First Congregational News

First Congregational Church Member of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference 120 W. Morrell St./P.O. Box 227, Otsego, MI 49078 Hours: Mon., Thurs. & Fri., 9-12noon; Tues. & Wed., 9-2pm.

Heaven By Pastor Darin Youngs

Can you think of a time when a VIP has shown up? It might be the CEO in your work-place, or the Regional Manager, or the Direc-tor. Whatever the title, when the “Head Hon-cho” arrives, people are often very jittery. Typically, people in that situation cannot think of much of anything else. Recently, while I was on Annual Training for the National Guard, I had this type of experience. We were on bivouac. People were working out of tents. I arrived at the Command Post to find that everyone seemed to be on edge. “The General is coming!”, I was told. They were even practicing what to say and do when he arrived. I was roped into a role play. My Chaplain Assistant and I decided that we didn’t need to be around when the General showed up, so we left to cir-culate and care for the needs of Soldiers. Later, we arrived at a site just at the General and his two aides were leaving. When he saw me, the General yelled “Chaplain!” while about 30 yards away. He came up to me and said “I want to thank you for the weather!”. In the Army, chap-lains get the credit for good weather, and the blame for bad weather. Maybe that idea of the presence of a VIP can help us as we consider that the greatest feature of heaven is the fullest presence of the Lord! What is even better is that in heaven, there is no evaluation, or punish-ment, or discipline. God’s presence is one of joy and peace! In heaven, we will be overwhelmed with the fullness of God’s presence! There will be nothing like it. There’s no escaping the unobstructed, unfiltered pres-ence of God! Revelation 21:1-4 is a great passage of Scripture to teach us about heav-en as the final state. We read about new heavens and earth being creat-ed, and the first heavens and earth passing away. Then, the apostle John tells us that the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, comes down out of heav-en, which is the realm of God. What we see here is that in the final eter-nal state, heaven is not a far-away destination to which we somehow travel. Instead, heaven as the realm of God, unites, or merges with the new earth. Heaven is actually right here, in this totally transformed world!

JULY 2017 Are We Having

Fun Yet? By Polly Ismond

Bible teacher, Chip In-gram, has a series titled, “Going from Good to Great in God’s Eyes.” He in-cludes 10 topics such as: Make great friends; read great books; think great thoughts; dream great dreams; and take great risks. But I was intrigued by his last topic which was about including laughter and fun in our lives. Is it really important for a Christian to have fun? Jesus says in John 10:10, “I have come to give you life; a more abundant, satisfying, full life.” He is talking primarily of spiritu-al life but also of life here and now on this earth. Certainly an abun-dant life includes lots of fun and laughter. Jesus, Himself, sets the example for us. His first miracle was at a wedding celebra-tion. In that culture it would have lasted several days or a week and would have included food, wine (lots of wine in this case), music and dancing, and lots of fun and laugh-ter. Can you picture Jesus sitting on the sidelines or do you think He was sing-ing and laughing with the others? Or how about

(continued on page 2) (continued on page 5)

2

Church Hours Monday: 9:00am-Noon Tuesday & Wednesday:

9:00am-2:00pm Thursday & Friday:

9:00am-Noon

Call to leave a message anytime!

Unused Bibles or Chris-tian resources? Consider donating them to Christian Resource Center, where they are repaired and combined to send to those in need around the world. Bring your items in to the church office.

The pop can recyclable barrel is located in kitchen. The money collected is cur-rently being donated to Clean Water For The World.

Pop Tabs still being col-lected. Joyce Blanchard reg-ularly empties the container and turns them in to help fund items for local chil-dren’s hospital wards.

“Pennies from Heaven” Giving Jar is located in the Fellowship Hall. This is an on-going fundraiser. Please put change in you would like to donate and help fill the jar to the top!

Recycle used ink cartridg-es in the church office. We earn cash for them! This is an on-going, EASY fundraiser for FCC.

(Heaven) continued from page 1)

In vs. 3, the Apostle John, who received this vision, tells us that a loud voice declares, ““Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” Notice the emphasis on the presence of God? It is like nothing we have experienced before! God truly dwells with us. In the final state of heav-en, God’s presence is at its fullest! There is no way to miss the over-whelming, joyous presence of God! Many of the questions that we have about heaven seem almost insig-nificant when we consider that the most important feature will be God’s fullness of presence. It will fill our senses and overwhelm our being. It will truly be the greatest fulfillment of Psalm 16:11, which I enjoy hear-ing in the King James Version: “…in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore!” Heaven will be an experi-ence of the joyous, unobstructed presence of God. I invite you to join us on Sunday mornings at 10:40 AM for this series on “Heaven”!

