Over the past few days I have been reading Francis Chan’s Letters to the Church. Per usual, Chan offers some challenging critiques of the American church including how we can reduce membership in the church to coming to a weekly worship service (and I would add other programmed events). At one point, he presents a fictional conversation between Peter and Paul about their favorite church and the programs it offers. One is interested in checking out the other’s church, but not that week because he is already too busy on Sunday with kids activities. It’s a pretty harsh critique of our willingness to settle for minimal to weak relationships and commitments to one another.

And then, earlier this week, I came across an article suggesting a simple and easy way to improve your experience of church. You can read the article here. The quick summary is to come 15 minutes early and stay 15 minutes longer after church. Basically, spend more time getting to know people in your church and give yourself time for relationships rather than rushing to church a few minutes late and then rushing home or to the next event of the day.

The challenging reality is that church is not about programmed events or weekly worship services or cool comfortable buildings, church is all about people and our commitment to them. The early church was known for their love for one another, for their care for each other and even strangers in the midst of plagues, and their welcoming embrace of old and young, rich and poor, men and women, slave and free, Jews and Greeks. These kinds of relationships take time. Not just commitment over weeks, months, and years, but also time every week and also during the week sharing our joy and concerns with one another. Sharing life together.

They early church shared life so well together that even non-believers were drawn to know more about Jesus, which is exactly what Jesus promised in John 17:20-23.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,  that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Did you catch that? People will come to know Jesus because of the unity they see evident in the church, because of the quality of our relationships, because of our love for one another.

Now we can’t know everyone in the church equally, but we can be intentional to develop some close friends through small groups, discipleship triads, serving teams, and simply reaching out to make a friend and be a friend and in the process we can help form a community that gives people a glimpse of the love of God and point them to Jesus. What can you do this week to develop these types of relationships?

Connect to God
An angry prophet. A fearsome and hated enemy. An overwhelming storm. And a surprising message of a merciful God to his people. The story of Jonah is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible. It is also one of the most misunderstood. Many people, even those who are not religious, are familiar with Jonah: a rebellious prophet who defies God and is swallowed by a whale. But there’s much more to Jonah’s story than most of us realize. As we continue our study of Jonah, we find our prophet in the midst of a ferocious storm, but even in the storms of life, God is still there with him and with us.

If you would like a copy of the worship service, you can receive a complete copy by contacting Tom Verbrugge or you can find the weekly messages on our website.

Grow in Community
Tom Verbrugge, Jr. was hospitalized earlier this week due to a significant infection in his leg. Tom and the family ask for prayers for healing and peace during this time.

We hold Loren and Myra Renkema in our prayers as Loren continues under hospice care. Prayers for peace and comfort during this difficult time are appreciated.

Hayley Moore continues receiving both chemotherapy following a recent cancer diagnosis and surgery. Chemotherapy is expected to last about 6 months. This weekend, she will receive a different chemo drug and the family asks for both effectiveness and minimal side effects. Due to a peanut allergy, the family cannot accept food from homes, but you can donate a gift card through grub hub if you would like. You can follow this linkto learn more.

During the summer, we take a break from our regular children’s programming to allow our teachers have a break from prepping lessons each week. Instead, we show age appropriate Christian videos for kids ages 3 years old through 3rd grade. We are still looking for a few volunteers. Please consider volunteering to help over the summer! It’s a great way to get to know some of the awesome children in our church! You can sign up via the link below, or there’s a sign-up sheet outside of Room 205. There are still a couple of weeks that need some people to care for and support our children. Rachel Brower will meet with volunteers each Sunday before church so they know how to run the video. You must have gone through Keeping Kids Safe training and a background check in order to volunteer. If not, Rachel can meet with you to go over our policy. You can sign-up through the link below:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e044cafad2ca2ff2-summer1

Serve the World

If you are interested in learning about other cultures or exposing your children to other cultures and want to support global mission work, come out to Johnson Park on July 20 from 2-8 pm for a Taste of Bangladesh. All proceeds will go to support Bangla Ministries Worldwide. You will be able to sample Bangla food, see Bangla clothing and play Bangla games as well as enjoy a petting zoo, bluegrass music and a chili cook-off. More information can be found outside the church office or here.

Also, we will once again be collecting donations for School Supply Santa. You can learn more about what is needed in the announcement at the end of this e-mail.

