9-9-18 Bulletin

This morning, I was listening to NPR while driving to church and they had a segment on parents becoming empty nesters after dropping their youngest child off at college or in the military. They talked about rattling around an empty house, getting to know their spouse again, going on spur of the moment vacations. There can be great joy in freedom and having less responsibilities.

But many also talked about the pain of letting a child go. One mother said that people talk about how to raise boys, but not how to let them go. Another said she had been dreading this day for 10 years. One captured the pain of letting a child go when she said that dropping their first child off was like having all their insides scooped out by a melon baller, but dropping off their last the melon baller had become a snow shovel.

When you love a child and would do anything to protect a child, it is hard to let them go. It is difficult watching your child head off to their first day of kindergarten, and then middle school, and then high school. But, they come back home every night. You get to hear about the adventures of their day. When kids move out, you lose that connection time. It grieves our parental hearts.

As much as we love our kids, we know God loves them and us much more. His heart breaks when his kids walk away from the faith. Jesus tells us of the father who spends his days scanning the horizon looking for even a glimpse of his son in Luke 15. God knows the pain of a parent who feels their insides have been scooped out by a melon baller. But, God doesn’t give up on wayward children and neither do we. He longs for us to come home and he is always ready to welcome us no matter where we have been or what we have done.

And, like we love reconnecting with our children after a day at school or as often as possible wen they move out, God loves to connect with us, too. He loves meeting us in worship, listening to our concerns in prayer, talking quietly in the early hours of the morning, over a lunch hour, or late in the evening. God longs to connect with you.

Summer schedules get all cockeyed with vacations and weekends at the cabin. Devotions can fall by the wayside. Church attendance is more sporadic for most of us. As we enter a new season, it is chance to make a new beginning. To set new patterns, new practices. As you do so, know, God will always be ready to meet with you and you will always be welcome at Zion.

Connect to God

We spend a lot of our lives working, thinking about work, and dreaming of not having to work. Sometimes work can feel like a joy and delight, while others times it can feel like a burden and a never ending treadmill. If we are going to spend so much of our lives working, it seems worth considering what God says about work and how to live not only at home and church, but also at work, for God. On this Labor Day weekend, we consider our faith and our work in light of the gospel.

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

Join us on Sunday, September 9, following worship for a church picnic by our playground. Everyone is invited to stay and join us for hamburgers and all the fixings. Those who still need to complete Keeping Kids Safe Training will be able to do so and still attend the picnic.

We are grateful for over 60 people serving in our Children’s education ministries this year. We have every position in our Children’s Ministry filled! Thank you to all those willing to serve and invest in the lives of the children of Zion.

Children and Worship will begin meeting during church on Sunday, September 9. Children and Worship is for kids ages 3 through 3rd grade.

Sunday school will begin on Sunday September 16 following worship. Sunday school is for children ages 3 years old through 8th grade.

Youth groups begin meeting on September 9 with a kick-off party hosted by the Johnson family. A huge thank you to them for graciously opening their house over the past several years for this great start to our youth year.

If you are a hunter or want to expose your children to hunting, Zion will be hosting a Hunter’s Safety Class this fall in partnership with Sports Persons International, a Christian outdoors ministry. Classes will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 on September 10, 12, 17, and 19. You can sign-up or learn more here.

We have T-shirts (short, long, and hoodies) available with our Zion logo on the front. If you are looking for any easy way to show your pride in your church, let your neighbors know you are willing to talk about your faith, or just want a cool new shirt, check out the link below to order your very own! Shirts range in price from $16 to $24. You can order a shirt through September 9. If you are uncomfortable ordering on-line, you can also call the office and we will be happy to help you place an order. You can order your shirt here.

Do you want some good food, friends and fellowship? Then this is the opportunity for you! 729 groups bring 7 to 9 willing people together to meet for a meal 3x in 3 months. The goal is simply to get to know some people in church better. Once groups are formed, the host will contact members to arrange the details for the first gathering. Dinner groups are encouraged to be creative; consider picking a dinner “theme night” (i.e. Italian, dessert or soup night), and everyone can bring a dish that goes along with that theme or meet at a restaurant or church. You can sign-up through the cards found in the bulletin or call the church office at 616-534-7533.

Serve the World

CityFest is next weekend September 8 and 9. Check out the list of artists performing here. This is going to be a great weekend and opportunity for many people to hear the gospel. Join me in praying already now for good weather and a harvest for the kingdom of God.

This year, we have started supporting two native Nepalese church planters through Jibit Asha International, led by Yakuv Gurung the pastor of the Nepalese Speaking Church in Grand Rapids. We received an update from one of our planters that since his training earlier in July, they have seen 4 new people come too faith, 2 people are open to the gospel, and two people who were very sick have been healed in a village and they whole village is talking about the power of the one true God. This planter currently has reached people in 7 villages and has recruited two assistants to help him in this work. he is praying for the resources to purchase two bicycles to help them travel from village to village.

Administrative Details

Beginning this fall, we will be giving our first time visitors a new 30oz Zion travel mug and a free beverage at Biggby. But, you can get your very own Zion travel mug already on Sunday. We will be selling the mugs for $20 and you can buy as many as you want. They come in two colors, silver and gunmetal and both have a cool looking Zion logo. Cups will be available for purchase in the lobby following worship. (If you don’t want to buy one on a Sunday, they will also be available from the office during the week.)

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: $141,377.60
Fiscal Year to date contributions: $128,864.31

Earlier this week, I came across an article and a new report about friendship that connected with each other and resonated with what I hear from many others.

