Dear Zion Family,

We value people over programs or events at Zion. God’s commandment to love our neighbors means that we need to watch out for one another, especially for those who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, including people over the age of 60 and those with immunosuppression, lung and heart conditions, diabetes and more.

I want to update you on our response to the coronavirus (COVID-19), especially as it moves into Michigan. We are closely monitoring information from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), and the Kent County Health Department (KCHD).

In the spirit of proactivity and at the recommendation of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, we have decided to cancel worship and all events face-to-face ministry events through March 26. This includes any private bookings of our facilities beginning on Sunday, March 15. We will continue to monitor the situation and adjust as is prudent. We will continue to run both Hand2Hand and the Personal Care Pantry as we know many are dependent on these services.

In lieu of gathered worship, we encourage our community to participate in home worship. You may want to do so with Zion friends who live nearby, with your small group, or your immediate family. Resources for corporate worship are available at our church website.

Here are some steps you can take to protect yourself and those around you:

• Patients with COVID-19 experience mild to severe respiratory symptoms, which can include fever, coughing, and shortness of breath. Stay home from work, school, or other activities if you feel at all ill, even if your symptoms are mild. 
• Take advantage of Spectrum’s free virtual screenings if you feel ill.
• Wash hands frequently with soap and water, scrubbing for at least 20 seconds.
• Cough or sneeze into a clean tissue whenever possible or into your bent elbow if a tissue is unavailable.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
• Per CDC recommendations, avoid close contact with others whenever possible.
• If you believe you may have been exposed to the coronavirus, we would be grateful to know.
• If you have not done so yet, now is a great time to consider setting up online giving so that we can continue supporting missionaries around the world and also our local ministries like Hand2Hand and the Personal Care Pantry during this time.

Here are a few useful links:

• General information about COVID-19 via the CDC
• Comparison of COVID-19 and influenza via the WHO
• COVID-19 prevention via the CDC
• Mitigation strategies from the MDHHS
• Local updates via Kent County Health Department
• Statewide updates via State of Michigan
• Global updates on COVID-19 via the WHO
• Global impact map via the WHO
• EPA-approved disinfectants

We hope to resume normal activity soon and will update you as the situation evolves. While this is a serious virus that requires thoughtful response, we believe that God does not give us a spirit of fear but of love (2 Timothy 1:7). We value the well-being of every person who belongs to this community, we wish to exercise wisdom, and we put our trust in Christ alone.

Grace & peace,

Pastor Greg

For years, Georgetown Township has had a dark, dingy looking library. It held the books. Their staff were welcoming and helpful. But, it wasn’t the kind of space you wanted to hang out in. It served its purpose, but did not draw people to the library.

But recently, the new library opened. I finally made it there on Saturday and have been back 2 times since. Each time, I see students studying together in the teen study room. Kids are playing with the puppets in the clubhouse in the kids area and reading books in one of many reading nooks. Adults are doing puzzles, writing papers, and reading books by the fireplace in the quiet reading room. Small groups are using the conference rooms upstairs. And, others are sitting around tables talking near the entrance. They even have board games you can rent. As a lover of books and reading, I am so excited for our community to have a library space that feels inviting and welcoming.

Space matters. Decor matters. They shape how we experience a building and a community. That’s why McDonald’s invested $6 billion dollars in 2018 to remodel many of their stores. Target spent $7 billion in 2017. Qdoba invested in a significant remodel of its buildings in 2016 to remove the vaguely southwestern feel of cacti with the distinctive Q. Every organization from time to time needs to invest in its facilities to make them more inviting and welcoming to new patrons/customers or members.

I have been praying for our church, the potential remodel, and our current capital campaign. I do not know what God will do in this time, but I am hopeful that on the other side God will bless us with a space more naturally welcomes and invites people into the community of Zion I love and that better supports our mission to connect our neighbors with the God who loves them.

Connect to God
There is perhaps no greater influence in Christian discipleship and moral thinking than the Sermon on the Mount. In three short chapters, Jesus lays out a vision for how to live the good life, the life God intended for us, in our personal, public, and spiritual lives. This week, we continue our study of this influential sermon as we consider the motivations of our actions. Do we obey to impress the crowds or to please 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
I love the community and relationships we all enjoy at Zion. And, with the concerns about the spread of the Corona Virus we will be instituting some changes in worship this Sunday. During our greeting time, we will ask people to simply welcome one another verbally or with an elbow bump rather than a hand shake. Also, please feel free to take advantage of the hand sanitizer placed in the exits on the left and right side of the sanctuary. And, if you are working with children, please make sure to wash your hands well and remind the children to do so as well. There is a great article on appropriate responses to the outbreak at Christianity Today here.

All 2020 Mission Trip Shareholders are invited to join our youth for a meet and greet being held in the fellowship hall downstairs after worship on March 8.

