The Paper | Jan-May Issue 1 Vol 11

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Letter from Pastor Bob

Faith Family Highlight

Follow Jesus Together

Let’s Go on a Journey

One Verse Wonder

A Letter from our Executive Pastor

DEAR

FAITH CHURCH FAMILY & FRIENDS,

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Matthew 6:33 (CSB)

I’m going to present a series of questions. Please take a moment to fully think about the question at hand and then answer honestly outloud to yourself.

• Who or what comes first in your life?

• Which would you rather hear? “[insert name], you are a great success” OR “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

• Would you describe your focus on the here and now OR on heaven and your eternity?

In my own self reflection, the lyrics from “Hosanna” by Hillsong Worship come to mind:

Heal my heart and make it clean Open up my eyes to the things unseen Show me how to live like You have loved me Break my heart for what breaks Yours Everything I am for Your kingdom’s cause As I walk from earth into eternity

In this new year, I invite you to embark with me on a journey to grow in our walk with Jesus, in which we will learn how to talk with Him, how our lives can please Him, and how to engage in conversations with our friends about Him.

For eight weeks we will be taking part in a churchwide series called, Follow Jesus Together (refer to page 6). The curriculum, if you will, that we are following was developed by Kevin & Sherry Harney, founders of Organic Outreach International.

You might recall Kevin’s name as he is a former teaching pastor here at Faith Church. The focus of Organic Outreach© is about “Living the kind of life that naturally draws people to Jesus. It involves speaking the kinds of words that you use in ordinary conversations and that reveal the presence of a loving God. It means loving people in a way that is genuine. Organic Outreach © is all about sharing our faith in a way that is authentic, real and feels natural to the people around us.”

What’s very cool about this journey is that all of the churches that represent The Kingdom Network, our new denomination (read page 17 for an update), are also taking part in this series. Together, we will become the disciples Jesus has called us to be.

Your life can play an integral part in God’s kingdom. Let’s move forward in making Him our number one priority.

For His kingdom’s cause,

FAITH

FAMILY HIGHLIGHT

My name is Judy Kutz. I was born in Glenwood, Illinois, back when there were only about 800 residents. A few years later my family moved to Chicago Heights.

HOW DID YOU FIRST GET CONNECTED TO FAITH CHURCH?

After retiring, I moved to Beecher and heard about Faith Beecher. My sister, Merry, and I visited the church and eventually joined. I really felt God was calling me to Faith!

WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN GOD DO AT FAITH CHURCH? WHAT DO YOU ENJOY ABOUT THE WORSHIP SERVICES?

I have seen new relationships form strong bonds in people’s lives. There is such support for those going through trials. I am excited to be on the prayer team and hear about many answers to prayer. One recent praise is the growth of our youth group. They are the future of our church.

Our messages are so relevant to the world we are living in. I can’t say how many times I’ve said “that was the best sermon I ever heard!” and meant it sincerely from my heart each time. I especially love the worship music.

WHERE DO YOU SERVE AT FAITH CHURCH?

I am in the Tuesday Morning Ladies Bible study class. I am also a member of the prayer team which meets twice a month. Prayer is one of my passions. If I say I will pray for you, you can count on that happening. I also help at the food pantry, focusing on the seniors in the senior housing in Beecher.

HOW DO YOU CONNECT WITH OTHERS AT FAITH BEECHER?

If I don’t know someone, I introduce myself and try to get to know them. Going out for lunch or inviting someone to visit at my home is my favorite way.

My favorite way of connecting is asking how I can pray for them. I love talking to people about what a great church Faith is and inviting them to visit. Usually after one visit they are interested in coming back. God asks

JOSH

& ASHLEY BRUINIUS

JUDY KUTZ FAITH BEECHER

me to invite them, but He is the one who does the heart/spiritual surgery bringing them to new life in Him.

WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN GOD DO IN YOUR LIFE?

In a couple of months, I will be 80 years old. When I look back over the years, I see God’s faithfulness to me.

