The Worship Center is setup for social distancing as we gather again for services this Sunday, June 7. Because are currently not offering any children’s ministries on Sunday mornings, parents may encounter some new hurdles to worship as a family. If you have young children, Cathy Poole has some great ideas for you to consider!
Our graduates received a surprise delivery last week – a yard sign, goodie basket and new Bibles.
We are so proud of all their accomplishments and praise God for the work He is doing in them and through them.
Thank you to Zac Goodall for submitting a picture of his surprise delivery!
May God richly bless all our graduates in the next leg of their journeys.
Did you know you can listen and watch past Cedar Hills sermons online? We’ve created quite the archive the extends back almost five years of audio!
If you are a podcast listener, you’ll find Cedar Hills on most of the major podcast players:
With the unique changes that COVID-19 brought to our congregation, we also added on a video catalog of the services, available on Vimeo.
With so many options available, we can all stay connected, growing in the Word, and moving forward as one peope – the Body of Christ!
Be blessed today!
Cedar Hills Media Ministry
Hello Cedar Hills,
The Atmosphere team is looking for people who would be willing to assist with painting as we move to the second phase of our capital campaign refresh. The Gathering Space has been painted and looks fantastic! We’re ready to proceed down the hallway and into the classrooms. We are hoping to have this all complete in the next month And to accomplish this, we need a number of volunteers!
We will do our best to accommodate any form of physical distancing that is preferred. We can set up a classroom in advance of the painters coming with the proper tools and we can hang signage that discourages people from entering the room during the time you and your crew are painting. It would be helpful, but not necessary, for painters to bring their own rollers. However, we will provide the roller pads and all other essential tools. You can paint at your own pace…just let us know when you will begin, approximately when you will be there and IF you want signage up to remind others about physical distancing.
If you and/or your family/friends are willing and able to serve in this way, please contact Mel Dahm or text 641-420-1661, letting us know if you prefer to be contacted via phone, text or email.
We appreciate any assistance you are able to offer!
Blessings,
Your Cedar Hills Atmosphere Team
All of our Explorer’s children and parents are invited to join Rick Carolan for a quick 3-minute podcast daily this summer for an “80 Days of Summer” family-friendly devotional.
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We were so very fortunate to have our entire staff donate their time to deliver May Packets and Graduation Certificates (for our four-year-old class) to all of our students! It was an incredible day, full of smiles and tears! The staff enjoyed the fact that they got to say their official “goodbyes” to our students.
Our Good News is that July Summer School is proceeding! We have 15 students registered. There will be some major changes and challenges due to keeping our kids and staff safe during this pandemic. We are confident that we will figure a way to work around all of the obstacles and make it fun experience for all.
We are in the process of hiring a new teacher for next year. This position is Monday through Friday, from 8:30 to noon. If you are interested in more information, please send an email to our office.
After being home for so long, wouldn’t you like to put a date on your calendar for something to do? July 14th is our next Blood Drive at church. Walk-in’s are not allowed at this time, but you can go online and sign up for a time (or do so in their app!). You can also email the Noah’s Ark office and I’ll help you get signed up.
Kris Crowther
Director of Noah’s Ark Preschool
Several weeks ago I was in a room with 4 other people. We were all waiting on something so we were standing around. What struck me was that each person wanted to speak, but not listen. Each of them cut into the conversation before the other was finished speaking. None of them were interested in listening to the other person or asking questions about the other person’s story. Each person was more concerned about establishing their identity than about being a generous listener.
Generosity can be carried out through Finances, Influence, Skills, or Time (F.I.S.T. model) –time being the most precious of them all. Listening, truly hearing someone, is one way to steward God’s resources well. Like all generous acts, listening is a choice.
I used to hate baby showers. The events felt like a waste of my time. I hated the small talk and the silly games. I would have preferred to take the mother-to-be out for a coffee and give her a gift while we had meaningful conversation. Even though I love to celebrate, baby showers felt so forced.
Thankfully God has changed my heart on this matter. I moved into realizing that spending my time listening to someone, even at a baby shower, can be a generous act. I’ve learned to appreciate where God has placed me (physically) each day, because I can take joy in being generous with those around me.
Listening is a key tool for loving someone well. Having good health, a big house, a college degree, or dozens of friends is not required for you to do listening well. Listening requires almost nothing, except your most precious resource–time.
