I have been thinking and praying for the last 48 hours about what if anything to say about the George Floyd killing in Minnesota this week. I am not sure what i dare say for a variety of reasons, including:
1. I am angry. At its best, this anger is like that of a parent who wants to protect their young from a threat. At its worst, it is the anger that simply lashes out in frustration.
2. I am tired. Just in the past few weeks, we saw video of a black man being hunted and killed by vigilante citizens in Georgia who were only charged when the video was leaked. The authorities were going to cover it up. And then this week, a man in Central Park asked a woman to put her dog on a leash. She responded by calling the police and saying the black man was threatening her. And then, the video of George Floyd being murdered was released. I am tired of the injustice and the deeply entrenched racism it reveals.
3. I am afraid. I am afraid for my Ethiopian nephew, for my Guatemalan niece, my Filipino sisters, and the many other people of color I love and care about who live in a culture where they are at risk simply because of the color of their skin.
4. I am sad. I am sad some people will view this is a political or even a partisan issue rather than a gospel issue. It will be fought over like a competition on social media and the 24-hour news channels.

But this is not an issue, these are people. And, if we choose to treat it as an issue, then it is a core gospel issue. If God loves the world as John 3:16 says and Jesus calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves, as Christians, we have to stand with oppressed people in our country. We have to stand with our neighbors who experience the racism we as white people may not even notice.

Unfortunately, the opposite seems to happen in churches. The more often someone attends church, the more likely they are to harbor racist attitudes (see here). We must do better.

If we as Christians are not known for our love, especially our love for the poor and marginalized, the outsiders and the minorities, the refugees and the prisoners, we have failed to honor our Lord and have harmed the glory of his name. After all, he would have been in all of these situations during his life.

And so today, I am going to repent of my own silence, my own prejudicial attitudes, and seek both God’s mercy and to change my ways.

And, I am going to pray. I am going to pray for the grieving families and for the African Americans who live in fear of being stopped or confronted by the police for driving while black, running while black, buying gas while black, shopping while black, or simply breathing in their own home while black. And, because I do not want to allow anger to take root in me, I am also praying for the police officers in Minnesota and all those who have allowed racism to take root in their lives.

May God have mercy on us all.

(I feel a need to be clear. I am not saying any individual police officer is racist or event that most are, but that our black brothers and sisters tell us they regularly experience racism from all sorts of people in authority, including police officers.)

Connect to God
This Sunday we will once again gather for worship online. You can join the service at:
zionreformed.online.church
Zion’s Facebook Page
WCET (at noon on Friday and 4pm on Sunday)
Physical Copy of the Sermon mailed to you (please request from Connie Stegeman at cstegeman@zionreforned.org)

We conclude 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? During our final week of this series we consider how to determine the position: the place, the people, or the cause, to which God has called us.

You are 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
Join us at 9 am for Zion Kids Worship/Sunday School. We will be live streaming directly from the same website where you already watch our worship service. You can find the Kids Worship time at https://zionreformed.online.church.

Connected to our 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.

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-mail and 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. We are partnering with Sunrise Ministries in Jenison for a weekly distribution. We also continue our monthly partnership with UCOM through our Personal Care Pantry. For the next few weeks, all Personal Care Items will be shared with Lifeline Community Church for their next distribution in Wyoming. Thank you for your support of these important ministries at this time.

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.

Covid-19 Town Hall on June 4 at 7 pm
Many people have shared with me the difficulty in knowing what to believe or whom to trust in the middle of this pandemic. As the pandemic and the governments response to it has become increasingly partisan, it has become harder and harder for many of us to know whom to trust and discern the facts we should believe the advice we should follow. Which leaves us with a lot of questions, such as:
1. How widespread is the virus in West Michigan?
2. Are masks really necessary?
3. Are elective surgeries are allowed now, but is it safe?
4. Why is gathering as a church so risky?

If you are like me, you may want to simply talk to someone you already know and trust who has first hand knowledge on the ground, so to speak. Thankfully, we have several of those experts at Zion. I want to invite you to a Town Hall next Thursday, June 4, at 7 pm via Zoom (we will record the meeting and also make it available via YouTube following the event) to discuss the Corona virus and its impact in our community with medical experts from Zion. Our panel will include Ken Johnson, Tracy Lobbes, Amy Mott, and Jonell VanderWall.

If you have any questions you would like answered, to give our panel time to prepare, please send your questions to me at gbrower@zionreformed.org. We hope to have time for questions from “the floor” during the event, but the best way to make sure your question gets answered is to send them in ahead of time.

