Zion News 4/19/18

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Zion E-News (4-19-2018)
When I served New Hope Community Church in Colorado, we had a youth intern named Amanda who had grown up in the church and was a college student. Over the years, I have stayed in touch with her as she started seminary, joined the Presbyterian Church, became ordained, and served a church for several years in the Atlanta area. I have been so proud to see the great pastor she has become.

But, on Tuesday, she posted a letter to the congregation informing them that she had accepted a new call to a church in Denver. She would be doing similar work, but she would be home again near her family. The sadness of her leaving was evident in the letter. She clearly loved her present congregation But, you could also sense her joy in going home. Transitions are like that. Often filled with both joy and sorrow, excitement for the new and grief as we say goodbye to the old.

I have been spending a lot of time these week with people who are also getting ready to make a transition. Madonna Chappelle continues to receive care under Hospice and the decline in her health is very obvious. And then, this morning, I visited with Jack Heuvelhorst who also entered Hospice this week. In both cases, I have no doubt where they are headed after this life ends and neither do they. They have both expressed a confident trust and hope in Christ and the resurrection to come. And, over the 20+ years I have known Jack, I have seen all sorts of evidence of a life shaped by the generous gospel of love we find in Jesus.

This morning, I accidentally woke Jack up while praying with him. Since he was awake, I asked if we could read scripture and he nodded his assent. I read John 14:1-6 about how Jesus has gone ahead of us to prepare a place for us in his father’s house. As I read, Jack gave me the thumbs up sign and started clapping. His joy at the hope we have in Christ was evident to me and his sister and brother who were also in the room.

I am reminded today that we do not grieve as those without hope. We do not face death as some giant mystery. We grieve as those who know death does not get the final word. And, we face death knowing it is not the end, but simply a transition to a reunion with our heavenly father. Or, as Paul put it even better in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

This Easter season, may we all live in the promise of Jesus resurrection and in the hope of the resurrection to come!

 

Connect to God

On Easter Sunday, God begins a re-creation of the world beginning with the resurrection of Jesus. While we are still waiting for this creation to be fully formed, we as Christians are called to live a Jesus shaped life so that our lives point people both to Jesus and this new world God is making. This week, we consider Jesus call to be a people defined and shaped by an ethic of love.

From the Sunday after Memorial Day through Labor Day, we take a break from our regular children’s programming. This gives our teachers a much needed break from prepping as people are in and out for vacations.

In its place, we will be showing the children ages 3 through 3rd grade a Christian video each week (during the worship service), such as Veggie Tales, or Hermie and Friends.

You can sign up here to work in our summer Children’s ministry.

Adults 18 years and older must go through Keeping Kids Safe training before volunteering with kids. If you didn’t go through training last fall, there will be one on May 20 after church.

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

Madonna Cappelle continues under hospice care and is regularly surrounded by family and friends. Short visits are still appreciated and she especially wants to thank our deacons (Sarah McAnally and Rachel Eriks) for their many visits and prayers.

Jack Heuvelhorst entered hospice care this week. The family asks for prayers of peace and comfort during a difficult time.

Bob Baar continues receiving chemotherapy and asks for prayers for minimal side effects and healing.

Serve the World

Jodie DeBoer, and her husband Marcus, are preparing to adopt their daughter from Korea, bring their family up to three wonderful children. As part of this transition Jodie will be stepping away from full-time ministry with Youth for Christ. She sent us the following note of thanks for our support over the years:
To all my friends at Zion,

By now you have received my letter informing you of my transition out of Youth for Christ. It is certainly bittersweet and I leave with so many blessings!  YFC has been such a wonderful part of my life – the mission to reach lost young people is still something I care deeply about. I am thankful to

God that He called me to YFC and I will be faithful to obey as He leads me now out of YFC for this new season of my life. As I reflect on the last 12 years of ministry, I think of all the wonderful people and partnerships I was able to encounter. Thank you for cheering me on, supporting the mission, and inviting me to share. You have encouraged and inspired me. I am blessed because of you!  Thank you! Jodie DeBoer

 

Administrative Details

Our next Leaders Meeting will be on Sunday, May 20 from 5-7 pm. We will start the evening with a meal and then talk a little about the vision and direction of Zion, breakup into ministry teams, and end the evening with some training by Pastor Jeremy. We have a great night planned. If you volunteer in any capacity, you are both invited and strongly encouraged to attend this evening of community and ministry. If you do not yet serve anywhere in the ministries of Zion, but wold like to get involved, please join us as well and we will get you connected that night. Sign-ups for the leaders meeting will begin on April 29. Childcare will be provided for children 5th grade and under.

The Consistory of Zion met last Tuesday night to approve a budget recommendation for the fiscal year of 2018/19 and to nominate our slate of new Elders and Deacons. The budget will be available in the Narthex on Sunday morning for your review prior to our Congregational Meeting on May 6 following worship.

The following people were nominated for the office of Elder:
Kyle VanderWall, Josh Sanders, Brian Davis, and Mike Knott.

The following people were nominated for the office of Deacon: Jerrod Holzgen, Chip Harkes, Mark Radcliff, and Aaron Huizenga.

