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September Birthdays
| 1 |
Steve Bennink |
| 5 |
Darlene Roper |
| 6 |
Shari Veldman |
| 13 |
Caitlyn Lillibridge |
| 19 |
Tom Muller
Jimmy Anderson |
| 20 |
Amanda Veeneman |
| 21 |
Kara VanderKooi
Blake Maxwell
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| 23 |
Dan Anderson
Nicole Barkel
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| 27 |
Monica Feikema |
| 28 |
Valerie Lillibridge
Tena Luben
Carol Metzger
Kevin Wiersma
Kristin Mooney |
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Pastor's Page
KENYA TRIP
I love to travel. As far back as I can cast my memory there are images of camping and traveling with my family. There are also three places in the world I have wanted to travel to since I was a teenager: Africa, Alaska and Australia. While I am very happy that I have had the opportunity to travel to other places around the world and have been impacted by those travels, there is something that intrigues me about those three places.
Not quite a year ago I received a letter from an RCA staff person. The letter was an invitation to experience mission in various locations around the world. As I recall, there were five locations being offered. I only recall four of the five: Israel, Chiapas, MX, Hungary, and Kenya. There were only two places that were of interest to me—Israel and Kenya.
With my desire to visit Africa and my family’s desire that I not travel to Israel, I put in my application for the Kenya trip.
From October 1-13, I will be traveling with three other RCA pastors, one RCA staff person and our trip leader is Jay Harsevoort. Jay works for the RCA in coordinating mission volunteers and served as a volunteer in Africa. The primary focus of the trip is to learn firsthand what the RCA is doing in mission and to interact with those involved in mission and those who are being ministered to. I also expect to see and to learn how Christians have been growing and sharing their faith in their culture. It is my hope that I may learn a few things that we can perhaps put into practice here. Along the way we will also do some sight seeing and other activities.
I invite you to be in prayer for this trip. Pray for health, safe travel, and on time travel. Pray as well that this trip will be a blessing to me and to us all. Please pray for my family while I am gone. It will be hard to be separated for this period of time.
I look forward to sharing my trip and what God taught me with you.
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~~ Elder's Corner ~~
Ecclesiastes 3
To everything there is a season. A time for every purpose under heaven.
A time to be born – a time to die
A time to plant – a time to reap
A time to kill – a time to heal
A time to break down – a time to build up
A time to weep – a time to laugh
A time to mourn – a time to dance
A time to embrace – a time to refrain from embracing
A time to roof – a time to refrain from roofing
A time to gain – and a time to lose.
Okay, so I added one in. You probably saw it right away. As wise as Solomon was, I don’t think he knew how to shingle a roof. "A time to reroof, a time to refrain from roofing" is exactly what the Consistory has been struggling with for some time. So where are we now? Here’s an overview.
- We have been raising money for the roof project for three years, mainly through the church auction, and a few other contributions.
- The first phase (gym area and classrooms) is complete and paid for.
- The second phase is much larger than the first. It includes residing the towers, new glass and symbols in the towers, and reroofing all of the sanctuary and flat roof over the lobby.
- We went through a budget process and, given several bids to work with, we came up with a budget of $95,000 to present to the consistory. They approved the project and the budget pending Classis approval. Pastor Dave got the Classis approval to borrow the balance of the money needed.
On August 19, Doug Leep, Pastor Dave and I met with the Property Council and presented our findings and bids. After much discussion it was decided that COS would contract directly with three subcontractors
J & L Roofing – roofing
Store Fronts – glass
Buist Sheet Metal – siding
to complete the project in a timely fashion, since summer is soon turning to the fall season (see opening paragraph).
Yes it's finally happening. If all three subcontractors can schedule to work together it could happen in September or October this year. We do want to get this project behind us and have this church ready to minister to our community for many decades to follow.
It should also be known that after this fall, COS will no longer be having spontaneous baptism services on rainy Sundays. That season is over. Praise God and let it rain!
Jim McClellan
Vice President of Consistory
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~~ Deacon's Corner ~~
by David Rosel
This past June, my wife and I arrived at the five year mark. Almost every day of the last five years spent together in wedded bliss. Now, I figured that in itself was the best gift my wife could possibly ask for, but, just in case she didn't agree, we decided to take a vacation to Yellowstone National Park to celebrate.
Now, I have often heard it said that the first five years of a marriage can be some of the hardest years. I didn't realize that the first few days of a vacation are also the hardest. Let me explain. We had been talking about getting a new car for a few months – you know, one that would be a bit more fuel efficient than my 1980 pick-up. As we were budgeting for our roadtrip across the country, we started to see that a new car would practically pay for itself at $4.00 a gallon and 1500 miles each way.
