This Sunday at COS:

On this Creation season Sunday, Rev. Len Vander Zee will preach from Acts 4:32-5:11 and Amos 5:4-15 in the Tree of Life service in the large sanctuary. Rev. Andrew Mead will preach from Acts 4:32-5:11 in the All Nations Worship Service in room 4.

Following worship, stick around for Sunday School for all ages. Our Adult-ed God’s People Seeking session will include a presentation of the Flourishing Forward report in the large sanctuary.

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

Faith Formation:

Make Sunday School Part of Your Kids Sabbath Routine Starting this Sunday, Sept. 15 • 11:45am-12:30pm. Isn’t it great to be part of an intergenerational community that takes children’s spirituality seriously? In Sunday school this year your children will:

  • Explore New Testament stories from Jesus’ life and ministry in the 4-1st grade class and 2nd-4th grade class and take a deep dive into the parables of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit in the early church in the 5th-6th grade class.   
  • Learn from caring, Christian adults who will love, encourage, and pray for them as they share the stories of Scripture.  
  • Establish a spiritual habit of studying Scripture in community—a practice that will serve them well throughout their whole life.
  • Make friends with a diverse group of peers who love Jesus too.
  • Be part of a smaller group within our big church where they feel known and appreciated.

In addition, we pray our Sunday school classes and Wednesday night programs (which start on Sept. 25!) will be the kind of nurturing places where kids experience these positive childhood experiences (PCEs), which research shows boost kid’s resilience to stress and support long-term emotional and mental health:

  • The ability to talk about feelings.
  • The sense they will be supported during difficult times.
  • Feeling a sense of connection in the community and traditions.
  • Feeling a sense of belonging.
  • Feeling supported by peers.
  • Having at least two adults who genuinely care.

Please help kickoff a great Sunday school season by bringing your children ages 4-6th grade to the classrooms behind the mailboxes in the sanctuary at 11:45am. Plan to pick them up again at 12:30pm.

Makeup Volunteer Training, Sunday Sept. 22 • 9:00am in Fellowship 5. If you missed last week’s training and you’re planning to serve in a children or youth ministry program or as a van driver or security team member, please attend this required training on Sept. 22! All the forms you’ll need to fill out that day will be available in Fellowship 5 (the last large room off the Artery before you reach the restrooms). If you know you’ll miss this training as well, please email Jo Howe to join the zoom training I’ll be putting together soon.

Wed., Sept. 18 – Join us for another “COS Night at the Movies!” The COS Mental Health Committee, GPS Team, Faith Formation ministries, and the Loeks family are partnering up to offer COS friends and family the opportunity to see Inside Out 2 at Celebration Cinema North on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at 6pm at the deeply discounted rate of $5/person. This important film deals with the topics like anxiety, envy, and shame—emotions that are so prevalent in our society. While this film delves into the emotions of adolescence, any of us who struggle with anxiety or shame (or have loved ones who struggle) will benefit from watching this film. The Mental Health Team will be presenting in GPS later this fall and will reference this movie, so attending this movie will not only help us lean into our theme of fellowship, but also lead to more robust discussion in our October GPS sessions. Tickets are limited. Sign up in the café soon!

Looking for thoughtful, intentional spaces to foster your spiritual growth? Join us in the Living Room on Sundays for the 9 am Hour at COS.

Two different 9 am classes will be offered this fall beginning September 22:

“Contemplate” with Harry will meet one week.

“Cultivate” with Ruth will meet the following week.

(No class will be offered on Sept. 29 due to COS camping weekend.) Read more here.

Outreach and Congregational Life

Thursday Bible Study For all persons interested in growing closer to God and closer to siblings in Christ in this congregation, come out on Thursday, September 19th at 9:30-11am for the first Thursday Bible Study. We will delve into Luke’s account of the Acts of the Apostles with the assistance of NT Wright’s guidebook. Each week, our teachers will be relying on Willie Jennings’ Acts commentary, so expect his voice to be in the background as we are shaped and formed. Copies of the book will be available, and we suggest a $10 donation to offset the cost. We will continue Thursday mornings through the Fall, except Thanksgiving, through December 12th. The group does not discriminate on the basis of age, extraversion, or otherwise, and coffee is served (plus baked goods / fruit / etc most weeks).

The International Women’s (ESL) Bible study begins on September 19 at 10 a.m. to 11:30. We will be studying discipleship through “The Sermon on the Mount: Living Jesus’ Way.” Childcare is provided. For more information, please contact Barbara Hampton.

Hannah Kummer, COS’s missionary working with immigrants in Italy, will be with us on Sept 15. After the service, she and her husband Ben would love to meet people over a backyard bbq. They’ll give more information about their work and invite us to deeper connections and support for their ministry.

The COS Antiracism Team anticipates another timely and vision-producing book from Jermar Tisby. The team appreciates Tisby’s efforts for assisting congregations in antiracism work. We have preordered this book and you will soon find it on the Red Antiracism Library Bookshelf in the Cafe. In learning of this book, the antiracism team also read a very good endorsement about this book by Kristin DuMez. She has given us permission to reprint the article, found here.

