth-3 years old and consistory members will supervise older children outside at our playground.

ZION INPUT GATHERING will be held this Sunday, September 18 in the sanctuary following worship. Part of my role as a Transition Pastor includes conducting an initial assessment of church health. Already in these first two weeks, I have started meeting one-on-one with staff and Consistory members in order to get to know them better and gain input from them on the strengths of Zion, areas that might benefit from improvement, and any other helpful insights into what makes Zion special and effective. I want to hear your input as well. It will last about 30-45 minutes. At this gathering, I will introduce myself, share an overview of the transition process, offer a bit of teaching on church health, answer questions you might have, and then invite you to share input by responding to four questions. A link will be emailed to the congregation after the input gathering so that you can anonymously respond to these questions online. For those without access to it, hard copies of the four questions will also be available. I am asking that all responses be submitted by Sunday, September 25.  From there, I will review all feedback and bring some recommendations to the Consistory for enhancing the ministry at Zion. Thanks for your partnership in the ministry at Zion. ~ Steve

ZION’S ANNUAL Keeping Kids Safe child protection policy training will be held in the Youth Room on Sunday Sept 18 following the morning worship service.  This training is mandatory for all adults working with children & youth in any of our ministry programs during the 2022/23 education year.  Those who are not yet 18 but still work with children and youth are highly encouraged to attend as well.

YOU’RE INVITED TO lunch this Sunday following the Input Gathering to celebrate the start of our education year. Lunch will be catered by Brann’s.  We hope you will join us, this is a great time to reconnect after a busy summer!

WE ARE starting to plan a family camping opportunity for summer 2023 at Dunes Harbor Family Camp in Silver Lake. While we don’t have a specific date (this will be determined later in October), we would like to determine if there is sufficient interest to move forward. If you would like to join us, please sign up ( you are not obligated at this time) on the bulletin board by the church office. Questions? Please talk to Pastor Rick or Jonell VanderWall.

ZION YOUTH:  Regular weekly meetings begin this Sunday.
High School Youth Group (9th-12th grade) meets every Sunday (unless otherwise noted) from 4 – 5:30 pm.
Middle School Youth Group (6th-8th grade) meets every Sunday (unless otherwise noted) from 5:45 – 7:15 pm.

Serve the World

A SPECIAL OFFERING to support the Benevolence Fund will be received on Sunday, October 2. Zion’s Benevolence Fund balance is running low. Benevolent funds are managed by the Deacons and are used to help people in the church or surrounding community through financially-difficult times.

DONATIONS of the following items (full size – not travel size) are needed for the Personal Care Pantry and can be placed in the box in the narthex marked “pantry donations”.  Laundry Soap,    Bar Soap,    Dish Soap,        Disposable Razors,  Shampoo,    Conditioner,  Toothpaste,     Paper Grocery Bags,,  Deodorant,   Tampons,   Maxi Pads ,  Paper towels (1 or 2 pack)  and   Toilet paper (1-4 pack).

HAND2HAND could use donations of the following food:  Snack Pack / Jello pudding cups, bags of cracker or snack cracker packs,rice krispie treats (prepackaged), granola bars, slim jim beef snack sticks, fruit snacks, and microwave popcorn.

If you need help, either with food, personal care items, help grocery shopping, or with financial needs, please contact Jerrod Holzgen, our chair of deacons, and he can help connect you with the appropriate resources at Zion. His e-mail is Jholzgen@yahoo.com and his phone number is 616-520-1771.

Administration

ROOM/OFFICE CHANGES: The season of having a church library is coming to a close. Why? Besides it rarely being used by less than a handful of members, and because of a more complex reason why: Threads is exploding with donations on a regular basis and needs more storage, which led to a multi-room switch. Camp Zion’s storage is moving from the basement, to the “Library” (double doors on the front east side of the sanctuary). Camp Zion’s office is also moving into the old library for one big Camp Zion office/storage space. The Children’s Director’s office is moving to the Camp Zion office (Northwest corner of the building our the front right side of the sanctuary). The old Children’s Director office is becoming the new music supply closet (formerly getting extra music stands, mic stands, and cables, etc. required climbing up in the open space where the organ’s pipes used to be – which is behind the right screen in the sanctuary – I almost ripped my pants too many times on a Sunday morning climbing on a stool to get up there). Now that Camp Zion has overtaken the library,  the Camp Zion staff helped Pastor Rick move all the books to room 207 (last classroom on the south side of the hall). The books are free for the taking until the beginning of October, when the remaining books will be donated.

 

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.

Fiscal Year 2022/23 Budget:  $153,917.55
Fiscal Year 2022/23 Contributions: $129,898.96
Giving Last Week: $8,626.35