Church guide

Young-ish Married/Engaged COOKOUT at Scott & Jodye Dennis’ house (1128 Canyon Creek Court SW) THIS SUNDAY at 5:30p. Enjoy an evening of food, hanging out, games, and maybe a dip in the pool! We are inviting those connected with FirstCov, married/engaged (18-34 yr olds). Marriage can have its challenges. What helps is to have a community who understands. Join us… Find a sitter if you need to and come enjoy free food and fun! RSVP by e-mailing Josh Hinken at [email protected] ASAP. (if raining... we will be inside)

Steve Gabrielse is joining us as our interim worship leader. Steve has led worship ministry in local churches for 30 years and brings a wealth of experience to this role. In particular, he was the pastor of worship arts at Hillcrest Covenant Church, serving under a former FirstCov pastor (Garth Bolinder) for 9 years. Welcome Steve & Patti & pray for them as they join us at FirstCov.

Esperanza Fundraising Dinner THIS Sunday, June 23 (after the combined service) A team from Esperanza, FirstCov, and Open GYM will be travelling to New Bern, North Carolina the first week of July. We will be blessing families in that area by rebuilding homes that were damaged by Hurricane Florence. Join us on Sunday June 23 for Susana's Chicken Dinner in the Fellowship Hall after the service. A free-will offering will be received with all proceeds going to help with construction costs. HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Good morning!!! Here is our summer worship calendar: Combined Service - 10:00 Gym June 23 & 30, July 7, 14, 21, & 28 Regular Schedule - 9:00 and 10:30 August 4, 11, & 25 Combined Service - 10:00 in the Sanctuary August 18

Calling all prayer warriors: Today is the last day of VBS and we can use your prayers! Today we share the Gospel message! Please pray for kid’s hearts to be open and lives transformed. Please pray against Satan and that he will have no power today at First Cov and that the message of Jesus’ love and saving grace will be glorified!

THIS Thursday, June 13th CLUB 56, 6-8pm....meet at church and we will head to Aman Park for a hike and finish with Ice cream @ Double Dip Depot! If it is raining we will STILL get together, but we may not go hiking! Might need to play games inside....but ICE CREAM is good in any weather! :) Hope to see our 5th & 6th graders on THURSDAY!

Last chance to donate items for VBS! We still have leaves on the “giving tree”! The ones that are left to purchase are: pretzel sticks, box of raisins, bags of cheese popcorn, & 10.7 oz bag of plain M & M’s!! If you happen to be headed to a grocery store, we would love it if you picked up and item and brought to worship on Sunday morning!!

In The Wild VBS training is TONIGHT! 6:30 - 7:45pm in the Fellowship Hall Extension! We will have TWO more identical trainings to choose from if tonight doesn't work! June 11th, 6:30 - 7:45, and June 13th, 1:00 - 2;15. It isn't too late to sign up to volunteer! https://forms.gle/9z2ayEow7jukCeeu8

Jeremy Hoekstra when he was just beginning at church. 17 years ago.

We need empty water bottles for a VBS craft. We need them to have their caps still on and we need the bottles to NOT be "squished". If you can help us out, please drop off to Michelle & Karin's office! :)

As you are likely aware, there is a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. There are critical shortages of food, medicine, and other essentials. Many Venezuelans are choosing to leave everything behind in search of a better life by walking to Colombia. Dale Dalman and Steve Quakenbush will be traveling with Operation Blessing to the border between Venezuela and Colombia on May 16. As a church, we’d like to send them with suitcases packed with relief supplies. We need your help to fill the suitcase by the church office. We would like to fill four suitcases to send with Dale and Steve. The specific items we need are: • First-aid supplies • Travel-size hygiene items • Baby food pouches • Nutrition bars • Baby formula • Socks—all sizes (new) Items need to be received by May 14 . Money donations to help defray travel costs are also welcome (checks to Esperanza Covenant Church.) If you have questions, please contact Jeff Holquist ([email protected]) or Dale Dalman ([email protected]).

The FirstCov Young Adults group is looking for 6 MORE PEOPLE to serve at Kids Food Basket TONIGHT from 6-8p. Are you interested? Let Josh know ASAP (616.295.0772). Plan to meet at KFB (2055 Oak Industrial Dr NE) by 6p. Event Description: Volunteers will work with nutritious, ready to eat food goods. Goods ill be parsed out into individual portions to be included in Sack Suppers for local area students.

Hello!! We have a couple families who would like to come to the New Member’s Class tonight. We are looking for paid childcare from 4-8:15. If you might be willing to help, please contact Michelle Ludge.

Come celebrate Jesus with us on Easter Sunday! Here are the songs that we'll be singing and experiencing this Sunday!

7:00pm Good Friday Service (church sanctuary)

Easter Sunday Services 9:00am Contemporary Worship Service (gym) 9:30 - 11:30 Easter Brunch (fellowship hall) 10:30am Traditional Worship Service (sanctuary) 1:00pm Esperanza Service (rm. 222)

We have a meal train link for Helen Williams who is scheduled for surgery on two vertebrae in her neck April 11. If you would like to get a meal to the Williams family please go to this link. https://takethemameal.com/meals.php?t=MYOK2009 If you have questions contact Ginger Mastaw.

Hello 1st Cov! Just a reminder that we are collecting individually wrapped candy that can fit in plastic eggs for our Easter Egg Hunt! We need your help to make our hunt the best one in town! Not only do the kids who attend find sweet treats in eggs, they also hear the sweet truth of Jesus' death and resurrection! They get to hear how loved they are by Jesus! Please drop off your candy donations in the baskets by the entrances to our church or in the church office!

Hello FirstCovGR friends! We are participating in the world Vision Global 6k this year on Saturday, May 4 @5pm! We’re hoping you might be interested, too. Kendra Bylsma and I are very excited to be captains of the First Cov team. This is such an exciting opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of children and their families who so desperately need clean water. If you want to officially join team First Cov, we encourage you to do so today. There is a $10 off promo code that expires tonight at 11:59pm. The promo code is WWD19. The regular entry fee is $50 for adults and $25 for kids, 18 and younger. You will receive a t-shirt and race bib about 2 weeks after you register. Save the bib to bring to the race and wear it while your run or walk. Then when the race is done we will celebrate with food! Yum! If you have family and friends that want to join our team, they certainly may! The more the merrier! Also, if you have family and friends that want to support you financially, you can share your personal fundraising page and they can donate through your page. In order to make signing up very easy, I’ve included the link to our team page below. If you have family and friends that want to help with the race, let me or Kendra know. Our contact info is below as well. Finally, please let us know if you have any questions about the race, training, or running. We’re here to help! Thank you, Karin Alferink (443-6419) and Kendra Bylsma ([email protected] or 446-0257) Click on the link below to sign up! (or copy and paste it into your browser) https://www.teamworldvision.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.team&teamID=11734

Save the date!!! Plan to invite your friends and attend with them!! Not just your average Egg Hunt....WE SHARE THE GOSPEL MESSAGE! Plus the kids go home with a ton of candy. 😊 And did you know we make an “empty tomb” snack out of donuts?!?! 🍩

One final video of a refugee student from Union High School (Grand Rapids, Michigan). If you want to know what hope looks like, talk with these students!

Here is another video of a refugee student from Union High School (Grand Rapids, Michigan). You should really get to know these students - they are remarkable!

Did you know that we hosted an event today for World Refugee Day? Check out these videos of some of the refugee students from Union High School (Grand Rapids, Michigan)