A year ago yesterday, my older sister’s father-in-law died after a long journey with Alzheimers. Wayne Leys was a friend and mentor to me for many years. When I lived in Chicago, he was pastoring a church in the suburbs and he and his wife Christine let me stay with them when the lease on my apartment ran out a week before my job ended. When we were living in Colorado, I spent 4 days with Wayne, my dad, and brother-in-law hiking the Grand Canyon from the North rim to the South rim. He gave me some wise counsel on some perplexing issues. It was hard watching this wise, well read, and thoughtful man lose so much of what made him uniquely Wayne.

But this morning, my sister posted a picture of Wayne with his arms raised by Lake Michigan in a posture of worship with pure joy etched into every line of his face. The one thing he remembered almost all the way to the end was worship songs, hymns and contemporary praise songs. He simply loved to worship God.

It reminded me of my Grandma Brower’s last few years. She died of Alzheimers while I was in seminary. Several times in those last few years, I would visit her while visiting shut-ins from the church at which I interned. She frequently did not remember me or even that she had grandchildren. Often, I would tell her I was a pastor from her church, which seemed to help her feel safe and comfortable. My favorite visits were on the afternoons when they would sing hymns in the nursing home. She may not have remembered me, but she knew every word of every verse of Amazing Grace.

I am thankful for two things as I reflect on these memories today. First, I am thankful for wonderful mentors and spiritual leaders who went before me and prayed over me in people like Wayne Leys and my Grandma and so many more. The support, wisdom, and prayers of older generations for teens and young adults are a gift to God’s church.

And second, I am thankful for all those who lead God’s people in worship. Our worship teams and audio/visual teams are not simply making music for a service, they are orienting our hearts to God. They are furrowing spiritual grooves in our brains that shape how we see God and ourselves. Music disciples and shapes us spiritually. That is why I am also thankful for the care Jeremy Zoet takes in choosing new songs for our congregation.

The music we sing shapes how we follow Jesus.

– Greg

Connect to God
This week we will gather for worship at 9:30 am. The service will be live-streamed and replayed again at 11 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 4pm next Sunday. 

This morning, we continue a sermon series entitled Upside Down Kingdom. This series draws from the gospel lectionary readings, predominantly in Luke, to help us see the counter-cultural values and ways of God’s kingdom. Our text today comes from the gospel of John as Jesus begins his public ministry at a private wedding. In this surprising story, Jesus defiles holy objects to turn water into wine and keep the party going. We rightly wonder what is happening here and what might it mean for us to live in a kingdom that turns sacred objects secular for the sake of a wedding.

Grow in Community
As Covid cases have risen significantly in the past few weeks, please join me in praying for the many people in our church who are or have been quarantined, the kids missing out on school, the teachers and substitutes filling in the gaps, and the hospital staff caring for the many who have been hospitalized. We can be very thankful as this new strain spreads quickly that it is also fairly mild for many and continue to hold up those affected by more severe cases.

Following Kent County Health Department guidelines, we are no longer be requiring children to wear masks in Zion Kids as of last Sunday, January 2, 2022.

Serve the World
Thank you all for your generous donations of money, clothing, diapers, and prayers for Threads clothing ministry. Since Threads opened at Zion in September, we have given away 2,943 pieces of clothing! On average, we give personal care products to 18 families each month and provide diapers for 25 families each month. Currently, we are in need of new underwear and new socks for all ages / sizes, and also in need of plastic white shirt hangers and pants hangers.

Threads will be having a semi-annual sale, which will be open to the public, on Saturday, March 12 from 9am – 1pm. Each and every item in the boutique will be priced at $1. The money raised from this sale is used to self-fund our ministry and purchase needed items. All are invited to come in and shop!

Every fifth Sunday of the month City Chapel, our church plant, celebrates Embrace Sunday. On Embrace Sundays  they go out into the community to bless downtown Grand Rapids in some way. City Chapel invites you to join them on their next Embrace Sunday, January 30th, at  Degage Ministries where they will be making birthday party kits.  If you would like to join them and learn more about this important church plant partner of Zion meet them at 11:15am, Sunday, January 30th at  Degage Ministries 121 Sheldon Ave SE, GR.

