newsletter summer 11

8/4/2019 Newsletter Summer 11

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Rock Valley United Reformed Church

Newsletter

Summer, 2011



This is the most dangerous question in the Bible. This question sparked the fall of man into sin, and ithas plagued the ears of humanity ever since. Every generation has had its share of struggles instigated bythis question, and our generation is no different. From Adam and Eve in the Garden, to Abraham’s impa-tience for a son, to Moses striking the rock, to Peter rejecting the need for Jesus to die – the Bible is full of stories where that quiet whisper of a question is there in the background. How many Christians in the Biblefell into sin because they listened to that question! How many of us have fallen into sin because we listenedto that question?

That question is as subtle and yet as vocal as it has ever been. Over the course of the summer,we’ve been working through the first several articles of the Belgic Confession, covering those important doc-trines of general and special revelation, the nature and Persons of the Triune God, and most recently God’screation and providence. What is striking about those doctrines is that the Belgic Confession keeps warningus about the old heresies that challenged the Christian faith. It had been over a thousand years since manyof those heresies had been answered definitively by the Church, and yet Guido de Bres, the Confession’s au-thor, had to make it clear that the Christian faith still rejected those heresies. And even as we study thosedoctrines and read about those heresies 450 years after the Confession was written, the need to confessthose very same doctrines is still there.

That’s because the devil is still asking that question, ―Did God actually say…?‖ and mankind is still lis-tening to it. That question comes in a variety of forms: the Bible can’t be trusted; God’s description of howthe world works doesn’t match what nature tells us; the Bible’s message changes because the culture is

changing; there are many ways to get to heaven, and there are many different gods to take us there; you canstill be a Christian without believing that Jesus is true God and true man; there is no such thing as demonswaging war against the Church; God’s mind is open and He doesn’t know the future, and He’s just doing Hisbest to get through each day like the rest of us. And we could go on…

But aside from those big issues, there are the personal issues where the devil can be just as vocal.How can I claim to know the truth when my agnostic professor tells me I’m too naïve? Why should I refuse togo along with my friends to the bar when I could be a witness to them there? Why should I listen to the Bibleabout how to love my wife when I know in my heart that God is leading me to do something else? Isn’t it bet-ter to complain anonymously than to follow Matthew 18’s rules about confronting sin and risk embarrass-ment?

What’s so dangerous about that question is that it doesn’t need to give us an answer before we’ve al-ready given in to temptation. The devil doesn’t have to tell us outright how to sin. Simply sowing the seeds of

doubt about God are enough to set us on the path to our own destruction. All of us can look at our lives andfind those times when we’ve listened to that question just a little bit too much, instead of standing firmlyagainst it. We’ve allowed those seeds of doubt to be planted, and we end up justifying our own sin. We’re nodifferent than Adam and Eve.

Thankfully, Jesus is different. When the devil asked Jesus this dangerous question, Jesus refused toeven give it a foothold. When Jesus was tempted three times over, each temptation was a variation of thequestion, ―Did God actually say…?‖ Jesus never even flinched. That’s why He is the second, and better,Adam. He is the one who did what we have not done – listen to the Lord and obey Him. Because Jesus didnot fail when this danger came, He proved Himself worthy of God, and worthy of heaven. And since He de-feated that question on our behalf, His victory over that question is our victory, too.

Rev. James Sinke

“Did God actually say…?”Genesis 3:1



Kelcie Groeneweg and Kent Underland were united in mar-riage on Saturday, June 18, 2011, here at the Rock Valley UnitedReformed Church. The wedding was officiated by Reverend JamesSinke. The attendants were Morgen Anderson, Erin Groeneweg,

Karmen DeZeeuw, Bekah Jenkins, Sam Okland, Adam Schow, Bran-don Nichols and Michael Franco. The parents of the couple are Bob &Cherie Groeneweg and Tim & Donna Underland of Spicer, MN.

Kent & Kelcie chose Song of Solomon 8:6-7 as their weddingtext. ―Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm;for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. Itburns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannotquench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all thewealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.‖

The couple went on their honeymoon in Cozumel, Mexicoand enjoyed the week with the warm weather by the beach and snor-keling every day.

