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Building Lives of Meaning and Purpose
Check the bulletin board in the foyer for all
community events!
Today…
9:30 A.M. Worship service/Happy Mother’s Day!
11:00 A.M. B.E.A.T Classes
7:00 P.M. Rise (Sr. High) Youth Group
Tues. - 5:45 P.M. - Consistory dinner with candidates and meeting
6:45 P.M. - Elders/Deacons meetings
7:45 P.M. - Consistory meeting
Wed. - 4:30 P.M. - 6:30 P.M. - Club 57
7:45 P.M. - Rise B.E.A.T.
Thurs. - 9:00 A.M. - Prime Timers meet at Cronk’s Restaurant for
breakfast. Sign-up at the information table.
Sat. - 11:00 A.M. - Alpha Family Center’s Walk N Roll at Shaw Park in Newaygo.
(Registration begins at 9:30 A.M.) Picnic at noon.
-a communication of the FRC family
May 10, 2015
Sunday Mornings
Come to the Prayer Room
at 9:15 a.m. before
worship to pray for
15 minutes. Prayer is
critical to the fruitfulness of ministry.
Contact Information
Pastor: Kevin Schutt, email: pk@frcfremont.org
Youth Pastor: Matt Pifer, email: matt@frcfremont.org
Administrative Assistant:
Pat TerVeer, email: pterveer@frcfremont.org
Office Assistant:
Mary Jo Boisvert, email: maryjo@frcfremont.org
May 17 - Children’s Day/Last BEAT Classes/Special Offering for Missions
8:15 A.M. - Praise Team Practice #3
May 24 - 7:00 P.M. - No Rise Youth Group/Special Offering for Capital
Improvements
May 25 - Memorial Day - Church Office will be closed. 1st Connection articles
due to office by Tuesday, May 26th.
Memorial Day Parade - GEMS will be participating
May 27 - 4:30 P.M. - 6:30 P.M. - Last Club 57 meeting
7:45 P.M. - Last Rise B.E.A.T. Class
May 28 - 7:00 P.M. - Baccalaureate Service at FRC
May 29 - 5:00 - 7:00 P.M. - Chicken Dinner at FRC/Everyone welcome!
May 30 - Church yard work day!
May 31 - 9:30 A.M. - Graduation Sunday
11:00 A.M. - Congregational Celebration following morning worship
7:00 P.M. - Rise Youth Group meet at Lakeside Swirl
Graduates (or parents) - If you are graduating this spring, (high school or college) please sign
the sheet at the Information Center. We will need
everyone to sign up by May 17th. All Graduates
please bring a baby picture and your graduation
picture to the church office by May 17th.
Check out the Bulletin Board by the Nursery!
If
there is an item you need OR you have something you’re
willing to donate, please list your items on the paper provided with your description and phone number and tack it
under the appropriate heading on the bulletin board. Let’s
be a blessing to each other. For Donations Only!
The Serve Team
Chicken Dinner at FRC
on Friday, May 29th from 5:007:00 pm. Menu will consist of
Chicken Tenders, Potato
wedges, Coleslaw, roll and
dessert. Cost is $8.50 a plate. This is open to
the public so tell your neighbors and friends.
Gift-based Ministry Coordinator:
Mary Johnson, email: mary@frcfremont.org
Custodians: O’Neals: Randy - 231-519-5903
Brittany Escalante -231-329-2318
Karen - 231-519-5902
Church building open:
Sunday—All day
Monday—Thursday 8:00 A.M.– 5:00 P.M.
Friday—Saturday - Closed
May 11 - Betty Schutt
14 - Emily Bousho
May 15 - Mark and Laura Schreiber
May 17 - David and Wanda Dickinson -30 yrs!
Doug and Peggy Grau
9th Annual Law Enforcement Officers
Memorial Service
at Marshall Memorial Park this Thursday,
May 14th at 7:00 pm. Period of silence in
Honor of the following Officers:
Village Marshal - Benjamin Carpenter
Newaygo Police Department
Deputy Gerald Kandler
Newaygo County Sheriff’s Office
Tpr. Kevin M. Marshal
Michigan State Police
Newaygo Speakers are:
Georgia Andres - Chief of Police City of Newaygo
Patrick Hedlund - Sheriff - Newaygo County
A new model that’s old; Genuine Care for one another.
