We hope everyone is having a fantastic week. Here are some updates for all the happenings around First for the week.
We’re Kicked Off!
We had a great Fall Kick-off last week! It was a delightful service full of worship and a consideration of Isaiah 5. We looked at how God has provided us a trellis (the local church) to help us grow. Our church building and programs are not the focus of our mission, but they provide a context for connection with one another and ultimately spiritual growth. People are the vine and we want them to grow! So we encouraged everyone to be involved using the SBS strategy (Prioritize Sunday, Attend a Book Club, Basics class or Bible Study, and Serve somewhere or simply: Sunday, Bible, Serve). We also looked at the Life@First Map. We ran out of copies but more will be available Sunday!
We also hope you had a chance to engage with some Teams in the sign-up fair in the Fellowship Hall, but if you didn’t and are looking for some help in getting involved, please reach out to Kyle, your Consistory Care team, or a Team Leader. You can also check Church Center for group and study options, both in the Groups tab and on the calendar.
Finally, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped make the kick-off happen, notably the Team leaders with special mention to Marcia VanDenOever for making buckets of sloppy joe meat and Tom Byholt for picking up trailers, slinging tables everywhere, and for an extra night of clean up.
Entrance Project Update
Dave Newhouse has made progress in finding a way to move our project along in spite of contractor challenges. Dan Hoeksema will be our contractor and is slated to start the project by October 1st. The plan is to excavate and get forms set for the foundation on the Monday of the project start week. This will allow us to prepare the entrance to be used during construction for Sunday services.
Have you picked your Book Club, Basics Class or Bible Study yet?
- Book Club: How to Stay Married with Kyle and Nikki starting 9/22 (room for two more people)
- Bible Study: Romans with Chris VanDenOever starting 9/15 (open to all)
- Bible Study: Ladies’ Bible Study on Tuesdays at 9:30 AM (“Through the Desert”, open to all)
- Book Club: Gals and Books with Gloria Terpstra and Leigh Nicol on 3rd Tuesdays at 6:30 PM starting 10/15 (open to all)
- Bible Study: Men’s Bible Study with John Medema every Monday at 6:30 PM starting 10/7 (starting with Jude, open to all)
- Bible Study: Women’s Bible Study with Deb Polderman every Monday at 6:30 PM starting 10/7 (open to all)
- Basics Class: Joining (membership) with Kyle. Pick one: 9/22 11:30 – 3:30 or 11/24 5:00 – 8:00 PM. Sign up in Church Center starting 9/15 or contact the office.
- Basics Class: Hearing (using the Bible and how to pray) with Kyle every Sunday 11:30-12:30 PM starting 9/29 through 11/3. Sign up in Church Center starting 9/15 or contact the office.
Cheering Section this week
- 9/13: Isaac Fletcher Marching Band at Mattawan High School football game
- 9/14 at 12:00 PM: Henry Guy Rocket Football at Portage Central
Prayer
- For Sharon Krohn on the loss of her sister Luanne Bigelow (Memorial Service tomorrow 9/13/24: visitation at 10:00, service followed by luncheon at 11:00).
- We have a light week on individual needs this week. Let’s take the opportunity to pray over each of the B classes above. Please pray for the teachers/leaders and for the attenders. For those on the fence about joining something, pray that God fills them with courage and/or conviction to be a part of something.
