Coronavirus Update from the FCC Council

Dear Church Family,

We want to begin by telling you how impressed and grateful we continue to be for all of you.  This has been a year like no other.  You have navigated these challenges with understanding, grace, and faithfulness.  It appears we are now coming into the anticipated fall/winter surge of Covid cases.  At this point we plan to continue offering both online and in-person worship services.  However, we may run into Sundays when essential worship personnel are not available, like yesterday.  If that’s the case, we will move our services online and notify you as soon as possible.  It might be a good idea to check your email or our FCC Facebook page on Sunday morning.  Here are a few other things to keep in mind.

• Please continue to use safe practices at church: stay home if you’re sick, keep your mouth and nose covered, maintain social distance, and wash or sanitize your hands.
  

• When all these safeguards are followed, there is a good chance you will be safe at FCC on Sunday.  But there is no guarantee.  The risk of coming into contact with someone who has Covid increases at a larger gathering like our worship service.  Please take this into consideration as you choose how to participate in our worship services.
  

• If you test positive for Covid and may have been infectious while at church, please notify people with whom you had close or prolonged contact.
  

The next several months will continue to be challenging.  Our God remains present and at work even during this difficult season.  If you have any questions, please contact an administrative elder (Jim Niewenhuis, Kevin Youngquist, Michael Michaud).

International Students

My name is Kyle Kempster and I direct the international student department at Western Michigan Christian High School. We have had a program for many years but for about 6 years we have maintained more than 25 students from China, Korea, South Africa, Spain, and Vietnam.  I have been so blessed by the way members of my FCC family have hosted these students.  We have been able to show them a loving, welcoming community of all kinds of people who are becoming like Jesus.  Thank you for embracing these students!

Hosting an international student is an opportunity to share Christ, your faith, and to share culture together. Some of these students are not familiar with the Gospel.  One of the most powerful witnesses to our faith is for students to see it lived out in our daily lives.  Hosting a student has also been a source of blessings for host families.  Our world becomes bigger and richer when we practice hospitality in this way.

Right now we are in urgent need to place 2 students within a week at this time because of current host family situations.  One is a grade 10 boy and the other is a senior girl.  Both are great students with good grades and good English.  The stipend to help cover the cost of food and transportation is $400 per month.  Please contact me if you are interested at kyle@wmchs.net or 231-730-7779.

Wisdom from James

As we consider what it means to announce God’s kingdom during a contentious election season, the Bible has much to say to us.  On Sunday mornings we will look at Philippians 4:1-7.  Another passage that speaks to our situation is found in James 3:13-18.  It says it much better than anything I could write for you this week.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

He Reigns

One of the most beloved and beautiful statements of comfort and peace is the first question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism.  The question is, “What is your only comfort in life and in death?”  The answer is that I belong, body and soul... to my faithful savior Jesus Christ.  Far be it from me to be critical of this wonderful formulation of faith.  But I think that this question and answer makes an assumption that we need to acknowledge.  It assumes correctly that Jesus is the best person to belong to.

He is.  Here’s why.  Jesus reigns.  Jesus is Lord over all things.  He is Lord of all places.  Jesus reigns in the darkest night.  He reigns in the midst of pain and in the midst of joy.  He reigns during a pandemic.  He reigns as humans scratch and claw for power.  Therefore (and the catechism goes on to say this) Jesus is capable of making all things work together for my salvation.  It isn’t just that we belong to Jesus.  We belong to the Lord of the universe.  He reigns.  And that is why it is so awesome to belong to Him.  

The Power of "And"

I recall a leadership seminar where the presenter suggested using the word “and” in place of the word “but.” Used this way, “and” kept the conversation going and opened up new possibilities for dialogue.  Not bad advice.  I’d like to suggest using “and” in place of a different word: “or.”  We live in a culture that requires us to reject one thing in order to hold to another.  Our culture gives us just one brush to paint people, events, and ideas.  A person is good or bad.  An event is understandable or terrible.  An idea is brilliant or foolish.  