One of the crazy things that happens in our culture is when what is “New” (the latest & greatest) is really the old! Old enough, in
fact, that it has been replaced at least once or a few times, as a practice or facet in life, and has been (or almost been) forgotten. So old,
in fact, that it has not been encountered or a part of the life experience by those embracing it as “new” (or it wouldn’t be). Take records
(or as a new thing today, called “vinyls”), for example. We went from listening to music on records to 8 tracks to cassettes to cds to innumerable electronic storage devices. And now, “Vinyls” are popular again! Go figure! But that kind of scenario happens often; the new
is really the old. Sometimes it’s born out of need because “new” isn’t always better; like, for example, the quality a “new” appliance or car
(when they really don’t “make them like they used to!”). A return to making or doing something that is rooted in quality or character is
needed.
However, sometimes “new” is what exactly is needed to change something from bad to good or from good to better. Case in
point; anyone want to go back to using an outhouse on a windy 20 below day in the winter? Jesus spoke about old & new, and the
changes that need to occur, in Matt. 9 when asked by the Pharisees why His disciples didn’t do what they (the religious) did. He said, No
one sews a patch of un-shrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do
people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they
pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” These words of wisdom from Jesus have a wide breadth of application for
the body of Jesus, as it relates to change.
Let me share one for now, about caring for one another as a body of Jesus. In Acts 2:45 we read this about the followers of
Jesus (as the first generation of believers); “Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as they had need.” In short, they
sacrificially cared for each other in order to meet physical needs. If you read the whole text; it’s clear that they were caring for each other
by meeting many other needs as well. It also happens to be the “new” model of caring for people in the body of Christ that younger
people are embracing.
Solid, mature, young Christians are leaving “old churches” in droves, and one of the primary reasons they cite is the lack of
people genuinely caring for one another. They don’t see people meeting each other’s needs in their churches (let alone selling something they have to give them what they need) & communities (if they even know one another’s needs). And…they are pretty spot on.
Not that it should surprise us. The church has moved from a model of having primary care given to people by each other (like the first
generation of followers of Jesus), to a model where one (the pastor) or a few (Care Elders) are expected (and demanded) to be the primary care-givers for the body. The simple logistics of that model make genuine or personable care almost impossible, and difficult at
best. Even more significant than that is the reality that it’s not how Jesus taught His followers to care for one another. He taught them to
care for one another the way the Acts 2 church did (e.g. Acts 2:45).
Young vibrant followers of Jesus are striving to care that way, and that’s why they are leaving the “old church”. Where are they
going? Most are forming house churches, to build stronger, more intimate and caring relationships. They’re going back to Acts 2:45; the
“new” is the old. So what’s an “old church” to do? Listen to Jesus’ words of wisdom in Matt. 9; make new wineskins! And that’s exactly
what the leadership at FRC is praying through, and seeking God’s leading about. Every single study done on healthy & thriving churches
(no matter what size they are) reveals the need for healthy and thriving small groups, and the #1 reason is because of the level of primary care they bring. Seems as if Jesus and the Acts 2 church got it right…and so are young people who are genuinely seeking Him
today. We know it’s a must, and we are hoping to unveil a “new wineskin” in the form of small group ministry, because we need to
change how we care for one another! Stay tuned, and keep praying for us (your leadership)!
Seeking a new model that’s old for genuine care at FRC, -PK
A New Phone
Directory is being
planned and we
need your help!
Please stop by the
information table in
the Gathering Center
and check to see if we have the right
info on you and your family. Make
changes if need. Members and
regular attendees, if you are not in
the directory, please add your info
and we will make sure it gets in.
Thank you for your help!
TrueNorth Food Pantry
Your donations are greatly appreciated. Our
prayer is that you will continue to remember
us and keep donating as often as you can.
Please place your donation on the table at the
south entrance of the church and Len and
Jean Rottman will deliver them for you. If you would rather make
a monetary donation and have someone do the shopping for you,
please contact Jean Rottman at 231-335-2261.
Retired Reformed Church missionary, Sam
Hofman, has published the book FROM JERUSALEM
TO YOU, The Amazing Spread of Christianity. It is written
especially for young people and adults who have not had
the opportunity to study Church History. With the aid of 36
maps, the book shows how the Gospel traveled in 2,000
years from Jerusalem to you and to the world. Books are
available postage-free at $20.00 for soft cover and $30.00
for hard cover at: Rev. J. Samuel Hofman, 876 West 26th
Street, Holland MI 49423.
FRC MOMS:
FRC Moms we love you,
Because of who you are & all that you do!
You do more than we can mention in our homes
to make as blessed as we can be,
Then you teach, lead, and love on us
when we gather at FRC!
God tells us we need to not only praise Him for you,
But to give you praise too!
So from all of us who know who you are & love you
with all of our hearts,
May the words of praise rise up, flow, and start!
May God fill our hearts so full of praise
we can’t help but pour it out past mom’s day…
But give you the praise you deserve…in all
we do and say!
We love & praise God for you, FRC moms!