So on a beautiful June morning, with our brand spanking new little car packed to the gills, we set out. My wife slept though Michigan and part of Chicago, which she says was only natural since I "forced" her to leave the house at 5am. But, by Wisconsin, she was up enjoying the scenery with me and all the work and worry of normal life was fading farther and farther behind.
Somewhere in the wonderful state of Wisconsin we decided to make a stop for lunch. This was incredibly easy, since we also purchased one of those handy dandy GPS units for our trip. All we had to do was set it to find a restaurant and the nice British man inside of the unit told us where to go.
The problems began when that seemingly trustworthy British man told us how to get back to the highway. Instead of going back the way we came, which would involve some backtracking, the GPS man pointed us towards the next highway onramp, only a few miles ahead. The road he told us to take was a bit sketchy but, like I said, it would only be a few miles to the relative safety of the expressway. Then the sort of rough paved road turned into a decidedly rough gravel road, which turned into a one-lane overgrown gravel road with occasional spots of sand. Now, I've lived my whole life in the country; a dirt road doesn't scare me. It did, however, scare my brand new fuel efficient mini car. But still, we were incredibly close to the highway and how bad could it possibly get?
Dumb question.
As soon as that thought passed through my mind, those occasional patches of sand turned into one long stretch of sand and I might as well have been trying to drive my itty bitty new car through the dunes. Embarrassed as I am to admit it, that car that was less than two weeks old was buried in sand. As my wife and I waited for over an hour on a Sunday night for the tow truck guy to come to our rescue (and he only found us that quickly because his sister rides horses on the "trails" we had driven on) I had quite a lot of time to curse the GPS, kick myself, and pray that we wouldn't spend our anniversary in the woods somewhere outside of Anytown, Wisconsin.
Once we were safely back on the road, a paved three lane highway type road, I had time to reflect on my actions. On the side of that sandy road I had prayed the typical desperate "Lord if you get me out of this I'll give everything I own to the poor and never miss church again" type prayers. In this crisis, I instantly turned to God. I think most Christians probably do. But, I didn't get down on my knees at 5am that morning and thank God for waking up and having the opportunity to take this vacation with the wonderful wife He'd given me. I didn't thank Him for blessing me with the resources to buy that new car. I didn't even send up a quick word of gratitude for passing through Chicago without getting stuck in any traffic jams.
We should pray often and be thankful for the little things, not just the times that God bails us out of stupid mistakes involving our brand new cars. I will never pray enough, I'm not sure it's possible. But, I am trying to remember that I'm never too hungry to say Grace before a meal, and never too tired to thank God for another day, before I go to bed. And maybe, just maybe, this change I'm trying to make in my life was the reason God told the GPS to turn us down that sandy little road in the first place.
"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?"
- Corrie ten Boom
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The Monday Morning Women’s Bible Study will start September 8 at 9:30AM. There's still time to join us as we look at Daniel: Lives of Integrity, Words of Prophecy by Beth Moore. If you're interested contact Dawn Barkel, Jeanne Luben, Molly Thiss or Betty Bergsma.
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CHURCH PICNIC!!! Mark your calendar!
On Saturday, September 13, from 2-6PM we will enjoy a good old-fashioned Church Picnic at the home of Art and Molly Thiss. Food, drinks and table service will be provided. No sign-up is necessary, just come and have a great time. We will have games for everyone! Also for your entertainment, tour Art's museum. Please contact JoEllen Meerman, Barb Veeneman or Kathy Veeneman if you:
- have a yard game we can use
- know a good game to play
- are willing to organize and run a game for us
We are looking forward to kicking off our fall season with a fun picnic.
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Beginning the week of September 8, church office hours will be Monday through Thursday, 9AM to 1PM.
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The Church Life council is going to start doing a card shower every month for a person in the congregation or community who is in need. If you're aware of someone who is having health troubles, will be having a special birthday, etc., contact Arlene Bubnik at 837-6202.
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Scrapbooking/Craft Night for September will be held on the 19th.
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If you have volunteered to help teach Sunday School, or if you think there might be room in your schedule to help one or more Sundays this school year, there will be a brief meeting immediately following worship on September 21 in the Sunday School room. The order of lessons and where to find things will be reviewed. Please consider donating your time if you're able; we can't make this program work without volunteers like you!
