Over the past few weeks, the Discipleship Triad I am in has been reading Philippians and Acts. On Wednesday, I read about Paul’s mission in Philippi and it reminded me of something JD Greear wrote once. He said that in Philippi, Acts gives us a picture of the three types of people our churches will reach.

There are people like Lydia, who is already seeking God when Paul meets her at a Jewish worship service. Some people we know are already seeking after God. They may be curious about Christianity or they may have left the church years before, but due to some life changes are starting to think more about God and their spiritual life. These people may be the easiest to reach because they are already looking to be found.

And then there are people like the demon possessed slave girl. She is literally enslaved and also tortured by demons. But when she meets Paul, he sets her free from the demons and she finds an entirely new life in Jesus. Similarly there are people who will become open to or interested in Christianity after they experience the love and help of the church. We seek to reach people like this through ministries like Hand2Hand, Camp Zion, and the Personal Care Pantry.

And then, there is the jailer. Jailers in that day were often retired Roman soldiers who were given these positions as a sort of retirement plan. They were usually pretty cynical and jaded after years of war. This jailer was won over by the joy and generosity of Paul and Silas even as they were unjustly imprisoned. Similarly, there are people in our community who are cynical about things of faith. They are not open to faith, but may become so as they see and experience the lives of believers who show the fruit of the Spirit.

While JD doesn’t mention a fourth category, I think there is a fourth category of people who did not yet exist in the 1st century: nominal believers. This may be the hardest group of people to reach with the gospel because they already think they are saved, if they think about matters of faith at all. This may also be the most common group of people lin our community. They may have grown up in church. They may attend a church on Christmas and Easter and maybe Mother’s Day. They may even own a rarely opened Bible. Dean Inserra in a recent article for the Gospel Coalition summarizes the typical beliefs of these nominal Christians as “a generic theism that mingles biblical concepts with a hope that one is a good person—all while maintaining autonomy over personal decisions and lifestyle.”

These people often think they are saved because they were members of a church as children, made confirmation as a young teen, or accepted Jesus into their heart in kindergarten, but they have long since stopped trying to follow Jesus. They need to hear the gospel again: that they are sinners in need of salvation, that Jesus offers forgiveness through his death the on the cross, and by his Spirit they can now follow him.

This is the gospel we all need to hear. There is grace for each of us no matter our past, no matter our mistakes, no matter our struggles and doubts. The grace of Jesus is available for all.

Connect to God
From the opening verses of the gospel of John, it is clear that Jesus is God. John stresses Jesus’ unique relationship with God so people would believe Jesus was who he said he was. In the gospel, Jesus claims his divinity by using the phrase I Am seven times, joining the phrase to tremendous metaphors, expressing His saving relationship toward the world and showing that He is everything we need. During this Lenten season we will look at each of these 7 I Am statements. We began on Ash Wednesday considering how Jesus is the bread of life and today we see how Jesus is the the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep.

This Sunday we celebrate with Ryan and Rachel Kleinjans the baptism of Colton Robert. As they celebrate his life, we give thanks to God for the gift of new life he has made available to all who believe. We thank God as well for the covenant he has established all the way back with Abraham to include children in his family. We honor this faithful God as we welcome Colton into the covenant community at Zion.

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
This Sunday, we welcome 7 new adult members and their families into our community: Ryan Kleinjans, Rob and Sarah Olger (Autumn, Chase, and Zachary), Joe and Jill Sietsema (Ashley and Austin), and Matt and Sara Smith (Clayton, Gabriel, and Maxwell). We thank God for the gift these people are to our church and look forward to seeing how God will use all of our gifts to impact our community with the good news of the Kingdom of God in Jesus.

Serve the World
If you are or know a teenager, consider applying to be staff at Camp Zion this summer! Job descriptions and applications will be available this Sunday on the Camp Zion bulletin board near the church office.