Serve the World
Planning is underway for another great summer ta Camp Zion. If you are a high school interested in serving on staff, applications are available on the Camp Zion bulletin board near the office. Applications are due Sunday March 29. Please keep Camp Zion, our staff, and the kids who will be attending in your prayers as we prepare for the summer.

City Chapel continues to worship at City Flats Hotel. They continue to see new visitors and have especially enjoyed new college students attending and have several families expecting new children as well. Please be in prayer for them as Pastor Ron prepares for changes in his responsibilities this summer as he and Anna anticipate welcoming their first child.

Administrative Details
This Sunday, we will kick off 27 days of pray for our church as part of our capital campaign. We have daily devotionals available as well. There are physical copies in everyone’s mailbox at church or you can access them on our website here. If you want to keep up with our capital campaign, you can find all sorts of information on our website here.

If you receive the denominational magazine RCA Today, you may have seen an article about our church. I was interviewed last fall to talk a little about what God has been doing through all of you here at Zion. I never want to pass up on a chance to brag about the great people of Zion, so I was happy to share. Unfortunately, I cannot share a link to the article here as it is not available on-line. But, you should check it out in the magazine and join me in thanking God for the work he is doing among us.

From dust you are to dust you will return.

Our Ash Wednesday service is my favorite worship service of the year. It doesn’t change much from year to year. The scripture readings are almost always the exact same ones. The meditation always makes a similar point. We always end with the imposition of ashes and communion. But there is something about the service that speaks to my soul.

Last night was not one of my finest moments. It had been a long day. Some issues were laying heavy on my heart. And then some minor changes were made right before the service started and it just annoyed me. In my head I knew the changes shouldn’t bother me and that I actually agreed with them. But emotionally, I was annoyed. And grumpy.

In a couple of minutes, I had worked through my immature annoyance and was ready to worship God again. But as I stood at the communion table and then as I said those words over and over again, “From dust you are to dust you shall return,” I remembered why I love this service so much.

I need communion. Following God is hard. I mess up all the time. But communion reminds me God has already welcomed me into his family and to the dinner table. We pause and remember what Jesus has already done for us, how he strengthens us and enables us to follow, and that one day we will be transformed as he was at the resurrection.

But right now, we are still dust. I am frail. I am weak. I make all sorts of mistakes. I am not as important as I can sometimes think I am. I am dust. You are dust. We are not as strong as we think we are. God already knows this, but Ash Wednesday reminds us of this truth.

Reflecting on that experience with a couple of Consistory members last night, I am reminded we are often too hard on ourselves and on other people. We are only dust. We are here today and gone tomorrow. We are all pretty weak and frail. Let’s be gentle with each other. Gracious with each other’s weaknesses. No one needs to be perfect because Jesus was already perfect for us all.

For we are all dust.

Connect to God
There is perhaps no greater influence in Christian discipleship and moral thinking than the Sermon on the Mount. In three short chapters, Jesus lays out a vision for how to live the good life, the life God intended for us, in our personal, public, and spiritual lives. This week, we continue our study of this influential sermon as we consider the exclusive call of God to serve God and God alone.

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 are holding several identical meetings to challenge leaders in our church to participate in our Building Up. Reaching Out Campaign. Anyone who is interested in “going first” in committing to give to the campaign is  invited to attend one of our challenge meetings. Please RSVP for the date you plan to attend on the back of the Connection Card today.  Meetings dates and locations are:

Tuesday, March 10 6:30-8:00PM at the home of Dianne Kooiker
Wednesday, March 11 6:30-8:00PM at the home of Josh & Shawn Sanders
Thursday, March 12 6:30-8:00PM at the home of Ken and Sheila Johnson
Wednesday, March 18 6:30-8:00PM at the home of Steve & Kathy Northuis

All 2020 Mission Trip Shareholders are invited to join our youth for a meet and greet being held in the fellowship hall downstairs after worship on March 8.

If you are a confessing member of Zion and over the age of 18, please remember to turn in your Consistory willing to serve response form by March 1.

Serve the World
On Monday night, our Personal Care Pantry team welcomed about 80 families to receive basic care items such as soap, shampoo and such. This month, we had families connect with our church United Church Outreach Ministries in Wyoming, local neighborhood friends, and Jenison Public schools. Thank you to all who faithfully serve in the Personal Care Pantry.

Administrative Details
If you want to keep up with our capital campaign, you can check out all sorts of information on our website here.

The Leaders Meeting for Sunday, March 1 has been canceled.

If you receive the denominational magazine RCA Today, you may have seen an article about our church. I was interviewed last fall to talk a little about what God has been doing through all of you here at Zion. I never want to pass up on a chance to brag about the great people of Zion, so I was happy to share. Unfortunately, I cannot share a link to the article here as it is not available on-line. But, you should check it out in the magazine and join me in thanking God for the work he is doing among us.