I think this binary way of thinking is partly responsible for the divisions we’re facing in our country and even in the American Church.  Perhaps it would help if we used the word “and” instead.  While sin is always wrong, the people who commit sins are both sinners and saints.  There is evil in the best of us and goodness in the worst of us.  Most ideas have some merit and  some weaknesses.  It doesn’t make every idea worth pursuing or every person worth trusting.  But maybe if we started looking for the “and,” we would come to understand each other a little better.  We could disagree without malice.  We could reach different conclusion with common respect.

Our World Belongs to God

I hope you will be encouraged by these opening articles of Our World Belongs to God, a modern expression of what we believe.  To read the entire document, click here.

1. As followers of Jesus Christ, living in this world—

which some seek to control, and others view with despair—

we declare with joy and trust: Our world belongs to God!

2. From the beginning, through all the crises of our times,

until the kingdom fully comes, God keeps covenant forever:

Our world belongs to God!

God is King: Let the earth be glad!  

Christ is victor: his rule has begun!

The Spirit is at work: creation is renewed!  

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

GrowGroups

There are very few guarantees in life.  Most of the time when a company “guarantees” their product, they simply are offering your money back if you don’t like their product.  They’re not actually guaranteeing it.  I feel pretty strongly like I can make you a guarantee.  If you participate in a GrowGroup, you will become more like Jesus.  

GrowGroups are gender-based groups of 2-7 people that meet on a weekly basis to grow closer to God, deeper in relationships with each other, and support each other in announcing God’s kingdom.  Worship services are great for encouraging and inspiring us.  LifeGroups are great for connecting us with others, serving together, and pressing into our relationship with God.  But the most effective way to truly grow in your faith and become like Jesus is in a smaller group of people - a place where you can be authentic and find people who will support you and challenge you at a deeper level.  

On Monday, September 28 at 7:00pm, we will hold a 45-minute GrowGroups workshop.  Becky Tjapkes and I will tell you about GrowGroups, present some different types of groups, and share how you can get involved.  We will also live stream the workshop.  Please consider joining us in person and online and learn about a guaranteed way to become more like Jesus.

Technical Difficulties

Let me begin by apologizing to people who were trying to watch our live stream yesterday.  There is a problem with the platform we’ve been using to stream our services.  It is very frustrating to try to watch a live service that keeps stopping and has poor audio.  If you hung in there with it, thank you.  If you didn’t, I understand.  Let me offer these three things:

1. There was a video of people from our church family sharing how they grew closer to God during Covid.  You can watch the video here.

2. If you’d like to watch a slightly better video of the service, it is available here.

3. We will do everything in our power to give you a much better experience next Sunday.  I’m confident we can get the issues resolved for next Sunday.

Finally, I’m learning that life is filled with technical difficulties.  Things happen that are largely out of our control.  Technical difficulties are usually frustrating and unpleasant.  But they serve to keep us humble and dependent on God.

Labor Day

A week from today our nation will observe Labor Day.  It is a celebration that was instituted in the late 1800s to honor the working men and women in our country.  For years hard work and striving for a better life have been woven into our national narrative.  We believe that industriousness prevails and that our labors can procure a fuller life.

As Christians we should recognize that our labor day was Good Friday.  It is not our hard work that has won us a better life, but Christ’s finished work on the cross that wins us a new life.  The Christian narrative emphasizes grace and the good news that our best labors can never make us right with God.  So as we come to Labor Day, a national holiday where we rest from our labors, we are in the best position to celebrate.  In Christ we have permanently rested from trying to earn salvation.  We have been celebrating labor day since Calvary.  Next Monday should come quite naturally to us. 

Connect Groups

One of the ways we are becoming like Jesus at FCC is by growing deeper in God’s family.  We’re not just a bunch of individuals who are pursuing a relationship with God.  We are a family that is building strong relationships with each other.  In addition to Bible studies, prayer groups, and other ways of growing closer to God together, sometimes it’s just nice to have fun together.

Connect Groups are interest-based groups that help us get to know each other better while having fun in the process.  We have a book club, a biking and hiking group, a photography group, and even a musical group.  During this time when being together is more difficult, we invite you to check out a Connect Group.  To explore the options and sign up, click here.