In the past few weeks, Judy Mekkes has worked hard to redesign and organize our missions board outside of the church office. Every day as I walk into the offices, I stop by the wall and say a prayer for a missionary or two. I feel so blessed to serve in a church that has such a heart for missions both locally and around the world. Through your generous support, mission work occurs in Grandville, Wyoming, Grand Rapids, Peru, Kenya, Nepal, Bahrain, Ecuador, and around the world. When you have a moment take a look at the board and offer a prayer of thanks for those we support and all who came before that we might hear the good news as well.

Administrative Details
As we continue working with Elevate Architecture to develop a plan for remodeling our building to create a larger gathering area and children’s spaces, the Consistory has formed a building remodel team. The team includes: Pastor Rick, Andy Boeskool, Brian Davis, Sandie Dunn, Kyle VandePol, Roxie VanderHeide, and Arlyn Zoet.

Rachel Brower continues the research portion of her sabbatical as she works with a team to imagine new possibilities for our Children’s Ministries. The team includes Rachel Brower, Sean McAnally, Heidi Ondersma, Jackie Deiter, and Megan Taylor. Currently they are doing some benchmarking of best practices of other churches as they consider the best way to position our church for both future growth and planting new churches.

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: $456,758.40
Fiscal Year to date contributions: $448,103.23

A lot happens in a typical week at Zion. On Monday night, the Personnel and Administration committee met to review the first draft of our annual budget while at the same time a group of women gathered in the youth room for exercise. On Tuesday, the Elders and Deacons met while someone else was unloading food for Hand2Hand, our back back food ministry for students in Grandville. And, after meeting at church, some women met for pie and to discuss scripture and their spiritual lives as part of a discipleship triad. On Wednesday, the Praise team met for practice, the Prayer team met to pray, the Gerken family was busy in the basement setting up for the funeral today, and a small meeting was held about our upcoming capital campaign. In addition, during the day on Wednesday, we hosted a group of social workers from Samaritas as they conducted assessments with children in the foster care system. Ministry activity happens in our building almost every day of the week and many of you are in and out throughout the week serving and working together. It is a joy to see so many committed and loving people working together for God.

As I was thinking about the last few days at Zion, though, I was reminded activity at church is not the primary ministry of Zion. Because while activity was happening here at church, you were working and attending schools in Jenison, Hudsonville, Holland, Grandville, Caledonia and Wyoming (and maybe some more). Others were caring for the sick in Spectrum and Metro and in medical offices around the area. Others were maintaining apartment complexes and ensuring people had safe and secure housing. Others were balancing the books and writing code to help businesses run more smoothly and make a profit form all their work. Others were working in the factory at Royal Technologies or Amway or Steelcase and numerous other facilities making furniture and car parts and the other things we need to maintain our daily lives. Still others were working in a retail store or restaurant serving people meals and helping them find the perfect outfit. Others drove for Uber of shopped for Ships and helped people reduce the busy-ness of their lives. You all contribute through your work and lifestyle to reflect just a little bit of the glory and kingdom of God where you are.

Sometimes in the church, we can elevate the role of paid professional Christians, like pastors. We can even talk about their calling as somehow more spiritual or important than someone’s call to be a hairstylist or a custodian. But the truth is that when I was called from a job in the consulting world into church ministry, in many ways, I was called out of the mission field. I was called into a ministry of equipping the saints for service (check out Ephesians 4:11-13). 

You are all the missionaries God sends out of Zion each week. If you are a stay-at-home parent, you have been called to evangelized disciple the little unbelievers in your home into the faith. If you are an accountant, you are called to not only do your work excellently and with integrity, but to use your gifts to bring about a little more of God’s justice and mercy in our world. And the same is true if you are a police officer, school teacher, doctor, lawyer, tool and die maker, electrician, custodian, baker, or whatever role you have been called to. You have called to be the salt and light of the gospel where God has placed you. This is not a call to hit people over the head with your faith, but to live lives that make others want to know the God you know and to be ready and willing at all times to give the reason or the hope that is within you.

I wonder sometimes how we might impact the world if every Christian began to see themselves as a missionary sent to the people they know to be a witness of the kingdom in their particular place. What if all of us have hearts that broke for those near to us, but far from God? What if we thought about our jobs not just as a way to make money or use our skills, but as a way to make an impact for God’s kingdom?

