Our family had a lively conversation last night spurred by our Ephesians devotional all about how we can find creative ways to connect with our neighbors during the shutdown. (We are a couple of days behind in the devotional.) We talked about messages in sidewalk chalk, organizing a coffee time with our neighbors at the end of our driveways. dropping off gifts at neighbors homes, and a few more.

And then, this morning I received an e-mail from a member of our church about how their family made Easter cookies for all their neighbors a couple days before Easter and then invited each to join us for worship on line on Easter Sunday. While many of their neighbors already attend church, one family did not and this past week one member from the family joined us in worship. They found it interesting and different than they had expected. They said they are planning and joining us again.

While our movements may be more limited right now, the Spirit of God is still going wherever God desires. Doors are open to people connecting with Jesus. Doors are open to prayer. Doors are open to questions. Doors are open for us to help. Let’s not miss the opportunities God has created in the midst of this uncertain time.

If you would like some help thinking of how you can reach out to and care for your non Christian friends and family, check out this article from Christianity Today.

Connect to God
This Sunday we will once again gather for worship online. You can join the service at zionreformed.online.church or from the top banner of our website at www.zionreformed.org. You will also be able to watch the live stream via our church’s Facebook page. The stream will begin at 9:15 with a few worship songs prior to the service starting just a couple minutes after 9:30. Beginning this week, our services will once again be shown a week later on WCET at noon on Fridays and at 4 pm on Sundays.

I would like to thank all the people who participated in our service this week: Josh Sanders, Ellie Mott, Adam and Emily Morehouse, the Gerken Family, Jeremy and Olivia Zoet, and Ethan Brower.

We continue our sermon series entitled Made for More this week. Many of us have been raised in a church culture that told us, however unintentionally, that our role was to come to worship, volunteer in something, give a little money and then let the professionals do the ministry. But what if we were made for more than holding down a seat or filling a volunteer slot. What if we truly are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do? What if we were made for mission, to both be a disciple and make disciples, as well as filling a unique role in God’s kingdom to show God’s love and care for this world. What if we were made for a life overflowing in the life of Jesus and guided in mission by his Spirit? This week we shift our attention from our common identity in Christ, to our common call to both be a disciple of Jesus and to make disciples of Jesus.

If you are not able to watch online, but still want to read the sermon, please contact Connie Stegeman and she can mail you a hard copy of Pastor Greg’s rough draft. (You may have to endure even more than the average number of typos.)

You are also invited to join us for a coffee hour after church via a zoom call. The link will be shared during the service in the chat box. Last week, we had about 8 families join us for a brief talk in response to the sermon and just to catch up. You can learn more about how to use Zoom at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E

Grow in Community
Connected to our new sermon series, we are also engaging in a 30-Day devotional as a congregation. The devotionals will walk us through the book of Ephesians as we together consider  how we are Made for More. The devotionals can be downloaded here.

Rachel Brower is sending information out to parents and Children’s Ministry volunteers each week for at-home Sunday school. If you would like to receive these resources, please contact Rachel and she will add you to her distribution list.

If you have a Middle or High School student who has not attended any of the youth meetings via Zoom, please contact Pastor Jeremy and he can send you the appropriate links and information.

We also still have numerous Discipleship Triads meeting. If you would like to learn more about how you can connect with other people at Zion to encourage one another to follow Jesus well, send me an e-mailand I can help get you connected.

Serve the World
We continue accepting donations of personal care items and food on Wednesdays from 1-3 pm at church. As an additional note, Sunrise Ministries is in particular need of empty egg cartons. If you could bring any to church next Wednesday, it would be greatly appreciated.

Administration
Our annual Congregational Meeting is scheduled for this Sunday following morning worship. We will hold our Congregational Meeting via a Zoom conference call. The link for that call follows:
https://zoom.us/j/96721047181?pwd=ZjdFbFZ2VnBIb3hnZkw5Y040OUF1dz09

At this meeting, we will be approving our slate of Elders and Deacons and then selecting our new Elders and Deacons via lot. We will also receive a report on the state of our church and approve the budget for our fiscal year 2020/21 which begins on June 1.