In-Person Worship after Four Weeks

Our council is very pleased with how well things have gone on Sunday mornings.  Gathering for worship under these circumstances is something that we had no roadmap for or experience with.  We are thankful to all of you who have attended worship at our facility.  We appreciate the respect you have shown and the care you have taken to follow the guidelines.  We recognize that wearing a face covering is uncomfortable.  Thank you for following this guideline in our building.  We are also excited that so many of you are faithfully participating in worship through our live stream.  We think this has gone well.  We would love to hear how it could be improved. 

After a month of in-person worship, we have just one area of concern.  When people exit the building, there are often tight clusters of people talking without face coverings.  Covid transmission is less of a concern outdoors.  However, it is still wise to practice social distancing and/or to continue wearing a face covering.  Despite the restrictions under which we worship, we still experience God's presence with us on Sunday morning.  Thanks for your understanding and patience as we learn how to be the Church on Sunday mornings.

From The FCC Council

I Believe

believe pain and suffering are a part of the broken world that we live in.

I believe that, like stars require darkness to be visible in the night sky, joy requires suffering and struggle to become real in our lives.

I believe that there is no sorrow, pain, wound, or tragedy that God cannot and will not redeem.

I believe that God’s power is mostly found at the end of ours.

I believe that the kingdom of God is visible, like the glow of the eastern sky before dawn.

I believe a life lived for that kingdom is far fuller than a life lived for oneself.

I believe that the little things make a difference and that even the smallest act of kindness ripples into eternity.

I believe that each one of us was created for such a time as this.

Plan A

It feels like the last four months have been one long experience of Plan B.  Back in February we had drawn up the way our spring and summer should go.  It didn’t.  We’ve been forced to move to Plan B.  Life is like that.  Things don’t always turn out the way we plan.  Disease strikes, accidents happen, relationships break.  So we resign ourselves to make the best of Plan B (or sometimes Plan C or D).

God’s Plan A never gets derailed.  God’s original plan was to redeem a broken world and put it back together better than ever.  His plan is to gather for himself a people who will worship and serve and co-create in a renewed creation.  His plan is for you to be completely whole, restored, and made new.  That plan cannot fail.  No matter how different this feels than our Plan A, no matter how many Plan Bs you and I need to settle for, God never needs plan B.  His Plan A is guaranteed.  In fact, all of our Plan Bs are somehow woven into his Plan A.

Hoping for Great Things

After living under a global health crisis for five months, I have a question for you.  Are you hoping for good things?  Or are you hoping for great things?  The good things we hope for are a vaccine, economic rebound, and the day when we don’t have to social distance or wear masks.  I think all of us are on board with those things.  But we should also be hoping for great things.  The great things are outcomes that only God can bring about for his glory.  Things like people receiving Christ as Lord through the circumstances we’re in.  The powerful truth that God is teaching us through this time.  Things of eternal value that couldn’t happen any other way.

Whether it’s a pandemic, cancer, or any other difficult issue we face, we can hope for good things.  But we can also hope for great things.  We can expect God to move through the most difficult circumstances to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine.  Let’s pray for healing, protection, and eradication of this virus.  But let’s also pray expectantly that God will do great and eternal things in the very midst of these difficult circumstances.

What Makes a Worship Service

In addition to my great excitement about resuming in-person worship this Sunday, I have some nagging fears and concerns.  One of my fears is that there will be disappointment when we think back to our last worship service on March 8.  In comparison, July 26 will pale.  I’m reminded of a story in Ezra 3:11-12 as the exiles returned to rebuild the temple.

And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 

I suspect both emotions will be present on Sunday.  There will be great joy because we can gather once again.  There will be sadness because this is a shell of what we enjoyed pre-COVID.  I want you to know that both of these emotions are legitimate and acceptable.  It’s okay to be excited.  And it’s okay to feel sadness and disappointment.  But more than either of those emotions, I’m praying that you will feel the presence of God.  I’m praying that whether you are in the sanctuary, the gym, or your living room on Sunday morning, you will know that God is with you.  This is what makes our worship service.  This is what makes us Ferrysburg Community Church: God’s presence in our midst as we gather.

