Zion E-News (12-6-2018)

So, I have no great theological insights today. No funny stories. But, I have lately been spending a lot of time in meetings to plan meetings and they always remind me of this old Dilbert cartoon. If you are in a large organization, maybe you have some of these ridiculous meetings to plan a meeting, too. And, I hope you can appreciate the humor. If not, have sympathy on those of us in meetings where you begin to wonder if hitting your head against the wall would be a good way to get out of the meeting.

Connect to God
This Sunday we have the joy of being left in worship by the children of Zion. This year they will be telling us about the Messiah who is like King David, but not quite. A Messiah who comes in a manger, but becomes King of all kings. We expect a sizable crowd so you may want to come early and plan on using every available seat this Sunday.

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
Dave Geenen is recovering from knee surgery on Tuesday. Please pray for continued healing and increased mobility.

We extend our sympathy to Zach and Kallie Elmore in the passing of Zach’s mother Alice last week Saturday.

Tom and Marcia Verbrugge request prayers for their grandson, Conrad Burton, who has been diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia after three years of remission. Please pray for strength and healing for Conrad and continued hope and strength for his parents, Lisa and Mike, and his siblings Victoria, Clint, and Virginia.

In early January, we will be starting a new women’s exercise class on Monday nights. It will be a great time to both get some exercise and connect with other women at Zion. If you are interested in learning more, you can sign up on the Connection Card on Sunday.

Serve the World
A huge thank you to all who gave generously to the Thanksgiving offering over the past 2 weeks. We raised $8,666 to be given to Good News Nepal, RCA relief efforts for Hurricane Michael, and to support several families in our local community.

Administrative Details
As many of you may know, in September our Consistory went on a retreat together to discern God’s call for Zion in the next several years. We will be sharing this vision in more detail early next year, but the core of our vision is a desire to raise up Christian leaders in order to plant new churches in the Grandville and Georgetown Township communities.

As part of this visioning process, we also have been assessing our ongoing needs at Zion in order to continue welcoming new people into our congregation. We are working on everything from assessing our outreach ministries to creating leadership development resources and assessing our building use. Currently, the Consistory is interviewing potential architects to help us better use the footprint of our building to more effectively welcome more people to our church. We are asking specifically for help in rightsizing our children and youth spaces and improving the traffic flow in the building on Sundays with some more welcoming gathering areas.

As you think about your upcoming end-of-year giving, please consider giving to our new Church Remodel Fund. Going forward, we will involve the congregation in both the design and decision process of any remodel, but wanted to share this opportunity to financially support this effort as we begin dreaming of how we can use our facility even better to reach people for God.

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: $293,634.40
Fiscal Year to date contributions: $284,549.52