Gerry Siegersma (FG #2) who will meet tomorrow with the surgeon and cancer doctor, at which time a decision will hopefully be made as to how to proceed to treat the cancer in his lung.

Bonnie Buit’s (FG #10) cancer surgery has been set for March 22. As long as no invasive cancer is found during surgery, no other treatments will be needed. Please pray for successful surgery, a quick recovery and that no invasive cancer is present.

Kathy Hoogland (FG #7) who had an appointment with a neurological ophthalmologist at MSU on Friday due to unexplained blurred vision in her left eye.

Kaden Bedevia (FG #3) who was hospitalized last weekend and was able to return home on Tuesday. After having been ill, having become dehydrated, unable to stay awake, and unable to take nourishment, doctors are still uncertain about a diagnosis other than a “bug”.

Joel Motman (FG #10) who fell the week of February 22 and has had a lot of pain as a result.

Kevin, Tina, Ethan, Luke and Ella Van Otterloo (FG #1) on the passing away of Kevin’s grandmother, Berniece Van Otterloo, in Iowa on Wednesday. Mrs. Van Otterloo had just turned 95 last Monday.

Wil and Fran Dick (FG #4) on the sudden passing away on Thursday afternoon of Wil’s sister Fay Schepers.

May these families be comforted by our Heavenly Father during this time.

Thank you to everyone who has shown their love and concern for us following the passing away of our sister, Bernadine Wassink. Thank you to Pastor Dave and Pastor Ed and Muriel as well as to all those who came to visitation. Thank you too for all the cards we have received and most of all for prayers offered on our behalf. We truly appreciate it.
Maxine and Don Hoorn

Thank you for the act of love! February is over, Valentines Day is over, but our act of love lives on. We at Fairway had another successful blood drive. Thank you from the community, the Michigan Blood Bank, and the many people who benefitted from the blood collected. Also thank you to those who sat at the canteen or supplied refreshments.

THE REMOTE WORSHIP ROOM: This morning Fellowship Group #8 is asked to use the remote worship room. Next Sunday morning Fellowship Group #9 is asked to use the remote worship room.

ADULT ENRICHEMENT: This morning Pastor Ed will continue the study of Revelation, looking at chapter 19 - "Beauty and the Beasts." Have a cup of coffee and join us in the Music Room.

NEWSLETTER: Another newsletter will be coming out in March and we need your help! Please help us make the newsletter as informative as possible by submitting something, short or long, about what your ministry or ministry/support team has done in the past few months, or will be doing in the next few months. Classified ads are also welcome, if you have something to sell, are looking for work, need a new volunteer for your ministry, etc., submit an ad for the newsletter. Please place completed newsletter articles/ads in the Communication Team mailbox or email Bonnie Buit by TODAY. Call Bonnie if you have questions.

Y.A.H. NEWS:

• Reminder that there will NOT be a meeting this evening.
• Advance notice: Our April meeting has been changed from Sunday, April 4 to April 11.

S.O.S. NEWS:

• Tonight: Small groups. Girls at Wiersemas. Boys at Smiths. See you all there (7-9 PM).
• Coming Up: Sunday, March 21: Evening Worship and Large Group after.
• Thursday, March 25: Winter Jam. Sign up at small groups tonight (no cost to you)
• Sunday, April 18: Small groups
• Wednesday, April 28: Biggest and Best Burger Bash ever! Save the date!

GEMS MOTHER/DAUGHTER NIGHT: Come join us this Wednesday, March 10 for our annual Mother/Daughter Awards Night from 6:45-8:15 PM at church. We will be presenting the GEMS with the badges they have earned over this past year. Refreshments will also be provided. Any questions, please call Tina VanOtterloo or Amy Potter.

PRAYER GUIDE: The monthly prayer guide will be distributed next Sunday, March 14. Prayer requests may be submitted anonymously if preferred. Place your requests in Judy Dykema’s mailbox by Wednesday, March 10, or contact Judy.

PRAYER CLOSET: If you have a heart for Fairway’s mission and ministries, please consider joining the prayer time on Wednesday mornings at 10:00. We would love you to join us in praying for our church. For additional information contact Jill Orme.

THE CADET FERTILIZER SALE will continue until March 17. If you have not been contacted and would like to purchase fertilizer, feel free to catch one of the “Fertilizer Missionaries” in church.

THE DEACONS are hosting our quarterly food drive for Love INC beginning next Sunday, March 14, and going through March 22. A list of most needed items was in your mailbox last week. Boxes for the donations will be in the narthex. If you have any questions please contact Mark Venema.

