Category Archives: Cedar Chips

The month newsletter of Cedar Hills Community Church.

Bright Spot, Cedar Chips, Missions Team

Flying Away to Camp

In Alaska it isn’t always easy to drive your child to camp, many times they need to be flown. RCA missionary Brian Bruxvoort saw the need and as a pilot decided he could do something about it. He loads up his airplane with children and teenagers and flies them from the home villages to camp. Last summer, he flew 356 teenagers from 36 villages to 4 camps across Alaska. Of those 356, many of them professed faith in Christ. Through Brian’s ministry the lives of children and teenagers were changed.

Praise God!

–Cedar Hills Missions Team

Cedar Chips, Journey

Lead the Cause

Back in June we took 6 students and 2 adults to Lead the Cause in Chicago. During this week, our students learned to share  their faith with anyone and everyone. Since returning, our students have brought others into the ministry with them as they
walked the malls and pools of Cedar Rapids with a focus of connecting others to Jesus. Please pray for this passion and  boldness to continue and that God would start a revival in the hearts of this community. We need your help with prayer and
action. Join us as we follow the leading of God for His people!

We believe Journey Student Ministry is extremely valuable in the lives of each student and we need your help to keep reaching out to more students. If you are interested in joining the student ministry as a leader, please let me know. We are currently in need of 2 male leaders to round out our fall leadership team.

Jeremy Van Genderen
Director of Youth and Young Adults

Cedar Chips, Journey

Rocky Mountain High 2017

On July 21, 13 students and three adults will be making the trip to Rocky Mountain High. During this week, they will have an opportunity to engage in worship with over 2,000 other students, rise early to spend time in God’s Word, enjoy the Rocky Mountains and much more. This is always an impactful week spiritually for the students. Families still talk about this trip decades later. Here are some ways to join us this week:
#1: Pray our students grow spiritually this week.
#2: Pray that God protects this group as they travel to and from Colorado.
#3: Ask God to have the impact of this week make ripple effects in the lives of those the students came in contact with when they return.

We believe Journey Student Ministry is extremely valuable in the lives of each student and we need your help to keep reaching out to more students.

If you are interested in joining the student ministry as a leader, please let me know. We are currently in need of 2 male leaders and 2 female leaders to round out our fall leadership team.

Jeremy Van Genderen
Director of Youth and Young Adults

Cedar Chips, Worship

Where Are You Today?

Have you ever had a season where the Christian journey is fascinating and awe-filled? When God seems to step-in in the biggest way possible and intervene at just the right moment with an awesome answer to prayer, a miracle, a deep revelation of something in His Word, or the advice from a friend at just the right time that somehow just ‘clicked’ in your brain?

Have you ever had a God sighting? A moment where something supernatural took place and you are not even sure how to describe it? And you’re not even sure you want to share it because you think those around you might think you’re crazy or not truly understand what just happened to you?

Have you ever had a season where the Christian life seemed kind of hum-drum? Where you go about your regular routine but there are no significant God sightings, no huge moments of revelation, nothing new that strikes you in the Word? When prayer seems dull, and God’s voice seems silent or a little too quiet? And life just seemed to drag on and on and on without anything happening?

Have you ever wanted and needed so desperately to hear from God and for Him to intervene and yet He seems silent? And you wonder to yourself, “Maybe this time He won’t answer even though He’s answered so many times before?” When life seems hopeless, but you cry out for help anyway? And you cannot find a way out, but you hold a glimmer of hope that maybe God has a way out? But he’s not moving when you NEED Him to move?

Have you ever just been content with your Christian life. You have no expectations of God doing anything miraculous, but you enjoy His Word and prayer, and fellowship with other Christians, but have zero expectations that there could or should be something more than this?

Just curious. Where are you today?

Leah Carolan
Director of Worship & Media

Cedar Chips

Consistory Governance

The Consistory is the governing board that leads our congregation. We govern by writing policies to keep us on mission. We exist so that people will grow in their love for God (Love). We exist so that people will grow in their faith in Jesus Christ (Grow).  We exist so that people will grow in their love for each other (Serve). We exist so that people will find hope through faith in Jesus Christ (Seek).

