Over the past few days, I have been following the story of the huge cargo ship blocking the Suez Canal. The canal itself is a massive human achievement. Stretching over 120 miles and more than 2 football fields wide, the canal is huge. Twelve percent of global trade passes through the canal every year.

The boats which go through it are equally massive. The stuck boat had an engine failure, combined with strong winds, that turned it sideways. The stuck boat is itself an incredible 1300 feet long. It may very well be several weeks before the boat can be completely freed and the canal unblocked. Looking up the history of the canal, I learned the longest any  boat has ever been stuck in the canal is 8 years, so hopefully this one will not take quite so long.

Looking at the canal on a globe, I got a different view of these massive numbers. The canal is actually not very big at all compared to the Mediterranean Sea or the Indiana Ocean. It is rather small. Almost impossible to see when viewing the entire world. And yet, one little stuck boat in a tiny little man made river is currently causing massive disruptions in global trade.

I have noticed something similar in my life. There are some habit for practices that in and of themselves don’t look very important in light of my entire life and yet have a huge impact on me. One small example is my bed time. When I go to bed early and get enough sleep, I am an entirely nicer and more productive person. That tiny decision has a huge impact on me and everyone around me the next day.

Most important for me is my time in scripture. I can go a day or two without reading scripture and spending time in prayer and I may not even notice. Just like global trade was not affected immediately by this stuck ship. But over time, I see the effects. I feel more distant from God. Temptations become, well, more tempting. I become more self-focused rather than thinking of others. Those small habits have a huge impact on my life and those with whom I spend time.

How about you? What are the small daily practices in your life that pay outsized dividends for you?

Greg

Connect to God
This Sunday we will gather in person at 9:30 am and online at both 9:30 and 11 am. You can find the services either on our Facebook page or at zionreformed.online.church. We will also rebroadcast the service on WCET at noon on Friday and 4pm next Sunday.

Beginning this Sunday, March 28, our in-person worship time will go back to 9:30 am. We look forward to seeing you then and hope you enjoy the extra half hour of sleep each Sunday morning.

Christianity at its core is not about thinking the right things about God or knowing our Bibles inside and out, but about following Jesus. The earliest believers were called Christians because they looked and acted like little Christs, little Jesuses.  This Sunday as we celebrate Palm Sunday, we come to Jesus summary of the law: loving God and loving others. As we think about what it means to follow Jesus it all comes down to this elegant command to love. How might we love our neighbors today?

Grow in Community
We extend our sympathy to Rog and Teresa Beute in the passing of Rog’s sister Barb passed away yesterday morning.

We extend our sympathy to the family of Gloria Slagter who passed away yesterday morning. Funeral arrangements are still pending and will be shared as they become available.

Jim and Barb Overweg also ask for continued prayer for their son-in-law Clyde who experienced a setback in his recovery recently as they found additional fluid built up around his heart. Prayers for hope, strength and healing and appreciated.

If you would like to keep up with Steve Landstra’s health journey as he battles lung cancer, the family has set up a CaringBridges page and you can find it here.

We are reading through the New Testament over the next year as a congregation. The reading schedule for this coming week is below (and thank you to everyone who reminded that Luke only has 24 chapters and not chapters 25 and 26 I included in last weeks e-mail):
Monday: John 18
Tuesday: John 19
Wednesday: John 20
Thursday: John 21
Friday: Acts 1

You can also find the reading schedule on our website under the Ministries tab.

Serve the World
Camp Zion will be occurring again this summer. If you have or are a teen interested in working at Camp Zion this summer, make sure you apply by filling out the application at the link below by the end of March. It is a great way to invest your summer in blessing our neighbors.
Camp Zion Teen Staff Job Application

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.

Fiscal Year to Date Budget:  $441,263.76
Fiscal Year to Date Contribution: $425,162.47
Giving Last Week: $11,714.00
Benevolent Fund Offering of 3/21: $5,735.00

My family has been watching WandaVision on Disney+ for the past couple of months. Every Friday, we all gather around and enjoy a shared story. The show tells the story of Wanda whose husband has died and in her grief, she creates a fake world tied to old sitcoms, a new husband, and through mind control forces a whole town into her grief induced fantasy.

The show resonated with me because I think many of us have been living through grief this past year, often unacknowledged. When we don’t acknowledge out grief, it often comes out in unhealthy ways.  In the show, it comes out in Wanda kidnapping an entire town. For many in our culture, it has surfaced in angry outbursts, arguments over truly minor issues, political polarization, valuing winning over relationships, and a retreat into our own bubbles where everyone agrees with us.

I see it in me and in our church.