I know many people may not yet be familiar with Zoom or may feel uncomfortable in this type of setting. Recognizing these challenges, we will hold a Zoom orientation meeting tonight at 8 pm. At this meeting, we will help you learn too some basic tasks like muting and unmuting yourself as well as practicing voting via polls for during our meeting on Sunday. Thank you in advance for your flexibility in trying new things during this time of physical distancing. The link for this orientation is below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/95560347857?pwd=NXlZYSs2MWpXckJGS28wTmZUTW5qZz09

If you are still nervous, you can also learn more about how to use Zoom through the YouTube video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E

The proposed budget can be found here.

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 are especially grateful this week for all those who have adjusted their means of giving to give online, through the mail, and via text. Zion’s members continue to strongly support the ministries of Zion during this time of uncertainty.

Year to Date Budget: $532,407.36
Year to Date Contribution: $513,728.60
Giving Last Week: $ 8,315.20
Cash on Hand: $99,897.39

We are used to at least the illusion of control. But we find ourselves in a time when we have very little control. We don’t get to decide when the stay home orders will end. We can’t decide on which stores will open or when they will open. We don’t get a say in hospital policies for visitors. And most of all, we don’t decide when or if this virus will leave our communities. It is hard to come face-to-face with the limits of our control. And yet here we are.

When faced with the limits of our control, there are at least two things we can do to help our mood and emotional response. First, we can focus again on the one who is in control even now. Spend time in worship. Read your Bible. But perhaps even more, be still in prayer and both talk with and listen to God.

Secondly, we can look beyond ourselves to other people in need and look for ways to be a blessing in our community/neighborhood/apartment complex. Following are a few ideas of what we can still do to have a positive impact in this time:
1. Write encouraging messages on the sidewalk using sidewalk chalk.
2. Make a bag of treats, including an encouraging note, and if we are a sew-er maybe a handmade mask. Pass the bags of these items out to your neighbors.
3. Go on a prayer walk through your community and pray for each family. If you run into a neighbor while doing this, ask how you can pray for them.
4. If your job or finances are still secure, set aside your stimulus check to use when a neighbor needs help. Be generous with what God has given you.
5. Be present in your front yard or outside somewhere for 2 hours twice a week. Talk with your neighbors who walk by. Create opportunities to break out of the social isolation caused by our physical distancing.
6. Plan a social distancing coffee time in your front yard with friends or via a video call.

While our options may be limited to help right now, there are opportunities. Let’s look for ways we can still be a blessing in the place God has put us.

Connect to God
This Sunday we will once again gather for worship online. You can join the service at zionreformed.online.church or from the top banner of our website at www.zionreformed.org. The stream will begin at 9:15 with some worship songs prior to the service starting at 9:30. I would like to thank all the people who participated in our service this week: Rick VanderWall, Ella Bond, Rachel Brower, Matt Eling, Jeremy Zoet, Olivia Zoet, the entire Eriks family, and Ethan Brower.

We continue our sermon series entitled Made for More this week. Many of us have been raised in a church culture that told us, however unintentionally, that our role was to come to worship, volunteer in something, give a little money and then let the professionals do the ministry. But what if we were made for more than holding down a seat or filling a volunteer slot. What if we truly are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do? What if we were made for mission, to both be a disciple and make disciples, as well as filling a unique role in God’s kingdom to show God’s love and care for this world. What if we were made for a life overflowing in the life of Jesus and guided in mission by his Spirit? To embrace this life God offers us, we begin by rooting our identity my fully in Christ.

If you are not able to watch online, but still want to read the sermon, please contact Connie Stegeman and she can mail you a hard copy of Pastor Greg’s rough draft. (You may have to endure even more than an average number of typos.)

