A sermon series for February 2022. Services at 8:30am and 11am. Children’s worship for ages 3 to 3rd grade available at 11am.
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Pure Gold
in 2022, will be focusing on memorizing scripture. The sermon series will explore why this is an important habit for Christians. Our goal is to memorize two short Bible verses every week and have 100 memorized by the end of the year.
if you’d like to start memorizing your scripture verses, here’s a document with the layout of the year, and also a link to YouTube where our Worship Director has set everything to music.
Ice Skating – Nov. 21 for Faith, Family & Fun
Did you have fun at Bloomsbury Farm in October? Our next Faith, Family and Fun outing is a public skate at ImOn Ice Arena, Sunday, Nov. 21, 1:30-3:30. Our discount rate is $5 and includes the cost of skate rental. *Children ages 0-2 skate FREE. The regular cost is $9 for admission + skate rental, so this is a good deal.
Download and print the waiver ahead of time.
LOCATION: 1100 Rockford Rd SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
Faith, Family & Fun events are for the entire Cedar Hills church family that we hold once a month.
Contact Kathryn Pisch using the form below with any questions!
“Jesus on Every Page” – a new series
“Jesus on Every Page” – a new 5-week series begins Sunday, Oct. 24. This will be a broad look at the Bible and it’s layout – History, Poetry, Prophets, Gospels and Epistles and how they all work together to bring us the complete story of God’s love and redemption of His chosen people.
If you are new to the Bible, this is a great overview of how God’s Word is woven together and speaks through various times and ages.
We worship on Sundays at 8:30am and 11am, with classes for all ages in between services at 9:45am. More About Worship
Many at Cedar Hills have been following a 1-year reading plan to read through the entire Bible called “The Bible Recap”. Each day’s reading is paired with a short 6-10 minute podcast to explain the daily readings and offer daily “God shots” – a quick take-away from the reading. To learn more about this awesome program, go here. It’s never too late to start reading!
Operation Christmas Child 2021
We participate yearly in an exciting ministry called Operation Christmas Child. Partnering with Samaritans Purse, we pack shoeboxes with gifts and supplies for children around the world and Samaritan’s Purse delivers the boxes along with the good news of Jesus!
OCC boxes will be available at Cedar Hills beginning Oct. 24 and are due to the church Nov. 14. You can also use any shoebox! It does not have to be the ‘official’ box. How to pack a shoebox.
Here is how it works:
The Amazing Journey of a Simple Shoebox Gift
Begins with You and Results in Evangelism, Discipleship, and Multiplication
Packing
From children to seniors, people pack shoebox gifts each year to bless children in need around the world. Parents often use the project to teach their kids about giving. Year-round volunteers support these efforts across the country.
Collecting
Churches and groups of all sizes collect boxes from their communities. Some churches also serve as drop-off locations for shoeboxes the 2nd week of November every year.
Shipping
Thousands of volunteers serve annually inspecting and preparing shoeboxes for international shipping. Every hour work stops for a few minutes to pray for the children who will receive the boxes.
Worldwide Distribution
Long before shoeboxes arrive in more than 100 countries, volunteer National Leadership Teams train pastors and community leaders who want to share the message of the Gospel and bless children. The leaders learn how to host child-friendly outreach events, and how to implement The Greatest Journey follow-up discipleship program.
Outreach Events
Pastors around the world host outreach events in places where people may not know Christ and invite them to follow Him. Other churches use the boxes as resources for outreach in orphanages and other at-risk areas. In many places, they also offer The Greatest Gift, a Gospel story booklet Samaritan’s Purse developed for shoebox recipients, and invite children to participate in The Greatest Journey discipleship program.
Discipleship & Multiplication
As a result of what they learn in The Greatest Journey, boys and girls grow in Christ and share with friends and family. The students also invite others to their graduations where the Gospel is shared. This often brings parents, siblings, and friends to accept Christ and become active members in the local church. Families are reached, churches grow, new churches are started, and communities are transformed. Go Deeper ￫
When Tired, Take a Nap
When Tired, Take a Nap
I’m wired for self-critique, judgment, and condemnation. I’m not sure why, but I am hard on myself. One evidence of this is a denial of my need for rest. The tape playing in my head tells me, ” can keep going, push a little more, don’t quit yet.”