While there isn’t room to share my entire testimony in this Q&A, I’ll share a short excerptAs a teenager, I heard a missionary speak at my church. I remember praying and promising God that I would obey and become a missionary. I went to a Christian college to prepare and somewhere along the way, I fell in love and got married. I forgot my promise and drifted away from my walk with God. With my husband, we raised three children, two daughters and one son. After my husband and son passed away, I felt God was still calling me to be a missionary, asking me, “What about now?” In my 50’s I became a missionary to Macau China and served there for 11 years. I witnessed God answering prayers in miraculous ways.

Throughout my life, I’ve learned to trust God in all things, through all things.

Have we become cozy?

While “cozy” can be a good thing when we’re bundled up sitting on our couch with a cup of cocoa, it can also describe a state that stunts our spiritual growth.

If you’ve been following Jesus for a while, it is sometimes easy to slip into a space where we are comfortable with our growth. We consider ourselves all grown up in our faith. Maybe we don’t say this out loud, but in reality, isn’t that how we act at times? Sometimes we need to be reminded that God has more for us NOW!

BY: MARILYN MILLER

Scripture reminds us to keep growing up! “We must no longer be children….but speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:14-15 NRSV). Until we reach heaven, we need to keep growing.

We all face times in our Christian life when we need a reset.

In our new year series, we will step into an experience that will encourage each and every one of us (from the pastors to the people in the seats) to take that next step closer to our Savior. We get to FOLLOW JESUS TOGETHER

We are joining with several other churches from The Kingdom Network (see page 17)-some local and some in different parts of the country (Michigan, California and Iowa) in this exciting initiative.

In our Follow Jesus Together series, we will spend eight weeks talking about some critical parts of our spiritual walk: Bible reading, prayer, worship, service, generosity and community. What happens when we encounter Jesus in these areas in fresh and exciting ways? Our faith walk becomes contagious as others see Jesus in us.

In addition to our weekly worship services, our prayer is for you to experience a smaller community at your Faith location to dig deeper into the focus of the weekend. Gather at your Faith location at 6:30 PM on the designated evening each week throughout January and February. You can sign up at WeAreFaith.org/FJTgroup. If the night your location offers doesn’t work for you, you can always join in at another:

This project fits well with our 4Gs as each week we will be encouraged to gather, grow, give and go in new ways. You will be provided with new tools to help you on your journey. We all know someone who is inquisitive about this Jesus you are following. This is a great time to invite them to learn more and to join you as we Follow Jesus Together.

At the beginning of the year, we often make decisions about improving some area of our lives. What better decision than choosing to walk more closely with Jesus? Is it time to hit the RESET BUTTON?

(Note: If you are reading this article in March, April or May, you can find the messages to this series at WeAreFaith.org/watch and see what it is all about.)

Faith Beecher: Monday | Faith Cedar Lake: Tuesday | Faith Dyer: Wednesday | Faith Munster: Wednesday | Faith Highland: Thursday

Upcoming

Comedy Date Night

Friday, February 10

Reflectors Dance

Faith

LET‘S GO ON A Journey

My husband and I have been a part of The Journey here at Faith Church for the last year and a half. A key component of being in a Journey group is also being ON a journey together. Many of our lessons have centered around authentic community and sharing life with one another. While it’s important to apply this to our everyday, ordinary lives (as the Bible instructs us), from a global Christian standpoint, this also applies to our global neighbors.

Thanks to technology and advances in transportation, the world today is much “smaller” than it was even 10 years ago. Our neighbor is no longer only the family next door, our lives are connected in ways we don’t even realize with those on the other side of the world. With WhatsApp and other international communication tools, I can have daily, ongoing text conversations with friends and partners in Central and South America and areas of Africa. And while these ‘online’ options to communicate and build relationships are helpful, nothing beats sitting across a table with a cup of coffee with our friends and partners.

BY: CORRIE VOS

Our Faith Mission Team is excited to be able to send teams internationally once again in 2023 to some of our partners both within the U.S. and around the world. For some of us, this means the opportunity to see friends and serve again in far places. And for others this may mean stepping out for the first time and engaging a new neighbor and seeing the image of God in faces of those in a different culture.

You may already be aware of the team heading to North Carolina January 27-February 3 to serve with our friends at World Renew. Please be in prayer for this team as they serve the Pamlico County area by assisting with building projects and serving the local residents!

