One of my favorite activities of the summer is reading through the journal of our students who went on mission trips. I enjoy this for some pretty small reasons, like: they have worse penmanship than I do and some of them are pretty funny. But most of all, reading these journals gives me glimpses of how God is at work among us.

On the mission trips, I counted at least 2 kids who made a re-commitment to following Jesus, numerous kids talked about being closer to Jesus, others talked of feeling a stronger sense of call to their home community, others of seeing God at work in the lives of the people they met, others found a safe place to wrestle through doubts, others of being used by God to bring someone into relationship with Jesus. We talk about striving to be a community that makes disciples who make disciples. This happens in many ways in our community, and one of them are the mission trips of our Middle and High School students. God is at work among these students.

And then this morning, as I was walking down the hall, the Camp Zion kids were having their morning devotions. (We talk about all the fun activities at Camp Zion, and they do a lot of fun stuff, but there is also a very intentional effort to introduce kids to Jesus.) Many of them were gathered in circles praying together. My favorite image was of Luke Austin sitting on the floor, hands folded, head bowed, surrounded by 5 little kids all in the exact same pose praying together. Disciples making disciples.

This disciple making doesn’t only happen in the summer or in youth groups. It happens every week in Sunday school classes and Children and Worship rooms and in small groups and discipleship triads. If you want to be involved in seeing God change lives, there are plenty of opportunities at Zion,

Some of those opportunities are in formal church events, but others are casual conversations and a prayer offered with a friend over coffee. Or, sitting down with your kids and reading a Bible story each night and teaching them how to talk to God. Disciples making disciples.

May we be ever more a people committed to making disciples who make disciples.

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 second of six requests for God’s kingdom to come.

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
Les VandenHoek went to be with his Lord on Wednesday, July 25. We express our sympathy to his wife Alice and their families and ask for prayers for peace and comfort for them during this difficult time.  Arrangements will be through Cook Funeral Home and are pending at this time.

If you have been in church the last few weeks, you may have noticed the many children we continue to welcome in worship. Due to the continued growth in our children’s ministry, we will have a second room for children age 3 years old through 3rd grade to attend during worship this summer.

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
City Chapel held their second preview service on Sunday. They celebrated Christmas in July, including singing Christmas carols and wishing one another a happy Christmas. The focus of the service was the incarnation of Christ and the call for each of us to be present and engage din our local communities. Just under 80 people attended the service, which is a slight decline from June, but there were very few well wishers this month compared to June. So, the 78 people counted were almost all people checking out the church or committed to the church. Ron estimated that almost half the people were new to City Chapel in theist month. One family had never had any contacted with the church until coming to worship on Sunday.

CityFest West Michigan will be held the weekend of September 8 and 9. For the last several months, the Luis Palau team has been working with churches and local service agencies to help churches connect with their community and celebrate all the ways the church is already blessing West Michigan. On September 8 and 9, there will be concerts, X-game type events, and the proclamation of the gospel. As part of the festival, we are looking for people who willing to be Festival Friends who will be trained in helping someone make those first few steps of discipleship. If you are interested in being a Festival Friend, there will be training on August 7 at 7 pm at Remembrance Reformed Church. We will also offer training at our next Leaders Meeting in August 26.

There is only one more Neighborhood Park Party (formerly Hoops and Hotdogs) on  July 31 from 6-7 pm. We had a great time at the first few Park Parties and are looking forward for the last one. These are great evenings to connect with neighbors, invite a friend, let the kids get some energy out on the playground, and enjoy a hotdog! A huge thank you to Tom MacGraw and Megan Taylor who make this event happen each time.

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: $87,001.60
Fiscal Year to date contributions: $84,883.01

On Tuesday this week, Camp Zion spent the day talking about the shoes of Peace in the armor of God in Galatians. As explained to them, the shoes of Peace are a willingness and a desire to share the good news about Jesus and our new life him, Rachel Verbrugge then explained that every staff member and volunteer was wearing the shoes of Peace and they would all be willing to talk about how to accept Jesus as their savior. And then, she prayed with the group as a whole and in the prayer asked God to give people who wanted to learn more about Jesus the courage to ask one of the staff or volunteers.

After the prayer, one of the students came up to Luke Austin to learn about Jesus. Luke explained the gospel and what it meant to accept Jesus into your heart. The child prayed with Luke to give their life over to Jesus.

Today, we celebrate a life changed by the gospel of Jesus!

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 Kong 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 first of six request for God’s name to be made holy.

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 Greg and Michelle Stuyvesant in the passing of Greg’s mother Shirley Stuyvesant last week Tuesday. The funeral was held on Tuesday this week.

Mike MacGraw, Kathy MacGraw’s husband, had knee replacement surgery on Monday and is doing well recovering at home.

If you have been in church the last few weeks, you may have noticed the many children we continue to welcome in worship. Due to the continued growth in our children’s ministry, we will have a second room for children age 3 years old through 3rd grade to attend during worship this summer.

Serve the World
CityFest West Michigan will be held the weekend of September 8 and 9. For the last several months, the Luis Palau team has been working with churches and local service agencies to help churches connect with their community and celebrate all the ways the church is already blessing West Michigan. On September 8 and 9, there will be concerts, X-game type events, and the proclamation of the gospel. As part of the festival, we are looking for people who willing to be Festival Friends who will be trained in helping someone make those first few steps of discipleship. If you are interested in being a Festival Friend, there will be training on August 7 at 7 pm at Remembrance Reformed Church. We will also offer training at our next Leaders Meeting in August 26.

If you are interested in helping advertising and raise awareness of CityFest, we will have yard signs available in the narthex following worship on Sunday. This is an easy way to let your neighbors know you are open and willing to talk not only about CityFest, but also about your faith. We will also have prayer cards and invite cards available on Sunday.

There is only one more Neighborhood Park Party (formerly Hoops and Hotdogs) on  July 31 from 6-7 pm. We had a great time at the first few Park Parties and are looking forward for the last one. These are great evenings to connect with neighbors, invite a friend, let the kids get some energy out on the playground, and enjoy a hotdog! A huge thank you to Tom MacGraw and Megan Taylor who make this event happen each time.

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: $76,126.40
Fiscal Year to date contributions: $56,514.01