So, one year into the pandemic, let’s give each other space to grieve a hard year. I still grieve I was not able to be present for several funerals of our church members. As one example, I was talking with my kids last night and telling them about how Thelma VanderZouwen teased me one Sunday when I gave myself a giant forehead hickey from one of Ethan’s bath toys when he was just a baby. Even now, remembering her and so many others, brings tears to my eyes. We have not been able to grieve the loss of people as we normally would.

Last spring, kids were never able to return to school. It was isolating and lonely. And, sometimes just plain boring to be stuck at home. They missed out on lots of normal school growing up stuff they won’t get back. Mission trips. 6th grade camp. Overnighters at friends houses. Little league. Sports season lost. Those losses are real and they hurt.

We haven’t been able to see the people we love as often. Grandparents are separated from grandchildren. Children from parents in nursing homes. It is OK to grieve the small losses of small groups meeting and hanging out with large groups of friends and high school football games and big weddings and so much more. We have not been able to be together as we normally would and it is right to grieve those losses.

So, be kind to yourself this week. Take time to grieve the big and small losses of this past year. And, when someone lashes out in their own grief, have sympathy, compassion and grace for them, too. It has been a rough 12 months for us all.

And keep hope. This season will end. As more and more people are vaccinated, as the economy continues to open up, we are returning to whatever the new normal will be. God has been faithful in the midst of an odd year and he will be faithful in the next.

Trusting in his provision,
Greg

Connect to God
This Sunday we will gather in person at 9 am and online at both 9 and 11 am. You can find the services either on our Facebook page or at zionreformed.online.church. We will also rebroadcast the service on WCET at noon on Friday and 4pm next Sunday. (I heard recently WCET has been having problems with the audio on several of their broadcasts. We have been in contact with them and hope they can resolve the issue.)

Beginning March 28, Palm Sunday, our in-person worship time will go back to 9:30 am. We look forward to seeing you then and hope you enjoy the extra half hour of sleep each Sunday morning.

Christianity at its core is not about thinking the right things about God or knowing our Bibles inside and out, but about following Jesus. The earliest believers were called Christians because they looked and acted like little Christs, little Jesuses. In Mark 8, Peter proclaims Jesus to be the Messiah, but when Jesus explains what being Messiah actually entails the disciples push back. The disciples want Jesus on their own terms. But, if Jesus really is the Messiah he claims to be, it requires a response from us, a response that looks a lot like death. Do we believe Jesus or what we wish to be true of Jesus?

We are sending out a lot of surveys lately. Consistory has sent another survey out this week to gauge the congregation’s current feeling about wearing masks at worship. We encourage everyone to fill out the survey and let us know what you think. You can find the survey here.

Grow in Community
If you would like to keep up with Steve Landstra’s health journey as he battles lung cancer, the family has set up a CaringBridges page and you can find it here.

In the last decade, a giant cultural wave has swept the North American church into a brand new world — a pluralistic, complicated, high-tech/low-touch world that has only been accelerated during this Covid-time. Facing the challenge of engaging a jaded world, a fresh expression has emerged alongside the traditional church. If you have any interest in church planting or how to reach new generations, join us for a 3 week discussion led by Andrew Moore of the book Fresh Expressions of the Church. You can sign-up for this book discussion by e-mailing Pastor Greg at gbrower@zionreformed.org.

We are reading through the New Testament over the next year as a congregation. The reading schedule for this coming week is below (and thank you to everyone who reminded that Luke only has 24 chapters and not chapters 25 and 26 I included in last weeks e-mail):
Monday: John 8
Tuesday: John 9
Wednesday: John 10
Thursday: John 11
Friday: John 12

You can also find the reading schedule on our website under the Ministries tab.

Serve the World
Camp Zion will be occurring again this summer. If you have or are a teen interested in working at Camp Zion this summer, make sure you apply by filling out the application at the link below by the end of March. It is a great way to invest your summer in blessing our neighbors.
Camp Zion Teen Staff Job Application

We want to share a huge thank you to our congregation and broader community for their support of the Rissley family after the tragic loss of their daughter Ruby 2 weeks ago. Last Friday, we had a great response to our spaghetti supper and were able to raise over $6,800 for the family. We are grateful for all who donated and/or volunteered their time too this event and especially to the entire Austin family for their efforts organizes and running the dinner.

Our missionaries, Keith and Denise Krebs, serve in Bahrain where Keith is a chaplain for the American Mission Hospital. His services include spiritual and emotional care to the hospital’s patients, their families and the staff. The hospital recently broke ground for a new women and children’s hospital set to be completed in 2022. Keith asks prayer for their safety, courage and endurance, for the recruitment of 200 new staff for the new hospital and especially for the recruitment of a new chaplain.