Connect to God
From the opening verses of the gospel of John, it is clear that Jesus is God. John stresses Jesus’ unique relationship with God so people would believe Jesus was who he said he was. In the gospel, Jesus claims his divinity by using the phrase I Am seven times, joining the phrase to tremendous metaphors, expressing His saving relationship toward the world and showing that He is everything we need. During this Lenten season we will look at each of these 7 I Am statements. We began on Ash Wednesday considering how Jesus is the bread of life and today we see how Jesus is the gate of the sheepfold protecting his people.

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 the family of Jed Gerken after his passing last week Friday. May God give them comfort and peace in this time of grief.

Bev Nagelkerke is hospitalized with pneumonia. Please pray for continued healing for Bev that she might return home soon.

Serve the World
If you are or know a teenager, consider applying to be staff at Camp Zion this summer! Job descriptions and applications will be available this Sunday on the Camp Zion bulletin board near the church office.

Do you know a great way to serve others? Go shopping! Seriously. Lifeline Community Church is currently planning a mission trip to Guatemala with members from the church from June 19-26. The trip will cost an average of $2,000 per person which for many of their members is a huge cost. To help defray these costs, Benefit Twice will be holding a special sale from March 20-23. This will only be at the Wyoming store in Rogers Plaza, so mark your calendars and do a little shopping for a great cause and some good deals!

Administrative Details
We had a great meeting last week Sunday night led by Elevate Studies to discuss our possible building remodel. A little over 90 people participated in the event, plus the children and volunteers providing childcare. There was a whole lot of laughter, inter-generational connections, and excitement about what God is already doing here at Zion. Elevate will be sharing a report from the night with our building team in the next couple of weeks and we will share that information with the congregation as it becomes available. Thanks to all who participated!

As we continue working with Elevate Architecture to develop a plan for remodeling our building to create a larger gathering area and children’s spaces, the Consistory has formed a building remodel team. The team includes: Pastor Rick, Andy Boeskool, Brian Davis, Sandie Dunn, Kyle VandePol, Roxie VanderHeide, and Arlyn Zoet.

Rachel Brower continues the research portion of her sabbatical as she works with a team to imagine new possibilities for our Children’s Ministries. The team includes Rachel Brower, Sean McAnally, Heidi Ondersma, Jackie Deiter, and Megan Taylor. Currently they are doing some benchmarking of best practices of other churches as they consider the best way to position our church for both future growth and planting new churches.

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: $445,883.20
Fiscal Year to date contributions: $431,959.23

(Friendly public service announcement: Don’t forget to set your clocks one hour ahead this Saturday!)

Carey Nieuwhof is a prolific blogger on church planting, church culture, and all sorts of things church. Recently he shared a post about the difference between church shoppers and the unchurched when they visit a new church. You can read his whole post here.

I found his thoughts spurred in me some consideration of the difference, not between unchurched and church shoppers when they visit a church, but between church consumers and missionaries who attend a church.

Consumers look to the church to meet their needs. Missionaries see the church as a place to serve.
Consumers evaluate a church to see if the needs of their family will be met. They look for an active singles group or youth group or growing kids ministries or great music. Missionaries look for those needs to be met too, but they also loo for how they can contribute to the life of this local community of believers.

Consumers wait for other people to befriend them at the church. Missionaries look to make friends with new people.
Consumers are looking for other people to take the risk and read out to them. When that fails to happen, they blame the church for not being welcoming. (And to be clear, sometimes churches aren’t very welcoming.) But as sometimes happens, these people are the same ones who are gone multiple weekends for travel sports or to go hunting or to spend time at the cottage. They may only be in church 12 times a year. 
Consumers want to be fed. Missionaries want to be sent. Missionaries come to church looking to see who they can befriend and include in their circle of friends.