CORE Workshops: Are you actively working on becoming antiracist? We sure hope so! One way to seek justice and grow as a compassionate, caring disciple of Jesus is to participate in a CORE workshop. You’ll learn about unjust systems and how we blindly perpetuate injustices affecting black, indigenous, and all people of color. Much of the content is heavy and painful, but amidst the difficulty you’ll learn how to engage in meaningful ways and how to examine and challenge narratives, cultures, and systems oppressing and marginalizing so many of God’s children. The next CORE Workshop is October 24-26 here at Church of the Servant. And if you are a member at COS, the registration fee is covered by our Anti-Racism and Congregational Life Budget.  Find more detail in this link. Thank you for considering this great opportunity for discipleship. Please feel free to provide the link to your contacts and bring a friend.

Movie Night – Tuesday, September 17 at 6:30pm, we will gather in the COS Living Room Theater to watch 1944’s Arsenic and Old Lace. This screwball comedy where Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) discovers his two aunts have been murdering “lonely old bachelors by ending their “suffering”.” With a crazy uncle who believes he is Teddy Rosevelt and a cast of other characters, Arsenic and Old Lace is another classic film directed by Frank Capra. Although their house is the nicest in the street, there are bodies in the basement. That inconsistency is a metaphor for the country’s struggle to reconcile the violence of much of its past with the pervasive myths about its role as a beacon of freedom. Popcorn and lemonade provided. $1 suggested donation.

Meijer Simply Give: Our fall campaign for Meijer Simply Give began June 30 and runs through Saturday, September 28. The Double Match Day will be held on Saturday, September 14th, 2024. (For every $10 Simply Give card purchased on these dates, Meijer will provide an additional contribution of $20, bringing the total to $30 for a single customer purchase.) If you would like to donate to support COS and its food pantry, you may do so by using our online portal to give or by giving cash or check with Simply Give in memo line at Church on Sundays.

SoupsOn! COS is embracing the theme of “Fellowship” this year, and what better way to experience fellowship than to share a meal. To honor this theme,COS will be reviving our “Soup’s On” ministry—a fellowship ministry that last took place about 20 years ago. Here’s how it works: one Sunday a month, Ben Videtich and Annette Ediger have arranged for 2 or 3 hosts to invite people to their home after Sunday school for a simple meal. (Soup is certainly a possibility but not a requirement!) Each host site will indicate how many guests they can accommodate and a sign up sheet will be posted in the café the week before and the day of the meal. These hosts would love to connect with new friends and old acquaintances so don’t hesitate to sign up if there are seats available! Note: one of the Host Sites each month is dedicated to our College and Young Adult Crowd. The other two sites are for anyone else. The first SoupsOn event will take place Sunday, Sept. 15. Hosts for Sept. 15: Tom & Melodie Kennedy serving a vegetarian meal for 12 College & Young Adults, Dave & Karen Koetje serving a vegetarian meal for 6, and Rhonda Mejuer & Jeff Jackson will also be serving a meal in their home for 6 more people. Reserve your spot in the café today!

Worship:

Preaching Schedule
September 22   ANWS – Lucy Gitau, TOL – Denise KG
September 29   Campground – Rev. Andrew Mead, at COS – Rev. Jack Roeda
October 6         ANWS – Rev. Andrew Mead, TOL – Travis West
October 13       ANWS – TBD, TOL – Rev. Len Vander Zee

Worship at Wabasis • 10am Sunday, Sept. 29
11220 Springhill Dr, Greenville, MI (35 minutes NE of COS)

Join us for COS Worship and an All Church Meal in the beautiful shelter at Wabasis Lake Campground! On Sept. 29, COS will offer 2 worship services: one at Wabasis Lake Campground and one at COS.

We would love to have ALL of you join us for Worship at Wabasis and the church meal, but recognize this may not work for everyone. To help our worship & meal planning, please indicate which service you plan to attend on Sept. 29.

Sunday morning scripture readers wanted! All are invited to participate in leading our worship by signing up for reading scripture. We encourage a wide variety of people to participate in this role! Parents, consider signing up with your children and helping them prepare during the week.  This is a great way to help children engage in the worship. High school and college-age attendees, consider signing up with a friend.  You can access the signup through our website, or directly through this link. You will receive and email reminder and the scripture passage from Maria Stapert on the Wednesday prior to the Sunday when you will be reading so you can prepare at home ahead of time.  You can also read the Scripture Readers Guide on our website for more ways to prepare for this important role.

Office and Facilities:

Fall Work Day Saturday, October 19 at 9:00am, will be COS’s annual Fall Work Day. Projects for all ages and skill levels. List of tasks planned will be available soon. (If weather is not good in October, the back-up date planned is Saturday, November 16.)

The next 2 COS hard Styrofoam collections will be October 13th thru 20th and January 12th thru 19th. Hard Styrofoam must have all stickers and tape removed before dropping it at church. Restaurant containers. meat trays, packaging, foam cups, etc. are not accepted. An alternative to holding your Styrofoam for the collection dates is to deliver it to Michigan Foam, 1820 Chicago Dr. SW, Wyoming, MI 49519. They are open weekdays 8-5 except holidays.