Additionally, our Team is working on trips alongside our partner The First Presybeterian Church of Manaus in Brazil, as well as Tesoros de Dios in Nicaragua. We would love for you to consider joining us in serving on one of these trips. They are great opportunities to build community with others from Faith Church and also with our partners around the world. More information can be found at WeAreFaith.org/trips.

Upcoming Trips

ONE VERSE

WONDER

I want to share a story with you.

While I was pastoring for Faith Church in South Holland, I met a guy named Brian. We became good friends and while he didn’t attend Faith, we could candidly talk about God and our faith. Now, perhaps it’s because I’m a pastor (and people feel the need to confess things to me), but every time I jumped on the phone with Brian or met him for coffee, the conversation always lended itself to him saying, “I’m so undisciplined, I never read my Bible.” Perhaps not those exact words, but something to the effect.

I think people can get lost in the overthinking of how to start reading the Bible. What chapter do I start with? How much should I read per day? How much time should I devote?

There’s no perfect formula. There’s no perfect way. But I’d like to give you some insights as to what’s worked for me - and what I’d like to introduce for our new Bible reading schedule kicking off in 2023.

The One Verse Wonder

BY: BOB BOUWER

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Another friend of mine, Ken Korver, pastor at Emmanuel Reformed Church in Greater L.A. challenged his congregation that while participating in the Bible reading program, to pick one verse a day and - Read It. Write It. Pray It. Share It. Kevin said it is revolutionizing his church in the way of discipleship and I have been practicing it ever since he’s shared it with me.

Eventually, I became pretty frustrated hearing it all the time (also remember, I’m human). So one day I replied with, “Read Matthew 1-6 and in one week I’ll give you a call.”

After a week goes by, I call Brian. He says he completed the assignment and loved reading the first six chapters. We talked about what we both learned, as I did the reading as well. He agreed to read the next six chapters, Matthew 7-13, and I told him I’d check in with him again in one week.

We started this routine where we checked in weekly and would then commit to reading six more chapters - and four years later, we ended up reading every chapter of every verse of the Bible together. When we finished, we wanted to do it again! We each invited four or five guys to join us - and 12 people embarked on another four year Bible reading journey.

Twenty years later, Brian and I are still doing a Bible schedule together and now thousands of people have joined us, maybe even you!

In March we are launching a new 4-year Bible reading journey.

As I’ve started implementing this into my own reading (a test run, if you will, before March 2023), Luke 2:52 has been on my heart, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people (CSB). “

Jesus Christ sought wisdom. In order to do so, He spent time with the Lord. When we read the Bible, God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. It’s where we find answers, instructions, peace in the waiting - you name it. If we aren’t opening our Bibles to His very Word, I’m not sure how we expect to grow in our knowledge of Him, or the Spirit.

In participating in the 4-year Bible reading schedule again and again, my personal goal is to know every Book of the Bible and what the theme is. As a Church, my goal would be for every person who calls Faith Church home to participate. Can you just imagine with me the Kingdom impact it would have? Truly!

Church, you are never too old, never too young, never too right, never too wrong, to pick up the Bible and hear from your Heavenly Father. No more overthinking - commit to joining me, Brian and hundreds of your brothers and sisters in Christ in our next 4-year Bible reading program at WeAreFaith.org/BibleReading.

?COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is Faith Church’s 4-year Bible reading program?

Our 4-year schedule includes reading a daily chapter from the Bible (yes, one), Monday through Saturday. We also provide a daily devotional about the day’s chapter reading.

How do you find the “right” time in your day?

Just like with exercise, dog walking, meal preparation, etc., you have to carve out the time in your day. What I loved about the last four years of the Bible reading program is that I was able to listen to it on my phone. I honestly listened to the chapter more than I physically read it.

The longest chapter we’ve read probably takes, at most, five minutes to listen to, whereas most average two to three minutes.

For me, my favorite time to be in the Word is when I’m going for an evening walk. I listen to the chapter on my headphones, while also reading it on my phone. Then, I spend time in prayer with God.

Why a 4-year Bible reading program?