You are also invited to join us for a coffee hour after church via a zoom call. The link will be shared during the service in the chat box. Last week, we had about 8 families join us for a brief talk in response to the sermon and just to catch up. You can learn more about how to use Zoom at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E

Grow in Community
Connected to our new sermon series, we are also engaging in a 30-Day devotional as a congregation. The devotionals will walk us through the book of Ephesians as we together consider  how we are Made for More. The devotionals can be downloaded here.

Rachel Brower is sending information out to parents and Children’s Ministry volunteers each week for at-home Sunday school. If you would like to receive these resources, please contact Rachel and she will add you to her distribution list.

If you have a Middle or High School student who has not attended any of the youth meetings this week via Zoom, please contact Pastor Jeremyand he can send you the appropriate links and information.

Serve the World
We continue accepting donations of personal care items and food on Wednesdays from 1-3 pm at church. Kelly Osterink has become a key leading in the food distribution at Sunrise Ministries in Jenison. This week, they served over 500 families before running out of food. If you are able to donate, you can do so directly at Sunrise, or bring your donations to Zion and we will bring them to Sunrise for you. This coming Wednesday, Rachel Brower will be at church. If you have younger kids, consider the potential discipling opportunity of taking them with you to drop off food at church or at Sunrise Ministries.

Administration
Our annual Congregational Meeting is scheduled for May 3 following our morning worship. If we are not able to meet physically by May 3, we will hold our Congregational Meeting via a Zoom conference call. The link for that call follows:
https://zoom.us/j/96721047181?pwd=ZjdFbFZ2VnBIb3hnZkw5Y040OUF1dz09

At this meeting, we will be approving our slate of Elders and Deacons and then selecting our new Elders and Deacons via lot. We will also receive a report on the state of our church and approve the budget for our fiscal year 2020/21 which begins on June 1.

I know many people may not yet be familiar with Zoom or may feel uncomfortable in this type of setting. Recognizing these challenges, we will hold a Zoom orientation meeting on Thursday, April 30 at 8 pm. At this meeting, we will help you learn too some basic tasks like muting and unmuting yourself as well as practicing voting via polls for during our meeting on Sunday. Thank you in advance for your flexibility in trying new things during this time of physical distancing.

If you are still nervous, you can also learn more about how to use Zoom through the YouTube video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E

The proposed budget can be found here.

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 are especially grateful this week for all those who have adjusted their means of giving to give online, through the mail, and via text. Zion’s members continue to strongly support the ministries of Zion during this time of uncertainty.

Year to Date Budget: $521,315.54
Year to Date Contribution: $505,023.40
Giving Last Week: 11,092.57
Cash on Hand: $133,111.26

I received a call recently from someone struggling with their own emotional response to other people’s behavior during the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” orders. In a culture than increasingly looks at every issue through a partisan lens, sees every person through the tribalism of us v. them, it can be difficult to not feel angry and judgmental toward those who do not share our particular views or behaviors.

As I was watching the news coverage of the long line of cars trying to get to the capital on Wednesday, I was struck by the anger of the people protesting. In scrolling through the responses to the protests on social media, I was struck by the anger there, too. It is easy to jump to being angry when we are tired, stressed, and worn out.

Anger, though, is what therapists call a masking emotion. It is the emotion we show to hide the deeper emotion we feel. It does not take long to imagine the emotions people are feeling on both sides of the debate about how and/or when to reopen our local economy. People are afraid. They are afraid of catching a disease they cannot see and that has taken thousands of Michiganders. Others are afraid of losing their business if they can’t reopen. Others are afraid of losing a home or not having enough money to pay their bills or not finding work again or even all of the above. Most of us are feeling out of control. We don’t know when these orders will change. We feel trapped and isolated. We feel anxious, tired, alone, and overwhelmed.

Some people respond to these feeling by looking for someone to blame: Governor Whitmer, President Trump, WHO, China, or their neighbor who is having friends over. It can feel like if there is someone to blame, then we have regained some control because we know who to punish and we can stop them from ding whatever it is we think they did to cause all this anxiety. This blame often comes out in angry outbursts.