Most nights my husband listens as I share what’s on my heart. He listens with compassion and asks questions. I feel loved by this generous act.
As a child, my grandparents and great-grandparents listened to me with abandon, as if they had hours on end to give. I could share every whim and fancy knowing they would take an interest in what I had to say. It made me feel known and loved, in a society that doesn’t value children or their caretakers.
Alan Crandall is one of the best listener I know. If someone starts a conversation with him, he will give them his full attention and make them feel welcomed to share their heart. This is a treasure to find in a world that is short on time and long on self-focus.
You are doing God’s work when you spend time listening. To listen is to love.
Lindsey Ungs
Connection & Communication Architect
I never thought I would ever write about dog grief. I never thought I could love a dog so much. When Mary and I were told about Quincy’s cancer, it broke our hearts. Saying good-bye to our four-legged family member grieved us deeply.
Within days after Quincy passed, Mary started the search for a puppy. Grief therapy. We found a breeder with a new litter of 11 puppies. We met them when they were three weeks old and we fell in love. The puppy with green paint on his tail captured our hearts.
For the next four weeks, we visited this breeder’s website often to look for pictures and videos of the puppies. We searched each time for the puppy with the green tail. He was the cutest, most adorable, most wonderful puppy ever. He was ours. He belonged to us.
Finally, the breeder called, “He is ready! You can take your puppy home!”
Mary said, “We don’t need to bring the puppy home. We can just watch him grow up online.”
Mary really said, “We will be right there! He belongs to us!”
We too, were made to belong. It is so important that the Heidelberg Catechism asks this question first: “What is your only comfort in life and in death?” And our comfort is found in belonging! “My only comfort in life and in death is that I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Everyone wants to belong. Even a puppy.
The Lord be with you,
Kent Landhuis
Pastor of Teaching & Leadership
“We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord, and we pray that all unity may one day be restored . . . and they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”
The world we inhabit is torn with strife, from sibling quarrels to mean-spirited politics to divorce courts to warring nations. Human pride and narcissism undermines unity. But God is creating a new humanity out of self-centered narcissists like us.
God’s purpose of unification is guaranteed because he predestined this in Christ before the creation of the world. In fact, God embedded his goal of unification in the physical structure of the universe.
Vast solar systems are held together by gravity—in order to exist, the worlds need to connect!
Tiny molecules are held together by electromagnetism—before any process of nature, atoms need to bond!
Biological life depends on attraction—herding, swarming, flocking, and especially, mating. The mystery of the birds and the bees comes from the heart of a loving, reconciling Creator. All things need to be connected!
Christ is the hidden power who holds everything together. As a great Christian anthropologist said, “Love is the affinity which links and draws together the elements of the world . . . Love, in fact, is the agent of universal synthesis.” (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin)
On Pentecost, the risen Christ gave gifts to create a new kind of human society, one that overcomes the divisions of this hurting world. On that day Jesus inaugurated a spiritual family that’s meant to overflow with God’s Spirit until God fills everything.
The Bible says that Christ is the head, and we are his body. The church is a living, expanding fellowship of love that will eventually overcome every division and fill the universe. That’s why Christ has blessed us with hospitality, authenticity, forgiveness and reconciliation—to make his predestined plan come true.
“They’ll know we are Christians by our love!”
(A personal note: I’m deeply grateful that God called me to be part of the pastoral team at Cedar Hills for the past six years. Although I’m “retiring” from my official role at the end of May, Jan and I look forward to continuing our precious friendships with you in the days to come. This is where we belong. Your love completes us!)
Alan Crandall
Pastor of Care & Visitation
Feeling frustrated lately? The list of frustration I have felt and observed in the past week is great. Frustrated about balancing work with being home with kids. Struggling with online classes, more work, and changing expectations. Frustrated by the loss of things important to us, even if we know they are trivial, like sports season, clubs, and activities. Upset about all the unknown in our lives. Frustrated that we are opening too soon or not soon enough. Confused about how people look at the same data, but come to contradictory conclusions.
Disappointed that something like public health during a pandemic could get so politically divided. So what do we do with all these emotions? Emotions are human. We cannot help but experience them. However, how would Jesus want us act in times like this? How should we, as Christians, respond to these emotions in a Godly way?
Trust God, even when you are feeling frustrated. His plans bring with them the promise of abundant life!
Steve Poole
Director of Youth & Young Adults