Our family has been camping at the Christian Reformed Conference Grounds the past couple of weeks. It has been a great time of campfires, swimming, and ice cream cones every night. Two unrelated thoughts have been running through my mind these last two weeks.

First, a 35 minute commute is really long when you are used to a 5 minute commute. May God bless and keep safe all of you with long commutes every day. You amaze me as I am a little tired from the extra driving and early mornings this week.

Second, the people at Christian camps are not our mission field. I know that seems rather obvious. And, I occasionally hear people be excited about a church friend joining a new church or about a church growing by drawing people from other churches. And, that kind of growth is not really growth. The Church of God does not grow when people move between local congregations. Honestly, from my experience the church they left often hurts much more from the loss than the new church is blessed by the gain.

It is so good to be able to worship and share life with other believers. It is not for no reason that the writer of Hebrews urges us to not give up the habit of meeting with one another to encourage each other. We need encouragement. We need community. We need the experience of corporate worship.

And, we must never forget the role of church is to worship God and equip us all for the works of ministry: caring for the poor, encouraging the discouraged, seeking justice for the oppressed, and proclaiming the reign of King Jesus. This work is hard. Tiring. Confusing at times. And so very important because this is the mission we have been given. Not to sing worship songs and listen to sermons, but to join God in the work of redeeming and restoring this world that has been marred by sin so that his will may be done on earth as it already is in heaven.

One way we do this is by inviting other people to join us in this mission. Who in your life could you invite to join in the mission of God? Who are the friends, relation, acquaintances, neighbors, and co-workers (your FRANC list) you could be intentional in looking for ways to invite them to join the mission of God? Make a list this week. Write down at least one name in each category and start thinking about how and when you could talk to them about the mission of Jesus?

Next week, I’ll share some ways you can be strategic in reaching these people with the good news of God’s kingdom come ruled by Jesus.

See you Sunday, wash your hands, and stay safe!

Greg

Connect to God
This Sunday we will gather for worship both in person and online. We will gather by the playground for an outdoor service at 9 am and indoors in the sanctuary at 11 am. If there is a likelihood of rain or if the grass will be wet from rain over night, we will move our 9 am service to the sanctuary. We will try to announce any change in venue by Saturday night on our facebook page.

If you are not able to join us in person or would simply prefer to not gather in a large crowd yet, you can still join us for online worship. We will be live streaming our 11 am service at zionreformed.online.church and Zion’s Facebook Page. We will also rebroadcast the service on WCET at noon on Friday and 4pm next Sunday.

This week, we welcome the Rev. Dr. Jill Versteeg, Chief Operating Officer of the RCA. Jill also provides leadership in the RCA to come alongside churches and assist them in living into the RCA Transformed and Transforming Vision including efforts to develop Next Generation ministry, disability advocacy, and cultural agility in churches to respond to a changing culture and world. Jill is a graduate of Northwestern College and a friend of mine from seminary. I am looking forward to the word God has given her for our congregation from Matthew 15:21-28.

Grow in Community
Will Kuiper will be celebrating his 88th birthday on August 5, He is also struggling with some social isolation as visitors are not allowed in nursing homes. You could be a huge blessing to Will by simply sending him a birthday card, celebrating his life and letting him know he is still known and cared for by Zion. His address is:
Will Kuiper
2589 44th St. SE RM 113
Grand Rapids, MI 49512

While we have not been able to meet together face-to-face, our Elders, Deacons and Pastor Rick have been doing a great job touching base with members over the age of 60 every couple of weeks. As our time apart has grown, our Consistory has recognized the need to expand our care to those under 60 as well. To that end, we are forming Covid-19 Connect Groups until we are able to meet together regularly as a congregation Each person under 60 who is not already in a small group or discipleship triad is being randomly assigned to one of these groups. The leaders will be calling to check-in on members every couple of weeks and, now that they are allowed, planning an opportunity each month to meet physically together. If you would like more information, please contact me at gbrowerzionreformed.org.

We also still have numerous Discipleship Triads meeting. If you would like to learn more about how you can connect with other people at Zion to encourage one another to follow Jesus well, send me an e-mail and I can help get you connected.

Serve the World
Sunrise Ministries has transitioned to a personal care pantry and will no longer be distributing food. If you would like to support their personal care pantry, donations can be made at Sunrise Ministries. We continue our Personal Care Pantry in partnership with United Church Outreach Ministries in Wyoming under the direction go Tom Boeve. If you would like to get involved in our care pantry, please contact Tom at 616-885-8362;

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. We are especially grateful this week for all those who have adjusted their means of giving to give online, through the mail, and via text. Zion’s members continue to strongly support the ministries of Zion during this time of uncertainty.

