Bright Spot, Cedar Chips, Missions Team

November Missions Bright Spots

Our mission is to fulfill the Acts 1:8 calling that we will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on us so that we will be witnesses here and around the world! This verse gives us our purpose. Our strategy is to love Cedar Rapids and the world.

We carry out our strategy by praying and asking God to grow a love for people in Cedar Rapids and around the world. We do this by inspiring awareness of God’s work locally and globally, by sending people out in response to God’s call to reach out, and by supporting missions here and around the world.

In 2017 we have seen students reached on the campuses of Coe College and Kirkwood. Katie Smith reached out to students at the University of Iowa. We reached Chinese students studying in Michigan through the work of Linda DeBoer. We started a partnership with Matthew 25 and refugee farmers to grow food to feed families. We fed hundreds of people through the Open Hands Food Pantry. We reached around the globe into Niger (Jeremy and Susan Beabout), Papua New Guinea (Gary and Denise Abbas), The Czech Republic (Beth Larson), and Turkey (John and Becky Leverington).

These are some of the ways we are the hands and feet of Jesus fulfilling the Great Commission of Matthew 28 to go and make disciples of all nations!

~ Pastor Kent & Missions Team

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

Noah’s Ark – November 2017 News

I am a planner. I have a hard time waiting for answers. I want to know everything now so I can plan. This past year enrollment was very slow. Our numbers were low for a long time. We decided to adjust staff, cut hours, and changed some classes around. So all summer long we prayed hard, did some advertising on social media and our enrollment shot up! So again, we adjusted staff, added hours for some, and remembered to keep praying. How many times are we so focused on the planning that we forget to pray? This year reminded me that all the planning in the world wasn’t going to help if I wasn’t willing to pray to God as well. I’m more focused on what God wants as opposed to what I want done. I love that God still teaches us lessons and doesn’t give up until He’s ready for us. His time is not fast or slow, it’s perfect.

The preschool’s board works hard to keep a tight budget. Basically what comes in covers our budget and our gift back to the church. This year we are again giving a 10% discount to active church members. We gave back $10,000 directly to the church at the end of 2016. Our board for the 2017-2018 school year consists of: Jana Houghkirk as acting chair, Allison Johnson, Kaci Maire, Melissa Oberembt, Jennifer Miller, Carrie Campbell, Katie Curtis, Jan Fick, and myself. I absolutely love my staff! Jan Fick, 24 years, Assistant Director/Lead Teacher; Marcia Bruggink, 15 years as Assistant Teacher; Lori Larson, 11 years as Lead Teacher; Kris Crowther, 4 years as Lead Teacher, and Lorri Anderson, 3 years as Assistant Teacher. Bridgit Humphreys and Rachel Freeman join us as substitute teachers. We are grateful for all 62 families, who have stayed with Noah’s Ark and value a quality Christian education.

I believe in free preschool for those who can’t afford to pay. I don’t believe that our taxes should pay for all those who can pay. As a Preschool Director, it hurts my heart knowing that we have a quality preschool and loving Christian teachers who can offer way more than ‘free’ and we could reach twice as many families as we do. Please join with me and pray for the future of Noah’s Ark Preschool.

In Christ,
Leslie Clauson
Director of Noah’s Ark Preschool

Cedar Chips, News

November 2017 Adult Discipleship Update

It has been an exciting year for our Discipleship Vision Team. Our ‘on’ and ‘off’ campus cells continue to provide a growing number of families with the opportunity to connect with one another. There is still much work to be done in our groups owning the cell values. Some of our groups this past year merged with others and new groups continue to develop. Our focus on training and forming new cell groups will continue to be a way that we hope to reach out beyond the walls of the church to become a church that does life with one another in community.

The Adult Discipleship Cross Training has experienced a blessed year and is off to a good start this fall. This year we increased our Sunday morning classes to four instead of three. An additional Cross Training class is now offered on Tuesday mornings. Adult Discipleship opportunities continue to expand with a primary focus on the Bible, family dynamics, and other biblical electives presented to help resource our spiritual development.

Please continue to keep the search team and process in prayers as we seek our next Director of Children’s Ministry. If you have not attended a Cross Training Class or Cell Group, be sure to visit us online or at one of the registration tables for an opportunity to connect with others.

J.R. Henderson
Pastor of Spiritual Development

Cedar Chips

Little Ones Like Me

“The disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: …. ‘Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me…. See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven…. Your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.’” (Matt 18:1-14)

Jesus loves little ones. Little ones are weak and dependent. They know their need for God. Jesus loves both literal and metaphorical children. They are the “micro”-people who become “mega”- people in God’s family. Jesus assures us that angels are assigned to help them and that not one of them will be lost.

As Pastor of Visitation and Care, I enjoy reaching out to “littles” because I myself am a “little” in need of God. When I visit families, I want children to know that they are at the center of God’s attention. When “grown-ups” sit in pain-filled hospital rooms or at tense kitchen tables, whenever we cry to him in our weakness, we can be sure that heaven comes down to meet us in our need.