There are one year Bible reading formats and while you get a lot of head knowledge, I don’t personally feel you get a lot of heart knowledge. In seminary I was supposed to read the full Bible in one year, but I didn’t finish.

A chapter a day is actually a chewable feat. It’s easy to quit something when you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. I actually have a very fond memory of a mom coming up to me after a service with her junior high daughter. They had both finished the 4-year Bible reading schedule, and they were in tears sharing with me how overjoyed they were that they had done it together.

What do I do if I have questions after I start reading?

We have a resident theologian on staff, Dr. Brian Dennert, who is also the pastor of Faith Beecher. He authors our Faith Church Blog, (WeAreFaith.org/blog) which explores many passages, sermon series, hard questions, etc. You can direct your questions to him at theology@WeAreFaith.org.

A LETTER FROM OUR EXECUTIVE PASTOR

In this issue I’d like to provide you with insights into how decisions are made at Faith Church as well as an update on The Kingdom Network, our new denomination.

Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You

We have an Executive Team which typically meets monthly to discuss and make decisions regarding day-to-day operations of the church and non-ordained staff positions. (Our ordained staff are overseen by the Church Board, which is also called the Governing Consistory.) The Executive Team consists of: Pastor Bob Bouwer, Senior Pastor; John Clausing, Executive Director of Operations; Tim Kuiper, Chair of Deacons; Randy Lagestee, Vice President of Consistory; Tom Van Prooyen, Chair of Elders; Karla Weemhoff, Communications Director; and me (Jason DeVries, Executive Pastor).

BY: JASON DEVRIES

Examples of our discussions and decisions include making new hires to our staff or adjusting a staff member’s hours. We give input to proposed building projects, questions regarding Missions and requests from our locations.

I am very blessed by this team and the wisdom they provide for Faith Church in the day-to-day running of our ministry. To help you get to know the team better, they were asked who, of anyone, they would like to have dinner with. (Jesus was not accepted as an answer because they all would have said Him.) Here are the answers given. See if you can match it to the team members above. Answers are at the bottom of the next page.

A. Don Henly, musician and lead singer of the Eagles

B. Elon Musk, founder of Tesla & Space X, owner of Twitter

C. Michael Jordan, Chairman of the Charlotte Hornets (NBA), former player for the Chicago Bulls, and the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time. Sorry Caleb Dutton, get out of here with your LeBron talk) (2x)

D. Abraham Lincoln, President, American Statesman

E. Sadie Robertson Huff, Christian speaker, member of the Duck Dynasty family

F. Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher books

WE BEGAN OUR NEW JOURNEY.

I also want to give you an update regarding The Kingdom Network which is the new denomination we joined following our departure from the Reformed Church in America (RCA) on August 31, 2021. We helped to form The Kingdom Network with four other RCA churches we were already partnering with from our region. In November of 2022 there was a “Launch” celebration as now The Kingdom Network has expanded beyond our region.

There are now 20 churches in The Kingdom Network (and many of those have multiple locations as we do) with two established Regional Networks (Kalamazoo, Michigan and ours for South Chicago). Two more Regional Networks are planned to serve the churches we have welcomed from California and the Great Plains.

We are excited for what God is doing, and will do, in this new season of ministry in The Kingdom Network where we can partner with churches who are committed to the center-set beliefs which theologically hold us together and the call to expand and multiply God’s Kingdom here on earth which gives us the same focus of ministry.

(Dinner Answers: A. Tom Van Prooyen; B. John Clausing; C. Pastor Bob & Randy Lagestee; D. Tim Kuiper; E. Karla Weemhoff; F. Jason DeVries)

FINANCIAL UPDATE

For many, January is often a time to look back at the past year and forward to a new one - to recognize both shortcomings and successes, and to use that information to plan for a better year ahead. These practices are often used in financial planning as well.

Our team of financial staff, Stewardship Deacons and Governing Consistory (Church Board) is strategic in the creation and oversight of our budget and budgeting process. We have just finished the second quarter of our current 2022/2023 budget. As a reminder, our budget calls for $8.8 million in “giving goals” to cover our projected expenses of $8.1 million.

BY: JOHN CLAUSING

The gap in giving goals versus projected expenses is strategic to address new ministry start-up needs, such as our commitment to our Online Ministry and our Leadership Residency Program. We want to ensure we can cover the costs of these ministries as we graft them into our operating expenses, both now and in future budgets.