Fiscal Year to Date Budget: $84,050.24
Fiscal Year to Date Contribution: $74,540.14
Giving Last Week: $11,025.00
Cash on Hand: $150,640.75

Our family came back last weekend from a wonderful two week vacation in Colorado. We spent our mornings watching deer from our campsite, our days hiking to various lakes, waterfalls, and mountain tops, our evenings talking around the camp fire, and our nights with all 6 of us stuffed a little like sardines in our trailer. It was a great two weeks.
This was our 2nd trip with our kids to Rocky Mountain National Park and perhaps more times than we can count for Rachel and I as we spent many days and weekends in the park when we lived in Colorado. It was different this time, though, because of Covid-19. The visitor centers were all closed. There were no ranger talks. There were very long lines to get into the park at times due to the timed entry system used to reduce the number of visitors to the park. Signs reminded us to wear masks in the bathrooms and pit-toilets. (BTW – I always wanted to wear a mask in a pit-toilet, but it really doesn’t solve the smell issue.) The campground was not full as some reservations were cancelled by the National Park to reduce crowding in the campground. It was great, but different.

As we look ahead to gathering in worship this Sunday, I imagine it will bring with it a similar feeling. It will be great to see many of you and it will be different. We normally run some sort of kids ministry every week of the year, but we will not do so for at least the remainder of the summer so kids will be with us in church. We will have activities bags for kids to keep them occupied during church and will have some tables set up in the sanctuary for families to use if they would like. We will wear masks in doors and as I read the latest guidance from our Governor we should also encourage people to wear masks outside, especially if you might be within 6 feet of someone else. Some of us will not be gathering yet because of health concerns or pre-existing conditions and for those people we will still offer an online worship option at 11 am.

I ran across a prayer recently for times like these. It reads: If comparison is the thief of joy, then Lord, help me to not compare my life today to my life 6 months ago. Help me find the joy in THIS life, and in THIS day and to know that it is from you, and it is enough. Amen.

Amidst all the change and uncertainty, may we each find joy in this day and in this life God has given us. Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!

Connect to God
This Sunday we will once gather for worship in person and online. We will gather by the playground for an outdoor service at 9 am and indoors in the sanctuary at 11 am. If there is a likelihood of rain or if the grass will be wet from rain over night, we will move our 9 am service to the sanctuary.We will try to announce any change in venue by Saturday night on our facebook page.

If you are not able to join us in person or would simply prefer to not gather in a large crowd yet, you can still join us for online worship. We will be live streaming our 11 am service at zionreformed.online.church and Zion’s Facebook Page. We will also rebroadcast the service on WCET at noon on Friday and 4pm next Sunday.

As we gather physically together on Sunday, we will also begin a new sermon series entitled 20 Minute Theology. In this series, we will look at some important questions such as who are you, what went wrong, how do we get out of this mess, who is God, what is the church, what happens when we die, and what does God want from us. Join us for this series as we go back to the basics of the faith and find both direction, understanding, and comfort even in tense times such as these.

Grow in Community
Matt and Katie Eling request prayer for their sister in law Kim. After a good report last week that scans showed no new tumor growth and some improvement, Kim is in the hospital under palliative care after a lung collapsed during surgery yesterday to insert a new drain. Please keep Kim and her family in your prayers.

While we have not been able to meet together face-to-face, our Elders, Deacons and Pastor Rick have been doing a great job touching base with members over the age of 60 every couple of weeks. As our time apart has grown, our Consistory has recognized the need to expand our care to those under 60 as well. To that end, we are forming Covid-19 Connect Groups until we are able to meet together regularly as a congregation Each person under 60 who is not already in a small group or discipleship triad is being randomly assigned to one of these groups. The leaders will be calling to check-in on members every couple of weeks and, now that they are allowed, planning an opportunity each month to meet physically together. If you would like more information, please contact me at gbrowerzionreformed.org.

We also still have numerous Discipleship Triads meeting. If you would like to learn more about how you can connect with other people at Zion to encourage one another to follow Jesus well, send me an e-mail and I can help get you connected.

Serve the World
We continue accepting donations of personal care items and food on Wednesdays from 1-3 pm at church. We are partnering with Sunrise Ministries in Jenison for a weekly distribution. We also continue our monthly partnership with UCOM through our Personal Care Pantry. For the next few weeks, all Personal Care Items will be shared with Lifeline Community Church for their next distribution in Wyoming this Saturday. Thank you for your support of these important ministries at this time.