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
Our Consistory met on Tuesday this week. As part of our meeting, we reviewed the list of people who responded they were willing to be considered to serve on Consistory beginning in June. According to our Bylaws, our Consistory nominates a double slate (twice as many nominees as open positions) and then after the congregation approves the slate we draw the new Elders and Deacons names from a hat. This year, we have decided to set aside our bylaws (we double checked and this is OK to do) and simply have a single slate of nominees because we had exactly 4 people respond they were willing to serve. We believe each of them are more than qualified to serve and will be a blessing to our congregation during this season of ministry.

Our nominees for the office of Elder are Ken Johnson and Haley Stone and for the office of Deacon are Troy Austin and Tom MacGraw. We will formally bring these names to the congregation at our annual congregational meeting in May for your final approval.

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 to Date Budget:  $420,251.20
Fiscal Year to Date Contribution: $408,333.47
Giving Last Week: $8,215.00
Benevolent Fund Offering of 3/7: $2,350.00
Donations to the Rissley Family: $6,874.39

“I deceive myself, as a monk and as a writer. Trying to do things that are beyond me. Trying to have something to say about everything. Not enough mistrust of my own opinion.”
– Thomas Merton

Do you ever read or hear something and get caught up short because the comment or insight is just a little too spot on? I felt that tug of conviction when I came across this Thomas Merton quote recently. Merton was a catholic monk and influential writer on issues of spirituality from the first half of the 20th century. While he never preached weekly or lived in a social media world where people randomly shout out their opinions, he captured the self-deception of out time: thinking we need to share and have valuable opinions on every subject imaginable.

I have 9 years of post-high school education in both management and theology. I am pretty knowledgable about theology and church administration, but even in my study for sermons I will frequently come across a commentary that I do not have the background knowledge to follow. They use words and reference other sources with which I am unfamiliar. Even where I have some expertise, I run into the limits of my knowledge often.

In a culture that encourages us to have an opinion about everything, I appreciate Merton’s reminder to mistrust our opinions more, to be cautious of thinking we understand an issue more than we really do.

Besides, I think our world does not need more opinions, but more compassion and love. It needs less anger and shouting and more humble listening.

Our world needs more people reaching out and caring for people like the Rissley family who are grieving the loss of their daughter and sister Ruby. If you want to support them, you can still sign-up for our spaghetti dinner tomorrow night here. Seriously, signing up will help us plan and cook more efficiently and get you your food a little faster. 🙂

Our world needs more people praying for Steve Landstra and feeding hungry kids and mentoring kids struggling in school and making sure families have the basics necessities of life.

Our world needs our love way more than our opinions. So, I’m trying to stick to what I do know and, even more, stick to how God has called us to live: loving our neighbors.

It’s one of the values of Zion I appreciate the most. We desire to love and care for our local community.

– Greg

Connect to God
This Sunday we will gather in person at 9 am and online at both 9 and 11 am. You can find the services either on our Facebook page or at zionreformed.online.church. We will also rebroadcast the service on WCET at noon on Friday and 4pm next Sunday.(I heard recently WCET has been having problems with the audio on several of their broadcasts. We have been in contact with them and hope they can resolve the issue.)

Christianity at its core is not about thinking the right things about God or knowing our Bibles inside and out, but about following Jesus. The earliest believers were called Christians because they looked and acted like little Christs, little Jesuses. In Mark 7, Jesus has a conflict with the Pharisees about their marks of the people of God. Is it about following the right rules or the attitude of their heart?

If you have not responded to the survey about Palm Sunday and Easter attendance, please do so soon. Your responses will help our Consistory determine how to enable everyone to gather for worship in ways that make sense for them, align with any health directives, and inspire us all on these great celebrations in the church year. You can fill out the survey here.

This week we are also asking people to consider giving to our benevolence fund. Over the last year, we have been intentional to care for those in financial distress and our benevolence fund is running low. Thank you for your continued generous support of the ministries of Zion.

Grow in Community
If you would like to keep up with Steve Landstra’s health journey as he battles lung cancer, the family has set up a CaringBridges page and you can find it here.

In the last decade, a giant cultural wave has swept the North American church into a brand new world — a pluralistic, complicated, high-tech/low-touch world that has only been accelerated during this Covid-time. Facing the challenge of engaging a jaded world, a fresh expression has emerged alongside the traditional church. If you have any interest in church planting or how to reach new generations, join us for a 3 week discussion led by Andrew Moore of the book Fresh Expressions of the Church. You can sign-up for this book discussion by e-mailing Pastor Greg at gbrower@zionreformed.org.

We are reading through the New Testament over the next year as a congregation. The reading schedule for this coming week is below (and thank you to everyone who reminded that Luke only has 24 chapters and not chapters 25 and 26 I included in last weeks e-mail):
Monday: John 3
Tuesday: John 4
Wednesday: John 5
Thursday: John 6
Friday: John 7

You can also find the reading schedule on our website under the Ministries tab.

