This Sunday:
This Fourth Sunday of Advent, Rev. Karen Campbell will preach from Isaiah 7:10-16 and Matthew 1:18-25 in the large service. Sepa Nashale will preach in the All Nations Worship Service in Room 4. Stick around after the services for Sunday School for all ages. “God’s People Seeking”, our adult-ed Sunday School, invites you to join in Room 3 for part 2 of their December series: “When COS Went to Prison” (learn more in the announcements below).
This Sunday evening, join for our O Antiphons Advent service at 6 pm. Our service will feature visual artwork created by COS artists and poetry or spoken reflections for each antiphon. The service will also include scripture, prayer, music, and time for silent meditation. Learn more here.
The 10 am large sanctuary service and 6 pm O Antiphon service will be broadcast via Zoom
Sign up for our Newsletter to receive the Zoom links.
Children’s Ministry Announcements:
O Antiphons Service – The O Antiphons service is a new tradition at COS and features artistic renditions of a few of the names of Jesus we celebrate at Christmas. Several elements of this service may make it interesting for elementary-school-age children and older: the lighting of advent candles, captivating art in a range of mediums, short reflections (approx. 3 minutes or less each) from seven different people–including an eight year-old-child, and short readings followed by one verses of song between reflections.
Christmas Eve 5pm Service Rehearsal This Sunday! – It’s time to get ready for the 5pm Christmas Eve Service! This special, kid-friendly service makes children the storytellers of God’s amazing plan to rescue the world through Jesus Christ! Children, teens, and adults of all ages who want to participate in the service are invited to the first rehearsal after church today from 11:30/11:45 (depending on when the services end) until 12:30pm. We’ll start the rehearsal at the back of the large sanctuary where we’ll choose costumes, distribute scripts, and assign roles to those who don’t have them. There are still several roles available and we always welcome more shepherds and angels, so please encourage your children to check it out even if they haven’t already expressed interest. They may find a role they’d like to play!
Christmas Eve Musical Prelude- Each Christmas Eve children and teens share their musical gifts with the congregation by playing or singing a Christmas song before with those who are gathering for the service. This is a great opportunity for new musicians who are just learning an instrument as well as skilled musicians to play for an appreciative audience. Duets and quartets between a parent and child, siblings, or friends are welcome! Sign up before church at the children’s welcome station or stop by the rehearsal in the large sanctuary after worship to sign up with your name(s), song, and instrument(s). If you are playing in the musical prelude but don’t have a role in the Christmas Eve. service, please arrive at 4:20pm on Christmas Eve. and report to Ms. Amy Heeringa near the music room in the large sanctuary.
3:00pm Saturday Rehearsal for the 5pm Christmas Eve Service- The final rehearsal for the Christmas Eve Service is at 3:00pm on Saturday, Dec. 24. Participants will put on costumes and run through the service a few times, then have a snack before the musical prelude begins. If you have a toddler or preschooler in the service, please stay with them during this rehearsal to help them navigate this new, exciting experience!
Christmas Day and New Year’s Day Worship Services – Our Christmas Day service this year will be an and intergenerational outdoor service of carols, Scripture readings, and prayer. Children are encouraged to participate with their families, not special programming or nursery will be provided. However, there will be cookies, coffee, and cocoa after the service. Bundle up for a memorable morning of celebratory song! On New Years Day all children ages 2.5 to 2nd grade will be blessed before continuing worship in the Youth Room, where all the Little Lambs and Children’s Worship classes will come together to hear the story and respond through artwork. Children will check in the usual way, so please bring your pick-up ticket to the youth room to pick you your child(ren) after the service.
Church News:
Current Giving for the Month of December (including monthly ach): $60,079
Estimated Giving for the month of November: $103,971
Monthly budgeted General Fund Giving is: $118,873
As of December 15, there currently are 91 pledges totaling $550,960. This is an average of $6055 per pledge. Last year on December 14th we had 48 pledges totaling $356,170.
2023 Pledges: In celebration of our congregation’s 50th anniversary, COS leadership has chosen “Jubilee” as a guiding theme. When we support Church of the Servant’s mission with our time, treasure, and talent we are responding to God’s invitation to be a community “rooted in Christ, nurtured by the Spirit, to grow in God’s grace.” The Stewardship team is inviting each of us to make a pledge of our finances as we live out our commitment to “share gifts of refuge, fellowship, and hope.” Both in our year-end giving and in the pledges for the 2023 General Fund that we make in December, we are showing ourselves to be people of Jubilee. Learn more about how to pledge here, and look for printed pledge forms at the church.
G.P.S. Schedule. GPS (God’s People Seeking) invites you to join us on Sundays in Fellowship Room 3 (next to the café) from 11:45am-12:30pm. GPS seeks to offer a space where friends and members of COS can build connections, expand their view of God, and grapple with faith.
“When COS Went to Prison” • 11:45-12:30 • Sunday, Dec. 18
On December 18, COS members who have been involved in the Handlon prison book group, the Celebration Fellowship congregations and the Calvin Prison Initiative will share their stories of how God is at work in and through those ministries.
Advent Art at COS: Our banners at the front of the sanctuary during Advent are meant to show the part and whole of Advent and the longing. The purple underlays have hints of the curve of the horizontals. Also, the white overlays are hung offset during Advent to show the incompleteness. As the overlays are hung each week you can see immediately where we are in the season. At Christmas the overlays are moved over, hiding the purple to show that Advent is completed
Prayers during communion: You have likely noticed pray-ers available during communion circles, if you have been in the large space for worship during the past few months. Near the chapel to the right, and near the music room to the left, someone from the prayer ministry team is ready, each Sunday, to offer prayer for whatever joy, discernment, or lament happens to grip you.