Our new Elders and Deacons will be chosen by lot at our congregational meeting on May 6 from these nominees. Pleas be in prayer for each of our nominees.

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.

Year to date budget: $488,285.86
Year to date contributions: $476,991.08

Zion News 4/12/18

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When I served New Hope Community Church in Colorado, we had a youth intern named Amanda who had grown up in the church and was a college student. Over the years, I have stayed in touch with her as she started seminary, joined the Presbyterian Church, became ordained, and served a church for several years in the Atlanta area. I have been so proud to see the great pastor she has become.

But, on Tuesday, she posted a letter to the congregation informing them that she had accepted a new call to a church in Denver. She would be doing similar work, but she would be home again near her family. The sadness of her leaving was evident in the letter. She clearly loved her present congregation But, you could also sense her joy in going home. Transitions are like that. Often filled with both joy and sorrow, excitement for the new and grief as we say goodbye to the old.

I have been spending a lot of time these week with people who are also getting ready to make a transition. Madonna Chappelle continues to receive care under Hospice and the decline in her health is very obvious. And then, this morning, I visited with Jack Heuvelhorst who also entered Hospice this week. In both cases, I have no doubt where they are headed after this life ends and neither do they. They have both expressed a confident trust and hope in Christ and the resurrection to come. And, over the 20+ years I have known Jack, I have seen all sorts of evidence of a life shaped by the generous gospel of love we find in Jesus.

This morning, I accidentally woke Jack up while praying with him. Since he was awake, I asked if we could read scripture and he nodded his assent. I read John 14:1-6 about how Jesus has gone ahead of us to prepare a place for us in his father’s house. As I read, Jack gave me the thumbs up sign and started clapping. His joy at the hope we have in Christ was evident to me and his sister and brother who were also in the room.

I am reminded today that we do not grieve as those without hope. We do not face death as some giant mystery. We grieve as those who know death does not get the final word. And, we face death knowing it is not the end, but simply a transition to a reunion with our heavenly father. Or, as Paul put it even better in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

This Easter season, may we all live in the promise of Jesus resurrection and in the hope of the resurrection to come!

On Easter Sunday, God begins a re-creation of the world beginning with the resurrection of Jesus. While we are still waiting for this creation to be fully formed, we as Christians are called to live a Jesus shaped life so that our lives point people both to Jesus and this new world God is making. This week, we consider Jesus call to be a people defined and shaped by an ethic of love.

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.

Teresa Beute returned home after her recent heart surgery,
Barb Peterson is also home after her recent cardioversion.

Mark Steenbergen will be undergoing a heart procedure on Friday morning. He has been experiencing tiredness and shortness of breath. They will be looking to fix a potentially leaky valve and determine if anything else may need attention. Prayers for peace and comfort and healing are appreciated,

Bob Baar began chemotherapy treatments on Tuesday for bladder cancer. He is currently doing well and experiencing few side effects.

Madonne Cappelle continues under hospice care and is regularly surrounded by family and friends. Short visits are still appreciated and she especially wants to thank our deacons (Sarah McAnally and Rachel Eriks) for their many visits and prayers.

On an unrelated note, Jim Peterson spent the last few days at church repainting room 205. Thanks to Jim for offering his gift of the speediest and best quality painting in town. 

Serve the World
As CityFest kicks off a 6 month period of serving our community and training churches, there is a great opportunity for members of our church to learn more about evangelism and how to share our faith with others. On April 17, Mark Mittelberg, author of Becoming a Contagious Christian, will offer a free training at Fairhaven Church in Hudsonville at 7 pm. If you are interested in attending, you can sign-up through the Connection Card on Sunday.

The Consistory of Zion met on Tuesday night to approve a budget recommendation for the fiscal year of 2018/19 and to nominate our slate of new Elders and Deacons. The budget will be available in the Narthex on Sunday morning for your review prior to our Congregational Meeting on May 6 following worship.

The following people were nominated for the office of Elder:
Kyle VanderWall, Josh Sanders, Brian Davis, and Mike Knott.

The following people were nominated for the office of Deacon: Jerrod Holzgen, Chip Harkes, Mark Radcliff, and Aaron Huizenga.

Our new Elders and Deacons will be chosen by lot at our  congregational meeting on May from these nominees. Pleas bee in prayer for each of our nominees.

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.

Year to date budget: $477,670.95
Year to date contributions: $475,213.08

 

 

Zion News 4/5/18

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Last week Monday, Jeremy and I had the privilege of eating lunch with Wes Granberg-Michaelson. While likely unknown to most people in our church, Wes is something of a legend in our denomination. In the early part of his career he was a chief aide to Senator Mark Hatfield during the Watergate scandal, spent the rest of his career working for the World Council of Churches of finally the General Secretary of the RCA for 17 years. In those roles, he was instrumental in beginning Christian Churches Together that brought Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians all to the same table for the first time in history. He also helped start the Global Christian Forum that includes Catholic, Pentecostal and Evangelical churches from around the world. He seems to know just about everyone in the Christian world and many in the political world as well. 