The Underland’s are currently residing in New Brighton, MN,but they are actively looking for a starter home. Kelcie is working atInformation Providers in Hopkins, MN as an Insurance Auditor andKent is working at 3M Corporation as a Technical Aide. Kent will beattending graduate school in the fall at the University of Minnesota for Mechanical Engineering.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

―We would like to thank everyone for their loveand support on our special day. We are excitedto begin our new life together, and we are thank-ful that we have God to guide us every stepof our way.‖ Mr. & Mrs. Underland

On Saturday, July 9, 2011, our sister Jennie Bliek was called home to be

with the Lord. Jennie had bravely endured a long battle with cancer. Throughouther chemotherapy and radiation treatments Jennie always kept a positive attitude,and spoke often of her love for the Lord and of her trust in His will for her life.

Funeral services were held on Wednesday, July 13, 2011 here at theRock Valley United Reformed Church, officiated by Rev. Sinke.

Jennie is survived by her four children, Linda Schacht of Doon, Iowa; Ste-ven Bliek of Reno, Nevada; Kenneth Bliek of Merrill, Iowa; and Patricia Jones of Lakeville, Minnesota; as well as 10 grandchildren, 5 great-grandchildren; two sis-ters and one brother. She was preceded in death by her husband Adrian in De-cember of 2007.

We extend our deepest sympathy to Jennie’s family as they mourn her passing. As her church family, we will miss Jennie’s smile and her encourage-ment to all of us, but we also praise God for putting an end to her suffering and

taking her home to be with Him.

In Loving Memory of

Jennie Bliek

The Lord has blessed Larissa Van Dyke, as well as our congre-gation, with the birth of a healthy, covenant baby girl, Annabelle ReeceVan Dyke, born on Wednesday, June 29, 2011. Annabelle’s grandpar-ents are Dale and Julie Van Dyke.

We were privileged to witness Annabelle’s baptism on Sunday,July 31, 2011. Rev. Sinke preached from Matthew 28:18-20, and the ser-

mon title was ―God claims a disciple through baptism.‖ We were re-minded of baptism’s privileges—that Annabelle has been claimed by thetriune God and set apart from the world. As such, she deserves to betaught what the Lord has done for her, and we were challenged as a con-gregation to help Larissa in this awesome responsibility. We also heardof baptism’s calling—to believe in Him and respond by faith. It is our sin-cere prayer that one day we will also witness Annabelle responding to thecall of her baptism as she publicly professes her faith in Jesus Christ.

We pray for the Lord’s continued blessings on Annabelle and her parents and grandparents, and for wisdom to train her in the truths of God’s Word.

Infant

Baptism

Rev. Sinke, Larissa, &Annabelle on July 31,

the day of Annabelle’s baptism.



We are happy to welcome Ben Witte as a Professingmember of Rock Valley United Reformed Church. Benis not a new face around here, as he often worshippedwith us while attending Dordt College.

Ben grew up in Wauconda, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.He came to NW Iowa to attend Dordt College. Some-time after graduation he took a job and moved to Michi-gan.

We are also excited to welcome Matt Laman and Autumn VandeKamp to our congregation!

Matt is the son of Bill and Brenda Laman of Rock Valley, and comes to

us from the Heritage Reformed Church of Hull. Matt works full time atA&I in Quality Control and the warranty department. He is also a volun-teer firefighter in Rock Valley. In his free time he enjoys being withfriends and working on or detailing cars.

Autumn is the daughter of Carl and Brenda Vande Kamp of Sioux Cen-ter, and she comes to us from the Calvary Protestant Reformed Churchof Hull. Autumn works full time as a CNA at Franken Manor and CrownPointe in Sioux Center. In her free time she enjoys hanging out withfriends, and she also likes to play volleyball and loves to read.

The couple is getting married on August 19 and will be living in Rock Valley. Welcome to our church family, Matt andAutumn! We pray that we will truly be a blessing to one another as we serve the Lord together.

On Sunday, August 7 we were privileged to witness the PublicProfessions of Faith of four of our young people— ErinGroeneweg, Brooke Kats, Rachel Kooiman, and AutumnVande Kamp.

Rev. Sinke preached from 1 Peter 5:5-11 under the theme ―Thebelieving sheep follow the Chief Shepherd.‖

We saw the blessing of following our Chief Shepherd in humility,and of submitting to those in authority over us as they call us toholy living.

We were warned from 1 Peter that the devil is stalking us, seekingto devour us, and so we must always be watchful, aware of thatthreat. We were challenged to be diligent in our use of the meansof grace, and not to starve ourselves of the Word of God, lest webe left defenseless against the attack of the enemy.