Serve the World
Many of you have heard the story of Ruby Rissley who tragically lost her life last week.  A GoFundMe page has raised money for her family and some of you may have even donated there already, if so thanks for supporting them.  So why are we doing a spaghetti dinner as a fundraiser?

Some of you may know that Bursley elementary (where Ruby attended) was the first location for Zion Reformed Church.  A couple years ago this school was put on our hearts to create a partnership that has crossed paths with the personal care pantry and Camp Zion.  Recently we have extended our relationship with Bursley by mentoring students (Kids Hope) and often writing cards and bringing snacks for the staff as encouragement.

We now have an opportunity to show God’s love, care, and support to the Rissley family, Bursley staff, students, and parents as they deal with many emotions and questions.

If possible please come through on Friday night (March 5th) from 4:00 pm  – 7:00 pm. You can sign-up for a pickup time, place your order, and make a donation here: https://zionreformed.breezechms.com/form/09e71c

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.

Fiscal Year to Date Budget:  $409,744.92
Fiscal Year to Date Contribution: $400,118.47
Giving Last Week: $6,743.00

Someone on my social media feed asked earlier this week for people to share the gospel in a single post. Following are a few of the answers:

• God restoring the broken image in His creation and redeeming it back to Himself. Accomplished through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the work of His Spirit empowered faith community. Enabling our true flourishing in right relationship with God and others.
• God’s renewal of the cosmos through His Son by the power of the Holy Spirit.
• Jesus is Lord
• God loves you so much that God came in the form of a man to reveal God’s true nature and love for you and bring you into relationship with him.
• “God was pleased to have all fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to him all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Colossians 1:19-20)

Later in his life, the great 20th century theologian Karl Barth was asked to summarize the gospel in a single sentence and as the story goes, he responded with this beautiful children’s song: Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.

How would you summarize the gospel, the hope we have in Christ?
– Greg

Connect to God


This Sunday we will gather in person at 9 am and online at both 9 and 11 am. You can find the services either on our Facebook page or at zionreformed.online.church. We will also rebroadcast the service on WCET at noon on Friday and 4pm next Sunday.

Christianity at its core is not about thinking the right things about God or knowing our Bibles inside and out, but about following Jesus. The earliest believers were called Christians because they looked and acted like little Christs, little Jesuses. In Mark 6, Jesus goes home to Nazareth and receives less than a warm welcome. The people think they already know Jesus and so reject his teaching. The disciples, however, trust Jesus and in trusting him are sent out to teach, heal and cast our demons. One group puts Jesus in a box of their own making and another lets Jesus run wild over their life and sees the power of God at work in them. Where might we need to let Jesus out of our boxes so we can see the power of God already at work around us?

We will also celebrate the ordination of Jeremy Zoet to the office of Elder during worship. This is one step in Jeremy’s journey to become a Commissioned Pastor in the Reformed Church in America.

Grow in Community

If you would like to keep up with Steve Landstra’s health journey as he battles lung cancer, the family has set up a CaringBridges page and you can find it here.

In the last decade, a giant cultural wave has swept the North American church into a brand new world — a pluralistic, complicated, high-tech/low-touch world that has only been accelerated during this Covid-time. Facing the challenge of engaging a jaded world, a fresh expression has emerged alongside the traditional church. If you have any interest in church planting or how to reach new generations, join us for a 3 week discussion led by Andrew Moore of the book Fresh Expressions of the Church. You can sign-up for this book discussion by e-mailing Pastor Greg at gbrower@zionreformed.org.

We are reading through the New Testament over the next year as a congregation. The reading schedule for this coming week is below:
Monday: Luke 22
Tuesday: Luke 23
Wednesday: Luke 24
Thursday: Luke 25
Friday: Luke 26

You can also find the reading schedule on our website under the Ministries tab.

Serve the World


We received an update recently from Jibit Asha (our church planting partner in Nepal). Following is just a brief lightly edited excerpt:

One of our church planters from west-north of Nepal  trained three Timothies with Jibit Asha multiplication training. He sent them into three different villages after the training. After about the six months of continuing mentoring and discipleship, God began to work through these three Timothies. Last week, these three Timothies brought 22 new believers in one place for the baptism. What a way to reach the least reached people. Multiplication happens when Timothies are raised.

Your financial and prayer support is leading to lives and whole communities changed by the gospel in Nepal.

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

Willingness to serve on Consistory forms are due this Sunday. Please make sure to drop them off at the office or place them in the box at the welcome center by this Sunday.

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 to Date Budget:  $399,238.64
Fiscal Year to Date Contribution: $393,375.47
Giving Last Week: $8,677.00