On Ash Wednesday this year, Wes was on a retreat with retired leaders of the CRC (Peter Borgdorff), the Episcopalian Church, several Methodist denominations, and evangelical leaders. Together they wrote a joint Confession of Faith in a Time of Crisis. I offer it to you to read and reflect on, not because I either agree or disagree with their statement, but because i think it wise to listen to our elders, especially those from across the Christian spectrum and with hundreds of years of leadership between them in the church. You can check out their statement here.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting with our Middle and High School students to talk about faith, the Bible, human sexuality and other questions on their minds. It was a truly great night to get to know our students and think with them about important issues in their life. As I thought about their questions, I was reminded of a Catechism recently written by Branson Parler for the Regional Synod of the Great Lakes on Marriage and Sexuality. It too is a great resource. So, if you are thinking through issues like marriage and sexuality and how the church should be engaging these issues in our culture, you should check this Catechism out. You can find it here.

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
Teresa Beute’s  open heart surgery went well. Continue to pray for her as she begins the recovery process.

Barb Peterson is scheduled for a cardioversion on Tuesday to get her heart back in rhythm. Pray that the procedure is successful and that her heart will stay in rhythm.

Gert Brink went to be with her Lord and Savior on Wednesday, April 4. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, April 7, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at Zion Reformed Church. Visitation is scheduled for Friday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Matthysse-Kuiper-DeGraaf Funeral Home (Grandville)  and Saturday from 10:00 to 10:45 a.m. at church prior to the service.

Serve the World
As CityFest kicks off a 6 month period of serving our community and training churches, there is a great opportunity for members of our church to learn more about evangelism and how to share our faith with others. On April 17, Mark Mittelberg, author of Becoming a Contagious Christian, will offer a free training at Fairhaven Church in Hudsonville at 7 pm. If you are interested in attending, you can sign-up through the Connection Card on Sunday.

The names of those willing to serve as Elders and Deacons were recently distributed to members of Zion. We encourage you tp pray for God’s guidance in choosing our leaders and then prayerful fill out a nomination ballot and turn it in through the pink box in the narthex. These nominations will be considered by the Consistory as we determine the final slate of Elders and Deacons of our congregation meeting in May. Nominations are due 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.

Year to date budget: $467,056.04
Year to date contributions: $469,112.08

Zion News 3/29/18

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Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that the time had come to leave this world to go to the Father. Having loved his dear companions, he continued to love them right to the end. It was suppertime. The Devil by now had Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, firmly in his grip, all set for the betrayal.

Jesus knew that the Father had put him in complete charge of everything, that he came from God and was on his way back to God. So he got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron. When he got to Simon Peter, Peter said, “Master, you wash my feet?”

Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I’m doing, but it will be clear enough to you later.”

Peter persisted, “You’re not going to wash my feet—ever!”

Jesus said, “If I don’t wash you, you can’t be part of what I’m doing.”

“Master!” said Peter. “Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head!”

Jesus said, “If you’ve had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you’re clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene. So now you’re clean. But not every one of you.” (He knew who was betraying him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you.”) After he had finished washing their feet, he took his robe, put it back on, and went back to his place at the table.

Then he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn’t give orders to the employer. If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life.

John 13:1-17 (The Message)

Grow in Community
Tom Boeve had knee replacement surgery on Monday and is doing well as he begins his physical therapy routine.

Teresa Beute was hospitalized on Tuesday with heart troubles will be undergoing open heart surgery sometime early next week. Please pray for peace and patience as she awaits surgery.

Madonna Chapelle entered hospice care last week and is currently doing well and enjoying the break from the many side effects of chemotherapy. Continue to pray for her as the cancer progresses that she might continue to find her hope and comfort in our God.

Please pray for all those traveling over the next 10 days as many go south to enjoy some warm weather during this break from school.

Serve the World
Many people in our community attend church on Christmas and Easter and not a whole lot in between. Others have attended church in the past, but have not gone for a long time. Sometimes, for these people, all they need is an invitation from a friend. But, most would attend a church if someone would only ask. 

Who might you ask to join you at Zion during this Lenten/Easter season? Your ask could be as simple as saying, “Bob you’re such a great neighbor and I’m not sure if you have plans for this Sunday, but I have been attending this great church and I’d like to ask you come check it out with us soon. No big deal if you can’t but I was thinking of you.” Bob may say no, or he may take a first step closer to Jesus because you had the courage to ask.

As CityFest kicks off a 6 month period of serving our community and training churches, there is a great opportunity for members of our church to learn more about evangelism and how to share our faith with others. On April 17, Mark Mittelberg, author of Becoming a Contagious Christian, will offer a free training at Fairhaven Church in Hudsonville at 7 pm. If you are interested in attending, you can sign-up through the Connection Card on Sunday.

The names of those willing to serve as Elders and Deacons were recently distributed to members of Zion. We encourage you tp pray for God’s guidance in choosing our leaders and then prayerful fill out a nomination ballot and turn it in through the pink box in the narthex. These nominations will be considered by the Consistory as we determine the final slate of Elders and Deacons of our congregation meeting in May.

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.

Year to date budget: $456,441.13
Year to date contributions: $461,974.08