We were also comforted in knowing that we do not depend on our-selves or our own strength to keep us firm in our profession, butwe rely on the God of all grace to restore, confirm, strengthen andestablish us.

We rejoice with each of you, Erin, Brooke, Rachel and Autumn,and we pray for God’s blessing as you continue to grow in your

faith and walk with the Lord.

Public Professions of Faith

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and estab- lish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

1 Peter 5:10-11

Matt and Autumn

Ben is now back in NW Iowa, working as a farm manager at Van Beukel Farms, and oftendrives truck for them. He married Julie Verwoerd on August 5 in Canada, and the coupleis patiently waiting for Julie’s immigration process to be complete.

On May 22, 2010, Ben made his Public Profession of Faith here at RVURC and was wel-comed as a new member to our church. We pray that we may continue to grow together as the body of Christ, and serve Him faithfully together.



In June we had a Baby Shower for Larissa Van Dyke and aBridal Shower for Brittany (Groeneweg) Lems and Ashley(Van Dyke) Brummel. We played a couple of games,opened gifts, and had a light lunch. One of the games wascalled ―The Diaper Game‖. In this game we divided up intoteams, and we were challenged to make a diaper on ateam member out of toilet paper, all in a certain amount of time. Then Larissa had to pick the best diaper. You canimagine how many laughs we had over that one! We allhad a good time, and the girls appreciated the gifts and thefellowship very much.

RYS CONVENTION, 2011

DORDT COLLEGE,

SIOUX CENTER, IA

On July 25, Brooke, Lindsay, Erin and I made the long journey to Sioux Center for the RYS Convention at Dordt College.After getting all of our luggage into Covenant Hall, we decided it would be a good idea to move all the furniture in our rooms. (Ask us how that went!) Needless to say, it was quite an ordeal, but at least we had fun. Later that night wewent to our first session, where Rev. Tuinstra explained to us why we as Christians need to be under construction. Thusbegan a week of fun memories and moving speakers.

On Tuesday we began our workshops, went to session led by Rev. Van Maanen, and started a week of fun activities.Lindsay and Brooke played on a soccer team with a few guys from Sanborn. We also played on a volleyball team, but

unfortunately, we were shut down by some real California beach volleyball stars! All in all, the sports activities were fun,even if we weren’t completely successful.

Wednesday was our day away at Wild Water West in Sioux Falls. Unfortunately, it was the one day of the week that wascool and rainy, but we made the best of it. On Thursday we attended our last workshops, played more sports, and at-tended the talent show in the evening. Brooke and Lindsay sang a duet, and I sang a solo. (Ask us how nervous wewere to sing in front of 800 people!)

On Friday we wrapped up the week with one last session and then we made the ―long trip‖ back home. All in all it wasgood week, filled with fun activities, beautiful singing, edifying speeches, and fellowship with like-minded believers.Thank you, congregation, for your support that allowed us to attend the convention. We appreciate all you do for us bothfinancially and through your prayers on our behalf!

Rachel Kooiman

Erin, Brooke,Rachel Van

Drunen (sponsor)Lindsay & Rachel



A

M

B

E

R

Remember back in 2009, whenAmber Kats was the lovely SiouxCounty Fair Queen? Well, sheplayed a somewhat different roleat the fair this year...

...wrestling a 100 pound uncooperative greasedpig into a barrel! By the way, Amber showed thatpig who was boss, and did indeed get him in thatbarrel! Iowa farm girls—beautiful and feisty!

Newsflash!! RVURC Ladies to star in newest ―Depends‖ commercia

Rev. Sinke, Bekah,and Leah, pouring iton at the RockValley ChristianSchool Jog-a-thon.

Sarah, Dee, Aaron and Gene cheerinon the athletes at the Jog-a-thon.

― N o , k i d s , I d o n ’ t r u n .

G r a n d p a G e n e a i n ’ t

a s g o o d a s h e o n c e

w a s …‖

Tell meabout it...

Um, ya, Lindsay...you have a little smudgeon your forehead there…

(They were playingmud volleyball…)

Kelcie and Kent, having a funmoment on their wedding day.

WATCH OUT!

YOU MAY BE THE

NEXT FACE ON

CANDID

CAMERA!

Happiness is… diving face first intobirthday cake, right

Aaron?



―Look aboutright to you

there,Herm?‖

―Yep, looksabout right

to me…‖

Herm andGene plant

a KoreanSun Pea

Pear Treeon the

church lawn.