The first was a report on NPR about the rising suicide rate in middle aged white men since 1999. Often this change gets tied to the recession in 2008, but it actually started almost 10 years before. The report suggested this rising rate is due to the increasing social isolation of many people, men in particular. We no longer see a person when we buy gas, go to the bank, or even check out at the grocery store. Steadily, we have seen our casual connections decline and for many, their deeper friendships disappear entirely. This social isolation leads to depression.

The second was an article about a recent book by Wesley Hill entitled Spiritual Friendships, Wesley is a celibate gay Christian and he writes out of his struggles to find meaningful friendships in the church. He begins his reflection by pointing to the value friendships had in the ancient church. He argues that many factors have decreased our valuation of friendships including Freud and the sexualization relationships, the increasing priority of the marriage relationship, a focus on our vocation over our relationships, and the freedom inherent in our modern view of friendships (we feel free to drift in and out of friendships).

In the ancient world, he argues, friendships were held up as perhaps the most important relationship. In the church, these spiritual friendships were often solemnized and each person was expected to make sacrifices for the sake of the friendship.

Reflecting on these two stories, it seems many people feel lonely. We don’t value friendships and aren’t willing to sacrifice to maintain them. It’s no wonder we struggle to develop deep friendships.

And yet, on the last night of his life, Jesus calls his disciples friends, not servants, not co-workers, but friends. Then he tells them to love each other. In an increasingly isolated culture, one of the ways we witness to the gospel is in maintaining friendships, loving each other well.

As the old songs puts it, “They will know we are Christians by our love.” But maybe it is not our general love for all people, but our genuine specific love for our friends. What can you do this week to strengthen one of your friendships and let that person know what they mean to you?

Connect to God
Does prayer work? What can we expect from prayer? How do we pray anyway? Have you ever wondered why the disciples never asked Jesus how to preach or perform miracles – and all they asked Him was how to pray? Prayer gives us access to the very throne room of God. In prayer, we are shaped by the Holy Spirit. In prayer, we talk directly with the King of the Universe. Over the next several weeks, we will consider how Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer. This week, we consider the fifth of six requests. What does it mean for us to be a people who ask for our sins to be forgiven as we forgive others.

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 grateful for over 60 people serving in our Children’s education ministries this year. Last week Sunday, a very involved member offered to teach the Kindergarten class every other week, our last remaining opening. We are very thankful for this person and I firmly believe there is someone who is not already heavily involved at Zion, maybe sitting on the sidelines, whom God is calling to this role. If you are not already serving somewhere, or only serving occasionally, I urge you to prayerfully consider teaching Sunday School this year.

If you are a hunter or want to expose your children to hunting, Zion will be hosting a Hunter’s Safety Class this fall in partnership with Sports Persons International, a Christian outdoors ministry. Classes will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 on September 10, 12, 17, and 19. You can sign-up or learn more here.

We have T-shirts (short, long, and hoodies) available with our Zion logo on the front. If you are looking for any easy way to show your pride in your church, let your neighbors know you are willing to talk about your faith, or just want a cool new shirt, check out the link below to order your very own! Shirts range in price from $16 to $24. You can order a shirt through September 9. If you are uncomfortable ordering on-line, you can also call the office and we will be happy to help you place an order. You can order your shirt here. You can also see 6 samples below.

Do you want some good food, friends and fellowship? Then this is the opportunity for you! 729 groups bring 7 to 9 willing people together to meet for a meal 3x in 3 months. The goal is simply to get to know some people in church better. Once groups are formed, the host will contact members to arrange the details for the first gathering. Dinner groups are encouraged to be creative; consider picking a dinner “theme night” (i.e. Italian, dessert or soup night), and everyone can bring a dish that goes along with that theme or meet at a restaurant or church. You can sign-up through the cards found in the bulletin or call the church office at 616-534-7533.

Serve the World
CityFest is only a few weeks away. Check out the list of artists performing here. This is going to be a great weekend and opportunity for many people to hear the gospel. Join me in praying already now for good weather and a harvest for the kingdom of God.

This year, we have started supporting two native Nepalese church planters through Jibit Asha International, led by Yakuv Gurung the pastor of the Nepalese Speaking Church in Grand Rapids. Ashok (.1%) and Ram Lai (1.5%) are both serving as church planters in communities where less than 2% of the people are believers. They both just completed their fourth church planter training in early August and continue their efforts to establish small worshipping communities. They have each committed to planting 3 churches in the next 5 years. Please join me in praying for these two planters.

Administrative Details
We will be holding our next Leaders Meeting this Sunday from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. We look forward to a great evening of fellowship, worship, and some training.

If you are serving in any Children or Youth ministry you will want to attend as we will be offering training on our child protection policies. You must go through this training or the one following worship on September 9 to volunteer in any ministry involving children or youth.

Beginning this fall, we will be giving our first time visitors a new 30oz Zion travel mug and a free beverage at Biggby. But, you can get your very own Zion travel mug already on Sunday. We will be selling the mugs for $20 and you can buy as many as you want. They come in two colors, silver and gunmetal and both have a cool looking Zion logo. Cups will be available for purchase in the lobby following worship. (If you don’t want to buy one on a Sunday, they will also be available from the office during the week.)

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 also thank you for your generous support of our Benevolence fund during our offering last Sunday. Over $1,000 was given to care for those in our congregation experiencing financial needs. Thank you for sharing out of the blessings God has given you.

Fiscal Year to date budget: $130,502.40
Fiscal Year to date contributions: $117,721.31