Cedar Chips, Family and Children Ministry, News, Noah's Ark

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Ok, maybe not. Announcing plans for a new ministry, the Pumpkin Patch! Coming soon to Cedar Hills! Plans are in the works to till a patch of ground on the south and west side of the shed and plant pumpkins and gourds. Why? It‘s fun!

We also would like to create more community around a common theme—growth! Our thought is to use our land wisely and create fellowship among different teams already operating in our church. Our core team consists of people from both services. We are enlisting the assistance of the Youth Group, Young adults, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Noah’s Ark, and any of you who don’t fall into one of those communities. If we don’t receive more snow, we plan to till soon and plant by May 15.

Questions? Ask a team member or contact the church office. Watch for a harvest by October 1.

Members: Deb DeHaan, Jim Boeke, Wayne Josifek, Mary Landhuis, Leslie Clauson, Beth Brockette, Jeremy Van Genderen, and Dennis Rozendaal

Cedar Chips, Family and Children Ministry, Journey, News

Journey – May 2018 Update

I can’t believe another school year is coming to a close. We will be honoring our seniors on May 20 at Journey Youth Group. This will be a night to celebrate who they are and who God created them to be. On May 20 we will also be welcoming the upcoming 6th graders. That means if you are in 5th grade now, we want to see you and your parents at 5 PM on May 20. During this time, you will be introduced to Journey and we will have pizza together. Please RSVP by May 13 so I can get enough pizza.

On another note of celebration we had over 80 people join us for our SkyZone night. It was a great night of connection and formation for our group. I also want to say thank you to our four high school leaders who shared what God has been doing in their lives recently. The Gospel was preached and we believe that lives were changed with the truth of Jesus Christ.

~ Jeremy Van Genderen
Director of Youth and Young Adults

Cedar Chips, Consistory, News

Growing Missional Communities

Growing Missional Communities

We believe God wants every man, woman, and child having a daily encounter with Jesus in Word and deed! And God wants to use us to accomplish this “so that the knowledge of the glory of God will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).

A vital aspect of living on mission as a congregation is to grow leaders who are living on mission. The consistory is currently engaging the question of growing missional leaders in two ways. First, we are
growing ourselves by exploring how we can live on mission. Second, we are evaluating the leadership structure to see if our structure limits leadership commitment and ownership.

Our hope has always been that Cedar Hills would not be a staff-led ministry. We believe that the staff equips others to do ministry by building teams, led by non-staff leaders. So far in the review of our leadership development, we have discovered that one structural limitation to growing leaders who feel empowered
is turnover of elected leaders such as elders and deacons. We want to recruit, train and retain leaders who serve for the long haul. As we continue this review we will keep the congregation informed about our discoveries.

We also met with Leah Carolan, our director of Worship & Media. We celebrated her gift of raising up dozens of leaders in the areas of singing, playing instruments, running tech, creative arts, Sunday hospitality, and in developing our social media. Easter was a highlight with more than 100 volunteers serving and leading throughout the three services.

Please pray for our congregation as we continue to explore missional community together. God longs for the day when every man, woman, and child in Cedar Rapids and Eastern Iowa will have a daily encounter with Jesus in word and deed through us!

2018 Consistory

Deacons: Alan Brockette, Bruce Boldt, Jim Flamming, Allison Johnson, Nancy Josifek, Karen Schumacher
Elders: Lois Deerberg, Deb DeHaan, Diane Potter, Mike Robinson, Crissie Rozendaal, Kate Ulmer, Ken Viggers
Pastors: Alan Crandall, Kent Landhuis (President)

Cedar Chips, News

Living on Mission – Acts

Acts: Living on Mission

Our desire is to grow in our ability to live on mission. The book of Acts offers a beautiful picture of disciples living in dependence on the Holy Spirit as they transform the world.

May 6: Empowered for Mission
May 13: Missional Message
May 20: Missional Living
May 27: Missional Memories
June 3: A Man on a Mission

Sunday Morning Services:
8:30 AM and 11:00 AM

Cedar Chips, News, Weekly Readings

Dwelling in the Word

Dwelling in the Word

Meditate on Acts 3:1-10.

“One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God,
10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”

Cedar Chips, News

What do you see?

What do you see?

Ever play peek-a-boo? I think it’s funny that a baby can actually think you disappear when you hide your face, and the baby thinks it is hilarious when you re-appear magically from out of nowhere. This game can be played over, and over, and over again and it remains hilarious. Peek-a-boo, I see you!

Acts 3 starts with the story of the healing of the lame man. Verses 3 and 4 almost sound like a game of peek-a-boo. The lame man sees Peter and John and they see the lame man. They tell the lame man to look at them and he does and then they fix their eyes on him. There is a lot of looking and seeing in a few sentences. Peek-a-boo, I see you.

All of this makes me wonder, do we really see the people around us? People can be easily overlooked. In the hustle and bustle of life people disappear. We walk right past people without seeing who they really are – or we don’t see them at all. The clerk at the store, the server at the restaurant, the attendant at the gas station, the woman behind the desk, the man walking the dog, the neighbor pulling in the garage. Peek-a-boo, do I see you?

One of the invitations of missional communities is that we start to see our neighbors. We pay attention. We slow down. We notice. And when we see people we are nice to them. We are kind. We are curious. We are generous. We engage. We care. To care for people, we need to see them. Peek-a-boo, I really see you.

We believe that God wants every man, woman, and child in our community to have a daily encounter with Jesus in word and in deed. This daily encounter comes through us and the first step toward this encounter is that we actually see people.

Peek-a-boo! I see you!
Pastor Kent

News

Irene Espe – Funeral & Visitation Details

Obituary

Visitation and Funeral Details

Monday, April 30 
Visitation: 4:30-6:30 PM at Cedar Hills Community Church
Tuesday, May 1
Visitation: 10 AM-11 AM at Cedar Hills Community Church
Funeral Service: at 11 AM with luncheon to follow
Irene is the mother of Mary Landhuis, Mark Espe, and Ann.
Irene is the mother-in-law of Pastor Kent and mother-in-law of Cindy Espe.
Please pray for these families as they grieve her loss.

Love. Belong. Serve.