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.
Year to Date Budget: $576,774.64
Year to Date Contribution: $548,911.82
Giving Last Week: $11,123.00
Cash on Hand: $145,690.78

A week or so ago, I was in an e-mail chain with a relatively large group of people. One person in the chain referred to a prominent politician in a demeaning way. I was not following the chain closely and before I could reply, someone else gently and graciously  corrected the person. And then, I heard people complaining about wearing a mask and others disparaging those who won’t wear a mask. And, others speaking unkindly about politicians from a different party. As a nation, we are an angry and anxious people. Often more consumed with being right or getting our way than with thinking through how to love our neighbor.

I see this desire to paint people as caricatures of themselves or to make straw man arguments in myself, too. When so much is out of our control, it can feel good to make everything a black or white issue, a good or bad issue, a simple binary choice: open things up or stay closed, live in fear or recklessly risk the health of others, save lives or destroy the economy, and so on.

This morning as I sat in my office, I was discouraged by the tone I sense in others and feel inside myself. It seems to me that as Christians the very least we can do to submit to those in authority over us is to assume the best of them. They are all doing the best in a difficult time to balance all the competing priorities of health and finances in our state and nation. And that as Christians, the lats we can do in loving our neighbors is to be kind to them and speak kindly of them even when we disagree with each other. But, there I sat discouraged.

And then, I received a letter in the mail from Angie Philipps. I do not know Angie. According to the envelope, she lives in Jenison. She may be young or old. I know nothing about this woman, except, she wrote a letter to encourage me and let me know she is praying for me. In the letter she notes that I am the 70th letter she has written to encourage a pastor in our community since the shut down began. (I suspect she is going through the phone book alphabetically from A to Z.)

I want to be more like Angie today. So, I want you to know I am praying for you. I am proud of you, the people of Zion. Yesterday, I delivered another two car loads of food to Sunrise Ministries in Jenison and I am proud to tell people I am your pastor. I love your generosity. I love the way you have been so quick to adapt and adjust to changes the past few months. I love the stories I hear of you bring people meals and going shopping for a friend and the long calls and neighborhood walks. We may be apart, but many of you are working to stay connected.

Thank you for being the people of God we are called to be even with all our failings and mistakes, stumbles and fitful starts. God bless you!

Connect to God
This Sunday we will once again gather for worship online. You can join the service at:
zionreformed.online.church 
Zion’s Facebook Page
WCET (at noon on Friday and 4pm on Sunday) 
Physical Copy of the Sermon mailed to you (please request from Connie Stegeman at cstegeman@zionreforned.org) 

I would like to thank all the people who participated in our service this week:  Sarah McAnally, Emily Morehouse, Luke Austin, Jim Peterson, Rick VanderWall, Rachel and Ethan Brower, Kendyll Bond, and Olivia Davis.

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 to our unique purpose which flows from the unique ways God has shaped and formed us.

This Sunday, we will celebrate communion, also called The Lord’s Super or the Eucharist. This is the family meal of Christians.  We invite all committed followers of Jesus Christ to partake of this sacrament: those who are baptized members of a congregation that proclaims the gospel, who are at peace with God and with their neighbor, and who seek strength to live more faithfully for Christ.  If you are not a Christian, or if you are not prepared to share in this meal, we encourage you to spend this time in prayer.  We hope that this time is helpful to you as you consider your relationship with Jesus Christ and with His people, the church.

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
Join us at 9 am for Zion Kids Worship/Sunday School! We will be live streaming directly from the same website where you already watch our worship service. You can find the Kids Worship time at https://zionreformed.online.church.

Connected to our 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.

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-mail and I can help get you connected.

Serve the World
We received an update from Jibit Asha (church planting in Nepal) recently. They ask for prayers as many of their planters are working in areas that have been heavily hit by the Corona Virus. In addition, they report 248 people have heard the gospel for the first time, 15 churches are meeting, 24 people have made first time commitments to Christ, and one new fellowship has begun. We give thanks to God for his continuing work in this time of turmoil for many.

We continue accepting donations of personal care items and food on Wednesdays from 1-3 pm at church. We are partnering with Sunrise Ministries in Jenison for a weekly distribution. We also continue our monthly partnership with UCOM through our Personal Care Pantry. For the next few weeks, all Personal Care Items will be shared with Lifeline Community Church for their next distribution in Wyoming. Thank you for your support of these important ministries at this time.

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.