If you and others that you know would be willing to serve, Sunrise Ministries (in coordination with Love Inc and local churches) is in need of volunteers this Wednesday and for the next couple of weeks! They are also in need of people to go shop for food. They have gift cards and a list that they would give you before you go out. If you are interested please contact Penny at penny@sunrisemin.org

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. We are especially grateful this week for all those who have adjusted their means of giving to give online, through the mail, and via text. Zion’s members continue to strongly support the ministries of Zion during this time of uncertainty.

Fiscal Year to Date Budget: $63,037.68
Fiscal Year to Date Contribution: $55,543.32
Giving Last Week: $8897.00
Cash on Hand: $160,719.56

This is what the Lord says:
“For three sins of Israel,
even for four, I will not relent.
They sell the innocent for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals.
They trample on the heads of the poor
as on the dust of the ground
and deny justice to the oppressed.
Father and son use the same girl
and so profane my holy name.
They lie down beside every altar
on garments taken in pledge.
In the house of their god
they drink wine taken as fines.
– Amos 2:6-8

Over 20 years ago now while a graduate student at Indiana, I was reading the book of John and was struck how in awe the writer seemed to be that Jesus loved him. It got me thinking about how I related to God’s love. Like many people who grew up in church, I grew up singing “Jesus Loves Me” and being told I was loved by God. So, it struck me as odd that John seemed so awed. This drove me to the Old Testament and the prophets to try to understand John’s frame of mind. I spent the next six months studying the minor prophets.

And then, I came across the book of Amos and it leveled me. The book begins with God’s judgment on all the neighbors of Israel before God pronounces his judgment on them in Amos 2:6-8. God judges Israel because they oppress the poor and the oppressed, they abuse their servants (the reference to a father and son and the girl) and they flaunt their abuse of the poor even in their worship (drinking wine and sleeping on garments taken in pledge for a loan). God is not angry because of idolatry or personal moral sins, but because as a society those in power have oppressed the poor. The whole nation is judged because of their oppression of the poor.

In the sermon this passed Sunday, I highlighted briefly the breadth and the depth of the gospel that Jesus is king over the whole world. This does not negate the truth that we are saved by faith in Jesus, but focuses our attention on God’s plan to redeem all of creation through the coming of the kingdom of his Son. As followers of Jesus, we should be living to help reveal the character of this kingdom or to live in such a way that people glimpse the peace and justice of this kingdom in us.

To me, this means as Christians we are a political, but not a partisan, people. We care about and should be involved in issues in the political world, but we do not put our hope or confidence in a political leader or party. We are not partisan. We will never find a party that fully supports the Biblical vision of a flourishing humanity. But, we need to be deeply engaged in seeking to help our world and nation reflect more and more the justice and peace of God revealed in Jesus and the teaching of the prophets.

There are lots of issues where our Christian ethics will come into play including abortion, tax rates and deficits, immigration policies and acts of war. But because the Black Lives Matter movement is so visible right now, I want to urge you to think carefully about how God would respond to our nation based on how it has treated African Americans throughout its history. Slavery. Jim Crow. The KKK. Mass incarceration. Redlining.

As I try to listen to people from the Black Lives Matter movement, I do not hear them saying Black Lives Matter more than other lives, but that their lives matter, too. And, that they do not experience American culture or the criminal justice system as valuing their lives. This is not primarily a question of separating good cops from bad cops, but of a system that imprisons and oppress people of color. It does not matter if this system does so by intentional design or unfortunate accident. This is what many people of color experience. The question for us as Christians is what are we going to do about it?

As a simple starting point, for me and maybe you, I need to learn more to understand something outside of my personal experience. I need to listen to those who did not grow up in a white 2-parent home in Zeeland like I did. Following are a couple of resources I have found educational and/or moving:
The movie Just Mercy on Amazon.
The documentary 13th on Netflix and Youtube.
And this 17 minute video from Bob the Tomato (its really Phil Vischer who is the voice of Bob the Tomato).

As I am writing this, I am hearing all the “but what about this or that” in my head. So, yes, I also care deeply abut Blue lives and I both want them safe and respected and if one of them is injured or killed I am happy the perpetrator is moat often found, charged, and convicted of their crime. I also care deeply about abortion and long for it to no longer happen in our society. And obviously, all lives matter because from a Christian view every person bears the image of God and is worthy of being loved and protected simply for that reason alone. (Be careful how long you think about this because it will raise issues like war, the death penalty, global poverty, the 1,000,000 Uighur people in camps in China, immigration and refugees, the place and value of women in many cultures of our world, and so much more.) But this is already too long of an introduction to our E-News.

