Category Archives: Cedar Chips

The month newsletter of Cedar Hills Community Church.

Cedar Chips, News

Gospel Saturation

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” ~ Habakkuk 2:14

This verse speaks of a day when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Waters covering the sea! That’s saturation.

Later Jesus promised that “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’“ (John 7:28). Gospel saturation starts with lives filled with Jesus so that Jesus shapes everything we do every day. When this happens good news flows out of us to others. God’s plan is for the whole earth to be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord one day. This is gospel saturation.

God longs for the day when every man, woman, and child in every corner of the world will have a daily encounter with Jesus in word and deed through His people, the Church. Gospel saturation is God’s vision for the world. God plans to accomplish this vision through normal, everyday people saturated with the presence of Jesus in the everyday stuff of life.

Ephesians 2 describes this life: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:8-10).

While most consider Ephesians 2:8-9, the key to making disciples, Ephesians 2:10 is often overlooked. Salvation by grace alone is a cornerstone of our faith and it is also clear that after receiving salvation by this grace, God-ordained, good works are sure to follow. According to Matthew 28, we make disciples of Jesus by “teaching them to obey everything,”

Jesus commanded. In his ministry, Jesus consistently performed unbiased acts of love and service, modeling compassion for all people. Jesus’ love for his neighbors was undeniable.  In the parable of the sheep and the goats, Jesus sets the expectation that true followers will care for the hungry, thirsty, isolated, imprisoned, or naked. (Matthew 25:31-46). These words cannot be ignored if we are making disciples who look like Jesus. Disciples who follow Jesus’ love.

Gospel saturation focuses on making disciples who make disciples who love in the everyday stuff of life. These disciples are equipped to do the works God desires (Ephesians 4:12) so that one day the whole world will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God, as the waters cover the sea.

Following Jesus,
Pastor Kent

Cedar Chips, Missions Team, News

Missions – God is doing a new thing!

God is doing a new thing! The Missions Team is excited to keep the missions fire burning and feels called by God to turn up the heat! ‘Missions’ means reaching people outside the church. Anyone anywhere in the world who is not a believer needs to be reached and we want to reach them. We know that we have a long way to go, but we are ready to take next steps by  inspiring the congregation with the goal of reaching out.

We are praying that we will all be less self-serving and more  committed to reaching the world and we are praying for God to work in us toward that end. We are also asking people, “What is God telling you personally about your call to reach the world?” We know that God is working and that there is a lot of work for us to do.

As we follow God and trust the Holy Spirit we trust that God will lead us. God wants to reach the world even more than we do so we will follow God one step at a time! Join us in giving praise for what God is doing— and will do—to reach the world!

If you want to be part of what God is doing to grow Cedar Hills to reach the world, contact Pastor Kent.

Cedar Chips, Family and Children Ministry

Family & Children Ministry – January 2018 Update

Parents are called to nurture faith in their children. This call is not simple or easy. Our goal is to do everything within our  power as a congregation to walk with parents and give them the tools they need to accomplish this vital task so that children will develop a life-long faith in Jesus. This task is so big and so important that we are pursuing a full-time Director of Family and Children Ministries. This position will be responsible for the oversight of ministry to families with children, birth through 5th Grade. The primary role for this position is to help parents in their call to disciple their children and equip others
to intentionally focus on developing children into life-long followers of Jesus. (Make disciples who make disciples—Matthew 28:18-20).

The essential duties and responsibilities include:

  • Encourage, empower, and equip parents to actively nurture the faith of their children.
  • Equip adults who love children to disciple children (goal 5 adults to 1 child).
  • Develop teams to build a family-based discipleship ministry.
  • Oversee teams by giving spiritual care, vision, recruitment assistance, and volunteer training.

We are hopeful that we will fill this position in early 2018. In January all the current programs—Cross Training, Explorers, Nursery, and All-Stars for Jesus will resume. Watch the bulletin for the latest updates. Your prayers for wisdom in this transition process are very much appreciated!

~ The Transition Team

Cedar Chips, Journey

Journey – January 2018 Update

The Journey student ministry had a busy end to the year with different service and fundraising activities. In January, keep your eyes and ears open for our annual super bowl sub sale. We would love to make some sandwiches for you for game day.

As we walk into this new year, many of us have thought of something we would like to do differently. You may have even heard the phrase, “New Year, New You.” This year I want to encourage you to live according to Ephesians 4:24. The NLT says it this way, “Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.” In Da Jesus book we read this version:
“You guys gotta start fo live da new kine way. God wen make dat new kine life so you guys can come jalike him. Den you guys goin be fo real an be good an spesho fo God, an live da true way.”

This year may your new you be molded and sculpted by the creator of the universe who knows exactly how and why he made you.

 ~ Jeremy Van Genderen
Director of Youth & Young Adults

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

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