If you phone me early in the morning, rouse me from a deep sleep, and then ask, “Did I wake you?” My knee-jerk reaction would be, “No, I’m awake.” Ditto if you catch me napping. Just resting my eyes.
Truth is, I get tired. Sometimes very tired. And that makes me normal. One of my favorite verses in the last couple of exhausting years has been Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
I’ve been seeking rest recently from the burden of self-condemnation. We are the kind of people who believe in forgiveness. The most difficult person to forgive can be ourselves.
We are also the kind of people called to love our neighbors as ourselves. My mentor Ray always reminded me that we can not love our neighbors boldly until we love ourselves properly. Proper self-love is free from self-condemnation and shame.
The path to forgiveness for many of us begins with recognizing that we are far more loved – even in our brokenness – than we ever realized. We are forgiven. If God forgives us then we should feel free to forgive ourselves and that should lighten our burden.
So, when tired, take a nap.
Kent Landhuis
Pastor of Teaching & Leadership
Did you enjoy this article? Did you laugh, cry or learn something new? Let Kent know.
Bloomsbury Farm Event
FAITH, FAMILY & FUN – We’re headed to Bloomsbury Farm at 2pm on Sunday, October 17 for fall activities and fun. The entire church body is invited. Our discount group rate is $10/person.
Kathryn Pisch is overseeing the tickets. Look for her at Bloomsbury – bring cash or check payable to the church (and then the church pays one fee at the end). She will be available starting around 1:30pm. Ages 2 and under are free.
Newly Marrieds Community
Newly Marrieds Community – Register now
Sundays at 9:45am
An authentic community for newly married couples (married around 5 years or less!) who desire to be infused with the life of Christ as we grow in our marriage relationships and support one another in the group with grace and truth.
Childcare for all ages upon request.
Register now.
Lake Failure is Filled By Pride
Lake Failure is Filled By Pride
Tim Keller says, “If our identity is in our work, rather than Christ, success will go to our heads, and failure will go to our hearts.”
This is where I find myself frequently. With a heart that’s carrying some new failure. The failure might be a conversation turned sour, a connection that didn’t get made, or a message that wasn’t shared clearly.
After reading Keller’s quote last week, I began to realize just how much I still find my identity in things on this earth. As I reflect on the “failures” or the less than perfect way I carry out my ministry, I find that I let the failures weigh too heavily on my heart.
Then my heart starts to wonder about what might be a failure versus what might be a sin.
Separating actual sin from felt failures is a hurdle when I’m carrying burdens instead of letting God handle them.
So is there a sin somewhere in the mix of my failures? If there is, then I need to deal with that directly by naming the specific sin and asking for forgiveness. As my coworker pointed out after reading this article, the specific sin would be pride.
The root of me agonizing over the failures is found in my pride. When something goes right, I want to take all the credit. But when something turns out less than perfect, as things tend to do on earth, I feel the weight of that burden heavily. Primarily, because I look to myself instead of Christ.
When I have my identity rightly placed, both the failures and the successes are in God’s hands. As my coworker suggested, “I can rejoice in both, because they are both from God.”
My focus then, is to ask forgiveness for my pride.
As for my carrying around “failures,” this has to be remedied in moving my identity from my work to Christ. This process is going to take a while.
Lindsey Ungs
Connection & Communication Architect
Did you enjoy this article? Let us know.
The Wisdom Pyramid – Class Beginning June 6
The Wisdom Pyramid – Register now.
Do you have all the answers or are you looking for a few still? Where do you seek wisdom from regarding major life issues?
Starting Sunday, June 6 at 9:45am, a new class will begin. In this class, we will walk through the book The Wisdom Pyramid by Brett McCracken. Ben and Melissa Harkness will lead us through the wisdom seeking process in a Post-Truth World.
Childcare available for all ages upon request.