Message from OIL (Outreach Influence Leader) By John Pickron

Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as our-selves. Matthew 22:39b ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ How much do you love your neighbor? Enough to include them in our church activities? Like a ladies, or men’s outing. Enough to invite them to join a women's or men’s small group bible study, to play cards, invite them to lunch, a round of golf, or go fishing. Do we love them enough to bring them to church on Sunday morning? This is what local missions look like. Invite them to meet our savior Jesus. Share the love of God with the lonely, the sick, hurting people around us. “Organic outreach is not about a program or a plan. It’s about orien-tating our hearts toward God and letting him lead us. It’s about seeking the direction of the Holy Spirit. It’s about being ever ready to respond when God opens a door.” (Organic Outreach, by Keven Harney pg. 109.) First Congregational Church recently had a wonderful ladies activity. About 40 ladies went on an outing to visit the home of an Amish Family in Middlebury Indiana for a luncheon. A few ladies with no known church affiliation joined our ladies group. They are reported to have had a good time in fellowship. This is a great example of what organic out-reach is intended to be. We all need to have our minds open to how can we include our neighbors and friends to join us.

3

JULY Prayer Calendar Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 John & Sheryl

Pickron

2 Kim & Wayne

Rayburn

3 Eva Rector

4 Pastor Youngs &

family

5 Casey, Rebeka, Miley, Kori & Tyler Rickli

6 FCC Quilters

7 Walt & Sue Rickli

8 Donna Robar

9 Hollis & Elaine

Ross

10 David & Janice

Salisbury

11 Pastor Youngs &

family

12 John Scheel

13 Bruce & Gail Hosner

JAARS/Wycliffe

14 Mary Ann Schiero

15 Rusty & Rachel

Schuiteboer

16 Carol Seekman

17 Scott & Linda

Sleeman

18 Pastor Youngs &

family

19 Irene Smith

20 Christian Neighbors

21 Kim, Brian, Kalee and Trevor Sparks

22 Ida Sprague

23 June Starr

30 Steve & Bryson

Tyler

24 Marcie Suglia

31 Sharon VanLent

25 Pastor Youngs &

family

26 Ron Thaxton

27 Mary Ann Lord

in Peru

28 John & Ann

Thurston

29 Nan Turcott

Community Back Pack/School Supply Project We are working with other local churches to collect school supplies every child needs to be ready and confident as they head back to school. This event will be held August 12 in the Plainwell Middle School Cafeteria. We will begin collecting supplies and backpacks right away with the deadline being Sunday August 6. Here is a list of items needed. Please place these items inside a large zip lock bag. If you are donating a backpack as well, please place the zip lock bag inside the backpack.

Items needed for Grades 6-12 Two 1# Binders 4 Notebooks. College Ruled 4 Folders Box of colored pencils 5#2 pencils 5 blue or black pens 2 glue sticks Index Cards

Items needed for K-5 One Spiral Notebook. Wide Ruled Two Folders Box of 24ct crayons Box of 10 ct washable markers Box of 10 ct colored pencils 3 glue sticks 5 #2 pencils

Other needed items for all ages Backpacks Scissors Calculators Protractors 1# Binders Pencil Sharpeners Travel size Kleenex

Extra items NOT needed: Folders, Glue, Erasers, Crayons

Thank you for your help in supplying children in our area the school items they will need. If you have any questions, please contact Sue Rickli 269 569-5745

4

1st - Kayden Herzog 7th - Fred Bosma

7th - Kerstin Herzog 7th - Sue Julianus 9th - Don DuBois 10th - John Maag

14th - Berle Finkey 14th - Alice Lappin 15th - Erna Seiss 19th - Jack Buck

20th - Joyce Blanchard 22nd - Julie Buck

22nd - Bella DuBois 24th - Rick Hurdelbrink

24th - Tracey Hurdelbrink 25th - Lynn Bronkema

25th - Rebeka Rickli 26th - Rick Clemens

26th - Chris Hiemstra 26th - Bryson Tyler 27th - June Burge

July 2nd Al & Alice Lappin - 63 yrs.

July 6th Duane & Lynn Bronkema

- 23 yrs.