Others retreat into themselves and hide from the world, hide from their friends and family, and sink into depression. Their feelings often get turned inward and hurt themselves rather than others.

However people are handling this situation, they don’t need our anger. Life is hard for many people right now. Rather than judgment, they need support. Rather than condemnation, they need compassion. Rather than being attacked, they need to be heard.

During my devotions on Tuesday morning, I heard an old Rich Mullins song  on Spotify entitled “We are Not as Strong as We Think We Are.” The chorus says this:

We are frail, we are fearfully and wonderfully made
Forged in the fires of human passion
Choking on the fumes of selfish rage
And with these our hells and our heavens
So few inches apart
We must be awfully small
And not as strong as we think we are

We are pretty frail and faced with that frailty, we get scared. Our God may be strong, but we are not. Let’s be kind to one another and trust our God to get us through this all.

Connect to God
This Sunday we will once again gather for worship online. You can join the service at zionreformed.online.church or from the top banner of our website at www.zionreformed.org. The stream will begin at 9:15 with some worship songs prior to the service starting at 9:30. I would like to thank all the people who participated in our service this week: Rick VanderWall, Chip Harkes, Cindi Thompson, Shanda VandePol, Jeremy Zoet, Olivia Zoet, Sarah and Sean McAnally, and Ethan Brower.

This week we begin a new sermon series entitled Made for More. Many of us have been raised in a church culture that told us, however unintentionally, that our role was to come to worship, volunteer in something, give a little money and then let the professionals do the ministry. But what if we were made for more than holding down a seat or filling a volunteer slot. What if we truly are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do? What if we were made for mission, to both be a disciple and make disciples, as well as filling a unique role in God’s kingdom to show God’s love and care for this world. What if we were made for a life overflowing in the life of Jesus and guided in mission by his Spirit? What might God do with a church that committed to grabbing hold of the abundantly life of Jesus with all we’ve got? Join us over the next 7 weeks as we seek the More God offers us in Jesus.

You are also invited to join us for a coffee hour after church via a zoom call. The link will be shared during the service in the chat box. Last week, we had about 8 families join us for a brief talk in response to the sermon and just to catch up. You can learn more about how to use Zoom at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E

Grow in Community
Connected to our new sermon series, we will also be engaging in a 30-Day devotional as a congregation. The devotionals will walk us through the book of Ephesians as we together consider  how we are Made for More. the devotionals can be downloaded here.

Rachel Brower is sending information out to parents and Children’s Ministry volunteers each week for at-home Sunday school. She is also holding a weekly Bible story reading time with younger kids and a on-line game time fro older students. If you would like to receive this information as well, please email Rachel and she will add you to her list.

If you have a Middle or High School student who has not attended any of the youth meetings this week via Zoom, please contact Pastor Jeremyand he can send you the appropriate links and information.

Serve the World
We continue accepting donations of personal care items and food on Wednesdays from 1-3 pm at church. A huge thank you to both Kelly Osterink and Tom and Robbi Boeve for bring both food and personal care items to Sunrise Ministries in Jenison this week.

If you need help, either with food, personal care items, help grocery shopping, or with financial needs, please contact Shanda VandePol our chair of deacons and she can help connect you with the appropriate resources at Zion. Her e-mail is shandavandepol@yahoo.com and her phone number is 616-308-0700.

Administration
Our annual Congregational Meeting is scheduled for May 3 following our morning worship. If we are not able to meet physically by May 3, we will hold our Congregational Meeting via a Zoom conference call. At this meeting, we will be approving our slate of Elders and Deacons and then selecting our new Elders and Deacons via lot. We will also receive a report on the state of our church and approve the budget for our fiscal year 2020/21 which begins on June 1.