Seriously, watch the Phil Vischer video. It is worth 17 minutes if your time.

Connect to God
This Sunday we will once again gather for worship online. You can join the service at:
zionreformed.online.church
Zion’s Facebook Page
WCET (at noon on Friday and 4pm on Sunday)
Physical Copy of the Sermon mailed to you (please request from Connie Stegeman at cstegeman@zionreforned.org)

We continue our sermon series on Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi. Written from prison, this letter is often referred to as Paul’s letter of joy. Looking back over the past 6 months, we have seen: the impeachment of the president, a global health crisis, an economic crisis, and the racial tensions rooted in oppression that began 400 years ago came to the surface in some significant ways. In addition to the national anxiety, personally we have all  limited travel, dealt with the anxiety of the unknown, worried about our finances, felt the isolation of physical distancing, and the relational stresses all of this has added to life. We come to this letter of joy carrying our own unique burdens, but in it we see the power of focusing on Jesus even in the midst of our struggles. This week, Pastor Rick focuses our attention in Chapter 2 and the example Christ has set for us.

You are invited to join us for a coffee hour after church via a zoom call. The link will be shared during the service in the chat box. Last week, we had about 8 families join us for a brief talk in response to the sermon and just to catch up. You can learn more about how to use Zoom at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E

Grow in Community
We extend our congratulations to Joe and Jill Sietsema and Austin and Ashley on the birth of Jason Daniel born Monday morning. Both mother and baby are doing well.

Join us at 9 am for Zion Kids Worship/Sunday School. We will be live streaming directly from the same website where you already watch our worship service. You can find the Kids Worship time at https://zionreformed.online.church.

Join us June 24 for a short time of worship (think hymn sing or maybe hymn/worship song sing) and a short devotional from Pastor Greg. We will be meeting on the lawn near the play ground at church at 7 pm. Bring your own chair and beverage for a chance to safely visit in a physically distant way with friends from church and enjoy a time of worship together, If it is raining on the 24th, we will meet on the 25th at 7 pm. In an effort to follow the governor’s guidelines, this event is limited to 100 people, so if you are planning to attend, please contact Connie Stegeman (cstegeman@zionreformed.org or 616-534-7533) so we can plan appropriately.

While we have not been able to meet together face-to-face, our Elders, Deacons and Pastor Rick have been doing a great job touching base with members over the age of 60 every couple of weeks. As our time apart has grown, our Consistory has recognized the need to expand our care to those under 60 as well. To that end, we are forming Covid-19 Connect Groups until we are able to meet together regularly as a congregation Each person under 60 who is not already in a small group or discipleship triad is being randomly assigned to one of these groups. The leaders will be calling to check-in on members every couple of weeks and, now that they are allowed, planning an opportunity each month to meet physically together. If you would like more information, please contact me at gbrowerzionreformed.org.

We also still have numerous Discipleship Triads meeting. If you would like to learn more about how you can connect with other people at Zion to encourage one another to follow Jesus well, send me an e-mail and I can help get you connected.

Serve the World
We continue accepting donations of personal care items and food on Wednesdays from 1-3 pm at church. We are partnering with Sunrise Ministries in Jenison for a weekly distribution. We also continue our monthly partnership with UCOM through our Personal Care Pantry. For the next few weeks, all Personal Care Items will be shared with Lifeline Community Church for their next distribution in Wyoming this Saturday. Thank you for your support of these important ministries at this time.

If you and others that you know would be willing to serve, Sunrise Ministries (in coordination with Love Inc and local churches) is in need of volunteers this Wednesday and for the next couple of weeks! They are also in need of people to go shop for food. They have gift cards and a list that they would give you before you go out. If you are interested please contact Penny at penny@sunrisemin.org

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
As we move closer to regathering for corporate worship, our Consistory is asking for your feedback regarding when and how to reopen. To that end, they have sent a survey via e-mail to each household in our congregation. For those households for which we do not have an e-mail address, we have mailed a physical copy to your home. Please respond to this survey as soon as possible as the Consistory will be meeting on June 23 to determine how soon we will be opening. If your family has not received the survey yet, please e-mail Pastor Greg immediately, and he will send one to you right away. Thank you for your thoughtful attention to this survey.

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. We are especially grateful this week for all those who have adjusted their means of giving to give online, through the mail, and via text. Zion’s members continue to strongly support the ministries of Zion during this time of uncertainty.

Fiscal Year to Date Budget: $21,012.56
Fiscal Year to Date Contribution: $19,264.00
Giving Last Week: $9,819.00
Cash on Hand: $157,890.59