July 11th Lloyd & Louise Clawson - 58

July 28th Berle & Florence Finkey - 28

July 31st Mark & Chris DuCharme - 25

Offertory Servers 7/2 Mark & Chris DuCharme Dick & Char Knowlton Georgiann Bleeker 7/9 Scott & Linda Sleeman Paul & Peggy Madison Sharalyn Downing 7/16 Walt & Sue Rickli Tammy Maurer, Tim Lane Kim Rayburn 7/23 Ray & Jane Bomeli Karen Clemens Fred & Sue Bosma 7/30 Jack & Julie Buck Pam Kuiper John & Lorraine Maag

Nursery 7/2 Karen Clemens 7/9 Julie Hermenitt 7/16 Tammy Maurer 7/23 Julie Hermenitt 7/30 Tammy Maurer

Servants in The Lord for July

Fellowship Time Hosts 7/2 Jack & Julie Buck Duane & Lynn Bronkema 7/9 Gordy & Judy Boelman John & Lorraine Maag 7/16 Kim Sparks Karen Clemens 7/23 Tammy Maurer Tim Lane 7/30 5th Sunday Potluck

Greeters 7/2 Walt & Sue Rickli - front Dot Watson & June Starr - back 7/9 Dale & Joyce Blanchard - front Al & Alice Lappin - back 7/16 Kim Rayburn Julie Hermenitt - front Fred & Sue Bosma - back 7/23 Dick & Char Knowlton - front Dick & Nancy Eggleston - back 7/30 Pam Kuiper, Linda Beattie - front Ron & Pat Newman - back

Soundboard 7/2 Walt Rickli & Zach Conrad 7/9 Eric & Jen Day 7/16 Lloyd Clawson & Zach Conrad 7/23 Kim Sparks & Nancy Eggleston 7/30 Scott Sleeman

July 16th following

Worship Service Southern Gospel Concert featuring

Internationally known touring group

KEEPERS OF THE FAITH QUARTET Friday, July 7th at 7pm

The Big Rock Music Barn 1125 - 122nd Avenue, Martin, MI

For more information call: 616-498-1085

Concert is free a love offering will be taken

5

Dear FCC family, Thank you for the opportuni-ty to be with you and to spend time in the Word on Sunday, June 4th. Your church is so warm and welcoming! We so appreciate your partnership with our ministry so that more and more college students can know Christ!

Your friend, Jeff Mehne

Thank you so much for doing the service for Francis and for the visits from Pastor Darin, Dave and many of the church family who came and for those who prayed. A special thanks to the prayer ladies and the many times they came with food and visits while I was ill

Elaine & Hollis Ross and family

To our church family, We want to thank you for the calls, cards and meals brought to us this past month. We are blessed to have you each in our lives.

Marinus & Donna DenHarder

Dear Church family, Thank you for all the calls, cards, visits and rides back and forth to the nursing home. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful church family. Love, Ann & John Thurston

sitting around a little fire with His disciples at night, don’t you suppose they had fun reminding each other about the crippled man whom Jesus had healed. He was so excited when Jesus had healed him, he grabbed everyone, dancing them in circles, singing loudly. Or some other funny story that had happened causing them to laugh then and again as they remembered it. Or how about when the children came close to Je-sus? Do you suppose that He just waved His hand over their head and gave them a solemn word of blessing? Or picked them up and gave them a hug or maybe even told them a funny story before blessing them. So how do we include more fun and laughter in our lives? First off we have two primary enemies; one is busyness and the other is hurry. Don’t let the urgent take the place of the essential. The urgent is something that you said yes to that you should have said no to. The essential is the thing you know God wants you to do. The enemy of hurry is defeated by choosing to slow down. We need to clean house of all the meaningless busyness and slow down. Ingram said it took him two years of practice to drive in the right lane only of the highway and always get in the long-est line. That was his way of slowing his life down, what is your way? In our family when the children were young, one night a week was set aside as game night. The kids chose a game off the shelf and we all played while munching popcorn. Sometimes we built a fire outdoors and roasted hotdogs and marshmallows or we threw sandwiches and fruit in a bag and went down to the creek so the kids and the lab could play in the water. In the winter we would throw firewood into the basement all morning then after a hearty lunch went skiing in the after-noon. Vacations didn’t cost much, we didn’t have much. Sometimes we put the canoe on the top of the car and packed bags with tent, sleeping bags and food and went canoeing on one of our Michigan rivers. We got out the county map book, found a patch of green indicating state owned land and drove down a two-track behind the sand dunes and set up the tent to enjoy Lake Michigan for a couple of days. For adult fun we would invite one or more couples over for games and fun. We would set up a few tables for games and one for snacks. Married couples should always include date night. Eating out is a must. But guys for goodness sakes pick your brains for something you both enjoy and put that in your plans, like a movie, concert or bowling. The point of sharing all of this is to encourage all of us, as Christians, to see that the abundant life is something we have to choose, plan, and carry out. It isn’t something to do just once or twice and then forget, it has to become a hab-it. One that will make our life richer and more satisfying.

Are We Having Fun Yet?(continued from page 1)

First Congregational Church

120 W. Morrell

P.O. Box 227

Otsego, Michigan 49078

Non-Profit Organization

U.S. Postage Paid

Otsego, MI 49078

Permit No. 24

July 30th

“Let us not give up meeting together...but let us encourage one another…” Hebrews 10: 25