What you may not know is that the pray-ers are also willing to simply bless you. From Ben Videtich:
“I received a blessing the other Sunday that has stuck with me for weeks. It wasn’t fancy or terribly eloquent, but it was beautiful; it spoke to me right where I was that day earlier in the year. So I and the rest of us on the prayer team encourage you to consider asking for a blessing after you receive the table sacrament at communion.” – Ben
The facilities Team is looking for some shoveling volunteers who will monitor the snow fall during Sunday services and Wednesday activities and be willing to clear the sidewalks. Contact Bob H or Monica S if you are willing to shovel snow.
The COS Antiracism and Reconciliation Team invites you to read this newsletter from the Classis Grand Rapids East Racial Justice team. The purpose of the Racial Justice Team is to provide leadership and support to classis and its member churches in praying and working for racial justice and unity in Christ. Cindy VanderKodde, from COS, is one of the team leaders.
Friendship ESL will host Christmas parties in the cafe area on Dec 20, 1030a and 7p: carols, poems, jingles, The Story, and food from many countries. You are invited to join. Bring something if you wish. Enjoy the 22 nation-backgrounds of our church’s ESL students. BTW, stats (est.) for the fall term (ending Dec 20): 62 sessions, 267 classes, 686 students attending, 31 tutors and staff, week by blessed week. Spring term begins Jan 3. Imagine your time and talent in this effort.
Upcoming Services: Sunday, January 8, we will welcome David Wilson, Sabrina Wilson, David Wilson Jr, Ethan Wilson, Emily Harvey, and Jacob Harvey into Christ’s Church through the sacrament of baptism. In the service, we will also welcome into membership Eric, Malorie, Sawyer, and Eloise Venlet.
Sunday, January 15, we will participate in the ordination service of Klaas Walhout as a Minister of The Word for his role as Chaplain at Mercy St. Mary’s Hospital.
Begin the new year with an act of generosity. On Monday, January 9, we will host our first blood drive of 2023. There are many reasons people cannot donate, especially during the winter season of colds, flu, Covid, and bad weather. But the need for a steady supply of blood for Michigan hospitals remains strong. If you are healthy and are willing to share your precious gift of life, we need you! Our drive is from 2-7pm on Monday, 1/9, in our church cafe area. Sign up for an appointment online here. The process takes about an hour of your time, but will bring life-saving restoration to someone who desperately needs a transfusion. Questions, or need help signing up? Contact Ruth Huisman. Many thanks!
Request for housing Feb 8-12. Eric Sarwar is a missionary supported by COS, serving in the Indian-Pakistani community in southern California. He was a COS member during his studies at Calvin Seminary in 2014-16. He plans to be in Grand Rapids with his wife Shumaila and sons Ethan and Gabriel from Wednesday Feb 8 – Sunday Feb 12 (4 nights). Is there anyone that would have an apartment, home, or a couple rooms for them to stay for these days/nights? If so, please contact Eric.
COS Missions Support Team (MST) thanks you! This past year COS supported 14 missionaries serving all around the world. Descriptions of most of their ministries, along with photos and letters, are accessible here. MST is grateful for your prayers and generous support through Faith Promise offerings. If you still have a 2022 Faith Promise pledge to fulfill, or you want to support Faith Promise yet this year, please make your contribution in the regular collection (marked “Faith Promise”), or through the online portal (again, designated “Faith Promise”). We are grateful for your amazing support!
CORE Workshop: Community Organizing for Racial Equity has two workshops planed for the New Year. Starting on January 11, CORE will lead a 6-week Wednesday night zoom workshop from 6-9pm. Then, on March 9-11, there will be a traditional in person workshop here at COS. (Thursday evening, all day Friday and Saturday). These Understanding Racism workshops welcome everyone in our congregation. It is our hope and prayer that COS people continue in this work of understanding racism, to deepen our insight as to what God-led antiracism looks like. Our times are always fraught with racial tension. As Christ followers and joining in the ongoing task of dismantling racism, we can do good work together. Registration costs are covered by our COS budget. Please prayerfully consider attending or coming back for a refresher. Register at COREnow.org
Sunday, December 25 following the 10:00am service, we are going to have hot chocolate and cookies. We are looking for a few people willing to make the hot chocolate and serve the cookies. If you are willing and available, contact Monica at monica.smith@coscrc.org or call the church office at 616.956.7611.
Saturday, December 31—All are invited to attend a New Year’s Eve celebration from 6 – 8:30 pm planned by All Nations. After a prayer service in the All Nations worship space from 6-7 pm (honoring the practice of many of our African and Asian members who spend New Year’s Eve in a prayer vigil), we will move to the Café for food, singing, and dancing. Everyone is asked to bring a snack or “finger food” to share. Special activities for children will be provided, but no separate nursery staff provided.
As we explore human sexuality at COS, the Next Steps Task Force has created resource suggestions for your reflection and learning. This resource page is available for our congregation on our COS website. This first offering has been put together by Joan Husyser-Honig and Pam Bratt, both who are on council and members of the Next Steps Task Force. We are interested in posting resources that can assist our congregation in developing a deeper Godly understanding of our human sexuality. If you have suggestions, please send them to Janice McWhertor.