Ryan Halma gets a lesson in ―Road Rage‖ at theInwood Demolition Derby. By the way, Ryan, just remember what

you used to do to your car when Adam comes home some dayand says ―Um, Dad, I put a little dent in the car…‖

They say hind sight is 20/20, and looking back at it now, it was probablyquite ill-advised for Loren (age 50) to go along with his niece and neph-ews (ages 18-23) for a ride on the banana behind the boat at the familyreunion at Twin Lakes...

Loren before...

Lindsay and Jessica did very well with their projects at thefair. Lindsay had two items (she did a ―before‖ and ―after‖of redoing her room, and she also did a picture). Jessica en-tered one item (her science fair project), and that receivedsecond place (a big pink ribbon). The rest received blues.

All three of the Kats girls took 9 rabbits each. They each re-ceived at least one first place and a couple second place rib-bons, and the rest received blue ribbons. Congrats!



Cream Cheese Cake Andrea Sinke

Crust: 2 ½ cups graham crumbs, ½ cup melted butter, ½ cup sugar Blend together and lightly press on the bottom of a 12 x 9 or 13 x 9 pan.Cool

Filling: Soften 8 oz. Philadelphia cream cheese to room temperature. Add ½ cup sugar and mix. Whip 2 packages of Dream Whip (directions on package). Fold the creamcheese and Dream Whip together. Spread on crust and top with one can of pie filling

(cherry, blueberry, etc.)

Chocolate Dream Pie Andrea Sinke

Crust:1 ¾ cups Oreo baking crumbs¼ cup sugar ½ cup melted butter

Mix together and press into two round 9‖ pans or a 13 x 9 pan. Chill

Filling:1 ½ cups semi sweet chocolate chips, melted1 package cream cheese½ cup granulated sugar ¼ cup butter or margarine1 ½ tsp. vanilla1 envelope whipped cream

Mix first five ingredients together. Prepare whipped cream ac-cording to package directions. Mix into chocolate mixture. Chill.

Topping:1 envelope whipped creamShredded chocolate or chocolate sprinkles

Hints:The longer the dessert has to chill, the easier it will be to serve.Light margarine, less fat cream cheese, and light whippedcream can be used. If you want to make one 9‖ pie, the recipecan be halved, except for the 2 envelopes of whipped cream.The chocolate can be very rich.

Fruit Pizza Carla Groenew 1/2 c butter 1/4 c powdered sugar 1 1/2 c flour

Grease pan. Mix and pat into round pizza pan. Bake 15 min at325 degrees.

8 oz cream cheese

1/3 c sugar 1 tsp vanilla

Mix and spread on cooled crust.

Drain well fruit of your choice. Pineapple, strawberries,peaches, grapes, bananas, etc.

Glaze:1 tbsp cornstarch1/4 c sugar 1/2 tbsp lemon juice1/2 c fruit juice

Cook over med heat until thick and clear. Dribble over fruit or

spread with brush.

Broccoli Salad Carla Groeneweg 2 heads of broccoli cut in little pieces1 c sunflower seeds1/2 c raisins

1 lb bacon, fried to a crisp and cut upa little diced onion

Dressing:1 c salad dressing2 tsp vinegar 1/2 c sugar

Mix together and pour over the rest of the ingredients.

Easy Oreo Dessert Dee Vander Giesen

1 box graham crackers2 small or 1 large box of instant vanilla pudding1 8oz. Carton of Cool Whip1 12oz. Carton of Cool Whip1 pkg Oreo Cookies (or 20-25 cookies)2 cups milk

Make pudding using 2 cups milk. When firm, add 12 oz. cartonof Cool Whip. Crush cookies and add 1/2—3/4 crushed cook-ies to pudding mixture.

Line a 9x13 dish with graham crackers. Spread half of puddingmixture over crackers. Repeat for second layer. Last layer graham crackers over top.

Mix 8 oz Cool Whip with remaining crushed cookies, spreadover last layer of crackers. Enjoy!



So you think you know everyone in our church pretty well, huh?Well, can you guess who these members are?

(The answers are found elsewhere in this

newsletter.)

No, he’s not Rambo, he’s amember of our church...andwith that menacing look, we’reglad he’s on our side!

This cute little girl just woke up, soshe seems pretty quiet and somber,

but we all know her for her ―distinctive‖ laugh, not for being

―quiet and somber‖. Who is she?

A n s w e r s t o P l a c e t h e F a c e —

L a m a r N a n c e & C a r l a G r o e n e w e g

newsletter summer 11

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