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
The remodel of our bathrooms began this week. Fixtures are being removed. Walls knocked down. It is a little noisy at times in the offices! You can check out the progress this Sunday when you come for worship. As a reminder, during the remodel, the only restrooms available on the main floor of church can be accessed through the doors at the front of the sanctuary. They are single stall uni-sex restrooms.

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 2021/22 Budget:  $358,728.64
Fiscal Year 2021/22 Contributions: $315,455.75
Giving Last Week: $21,400.65

1-9-22 Bulletin

Our family went to see all the Christmas lights at LMCU Ballpark for the first time last night. As soon as we left, the kids asked if we would be stopping at McDonalds for ice cream (this is an annual tradition when we go look at lights). As we looked at lights, kids swapped seats and sang Christmas songs. We even had to find a bathroom for those who drank too much at the beginning of the trip. (In my defense, I was tired and drank a lot of ice tea to stay awake.) And then, one kid chimed in with, “Now it feels like a Brower Christmas!”

I am sure you each have some treasured Christmas traditions. I know one family who has “calories don’t count” Christmas Eve every year where people can make whatever they want, no limit to cost or calories, and it is a highlight of the year for the family. Others attend midnight candlelight services. Others open presents before even eating breakfast on Christmas morning. I know some in our church will be having quiet Christmas seasons, while others will be feeling the stress of too many parties and not enough time.

Sometimes, I think we can all feel the pressure to live up to some idealized version of the Christmas season. A time when everyone gets along and everyone gets all their presents and homes are full of family and friends. Few of us experience that type of holiday season. Maybe that is why I still enjoy watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation because no matter what goes wrong in my Christmas celebrations it will never be as bad as poor Clark Griswold’s Christmas vacation! (Seriously, it is my favorite Christmas movie and I watch it at least once every Christmas.)

Amid all the traditions, busyness, and stress the holidays can bring, my prayer for each of us remains that we would experience Jesus again this Christmas, God taking on flesh and living among us. Something amazing happens at Christmas, God’s great rescue plan breaks into this broken creation and begins to put things back together again.

A few days ago, NT Wright and Francis Collins (Wright is my favorite theologian and Collins is both a Christian and the head of the National Institutes of Health) performed a song they wrote together called “The New World has been Born.” They are not professional musicians, simply friends who love Jesus and had fun making a song. But, the song captures so much of what our world can miss about Christmas. Christmas is not a cutesy story about a baby in a manger, but a story of God remaking the world and making in whole and new again. The production value is pretty low, but I loved the song and I think you should give it a listen. You can find it below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNDiTTECvRU

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! (I’m on vacation next week, so there will not be an E-news.)

– Greg

Connect to God
This week we will gather for worship on Christmas Eve at 6:30 pm and Sunday  at 9:30 am. The service will be live-streamed both days and replayed again at 11 am Sunday. 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 4pm next Sunday. 

As we celebrate Christmas together, we turn to scripture to remember the big story of the Bible. The beautiful creation. The brokenness of our world caused by sin. And, God’s unrelenting pursuit of us which culminates in coming to be among us in the person of Jesus. It is this unrelenting, never giving up, always and forever love of God that forms the foundation of our hope and joy each Christmas, Join us at either or both services as we remember again how God came to be with us.

Nursery will be available for kids ages 0-3yr. at our Christmas Eve service, and we will have “Christmas Eve Activity bags” available for kids attending the service with their family. We will run our normal children’s programming on Sunday, December 26.

Grow in Community
Our youth are collecting recyclable cans and change to raise money for their Alaskan Mission Trip. Any money raised though change or cans donated prior to January 9 will be matched dollar for dollar up to $3,000. You can drop off any $.10 recyclables at Zion’s garage on Sunday mornings. The door will be opened. Thank you fro your generous support of our youth financially, through words of encouragements and in your prayers.

Following Kent County Health Department guidelines, we will no longer be requiring children to wear masks in Zion Kids beginning next Sunday,  January 2, 2022.

Serve the World
Our Christmas Eve offering this year will be given to both Jenison and Grandville Public School to assist students who need help with basic winters needs such as coats, boots, and hats.

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
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 2021/22 Budget:  $325,097.83
Fiscal Year 2021/22 Contributions: $245,083.81
Giving Last Week: $7,834.50