Family and Children Ministry, Holiday, Journey, News

Dec. 17 Chili Cookoff Fundraiser

CHILI COOK-OFF

Calling all cooks and chili artisans! Bring a pot of your best and most delicious chilis to share.

On Sunday, Dec. 17 after the 2nd service, we’ll be sampling chilis of Cedar Hills’ best cooks.  Vote for your favorite chili by putting cash in the pot.  The proceeds of this fundraiser go towards youth events and trips.  To participate in the cook-off, indicate interest on the Sunday bulletin tear-off or contact Jeremy, Director of Youth & Young Adults. 

Want to bring a dessert? Let us know that as well.

There’s lots happening at Cedar Hills on December 17. Ugly sweaters, cook-off, children singing… read here for the full run down.

News

Financial Peace University begins January 7

We are excited to start a session of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University beginning Sunday, Jan. 7. Class will be on Sundays at 9:45am at Cedar Hills Community Church.  To register, click here.

You will need to purchase the FPU kit for class if you don’t already own one.  The church has purchased ten kits at a discounted price of  $77.50.  This is a reduced price from the standard price of $109. Class participants are required to purchase a kit, one/family.  Scholarships are available for any wanting to participate in the class but need financial assistance.  In these cases,  contact Larry Pottebaum for more information.  People signing up for the class will need to indicate if they need a kit. The older kits will still work but there is also a special upgrade price of $49.

The Smarter Way to Manage Your Money

PAY OFF YOUR DEBT

It’s no fun living paycheck to paycheck. Enjoy your money without owing it to someone else.

SAVE FOR THE FUTURE

Get proactive! Build an emergency fund and invest with confidence.

MAKE A GREAT TEAM

Create a helpful budget that works for you AND your spouse. Learn to plan, save and grow together.

Register today.

Holiday, News

The Holidays at Cedar Hills – 2017

Here are the events happening this month at Cedar Hills:

December 10

Staff Ugly Sweater Contest

The staff will be donning their ugly sweaters. Vote for your favorite by putting money in the red kettle. All proceeds will go to the Salvation Army and the winner announced Dec. 17.  Pictures of the staff in their sweaters will be on display beginning Dec. 3 in the Gathering Space.

December 17

Chili Cook-Off

After the 2nd service, we’ll be sampling chilis of Cedar Hills best cooks.  Vote for your favorite chili by putting cash in the pot.  The proceeds of this fundraiser go towards youth events and trips.  To participate in the cook-off, indicate interest on the bulletin tear-off or contact the office.  We’ll also be asking for desserts and sides to go along with the event.

Children’s Christmas Presentation

The children of All Stars for Jesus and Cross Training programs ages 3 to 5th grade will be singing a few songs in each of the services.

Ugly Sweater Sunday

Wear your ugly sweater to worship and we’ll celebrate the upcoming holiday with a little Cedar Hills’ fun.  If you have a child singing a song that day, be sure to have them wear their sweaters as well! We’ll be announcing the winner of the staff ugly sweater contest this day.

December 24

Christmas Eve – Morning

No Sunday morning services on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve – Afternoon/Evening

We will celebrate Christmas Eve at 3pm, 5pm and 7pm.  The Christmas Eve services are all identical.

December 31

New Year’s Eve

We will have regular Sunday morning worship services at 8:30am and 11am.

Holiday, Worship

Ugly Sweater Sunday

Are we really doing this? You bet we are!

Come Sunday, Dec. 17 wearing your best and ugliest Christmas sweater. Just a little fun with your Cedar Hills family during this Christmas season!

The best Christmas sweaters are often homemade… thing super glue, strings, fuzzy balls.  Be creative.  Google ‘ugly Christmas sweater’ for inspiration.

Stay after the services for a Chili Cook-off – the proceeds will go to the youth group. Contact the office to be a competitor or sign up in the church bulletin.

Cedar Chips

Who We Are

Core identity: WHO we are.

One Church. Many Places. Following Jesus.

  • We are one church. We belong to a community of people loved by God, making disciples
    who desire to fix what is broken in the world. (Luke 15)
  • We exist in many places. We take the love of God everywhere we go. (John 3:16)
  • We follow Jesus as he calls us to seek, love, grow, and serve. (Matthew 28:18-20)

We are one church, loved by God,
 fulfilling the Great Commission to make disciples who follow Jesus,
by living out the Great Commandment
to love one another in all the places we go.

Core Value: Our compelling WHY.

Because God loves us, we love. (Matthew 22:34-40)

  • Love God Wholly.
  • Love Self Properly.
  • Love Neighbor Deeply.
  • Love the World Boldly.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength,
and love your neighbor as yourself.” -Matthew 22:34-38

Core Calling: WHAT we do.

Make disciples who make disciples who follow Jesus in the everyday stuff of life.

  • Seek—Come and see. (Outreach)
  • Love—Come and follow. (Worship)
  • Grow—Come and grow. (Spiritual formation)
  • Serve—Come and be. (Service)

“Go, make disciples of every nation…” –Matthew 28:18-20

Family and Children Ministry, News

Family & Children Ministry Update

We celebrate the impact that our congregation has seen in the lives of families and children in 2017 at a time when we are facing a big transition in this ministry. Our commitment is to grow this ministry so that parents will embrace their calling to nurture faith in their children. Our vision is that our congregation will partner with parents to build strong families. To this end we are engaged in a search to find the candidate that God is preparing to lead us forward in this vital ministry. Your prayer in this season of change are much appreciated as we seek the next Director of Family and Children’s Ministry!

Pray that God will lead us to the person called to carry out this ministry. The Director of Family and Children’s Ministry shall be responsible for the oversight of ministry to families with children, birth through 5th grade. The primary roles will be to encourage and empower parents in their call to disciple their children and to equip others to intentionally focus on developing children into life-long followers of Jesus.

~ Pastor Kent

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

Love. Belong. Serve.