Towards the end of the second quarter of our 2022/2023 budget, giving was 9.15% higher than last year. A reason to give praise, for sure! As of the writing of this article, our projected total for our fiscal budget will put us at reaching 88.4% of our giving goal and 96.3% of our projected expenses. Our budget is a God-sized goal and it allows us to trust Him to provide for what we need.

As part of the Faith family, we want to remind you of our Generosity Series back in October. We learned through the series that giving isn’t just about money and percentages, it’s about living out God’s plan for your life and following His waywhich, of course, is the best way. Please reflect on your own God-sized goals and commitments, and your trust in Him as He directs your giving.

Looking forward, now that the end-of-calendar-year/December giving is complete, we will assess where we are financially and make necessary adjustments as needed. The goal of the financial leaders of the church is always to be as efficient and effective as possible with the funds that God has entrusted with His church through your giving. If you have any questions on the financial life of Faith Church, please reach out to one of your location Deacons. They would be happy to hear from you!

Thu, Jan 26 & Apr 13 | 6:30 PM

Sun, Jan 15 | 1:30 PM | Wed, Mar 8 | 6:30 PM

Thu, Jan 19 & Apr 13 | 6:30 PM

Sun, Jan 29 & Apr 16 | 12:30 PM

Sun, Jan 22 & Mar 19 | 3 PM

Thu, Feb 9 & Apr 27 | 6:30 PM

Sun, Jan 29 | 1:30 PM | Wed, Mar 22 | 6:30 PM

Thu, Feb 2 & May 11 | 6:30 PM

Sun, Feb 12 & Apr 30 | 12:30 PM

Sun, Feb 5 & Apr 16 | 3 PM

&

ALL CAMPUSES INVITED

Open 1st & 3rd Sundays

Fresh Hope Tuesdays, 7-8:30 PM

Faith Munster | Agape House freshhope@WeAreFaith.org

This group is both for individuals who have a mental health challenge AND their loved ones (family members and close friends). For more information, visit WeAreFaith.org/mentalhealth. Meets weekly Friendship Tuesdays, 7 PM Faith Highland Contact Amy at aboshears@WeAreFaith.org

Grief support group for women Meets 1st & 3rd Tuesdays

Overcomers

Mondays, 6:30 PM

Faith Dyer | Atrium Contact Andy at anearpass@WeAreFaith.org This ministry is for patients and caregivers of patients with life-altering illnesses. Meets 2nd & 4th Mondays

Prayer

Let us be heartfelt in praying for our Faith Church family. Sign up to receive our prayer email or submit your own prayer request at WeAreFaith.org/prayer.

CONNECTIONS

CARE

Celebrate Recovery

Celebrate Recovery (CR) is based on the original 12 steps of recovery and the Beatitudes-the actual words of Jesus. CR is open to everyone as a place of rescue, restoration, safety and renewal for those seeking God’s healing from life’s hurts, hang-ups and habits.

Mondays, 6:30-8:30 PM

Faith Cedar Lake

Contact the team WeAreFaithCR@gmail.org

Tuesdays, 7-9 PM

Faith Dyer | FS Commons

Contact Jim celebraterecovery@ WeAreFaith.org

Thursdays, 7-9 PM

Faith Munster

Contact Charles/Breanne munstercr@WeAreFaith.org

Celebration Place

Tuesdays, 6:45-9 PM

Faith Dyer | Elementary Room. Contact Trish at tmiller@WeAreFaith.org

Celebration Place is designed for kids

Kindergarten through 13 years of age whose parents attend Celebrate Recovery. We hope to make Jesus the foundation of their lives, break cycles of dysfunction and join their parents in forgiveness & healing.