If you have been following our financial position closely, you will notice our cash on hand jumped significantly this week. This is due entirely to our church receiving a PPP loan from the government to assist in our making payroll. We anticipate this loan being completely forgiven as it will be used to pay our staff and pay for some utilities. We are particularly thankful for this loan at this time as we have had two bigger expenses come up in the last two weeks: a repair to our elevator and updating our video equipment so we can begin live-streaming from the sanctuary when we gather again for worship.

Year to Date Budget: $565,682.82
Year to Date Contribution: $537,788.82
Giving Last Week: $10,252.00
Cash on Hand: $150,314.70

Earlier this week, I ran across a video reflection by Nadia Bolz-Weber. She is a Lutheran pastor with whom I rarely agree theologically, but whose heart of grace and mercy for the broken and downtrodden encourages me. She shared some of her own emotional struggles during this time of physical distancing and not being able to gather with her church. It is hard to be away from each other for all of us.

In her reflection she shared a story Jim Collins tells in his book Good to Great about Admiral Jim Stockdale. Jim spent 8 years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. Eight years of imprisonment, beatings, and torture. Collins asked Adm. Stockdale how he made it through and Adm. Stockdale pointed to his unwavering faith that he would one day get out. When asked who didn’t get out, Adm. Stockdale responded immediately “the optimists.” They would look ahead and tell themselves they would be out by Christmas or by spring or by the summer and each time the day would pass and they would sink a little further into despair until finally they died. It is this paradox, the ability to both have an unwavering confidence that you can persevere in difficult times and a willingness to face the brutal facts that allows its to get through difficult times.

As I look back on the past 8 weeks, I can see that pattern in myself and others. When I put my hope on gathering on Easter Sunday or by Pentecost, and that date passes (Pentecost will come soon), I can feel the despair. Just last week, I heard our governor imply churches may not be gathering for worship until next year. And then, in the last 24 hours, I heard that major concert promoters are not planning on any large concerts until at least the fall of 2021 and that congregational singing is particularly dangerous for spreading the virus and some are advising churches to forgo singing when they begin to gather again, I felt the despair sink in. It is hard grieving all these losses and potential losses.

But then as I was praying through these feelings, I was reminded I know how this story ends. Jesus comes back. Death is defeated. Earth is made new and whole again. And eternal joy with our God begins. We will get through this. We will persevere.

Even without looking that far into the future, we can look to the past. God’s church has survived pandemics in the past. Rather than running from those diseases, Christians ran to care for the sick. We want to stand with those on the frontlines today. In 1918, churches closed until the Spanish flu had passed (because that infection moved so quickly, the flu had passed in most cities in about 2 months). They did so without live streaming services or video conferencing. They persevered. We will persevere.

I will not pretend to know what is coming next: maybe we will be gathering for worship this summer, maybe it won’t be until sometime next year. But, we will persevere. Maybe the economy will bounce right back and maybe it will be a long slow slog back to a healthy economy. But, we will persevere. Maybe everything will change over night with some effective new treatment or maybe we will never find a vaccine. But, we will persevere.

We do not want to be pollyanna-ish living in denial of reality, nor do we want to live in despair because we follow a God who holds all times and all places in his hands and he has ahold of us in this moment too. We can trust God and trusting God we will persevere. Keep the faith my friends. Face the hard facts. And live in confident hope of the provision of our God.

In looking ahead to possible futures, our staff, in consultation with Consistory medical professionals, has put together some contingency plans for how or when we will be able to gather in worship again. You can see a graphic summary of what this might look like below. Consistory is re-evaluating the plan and any decisions to begin worship each month.

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. Our services are once again 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: Sean and Sarah McAnally, the Eriks Family, Todd Kempema, Jesse Vasquez, Kelly Osterink, Riley Fahner, Micah Zondervan, and our praise team.

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 to our unique identity based on how God intentionally shaped and formed you before you were over born and throughout your life.

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

Next week Sunday, we will include the celebration of communion in our service. if you would like to participate in communion, please make arrangements to have bread and juice in your home or whatever food would remind you of God’s love and provision for you during this time.

Grow in Community
Join us at 9 am for Zion Kids Worship/Sunday School! We will be live streaming directly from the same website where you already watch our worship service. You can find the Kids Worship time at https://zionreformed.online.church.

Connected to our 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.

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-mail and 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. We are partnering with Sunrise Ministries in Jenison for a weekly distribution. We also continue our monthly partnership with UCOM through our Personal Care Pantry. Thank you for your support of these important ministries at this time.

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.

Year to Date Budget: $554,591.00
Year to Date Contribution: $527,536.82
Giving Last Week: $ 6,323.00
Cash on Hand: $95,317.50