Administrative Details
A couple of weeks ago, I shared a little abut the Vision 2020 team and potential changes for our denomination. At General Synod, our national gathering, they shared three broad options for how we could move forward as a denomination given the ongoing tensions around issues of human sexuality. Each of their three options contained several variations of the options. The first option was to do nothing and stay the same. While the Vision 2020 team did not think this was a realistic option, it is a possibility. Alternatively, we could simply rearrange the furniture, so to speak, and focus on key theological beliefs we share in common and allow for permissible differences on a variety of social issues. You can read more about the first option here.

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: $66,550.92
Fiscal Year to date contributions: $62,739.04

There are some things you simply don’t learn and can’t know you need to learn when you attend seminary. Becoming a pastor you expect to officiate at many funerals and weddings. You know there will be counseling appointments and many visits at hospitals. But they never tell you about the ducks.

This spring, a mother duck made a nest and laid 7 eggs in the courtyard at church. Those eggs have hatched and 7 little ducklings had become trapped in the courtyard, unable yet to fly and with no way to walk out. The mother duck has been looking for a way out for a couple of days now and has been seen peering in through the glass door near the youth room. But, she was trapped.

Until this morning. Pastor Rick set up a barricade of tables and assorted other furniture to block off the education wing, opened the door the courtyard and Door ‘D’ by the kitchenette. But, the ducks were frightened by all the people in the hallway. So, we shooed everyone away. We tried laying out bread crumbs (I know they are bad for ducks, but so is being trapped in the courtyard), but they were not interested. We waited. Camp Zion kids started watching the courtyard through the windows in the lobby and when the ducks disappeared into the building they came running to tell Pastor Rick. he gently shooed the mother duck out the door and she and her children are making a new home in the bushes near Rm. 205. The courtyard is officially a duck-free zone.

There are some pretty obvious analogies we could make about how we were all trapped in in our sin, but Jesus has shown as the way to true freedom with God. But, I will leave those for you to make and, instead, simply enjoy the delight of the children watching the ducks, the joy Rick found in solving the Courtyard Duck problem, and the humor of a mother duck and her 7 ducklings walking through our church.

I hope you all have as great a 4th ion July as we have had a 3rd of July.

Connect to God
An angry prophet. A fearsome and hated enemy. An overwhelming storm. And a surprising message of a merciful God to his people. The story of Jonah is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible. It is also one of the most misunderstood. Many people, even those who are not religious, are familiar with Jonah: a rebellious prophet who defies God and is swallowed by a whale. But there’s much more to Jonah’s story than most of us realize. As we begin our study of Jonah, we encounter a prophet, like many of us, running away from a God he doesn’t fully understand.

If you would like a copy of the worship service, you can receive a complete copy by contacting Tom Verbrugge or you can find the weekly messages on our website.

Grow in Community
We extend our sympathy to Maurie and Lorraine Lemmen in the passing of their nephew Jason DeJongh on Sunday night at the age of 63. Please hold Maurie and Lorraine and the entire family in your prayers.

We hold Loren and Myra Renkema in our prayers as Loren continues under hospice care. Prayers for peace and comfort during this difficult time are appreciated.

Hayley Moore continues receiving both chemotherapy following a recent cancer diagnosis and surgery. Chemotherapy is expected to last about 6 months. The family asks for continued prayers for healing, for strength during this journey, and for minimal side-effects from the chemotherapy. Due to a peanut allergy, the family cannot accept food from homes, but you can donate a gift card through grub hub if you would like. You can follow this linkto learn more.

Our church recently signed up to give everyone access to RightNow Media. I want to share just a couple of resources you can find on the Zion Reformed Church channel on the app. One great resource for kids is What’s int he Bible. Over 13 episodes, Phil Vischer (the creator of Veggie Tales) leads kids through an overview of the Bible and answers some really difficult questions in ways kids can understand. And, the other resource is titled “Read Scripture” and it provides great summaries of the books of the Bible. We use this in our home before reading a book together with our older children and I encourage everyone in my discipleship triad to watch the appropriate video before we read a book together. They provide engaging and solid backgrounds and summaries. They are well worth your time.

As a member or regular attender of Zion you get free access to all these resources. RightNow media can be accessed through a computer, your smart phone or tablet, apple tv, Roku, Fire TV, and more. If you would like to sign-up for Right Now Media, you can do so here.