The Lord Is in This Place

Last week Emma and I went backpacking on the Pictured Rocks Trail in the Upper Peninsula.  Without reading a single verse from the Bible or singing a hymn or worship chorus, I was profoundly in the presence of God.  The green and turquoise color of Lake Superior shouted God’s praise.  A Bald Eagle flew over and reminded us of the grace and power of God.  Grand Portal point, some 200 feet above the lake, spoke to God’s vastness.  Being with my daughter for all of this reminded me how deeply God loves us as his children.

I’m all for reading and meditating on God’s Word.  Singing God’s praises is a wonderful way to enter his presence.  But these are not the only ways to experience God.  God is constantly announcing his presence to us.  Paul tells us in Romans 1 that God has sufficiently revealed himself to us in creation.  Here’s an invitation to see how ubiquitous God is.  Whether you are standing in a church sanctuary, along Pictured Rock National Lakeshore, or even in your backyard, you can truly say this: the Lord is in this place.

Light and Momentary

Light and Momentary

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (2 Corinthians 4:17)

2020, we had such high hopes for you!  How you’ve disappointed us and let us down!  This year has not been an easy one.  We have lost a great deal due to this pandemic and the consequences of it.  Our nation has struggled with an impeachment trial, and now faces issues of race.  On top of all that, we still have a presidential election ahead of us this year.  You’ve struggled in your own personal life.  Isolation has led to depression.  We are preparing to say goodbye to loved ones in hospice.  Frustration has mounted for many people over restrictions.  For others there is fear over personal safety.  These are tough times.  But I also suspect that years from now we will talk about this year with nostalgia.  Having survived it, 2020 will hold a special, if not fond, place in our hearts.  We went through it.  We survived.  And maybe we’re even better off for it.

I suspect that the new creation will do the same thing to the pain we experience now.  Paul describes our struggles as “light and momentary.”  A few days of nasty weather on the way to a long, beautiful summer of sunshine and warm weather.  That’s not to discount the struggles you are facing.  It’s to remind you that an eternal glory that far outweighs them all awaits us in God’s presence.

Prayer of St. Francis

I invite you to contemplate and pray this classic prayer during these times and through this week.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me bring love.

Where there is offence, let me bring pardon.

Where there is discord, let me bring union.

Where there is error, let me bring truth.

Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.

Where there is despair, let me bring hope.

Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.

Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.

O Master, let me not seek as much to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that one receives,

it is in self-forgetting that one finds,

it is in pardoning that one is pardoned,

it is in dying that one is raised to eternal life.

Juneteenth

On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston, TX and announced that the Civil War was over and that all enslaved people were now free.  This date has come to be celebrated in its contracted form as Juneteenth.  It is the celebration of of the end of slavery in America.  July 4, 1776, was Independence Day for free Americans.  June 19, 1865, began a trajectory of independence for all Americans.

As Christians, we are uniquely equipped to celebrate and appreciate freedom.  Freedom is one of the prevailing metaphors for new life in Christ.  We’ve come a long way on that trajectory of independence since the first Juneteenth.  But the events of the past few weeks make it clear that there is still work to be done.  The goal we are striving for is not a social or political one.  It is a biblical goal.  It is a vision of a day when all the saints of God reach full unity, regardless of race, color, or culture.  Then we will be truly free.

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,

who sits on the throne,

and to the Lamb.”

-Revelation  7:9-10

Note from FCC Council

Hello, FCC family, 

It has been nearly 3 months since we met for corporate worship on a Sunday morning, and we miss seeing and encouraging each other in person! We thank you for your prayers for and support of FCC during the shutdown for Covid-19. As the State of Michigan loosens its restrictions on public gatherings, the FCC Council is beginning to consider the resumption of in-person Sunday morning worship services. To that end, Council has appointed a small work group of both Council and non-Council members to develop a plan for how to meet for worship on Sunday morning. The work group will report back to Council near the end of this month, and after reviewing the plan, Council will select a date to begin our Sunday morning services in-person. 

Our goal is to communicate with you as clearly and with as much information as is possible. We want you to know that our worship services will look and feel differently than they did before the Covid-19 shutdown. We will not be “going back to normal” any time in the immediate future. We understand that members of our church may have differing opinions about the shutdown and how to resume gathering, so we ask for your grace, sacrifice, and patience as we navigate through uncharted waters. It is our desire to honor God and model Christ to each other and our community at this time and in this process.