When we lose a loved one, or get stopped in our tracks by a serious illness, we have God’s angels watching over us. When we face addictions, disasters, family conflicts, divorce, job loss, or depression, we just need to remember one thing: despite ever present suffering and evil, not one of God’s “little ones” will be lost.

Alan Crandall
Pastor of Care

Uncategorized

November Worship/Media Update

I have been blessed to see how God is at work within the worship and media ministries over the last year. The biggest success by far was my absence. Taking a maternity leave always worries me—worry that things will fall apart, the holes will happen, volunteers fall through the cracks and just general chaos. But by the grace of God and the best crew of volunteer leadership, this NEVER happens. Our volunteers are awesome. We had great help through our worship ministry intern, Emily, but the  strength of our leaders and teams became very evident in my absence. Thank you, thank you! I feel blessed by the 70+
volunteers who call worship ministry their team at Cedar Hills.

Another cool expansion from the past year has been the addition of the Cedar Hills app. We’re still learning how to best use this unique tool, and it continues to surprise us. The “Quick Question” of the week has been the most popular feature in the app, but it is also growing in popularity for registering for classes and special events, and weekly giving of tithes. The
app also has the capability to submit photos to us of all the neat things happening at Cedar Hills. Every now and then someone will capture a pic that we would have otherwise missed. It also has a link to our sermon podcasts, one of the best online Bible tools I’ve yet seen, a link to our church community builder (CCB), and a button to submit prayer requests. We’re always looking for new ways to use it to engage and provide resources, so this tool is ever-evolving. Have you downloaded the app? Check the App Store or Google Play to find it under “Cedar Hills Community Church.” Easy.

Other highlights of the year—the 1st service choir at the Fall Kick-Off—wow! I hope you had the chance to hear them as well!
This has been a year of flourishing and growth and empowerment. We are blessed.

Leah
Director of Worship & Media

Cedar Chips, Family and Children Ministry, Journey

November Journey Update

Over the year of 2017, the Journey Student Ministry has watched God grow and move our youth group. To kick off the year,  we redecorated our ministry room to reflect the call God has on our ministry to reach those far from Him. Here are some numbers that show the impact God has had on us and we have had on the community.

  • Hundreds of prayer requests prayed for and answered.
  • Hundreds of friends prayed for about faith.
  • Over 50 individual gospel conversations.
  • Over 100 students attend an outreach night at SkyZone.
  • All six of our student leaders have consistently shared their faith and led testimony times.
  • Student leaders lead four outreach days in our community.
  • We’ve had most students attending Journey in the last six years.
  • Doubled our registration for the Lead The Cause Evangelism training event.

God is continuing to move in our student ministry and we are excited to see what happens in 2018!
Jeremy Van Genderen
Director of Youth & Young Adults

Cedar Chips, News, Uncategorized

State of the Church

Sailing Through the Storm

People are afraid that the church is losing influence – or worse, has already lost all of our influence. We’ve lost our voice in the public square and our ability to shape values. We’ve lost our own children. I’ve heard people say, “We are in a storm” and it is not just a sprinkle or even a passing thunderstorm – it is a hurricane.

Not every storm is created by problems ‘out there.’ Some storms are caused by the mess  that comes from our own brokenness. These storms threaten the church from within. If the state of the church is that we are threatened by the storms from inside and outside, what do we do about it? The book, The Disappearing Church by Mark Sayers suggests that in these stormy days, the
church-and the world-needs Christians who thrive in a hostile environment by finding  deeper intimacy with God. When storms blow, we trust in the One who calms the storms. There is another book that has a lot to say about this:

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; He lifts His voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” (Psalm 46:1-7).

Resilience in a time of storm comes when we know the one who is our strong shelter, the God who is our fortress. The God who makes the sunshine and the rain. The God who calms the storms. Jesus said,

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love” (John 15:9).

Abiding with Jesus is the best place to be when the strong winds blow and the rain beats down. It is the place we discover the love of God.

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (Psalm 46:10-11).

The state of the church is in need of a shelter in the time of storm, and we have a shelter. As we develop this resilience we discover that we actually survive the storm and that we really do have something to offer to the world. We can offer the world the shelter that they so desperately need.

We do not bear the turbulence of storms alone, we face them together with God as our refuge and strength, our ever-present help, our mighty fortress.

Kent Landhuis
Pastor of Preaching & Leadership

News

Dave Ramsey Preview – Live Event

Join Cedar Hills for a FREE live stream of Dave Ramsey’s Smart Money event.  Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 7pm.  Sign up online here.

Over the last 25 years, millions of lives have been changed through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. This November, Dave will be live streaming his Smart Money event to churches and Financial Peace University classes across the country. We are excited to announce that we will be a host site for this event. The best part? It’s absolutely free for you to attend!

Dave and Rachel Cruze will take the stage on November 7 in Phoenix, and we will stream the event in real time. We’d love for you to join us and learn the steps you and your family can take to live like no one else. Sign up today to be a part of this amazing event.

If you need childcare, please let the office know so we can plan accordingly.

We look forward to seeing you in November!

Love. Belong. Serve.