During the summer, we take a break from our regular children’s programming to allow our teachers have a break from prepping lessons each week. Instead, we show age appropriate Christian videos for kids ages 3 years old through 3rd grade. We are still looking for a few volunteers. Please consider volunteering to help over the summer! It’s a great way to get to know some of the awesome children in our church! You can sign up via the link below, or there’s a sign-up sheet outside of Room 205. Rachel Brower will meet with volunteers each Sunday before church so they know how to run the video. You must have gone through Keeping Kids Safe training and a background check in order to volunteer. If not, Rachel can meet with you to go over our policy. You sign-up through the link below:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e044cafad2ca2ff2-summer1

Serve the World

Camp Zion is having another great week and there is an opportunity for you to be a part of all god is doing through Camp Zion. We are looking for people willing to help drive our campers to lunch and local field trips next week. We need drivers from about 11:30 until 2:15. If you are willing to help out, please contact Rachel Verbrugge.

Also, we will once again be collecting donations for School Supply Santa. You can learn more about what is needed in the announcement at the end of this e-mail.

Administrative Details
Last week, I shared a little abut the Vision 2020 team and potential changes for our denomination. Much more happened at the General Synod meeting last month and you can learn about it here.

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: $55,459.10
Fiscal Year to date contributions: $53,797.00

Zion E-News (6-27-2019)

Two weeks ago now, Rachel and I woke our kids up around 4:30 am, everyone got dressed, double checked backpacks and water bottles and by 5:30 were beginning to hike down the Bright Angel Trail into the Grand Canyon. The Bright Angel is one of two trails that go all the way to the bottom of the Canyon from the south rim, the other being the South Kaibab trail. The Bright Angel is the more used trail and has water in several locations and so is much more family friendly. We had hoped to be able to stay in the Canyon overnight, but did not win the lottery for a backcountry permit this year. So, we planned a day hike to Indian Gardens (an oasis fed by a spring about halfway into the Canyon), which is about a 9 mile hike round trip.

Before we left, we told the kids going into the Canyon is optional, but getting out is mandatory. Heading down, we covered the rocky ground pretty quickly and were resting by a creek in Indian Gardens by 8:15. Within minutes of laying on a picnic table to take a nap, a mule deer came prancing down the creek right by our resting spot. The younger three kids played and hung out by the stream with Rachel, while Ethan and I hiked another 3 miles round trip to Plateau Point to catch a look at the Colorado River weaving its way through the Canyon. And then, by 11, we started making our way back to the top. And this is where the real work and adventure began. Going down 3,000 feet in elevation is way easier than going up 3,000 feet in elevation!

By 12, it was approaching 100 degrees in the Canyon and some of us were getting a little overheated, so we were glad to reach the 3-mile watering hole with its accompanying shelter. We sat in the shade for 45 minutes, soaking our hats and shirts in the cold water, drinking lots of water, and eating some salty food. As we sat, we started talking with other hikers, sharing food, sharing stories, offering advice, counseling people who had not prepared to turn around and not go down any further, and simply enjoying being together with these strangers who had taken on the same challenge as us.

Recently, in a sermon, I talked about how fellowship is not socializing or being friends, but is a community on a mission together. We felt that a little bit in the Canyon two weeks ago. We were bound to these fellow hot, sweaty, dirty, and tired travelers because we had all taken on the same challenge of hiking in the Canyon. Even in the Canyon, mission + community = fellowship.

And how much more so do we find this fellowship when church becomes more than a deliverer of religious goods and services in our lives, but instead becomes a place where we join in the work of God’s mission and share our lives with our fellow Jesus followers. We celebrate together. We mourn together. We plan and dream together. We even do some worrying and disagreeing together, but we do so in pursuit of a shared mission to reach as many as possible in our community with the hope of Jesus Christ.

Connect to God
At a time when the first-century church had been invaded by false teachers, John knew Christians who are not sure of God’s truth could wander away, never to return. He wrote 1 John to help these early believers not only to know the real truth, but to be confident of it, and to rest upon it. If then, why not today? We all urgently need to hear and obey God’s loving message in 1 John and let God’s love shape how we live in this world as light in the darkness bringing hope to the hopeless. In the final chapter of 1 John, we remember that in Christ we have the power to overcome the sin that so easily entangles and entraps us and instead we are enabled to live as truly free and live people of God.

If you would like a copy of the worship service, you can receive a complete copy by contacting Tom Verbrugge or you can find the weekly messages on our website.