I know many people may not yet be familiar with Zoom or may feel uncomfortable in this type of setting. Recognizing these challenges, we will hold a Zoom orientation meeting on Thursday, April 30 at 8 pm. At this meeting, we will help you learn too some basic tasks like muting and unmuting yourself as well as practicing voting via polls for during our meeting on Sunday. Thank you in advance for your flexibility in trying new things during this time of physical distancing.

The proposed budget will be made available soon through the E-news and our weekly announcements.

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 are especially grateful this week for all those who have adjusted their means of giving to give online, through the mail, and via text. Zion’s members continue to strongly support the ministries of Zion during this time of uncertainty.

Year to Date Budget: $510,223.72
Year to Date Contribution: $493,930.83
Giving Last Week: $19,834.38
Cash on Hand: $115,586.57

There is no better time to invite a non-believing friend or family member to church than this week. The barriers to coming are very low. They can literally come in their PJ’s and have no commute time. In addition, according to a recent article by Ed Stetzer the times when people are most likely to reconsider faith and come to church are: Christmas, Easter, during a national crisis, or a natural disaster. We have hit at least two and arguably three of those times this week. (Check it out here.)

One of the interesting side benefits of streaming church online is that we can see where people were when they watched our services. Last week, we had people attend Zion online from Detroit, Cleveland, Boston, Texas, and Florida. Some of these people are members of our church whoa re out of town, others were invited by members of our church and now are having conversations about Jesus and God with some of you.

I heard a story from a Facebook group I joined recently for support in live-streaming. The story went something like this: a woman came to their church years ago, but then drifted away when she started dating a man who wouldn’t go to church. She came back a year or two later to get married, but then drifted again because he wouldn’t go to church. Six months later, the marriage was on the rocks and she came back to church. But he stayed home. But for the last 3 weeks, he had started coming to their church online, which required driving 20 minutes to find a place with free wifi because they had no internet in their home. This Sunday he decided to give his life to God and follow Jesus. As this person described it, they never would have been online if not for being forced out of their building and this man never would have come to their church building, but God is on the move and now he is learning how to follow Jesus.

I know life is in flux for many of us and we can have our own anxieties and worries right now, but let us not allow our discomfort keep us from going out into the mission field and joining our God in the harvest. Invite a friend or child. Offer to meet up via Face Time or Google Hangouts to answer their questions. Let’s grab hold of this opportunity to reach people who are more curious and open to the gospel than they would have been only a few weeks ago. God has opened some doors, go through them boldly.

Connect to God
Joins us this Sunday as we celebrate Easter. You can join us online at zionreformed.online.church or from the first banner on our website at www.zionreformed.org. Worship will begin at 9:30 am. There will be an opportunity in the service to chat with people who have gathered, help choose our closing song, and also make prayer requests. We look forward to being together online on Sunday. Our scripture will come from Matthew 28:1-10 and the sermon will focus on the hope we have in a time our world is focused on death and disease.

You can also join us for our Maundy Thursday service tonight at 6:30 at either of the links above. The service will start right at 6:30, but there will be a countdown clock starting at 6:25 so you know the video stream is working.

Grow in Community
Please be in prayer for the many people working on the front lines of caring for our community right now. Certainly we want to pray for doctors, nurses, aides and EMTs, and we also want to remember all the people still working in service industries to make sure we get fed like grocery store stockers and clerks, as well as garbage truck drivers, and all the truck drivers delivering our food. We also pray for those worried about losing their job or their business during this time. And, of course, for all those who are sick. May God make his mercy and love known at this time.

Rachel Brower is sending information out to parents and Children’s Ministry volunteers each week for at-home Sunday school. She is also holding a weekly Bible story reading time with younger kids and a on-line game time fro older students. If you would like to receive this information as well, please email Rachel and she will add you to her list. (This week, in Rachel’s introductory video, to be sent Sunday morning, Ethan is hidden somewhere in the video. I will give the first person to find him a candy bar of their choice. I will drop it off at or mail it to your home. So, if you have kids, watch close and see if you can find Ethan hidden in the video.)

