Worship Service: 10:30 a.m.
In November, Mark Hartman came to FCC to share his story of being wrongfully imprisoned and the way God used that to bring transformation in his life. This 10-minute video is well worth your time. Mark shows that God is always at work. FCC is an important part of God’s work and Mark’s story too.
At the very core of who we are is our identity in Christ. It is this identity that will last into the age to come. Beyond that, our lives and even our personalities are made up of the choices we make. We are shaped by the habits and practices we commit to. Exercising regularly over many years will have a significant impact on your body and your mind. The way you choose to spend money or the people with whom you spend your time will influence the person you become.
In 2021 we are inviting you to commit to habits that will shape your soul in positive ways. Each month we will practice a classic spiritual discipline. In January we will practice meditation. We are encouraging you to spend five minutes reflecting quietly on a Scripture, a memory, or a truth three times a week. The more you do it, the more you will benefit. This week we are suggesting you spend your time meditating on Psalm 1. The promise is that over time, you will notice positive changes in your life: more peace, more awareness, more like Jesus.
One of the really big hurdles in my seminary training was our oral comprehensive examination. I sat at a big table with five of my seminary professors. They took turns asking me questions. “What year was the Council of Nicea?” “What is the difference between infralapsarianism and supralapsarianism?” “List all the covenants found in the Old Testament.” It was brutal. We spent hours reviewing lecture notes and receiving tips from those who had gone before us. One of my classmates was asked a most interesting question by one of our professors: “Sum up the Bible in one sentence.” How does one even begin to do that? Well, this classmate must have been living clean, because he came up with a wonderful answer. John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he sent his only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
Yesterday we lit the final candle of Advent. It is the candle of love. As my classmate so insightfully noted, the whole reason Jesus came to earth was love. Jesus didn’t come for any other reason than because God so loved the world. Christmas is a celebration of God’s amazing love for us. Let’s remember how deeply we are loved by God. So deeply that He sent His own Son for us.
The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. (Isaiah 35:1-2)
The desert and the parched land will be glad. Not because the rains have come. But because the Lord has come. Not because there is escape from the blazing sun. But because there is no escape from the glory and salvation and healing power of God.
The desert can rejoice and be parched. For joy isn’t based on circumstances but on promises. Hands can be feeble and strong. For a day is coming when even those that cannot walk will leap like deer.
The glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh shall see it together. We light this candle in great joy. Our God is faithful.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Who would have thought that peace would come from such an unlikely place? Who knew peace would come not from a palace, but from a stable? Who guessed that peace would be born to a couple just a few months after a shotgun wedding? How could peace come through a man of sorrows? How could peace arrive from someone who was despised?
But Christmas teaches us to look for peace in the most unlikely places: in eyes swollen from a crown of thorns, in a teardrop falling from those eyes. In unlikely circumstances, in a stable, lying in a manger. Christmas shows us that God is capable of bringing peace in and through all situations. Peace can come from the most unlikely place. In fact, it most often does.
There’s a lady I‘ve visited who would sometimes ask me about hope. To her this word had come to mean “wishful thinking.” We hope that things will turn out a certain way, but they may or may not actually work out according to our preferences. But the hope that we have in Jesus is more than just wishful thinking. Wishful thinking cannot bear the weight of Covid and hardship and broken relationships. So what’s the difference between our stated preferences and the hope Jesus offers?
The difference is in who is making the promises. Wishful thinking begins with me - in my imagination and desires and solutions. Christian hope begins with God - His desires and solutions and vision for the future. When we light the first advent candle of hope, we aren’t just making a wish. We are claiming something that is as good as done. God has made a promise. And even when we can’t see it being fulfilled yet in our lives, we can live in the certainty that it will indeed be fulfilled. Hope can survive the hard times because it knows who has made the promise. One of the most beautiful expressions of our hope comes from the prophet Habakkuk: Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. (3:17-18)\
It can be hardest to love those who are closest to us. Have you heard this saying before? During this time of extreme togetherness it might ring more true than ever for you. Bill Johnson recently said, “A culture of honor is celebrating who a person is without stumbling over who they’re not.” This is exactly what we need to cultivate right now: a culture of honor. Sometimes it can be extremely difficult when all we see is the negative in a person. Sometimes we see so much potential and so little to celebrate presently. However, we saw David honoring Saul in the Bible even though there was so much he could have stumbled over (1 Samuel 24-28). We also saw Jesus honoring Peter even though Peter said and did some pretty ridiculous things (Matthew 16:18). So, how do we cultivate a culture of honor in our own lives? I’d like to suggest doing something that I took the time to do this weekend. It helped to reshape my thinking! Think of five people who are close to you. Maybe they’re family members, co-workers, roommates, or friends. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the deposit of God—the gold—in each person and for a plan on how to intentionally celebrate him or her and call them into their true identity. Let’s learn how to celebrate the people in our lives rather than stumble over who they’re not.
We figured it would take several days to figure out who won this presidential election. We were right. News sources have now called the election for one candidate, but there are still legal challenges that will need to play out. It will take another week or two for the states to certify their results. But I want to remind us all of something very important. Regardless of whether your guy won, our Guy has won. Because of Christ’s victory, we get to face challenges that are not ultimate challenges. No loss can take away from our victory in Jesus. No earthly victory can add to it. So whether your guy won or lost/wins or loses, Christ is risen. I leave you with this picture of the victory as it is even now being celebrated in heaven.
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
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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