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"I would like to thank my church family for the beautiful cards and letters of encouragement, the lovely flowers sent to me at St. Mary's Sanctuary and then again when it was my birthday. You made my day very special. A special thank you to the children who, along with their parents' help, sent cards. Know Jesus loves you and I do too.
A special thank you to Pastor Dave and others who took time to visit. You were a breath of sunshine during the long days.
The miles of my journey have taken me through some rough patches but your faithful and loving prayers have sustained me. And as I gain strength and mobility I know God has heard and answered those prayers and I am most grateful. I realize anew how blessed I am to be a part of this community of faith.
God Bless each of you,
Alma Bouwman
Natalie: thank you for sending the bulletin each week. It helped me keep in touch with the happenings at COS."
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L.I.F.T. Living In Faith Together
Join us following worship on September 21st at 11AM for our first L.I.F.T. of the season! We'll begin with a meal and activities for all ages will follow.
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Trauma Healing Workshop
Held Friday, September 12, 4-8PM, and Saturday, September 13, 9AM-3PM at Western Theological Seminary. Cost is $60, which includes dinner Friday and lunch Saturday. Debra Braaksma and Pat Miersma will present skills to recognize traumatic stress and respond to trauma using the community based healing tool RECONCILE, seek to answer the questions “How can the wounds of our hearts be healed?” and how can organizations help, explore ways to break the cycle of violence, and teach how to train and direct others in trauma healing. Call Journey at 616/392-8555 ext 167 or visit the website at http://journey.westernsem.edu/seminars/traumahealing for more information or for registration details.
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Worldwide Marriage Encounter
Based on John 15:12, "Love one another as I have loved you," a Reformed Marriage Encounter weekend is a short course in communication for Christian couples. The next scheduled weekend will be held October 10-12 in Holland. For more information, additional scheduled weekends, or to register on-line, go to wwww.reformedme.org or contact Jim and Kathy Molenkamp at 616/538-2749.
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Pennies from Heaven
Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house.
The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely.
As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment.
Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny.
He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?
Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value.
A smile crept across the man’s face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this?
“Look at it,” he said. “Read what it says.” She read the words “United States of America.” “No, not that; read further.” “One cent?” “No, keep reading.” “In God we Trust?” “Yes!” “And?” “And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him? Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!”
When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, In God We Trust and had to laugh. Yes, God, I get the message. It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful! And, God is patient.
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September 7 ~ Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
Exodus 12:1-14 or Ezekiel 33:7-11
Psalm 149 or Psalm 119:33-40
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20
September 14 – Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Exodus 14:19-31 or Genesis 50:15-21
Psalm 114 or Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21 or Psalm 103(1-7), 8-13
Romans 14:1-12
Matthew 18:21-35
September 21 – Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Exodus 16:2-15 or Jonah 3:10-4:11
Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45 or Psalm 145:1-8
Philippians 1:21-30
Matthew 20:1-16
September 28 – Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Exodus 17:1-7 or Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
Psalm 78:
1-4, 12-16 or Psalm 25:1-9
Philippians 2:1-13
Matthew 21:23-32
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| Serving Community |
East Greeters:
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September 7
September 14
September 21
September 28
October 5
October 12
October 19
October 26
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Tom & Donna Muller
Bruce & Amy Pitz
John & Marty Richardson
Rich & Darlene Roper
David & Ariana Rosel
Dennis & Lee Ann Rosel
Doug & Sue Smith
Tim & Deb Smith
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Coffee:
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September 7
September 14
September 21
September 28
October 5
October 12
October 19
October 26
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Mary Estrada & Lisa Maycroft
Jeannette Eisen & Sue Allen
Shane & Monica Feikema
Byron & Joy Flanders
Dennis & Pat Grossenbacher
Dean & Eileen Heath
Dave & Sharon Hekhuis
Robert & Theresa Kary
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Nursery:
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September 7
September 14
September 21
September 28
October 5
October 12
October 19
October 26
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Anderson/Cheadle families
Dominguez/Ferwerda families
Feikema family & Kathy Veeneman
Flanders/Maycroft families
Kary family
Grossenbacher family
Kloosterhouse family & Dayna Smith
Leep & Meerman families
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Sound System:
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September 7
September 14
September 21
September 28
October 5
October 12
October 19
October 26
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Bob Veeneman
David Rosel
Will Rosel
Kyle McClellan
Ray Tibbe
Bob Veeneman
David Rosel
Will Rosel
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Sunday School:
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beginning in
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October
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Communion Set Up:
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September 7
October 5
November 2
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Marv Bergsma
Denise Wiersma
Molly Thiss
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Return to CoS Home Page
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