MISSIONARY DIRK VANDER STEEN will soon be returning to Nigeria. The Christian Evangel Hospital missionary staff in Jos has made a request for new and used infant clothing for a program that places children for adoption, much like Bethany Christian Services. If you would like to donate clothing to this cause, please get clothing to Jackie Brill by next Sunday, March 14. (There will NOT be a box at church, so call her to make arrangements.) From our African brothers and sisters (and their babies) in Christ, thank you to those that give.

MIDDLE SCHOOL YOUTH GROUP: Save Friday, March 19, for a night of fun and adventure – more details to follow!

THE ANNUAL DUDS BRIDGE and other games night will be held on Saturday, March 20, at 6:30. Please bring “finger food” to share; drinks will be provided. The event is for adults of all ages – single or married. Sign up on the sheet in the narthex. Contact: Jackie Boss

NEW OFFICE BEARERS: Please reserve the evening of Tuesday, March 30, for office bearer orientation at 7:00.

IT’S TIME TO SIGN UP FOR THE CHURCH CAMPOUT which will be held on June 24 or 25 – 27, 2010. We will be again camping at Dutch Treat campground in Zeeland. The campground has given us 11 sites to use for our group, but they are not all together. There is a sign-up sheet on the information table for you to pick out your site number on a first-come-first-served basis for keeping our group together. So if you know for sure that you are able to go, sign up soon! If you have any questions, please contact Sandy Plantinga.

IN YOUR MAILBOXES TODAY (or it was emailed to you) is an update from missionaries, Jeff and Missy Bos. They included some pictures with their email; these pictures can be seen on the bulletin board in the hallway outside the church office.

LAST SUNDAY the following were selected as new office bearers:

• Administrative Elder: Brad Bouwkamp.
• Pastoral Elders: Glenn Niezink, Ken Schaaf, Roger Tiller Sr., Chuck Vugteveen
• Pastoral Deacons: Eric Boss, Troy DeLong, Mary Niemeyer, Ruth Veenstra

Installation will take place during the morning service on March 28.

FROM THE RECENT ELDERS’ MEETING:

• In membership matters, Dave Nancy, Joe, Jessica, and Caleb Horjus have requested that their membership be transferred to Hudsonville Reformed Church. The request was approved.
• Council elected officers for the upcoming year:
• President: Curt DeVries
• Vice-President: Roger Dykstra
• Clerk: Kevin Jansen
• Chairman of Deacons: Jamie Glass
• Vicar: Gary Plantinga
• Secretary of Deacons: Ty Troeger

ON MAY 16 IN THE EVENING SERVICE we are going to have an all music service reflecting on the life of Christ. We would love to have a wide variety of music and groups, solos, instrumentals, etc. If you are interested in being a part of this service or have music suggestions please get music to Keith Lynema by Sunday, April 18. Any other questions or suggestions please call or see Pam Haverdink.

REMEMBER TO SAVE POSTAGE STAMPS for Wycliffe Associates. There is a box on the counter in the narthex for you to place them in PLEASE DO NOT TURN IN “FOREVER” STAMPS as Wycliffe doesn’t accept those.

THE JUNIOR HIGH YOUTH GROUP continues to collect used computer ink cartridges, inkjet and laser cartridges, and old cell phones as a fund raiser. Please bring your used items to the boxes in the narthex or office, or give them to a JHYG leader.

GETHSEMANE WEEK, SPRING 2010 Our church’s elders are leading our congregation into another week of 24/7 prayer—very similar to the one that we experienced this past fall. This week of prayer will take place during the week before Easter, March 28-April 4. We are again encouraging people to sign up online for an hour of prayer during that week but this time we are opening up the Lenten-dressed sanctuary for many of those hours (when the sanctuary will not be in use). We will have a sign-up sheet available on Sundays but if you want to get to the online sign-up then please call the church office for sign-up information. If you are unable to sign up online, there is a sign-up sheet in the narthex.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your strength.
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children.
Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
-Deuteronomy 4:6-9

The opening words of this text are called the “Shema” (shi-MAH). Shema is the Hebrew word for “Hear” and it is the first word that appears in this passage. Faithful Jews would recite the Shema morning and evening, saying, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

The Shema helped Israel to remember a fundamental difference between the God that she served and the gods that the pagan nations around them served. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was a single Being. He was/is ONE. All the other nations had multiple gods, each of whom governed a particular area of life. The true God, though, governed all of life!

You can understand, then, why the Jewish religious leaders were so scandalized when Jesus claimed to be God. It was a radically new way to think about God! He wasn’t simply ONE. He was and is ONE but is expressed in two separate characters or persons—the Father and the Son. This was such a shift in thinking that it took the New Testament church more than 300 years to come to understand it well enough to stop arguing about it.