Grow in Community

We extend our sympathy to Margy Ribbens and the whole family in the death of Rich Ribbens who went to be with his Lord early Tuesday morning, June 25.  Visitation will be held on Thursday, June 27, from 2 – 4 and 6 – 8 pm, at Matthysse-Kuiper-DeGraaf in Grandville. The funeral service will be held on Friday at 1 pm at Zion Reformed Church followed by a cake and ice cream reception in the fellowship hall.

We also hold Loren and Myra Renkema in our prayers as Loren came home from the hospital today under hospice care. Prayers for peace and comfort during this difficult time are appreciated.

Hayley Moore continues receiving both chemotherapy and radiation following a recent cancer diagnosis and surgery. Chemotherapy is expected to last about 6 months. The family asks for continued prayers for healing, for strength during this journey, and for minimal side-effects from the chemotherapy. Due to a peanut allergy, the family cannot accept food from homes, but you can donate a giftcard through grub hub if you would like. You can follow this link to learn more.

Our church recently signed up to give everyone access to RightNow Media. I want to share just a couple of resources you can find on the Zion Reformed Church channel on the app. One great resource for kids is What’s int he Bible. Over 13 episodes, Phil Vischer (the creator of Veggie Tales) leads kids through an overview of the Bible and answers some really difficult questions in ways kids can understand. And, the other resource is titled “Read Scripture” and it provides great summaries of the books of the Bible. We use this in our home before reading a book together with our older children and I encourage everyone in my discipleship triad to watch the appropriate video before we read a book together. They provide engaging and solid backgrounds and summaries. They are well worth your time.

As a member or regular attender of Zion you get free access to all these resources. RightNow media can be accessed through a computer, your smart phone or tablet, apple tv, Roku, Fire TV, and more. If you would like to sign-up for Right Now Media, you can do so here.

During the summer, we take a break from our regular children’s programming to allow our teachers have a break from prepping lessons each week. Instead, we show age appropriate Christian videos for kids ages 3 years old through 3rd grade. We are still looking for a few volunteers. Please consider volunteering to help over the summer! It’s a great way to get to know some of the awesome children in our church! You can sign up via the link below, or there’s a sign-up sheet outside of Room 205. Rachel Brower will meet with volunteers each Sunday before church so they know how to run the video. You must have gone through Keeping Kids Safe training and a background check in order to volunteer. If not, Rachel can meet with you to go over our policy. You sign-up through the link below:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e044cafad2ca2ff2-summer1

Serve the World

Camp Zion began last week and we once again have a great group of kids coming to Zion everyday. The highlight for me, as the pastor, was walking through the lobby on Tuesday morning and seeing dozens of kids sitting around Rachel Verbrugge on the floor in the sanctuary as she led them in prayer. Camp Zion kids have lots of fun activities throughout the summer, but we never forget the most important aspect of camp is the spiritual investments we are making in these kids and their families.

Our Middle School students are having a great week serving in Chicago and learning about issues of poverty and justice in the city. After some mechanical issues with one of the vans, everything is working now and they look forward to returning home on Friday. Make sure to ask a Middle Schooler about their trip and all the ways God showed up during the week when they return.

Administrative Details
During the annual meeting (General Synod) of our denomination, the Reformed Church in America, there was much discussion about the future of our life together. The RCA is the oldest denomination in the United States with a continuous presence since 1628. Historically, we have been an ethnic denomination of Dutch settlers to the US which is why most of our churches are in New York, Western Michigan, Iowa, and California where Dutch people settled. Over the last 50 or so years, we have become an increasingly diverse denomination now including Korean, Portuguese, Venezuelan, Mexican, and African American congregations and more and more multi-ethnic communities as well.

In addition to a growing ethnic diversity, we have also experienced growing theological diversity rooted in what we mean by the authority of scripture and Biblical infallibility which has led to diverse views on issues such as the role of women in the church, social justice, evangelism and human sexuality. These tensions have only grown in our recent history and last year our interim General Secretary proposed forming a team to consider alternative futures for our denomination in light of these rising tensions. They were charged with examining how we could stay together, radically restructure, or gracefully separate and possibly even dissolve the denomination. Earlier this month, the team presented their findings to the General Synod and over the next year, churches are asked to prayerfully consider these alternative futures and also to be in prayer for delegates to General Synod in 2020 as they will be making some important decisions about the future of our denomination.

If you would like to know more about the Vision 2020 process, you can find more information here.

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: $44,367.28
Fiscal Year to date contributions: $47,420.00