Sunday, December 29 at COS:

Second Sunday of Christmastide Season: Rev. Len Vander Zee will preach in the Tree of Life service in the large sanctuary. Pastor Alusine Bundu will preach in the All Nations Worship Service in Room 4. 

The 10 am Tree of Life service will also be broadcast via Zoom. Sign up for our Newsletter to receive the Zoom links.

Worship:

Preaching Schedule
January 12 ANWS – Rev. Ruth Lemmen, TOL – Rev. Andrew Mead
January 19 ANWS – Rev. Andrew Mead, TOL – Rev. Ben Videtich
January 26 ANWS – Rev. Albert Strydhorst, TOL – Rev. Andrew Mead

Scripture Readers are needed each week in the Tree of Life service, and you are invited to participate in leading our worship in this way. You can sign up for a date that works for you at this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040849ada62babfd0-scripture1#/ 
You can also access the sign up link through the COS website. Go to the Worship Page and scroll down to the Scripture Reading section.
If you have never read scripture before, you can find more information in our “Scripture Readers Guide,” which can also be accessed via the Worship Page on the COS website or directly with this link: https://www.churchoftheservantcrc.org/scripture-readers-guide/.
If you have any questions, or have trouble with the signup process, please contact Maria Stapert Vander Berg (maria.stapert@coscrc.org).

Friendship ESL at COS:

The fall term ended with a snowfall, a Christmas party, and a remarkable effort by over 40 tutors and staff serving new friends who found their way to us.  
* Fall 2024:  Sessions 57,  Classes 407,  Attending 1118,  Registrations 113, from 26 nation backgrounds: most from Afghanistan, Haiti, Ukraine, Sudan, Syria, South Korea, and Japan.
* Spring term opens Tuesday, January 7. New tutors will receive an enthusiastic welcome, support, and quite special relationships . If you are interested in being a tutor or learning more about Friendship ESL, contact Mark Fackler pmfackler@gmail.com.

Communications Task Force:

COS is taking time this winter to evaluate our communication strategies. Are our current methods effective? For whom? How could we improve? Your input in this process is invaluable! If you have not yet turned in a COS Communications Survey, please take a couple of minutes to complete this brief survey either by clicking this link or by filling out a paper copy available on the tables in the back of the worship space or on the counter in the café. Thank you!

Creation Care:

Creation Care: Our next HARD Styrofoam collection is Sunday, January 12 through Sunday, January 19. Please do not bring cups, food containers or packaging. There will  be a collection bin in the cafe. Volunteers will take the hard Styrofoam, such as coolers, mailing coolers for medications, shipping foam that fits the product’s shape to Michigan Foam on Grandville Avenue. 

Deacons:

Stewardship Team: To live into our overall vision statement and recently adopted “Our Calling: a Community of Belonging” statement, COS leadership has chosen “fellowship” 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. God calls us to be a community “rooted in Christ, nurtured by the Spirit, to grow in God’s grace to share gifts of refuge, fellowship, and hope.”

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 2025 General Fund that we make, we are showing ourselves to be people of fellowship. Pledge forms will be available next to the liturgies on Sunday morning, or you can use the fillable form on the COS website: https://www.churchoftheservantcrc.org/giving/
99 pledges totaling $595,328 (Avg pledge $6013.41)

Missions:

Missionaries Of The Week – Jim and Ruth Padilla DeBorst focus on three core ministries in Latin America: Locally, Casa Adobe, the intentional Christian community, where family, friends, and guests grow together in faith as good neighbors with the people of Santa Rosa and the rest of creation. Read more here

Newsletter from Naji & Anne Umran, missionaries to Egypt/Middle East

We hope this message finds you well. As we approach the end of the year, we would like to take a moment to share our financial situation with you. This year, we have experienced a decline in our financial support compared to previous years. From July to December, we have currently raised only 27% of our financial needs. We would like to invite you to consider making a special offering to support our mission. We also encourage you to advocate for our cause by inviting others to be part of God’s mission work, particularly in investing in the lives of university students for the next generation and supporting the palliative care ministry in Mexico. ~James & Barbarita, Joshua, Jaedyn, and Jaelah Lee
Support missionaries James and Barbarita Lee in Mexico

Office & Facilities:

Inclement Weather Cancellations – In communication, the members of the Executive Team will monitor weather, other cancellations in the area, and conditions around the COS building. Final determination of cancellation will be made by 7:00am on Sundays and 12:00pm on Wednesdays. If it is determined that services and events will be cancelled, the following steps are taken to ensure prompt communication to the congregation: posts will be made on social media, email will be sent, and post will be made on WOODTV8.

Prayer Needs:

We express our sympathies to Harry and Faye Knol in the death of Harry’s 94 year old mom, Hilda Knol passed away peacefully Monday, December 30.  “We are grateful for her life and love.”

Weekly Calendar: January 5 – January 12

Sunday, January 5

  • 10:00am – All Nations Worship Service in Room 4
  • 10:00am – Tree Of Life Service in the Large Sanctuary

Monday, January 6

  • 10:30am – 12:30pm – Food Pantry

Tuesday, January 7

  • 9:30am – Friendship ESL
  • 10:00am – Tuesday Morning Prayer Group – at Beacon Hill
  • 6:00pm – Friendship ESL

Wednesday, January 8

  • 9:30am – Friendship ESL
  • 11:30am – 1:30pm – Food Pantry

Thursday, January 9

  • 8:30am – Bulletin announcement deadline – office@coscrc.org
  • 9:30am – Thursday Bible Study
  • 6:00pm – Friendship ESL
  • 7:00pm – Council Meeting

Friday, January 10

  • 3:30pm – Friday Newsletter and Bulletin sent Sign up here

Saturday, January 11

  • 10:00a – All Nations Prayer Group

Sunday, January 12

  • 10:00am – All Nations Worship Service in Room 4
  • 10:00am – Tree Of Life Service in the Large Sanctuary
  • 11:45am – Sunday School and GPS
  • 1:45pm – Inclusion Team