Culture is not something we usually think about. It’s like water to a fish or air to a bird. It’s simply the environment we live in. Culture is one of the most important factors driving an organization. Unhealthy cultures produce bad results. Healthy cultures produce good results.

Webster defines culture as “the predominating attitudes, values, and behaviors that characterize the functioning of a group or organization.” In this sense, culture in inescapable. You can’t not have a culture, and every culture is either healthy, unhealthy, or somewhere in between. Our calling as a Consistory is to build a God-honoring, Christ-centered, grace-filled, biblically sound, kingdom-focused congregation. This culture will be healthy and result in these kinds of fruit:

  • Real Community. Everyone matters. Everyone belongs. Everyone contributes. Together is better.
  • Speaking the truth in love. Truth is not hoarded but shared.
  • Great teams. The right people serving in the right places at the right time.
  • Passionate. Everyone is free to follow God’s calling which results in passion.
  • Grace-full, grateful and generous. We are blessed to be a blessing!

What would you add to this list? Share your suggestion with any consistory member or staff.

Pray for us as we seek to build a kingdom culture.

Cedar Chips

Go Make Disciples

I meet regularly with individuals and small groups for the purpose of making disciples. My picture of discipleship used to be flinging mud against a wall. I dumped as much information as possible on people and crossed my fingers, hoping that the Holy Spirit was shaping them (and me). I am thankful that the Spirit did work in spite of my ill-conceived efforts, but I became curious if there was a better way.

While reading Michael Horton’s book, Core Christianity: Finding Yourself in God’s Story, I came across this insight, “We study things we care about” (15). If that’s true about our hobbies and work, it’s even more true about our faith and how we make disciples. Discipleship is about what we love. One practice that helps me grow as a Jesus loving disciple is reading the Bible with the four Ds in mind – drama, doctrine, doxology, and discipleship. These four Ds are knit together by Jesus Christ. Every drama points to him; doctrine is about him; doxology ends in praising him; and discipleship happens as a response to him.

As we dwell in the Word, the Word dwells in us, Dwelling in the story of Jesus shapes and forms us as his followers. Horton, in his book describes it this way: “Jesus is not swept into your story. You are swept into his” (150). Getting swept into the story deepens our understanding of the reason for our hope as Christians.

Drama refers to the unfolding story of God from Genesis to Revelation. Drama yields doctrine, the truths of the Christian faith. Doctrine, rooted in the drama, creates thankful hearts of praise – doxology – which is our worshipful response to who God is and what God has done. Doxology yields the fruit of love and good works which is discipleship that turns outside of ourselves, looking up to God in faith and out to our neighbors in love. When disciples know the story and its meaning, they will respond appropriately to the God who acts. And, they will be increasingly conformed to the central character as they serve others. To know what we believe and why we believe it lies at the heart of making disciples.

Kent Landhuis
Pastor of Teaching and Leadership

Cedar Chips, Worship

At the Foot of the Cross

At The Foot Of The Cross
By Kathryn Scott; © 2003 Integrity Worship Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing (IMI)); 

At the foot of the cross
where grace and suffering meet,
You have shown me Your love
through the judgment You received.
And You’ve won my heart.

Now I can
trade these ashes in for beauty
and wear forgiveness like a crown.
Coming to kiss the feet of Mercy,
I lay every burden down
at the foot of the cross.

At the foot of the cross
where I am made complete,
You have given me life
through the death You bore for me.
And You’ve won my heart.

For the season of Lent, we’re again coming back to the foot of the cross. We are reminded that from ashes we came and to ashes we will return. We are reminded that the mystery of our faith roots heavily in the actions of Jesus on the cross. So, for Lent, we are revisiting the stations of the cross on Wednesday nights, beginning March 1, Ash Wednesday. These are nights for the entire family, so we’re expanding the ages of the All Stars for Jesus Program to include children ages 3 yrs to 5th grade so parents can come, enjoy a meal with their children, and then attend the services while their children are back in All Stars. These services are also a quiet time of reflection for all of us—to refocus our hearts again on the cross and the sacrifice of Jesus that draws us into the heart of God.