If you have a Middle or High School student who has not attended any of the youth meetings this week via Zoom, please contact Pastor Jeremy and he can send you the appropriate links and information.

If you have never read the Bible on your own or established a prat ice of daily Bible reading and prayer, now is a great time to start. I would suggest starting with the book of Philippians as Paul wrote it while under house arrest (maybe you can relate a little more this week than you could a month ago). There is also a couple of great video study of this book on RightNow Media you can access here and here. If you do not already have access to RightNow media you can sign-up here.

Serve the World
We will the accepting donations of Personal Care items and food on Wednesdays from 1-3 pm at church. These donations will one used to assist both H2H and the Personal Care Pantry as well as being available to our members who may need some extra help during this time and for you to share with your neighbors and friends who may need help. Any excess donations will be brought to Love, INC or Sunrise Ministries to support their work in Eastern Ottawa county.

Purchasing food for Hand2Hand has been a challenge as some of the stores are limiting the quantity you can purchase of some items,. If you are able to purchase items for Hand2Hand to donate it would be great;y appreciated. The specific items needed are listed below:

Cans of chicken
Pudding cups
Fruit cups
Individual sized non-refrigerated milk (Yoo-hoo chocolate drink)
100% juice boxes or pouches
Sleeves of crackers (saltines, ritz, etc)

If you need help, either with food, personal care items, help grocery shopping, or with financial needs, please contact Shanda VandePol our chair of deacons and she can help connect you with the appropriate resources at Zion. Her e-mail is shandavandepol@yahoo.com and her phone number is 616-308-0700.

Administration
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 are especially grateful this week for all those who have adjusted their means of giving to give online, through the mail, and via text. Zion’s members continue to strongly support the ministries of Zion during this time of uncertainty.

Fiscal Year to date budget:  $499,131.90
Fiscal Year to date contributions: $463,926.45
Giving Last Week: $ 6,618.28
Cash on Hand: $104,689.28

One of my daily delights over the last week has been checking twitter to see what the National Cowboy Museum has posted recently. I have no idea where this museum is located. I have no intention of ever going to this museum. I had never heard of the museum until last week Thursday, but I love it.

Two weeks ago, the museum shutdown due to Covid-19 and gave control of its twitter feed to Tim, the head of security. When Tim started, he knew nothing about twitter. He did not know what a hashtag was and for the first few days simply wrote “hashtag.” He accidentally sends out tweets when he means to be searching on Google. He tells his grandkids good night. He doesn’t know what a selfie is and messes it up when he talks a picture of the selfie station in the museum. But he keeps learning.

And even better, people are showing him all sorts of grace and encouragement. He gets advice on how to get more people engaged. He has learned how to use hashtags. And, their twitter following has grown to over 270,000 people. He has gotten really good at this social media thing, as he puts it. They have even started selling a t-shirt with his signature hashtag and sign-off of “Thanks, Tim.” (Side note, Rachel ordered me one because I have found so much joy watching Tim learn.)

I think what I love about Tim right now its that he is all of us. We are all learning new things. We are all adjusting to a world we have not experienced before. We are learning new rules of social engagement. Watching Tim learn reminds me that we can all do this, too.

We can try new things and even fail at them miserably. And then we can keep learning. We can simply be our honest selves and find community and relationships in unlikely places. (For those who may not know, Twitter tends to be pretty snarky, sarcastic, and not always very kind place.)

We are learning at Zion, too. We will eventually get our livestream figured out. We are learning how to hold youth group without being present. Small groups are finding new ways to connect. Parents are learning how to engage their kids in scripture at home in our at-home Sunday school. And, perhaps most of all, during a time of limited contact and movement, we are learning what really matters in our lives.