Food Assistance

Mobile Food Pantry

Faith Beecher

Jan 24 | Feb 28 | Mar 28

Additional dates for April & May are TBD. 4:30-6 PM

Contact Mandy at mandyp@WeAreFaith.org Open to any Illinois resident

Family Market

Faith Dyer | East Hall

Sundays, 8:30 & 10:30 AM

Contact Carol at FFM@WeAreFaith.org

Open 2nd & 4th Sunday

For Dyer Members/ Attenders

Family Market

Faith Highland/Munster Agape House Sundays, 12:30-1:15 PM

Contact Lisa or Bob at blhberr@att.net

Friendship Ministry is a place where adults with special needs can gather to learn from God’s Word and enjoy a great time of fellowship. For a complete listing of meeting dates visit WeAreFaith.org/Friendship. Meets most 1st & 3rd Tuesdays

Grief Share

Grief Share offers help and encouragement after the death of a spouse, child, family member or friend. Contact Brian at brian.blummer@gmail.com for next meeting dates & times.

NA-The Grace Street Recovery Meeting of Narcotics Anonymous Thursdays, 7-8:30 PM

Faith Highland | Great Room

Contact Mike at (219) 214-0399 This is an open meeting where all are welcome, but only members are encouraged to speak. Meets weekly

Our Hope Tuesdays, 7-9 PM Faith Dyer | Prayer Room Contact Jeri at darchsmom@gmail.com

Book Club

Thursday, 6:30 PM OR Contact Adrianna at awalters@WeAreFaith.org Meets the 4th Thursday of the month.

Jan 26 - The Blackout Book Club by Amy Lynn Green

Feb 23 - The Lost Melody by Joanna Davidson Politano Mar 23 - TBD Apr 27 - TBD May 25 - TBD

Faithful Friends Monday, 1 PM | Faith Dyer Contact Sue at suezarate@yahoo.com Fellowship for singles 65+ from any Faith Church location.

Meets the 2nd Monday of the month

Faith Singles 35+ Friday, 7 PM

Faith Dyer | Room 144/145 Contact Connie at ckubiak2010@yahoo or Sandy Reitsma at quiltpilot@yahoo.com Meets the 2nd Friday of the month

Faith Stitchers

Thursday, 1-4 PM (Sep-May)

Faith Dyer | Rooms 140/141

Contact Sharon at sharontlc756@hotmail.com We knit & crochet for those in need. Meets the 2nd Thursday of the month

Quilters

Monday, 8:30 AM

Contact Donna at donnaquilts2@gmail.com

A group of women who meet around a common interest of quilting. Meets 2nd & 4th Mondays

Visit WeAreFaith.org/ biblestudies for a list of women’s Bible studies.

Marriage Ministry Groups

Contact Gina at marriages@WeAreFaith.org

The Marriage Ministry is available for you to get connected as a couple.

Preparing for Marriage classes are held twice per year in Dyer but are open to all campuses.

Marriage Enrichment is open to all campuses.

Marriage Enrichment is offered on Wednesday nights following the Wednesdays schedule at Faith Dyer through May. We meet from 6:45- 8:15 PM in Living rooms 146/147. Marriage Enrichment is open to all campuses.

Young Couples meet on Wednesdays from 6:308:15 PM.

Marriage Repair

Individual marriage mentoring is available when you are in need of support and encouragement for your relationship on a more personal level. WeAreFaith.org/marriagesupport

For more information and resources, visit WeAreFaith.org/marriage faithmarriageministry

MOMSNATION

A community for moms with children ages birth through high school. Visit MomsNation.org for information on all our groups, meeting places and times. Contact Rebekah at rmoore@WeAreFaith.org

The Journey

The Journey is a 22-week course designed to provide a safe place for a group of 7-10 people to slow down and be intentional about focusing on their relationship with Jesus and personal discipleship. To learn more, go to vantagepoint3.org/ vp3-pathway/the-journey/ Contact Marilyn at mmiller@WeAreFaith.org for more information. Join the hundreds of people from

Faith Church who have come to understand God (and themselves) in a new way through The Journey!

12.1 Running Club

Saturdays, 8 AM Faith Dyer (Dec-Mar) Contact the office at (219) 864-0300

Meets weekly Saturdays, 7 AM Erie Lackawanna Trail Kennedy Ave and Ridge Rd In Highland, IN (May-Nov)

TheRavines

Info@TheRavines.org (219) 864-5063

OUR 4GS

You will see these icons throughout this edition, with stories related to how we are living out our 4Gs.