~ Leah Carolan
Director of Worship

Cedar Chips

The Gospel According to Legos

The Gospel According to Legos Everyone knows about the ubiquitous plastic building blocks called “Legos.” Invented by a carpenter in Denmark, “Legos” comes from a Danish phrase that means “play well.” Since the 1950’s, 600 billion Lego parts have been manufactured.

So what do Legos have to do with the gospel of salvation?

The interlocking toy bricks are created for one purpose only—to interlock! They are meant to be snapped together into a magnificent construction. A pile of loose blocks is useless and impresses no one. Unattached bricks scream, “Build me into something great!”

God created human beings for a similar purpose. According to the creation story in Genesis, we are meant to be connected in supportive families and communities. God is fitting us together to create something amazing. And though selfishness and egoism now infect the world to break us apart, God is the master builder who patiently works to repair his broken creation.

The gospel can’t be reduced to “pie in the sky bye and bye.” And though it begins with the forgiveness of sins, the plan of salvation goes further. God so loved his lost and scattered “Legos” (you and me), that He gave His only Son to re-assemble us into a glorious construction known as the family of God, or the body of Christ, or the temple of the Spirit.

This is good news. On the cross, Jesus atoned for the self-centered pride that blocks compassion and destroys unity. He calls us to repent and welcome the gift of his new creation, to be the peace-making, interlocking community that reflects the image of God.

~ Alan Crandall
Pastor of Care

Cedar Chips, Family and Children Ministry

Family & Children’s Ministry – March Update

As you read this, I hope that you have a warm cup of coffee and a comfortable chair because some time of relaxed reflection may result. So find your “inner place of thought” and let’s go… I am curious how you respond to your children when you see them fail. Perhaps you are surprised or maybe you think that it reminds you of yourself. Often I hear parents say that they see themselves in their children, and we don’t find this surprising since our DNA speaks heavily of close knit replication. On that first glorious day of birth we say, “Hey, she has my eyes” or “… looks like Grampa’s chin…” These are normal and correct observations that we all make.

What about when we see our child acting in a certain way that we really don’t want to promote, but we dismiss it because we could see ourselves doing the same thing? In the world of psychology we call this “projecting.” Basically, this is placing our own feelings on someone else who is truly uniquely different.

At some point along the road, we will have to step up and reteach the child’s path or watch them struggle with the consequences of our lack of intervention.

So I implore you to prayerfully consider this thought and ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom in this point.

Blessings,

~ Otto & Kristin Getz
Directors of Family & Children’s Ministry

Cedar Chips

March Missions Update

If you are like me, you not only support the missions of Cedar Hills, but you have your own missions that you support. Some of my favorites involve reusing items we may normally throw away. For years I have been sending used greeting cards to a center in Waverly, National Geographic and Reader’s Digest to a mission in Ohio, and cancelled stamps to Alliance Stamp Ministry who sells them and uses the funds to send medical aid/items to Haiti. Recently, I heard about another use for an item we usually throw away – socks! Yes, those socks that may have gotten too stretched out, have a hole in them, or are missing one to the pair. They can be recycled!

The US is on track to generate 35 billion pounds of textile waste by 2019. Textiles are one of the fastest growing waste products in the world and also one of the most recyclable waste products (most can be remade into another item). Recycling a pair of socks can save up to 17 gallons of water and 66 BTU’s of energy!

The socks are graded and items in the best condition are sterilized, washed and sent to individuals in need. The items in poor condition are broken down for fibers, sold as insulation and other useful products, and all revenue is donated to non-profits. This is exciting! Send your socks to Nice Laundry Recycling, c/o Faithbox, 550 Industrial Road, Unit C, Carlstadt, NJ 07072, or bring them to me, plus any of the other items listed above, and I will send them with mine. “Let us not grow weary in doing good” (Galatians 6:9).

~ Chris Harwood
Missions Team Leader