This push to learn new ways of living and doing church is not unique to us and this time. The early church spent 100 years working through how to be church with Jews and Gentiles in the same room. Five hundred years ago, the church adapted to the printing press and the wide availability of scripture for all people, not just a few in the church. In the 1950s, churches adapted to television. In the 1980s and 90s to the changing music tastes of our culture. And now, we are living into a dispersed way of being the church. In every case, God was with us and he is still with us today. He will not fail his church and he will be glorified in us as we live for him.

So, let’s keep our eyes on Jesus even now as we learn and try new things.

Connect to God
This Sunday we celebrate Palm Sunday and Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. As he enters the city, the crowds come with all their expectations of the Messiah, but Jesus quickly fails to meet those expectations. God has another plan. Many of us today are living in the reality of unmet expectations, too. Cancelled proms. Cancelled spring vacations. And more. Join us Sunday as we consider how to respond when life or God does not live up to our expectations.

Joins us this Sunday for Zion worship online. You can find our service at zionreformed.online.church or from the first banner on our website atwww.zionreformed.org. Worship will begin at 9:30 am. There will be an opportunity in the service to chat with people who have gathered, help choose our closing song, and also make prayer requests. We look forward to being together online on Sunday. We will finish our series on the Sermon on the Mount as we consider how to follow the narrow way of Jesus in a time such as this.

There will also be a coffee time following church via a Zoom chat. The link for the Zoom chat will be shared during the service. If you have never used Zoom before, the link below provides a helpful introduction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E

Our Maundy Thursday service will be held next Thursday at 6:30 online at zionreformed.online.church. This will be a service of scripture and worship centered on the last few hours of Jesus’ life.

Grow in Community
We extend our sympathy to Tom and Megan MacGraw in the passing of Megan’s grandmother yesterday. A celebration of life service will be held when permitted at a later date.

Rachel Brower is sending information out to parents and Children’s Ministry volunteers each week for at-home Sunday school. She is also holding a weekly Bible story reading time with younger kids and a on-line game time fro older students. If you would like to receive this information as well, please email Rachel and she will add you to her list.

If you have a Middle or High School student who has not attended any of the youth meetings this week via Zoom, please contact Pastor Jeremyand he can send you the appropriate links and information.

If you have never read the Bible on your own or established a pratice of daily Bible reading and prayer, now is a great time to start. I would suggest starting with the book of Philippians as Paul wrote it while under house arrest (maybe you can relate a little more this week than you could a month ago). There is also a couple of great video study of this book on RightNow Media you can access here and here. If you do not already have access to RightNow media you can sign-up here.

Serve the World
During this time of physical and economic anxiety and disruption, we want to be a blessing in our community that in us people might glimpse the love of God for them. To that end, we want to let you know how we as a church are responding and how you can be involved:
1. We will continue running Hand2Hand and the Personal Care pantry to ensure the people we had been helping before this crisis continue to receive help.
2. We will the accepting donations of Personal Care items and food on Wednesdays from 1-3 pm at church. These donations will one used to assist both H2H and the Personal Care Pantry as well as being available to our members who may need some extra help during this time and for you to share with your neighbors and friends who may need help. Any excess donations will be brought to Love, INC or Sunrise Ministries to support their work in Eastern Ottawa county.
3. We are creating a list of people who are willing to pickl up groceries or medicines for those who are quarantined or need to stay isolated because they are at particular risk. You can sign-up to be a driver/shopper through this google form.

If you need help, either with food, personal care items, help grocery shopping, or with financial needs, please contact Shanda VandePol our chair of deacons and she can help connect you with the appropriate resources at Zion. Her e-mail is shandavandepol@yahoo.com and her phone number is 616-308-0700.

Administration
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 are especially grateful this week for all those who have adjusted their means of giving to give online, through the mail, and via text. Zion’s members continue to strongly support the ministries of Zion during this time of uncertainty. Our P&A Committee is meeting every 2 weeks to monitor our financial situation. Some key numbers are shared below.

Fiscal Year to date budget: $488,040.08
Fiscal Year to date contributions: $457,663.17
Giving Last Week: $1,342.00
Cash on Hand: $103,384.95