Consumers criticize. Missionaries help improve.
Consumers see the flaws and have no problem pointing out how others should fix them. Missionaries try o help improve what isn’t yet working at the church. I love a comment Roxie VanderHeide made in a meeting recently with the architects from Elevate Studios. We were talking about several areas of church that could be better and she said, “We’re doing the best we can.” Missionaries do the best they can and don’t expect perfection from other people or the church. 

Consumers look for the church to evangelize. Missionaries evangelize and look to the church to equip them for mission work.
Consumers want the church or the church staff to do the work of telling people about Jesus. Missionaries see their neighborhood and school as a mission field ripe for the harvest. They want to be equipped and encouraged to reach their near to them, but far from God with the gospel.

You may have a slightly different list. As I look my list over though, I have to admit that I drift between the two poles. Sometimes even as a pastor I can think like a consumer, but I try to think more and more like a missionary. How about you?

Connect to God
From the opening verses of the gospel of John, it is clear that Jesus is God. John stresses Jesus’ unique relationship with God so people would believe Jesus was who he said he was. In the gospel, Jesus claims his divinity by using the phrase I Am seven times, joining the phrase to tremendous metaphors, expressing His saving relationship toward the world and showing that He is everything we need. During this Lenten season we will look at each of these 7 I Am statements. We began on Ash Wednesday considering how Jesus is the bread of life and today we see how Jesus is the light of the world in John 8.

After an illness last week, this Sunday we celebrate with Chip and Becky Harkes the baptism of Evelyn Rebecca. As they celebrate her life, we give thanks to God for the gift of new life he has made available to all who believe. We thank God as well for the covenant he has established all the way back with Abraham to include children in his family. We honor this faithful God as we welcome Evelyn into the covenant community at Zion.

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
Jed Gerken continues his struggle with cancer under hospice care. the family asks for continued prayers for strength and comfort during this time.

This week Sunday is another “Say It Day” for our Sunday school kids. The 1st through 5th graders are saying: Return to the Lord your God for he is gracious and compassionate and slow to anger and abounding in love. Joel 2:13
The 3 year old through kindergartners are saying: Return to the Lord your God for he is gracious and compassionate. Joel 2:13

A huge thank you to all who came out to Panera Bread on Monday to support our Middle School youth! We do not yet know how much was raised through your purchases at Panera, but additional donations of over $1,000 were given to the youth. You are an amazingly generous congregation who continue to support the growth and development of our youth.

Serve the World
If you are or know a teenager, consider applying to be staff at Camp Zion this summer! Job descriptions and applications will be available this Sunday on the Camp Zion bulletin board near the church office.

Do you know a great way to serve others? Go shopping! Seriously. Lifeline Community Church is currently planning a mission trip to Guatemala with members from the church from June 19-26. The trip will cost an average of $2,000 per person which for many of their members is a huge cost. To help defray these costs, Benefit Twice will be holding a special sale from March 20-23. This will only be at the Wyoming store in Rogers Plaza, so mark your calendars and do a little shopping for a great cause and some good deals!

Administrative Details
We had a great meeting on Sunday night led by Elevate Studies to discuss our possible building remodel. A little over 90 people participated in the event, plus the children and volunteers providing childcare. There was a whole lot of laughter, intergenerational connections, and excitement about what God is already doing here at Zion. Elevate will be sharing a report from the night with our building team in the next couple of weeks and we will share that information with the congregation as it becomes available. Thanks to all who participated!

As we continue working with Elevate Architecture to develop a plan for remodeling our building to create a larger gathering area and children’s spaces, the Consistory has formed a building remodel team. The team includes: Pastor Rick, Andy Boeskool, Brian Davis, Sandie Dunn, Kyle VandePol, Roxie VanderHeide, and Arlyn Zoet.

Rachel Brower continues the research portion of her sabbatical as she works with a team to imagine new possibilities for our Children’s Ministries. The team includes Rachel Brower, Sean McAnally, Heidi Ondersma, Jackie Deiter, and Megan Taylor. Currently they are doing some benchmarking of best practices of other churches as they consider the best way to position our church for both future growth and planting new churches.

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: $435,008.00
Fiscal Year to date contributions: $427,817.23