Zion E-News (1-17-2019)

On Monday afternoon, local church leaders gathered to both support Doug and Diane McClintic and listen to Ed Stetzer. Ed is a nationally known expert on evangelism, church planting, and the mission of the church. As the Billy Graham Chair of Evangelism at Wheaton College, he also spoke at Billy Graham’s funeral. This week, he spoke about being Christian in an age of outrage. He also writes regularly on his website and has a great post recently about balancing Gospel Proclamation (telling people about Jesus) and Gospel Demonstration (loving people in Jesus’ name). He rightly argues this is not an either/or situation, but a both/and. Both are necessary and we also need to find a proper balance between the two. You can read it here.

Ed came to speak because he is a supporter of Doug and Diane McClintic as they prepare to begin a new ministry in Europe. Doug has already been instrumental in planting the first new church in Hungary in over 500 years and now, with Diane, will be leading the Reformed Church efforts to support church planting in Europe more broadly including in the Netherlands. If you are interested in supporting this work, you can do so by following this link.

Connect to God
While Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell many of the same stories of Jesus, John tells many different stories and in the process give a unique theological view of who Jesus is and how he now calls us to live. We begin our study of John this year by studying the 7 signs of John. The second sign occurs once again in Cana after Jesus returns from celebrating the passover in Jerusalem. The crowds gather looking for signs and wonders in order to believe. But one man comes to Jesus begging for his own sons life and he takes Jesus at his word. Before he sees the sign and wonder, he believes and his boy is healed. We can often be tempted to come to Jesus because of what we can get from him, but even greater things can be done with our lives when we take him at his word.

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 Tom and Marcia Verbrugge, Tom and Rachel Verbrugge, Jr and family in the passing of their father and grandfather, Wendell Becker, who went to be with his Lord this morning. Please pray for peace and comfort for the Becker and Verbrugge families during this difficult  time. Visitation will be held from 4-7 p.m. Friday, January 18, 2019 at Cook Funeral Home in Grandville. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Hudsonville Reformed Church

Throughout this fall, many people in our church have participated in a 729 Group. These groups commit to meet together for a meal once a month for three months. It is a great way to get to know some new people in church. I have heard numerous people tell me how much they have enjoyed getting to know people in their group. If you are looking to make some new connections over the winter, new to Zion, or wondering who some of these new people are, sign-up through the connections beginning on January 6 for our next round of 729 Groups.

Serve the World
This Sunday, we welcome Activation International Ministries to share during our Moment for Mission. Activation International Ministries is committed to activating and equipping Kingdom leaders who bring forth much fruit by providing Biblically-sound, prophetically-spoken, leadership-focused training and discipleship to spur on growth, character, and influence within communities in Asia, Africa, and North America.

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 January 23-26 and 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
A huge thank you to Pastor Rick and Rick Steenbergen who spent Wednesday morning replacing all the lights in the sanctuary. The whole procedure takes several hours and lots of trips up a very high ladder. Praise God for people without a fear of heights!

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: $358,881.60
Fiscal Year to date contributions: $352,433.23