Myrtle Louise Eldred, age 99, went to be with her Lord and Savior on Friday, July 15, 2016 at her home. She was born on March 2, 1917 in Gillette, Wyoming to Guy and Elsie (Terrill) Moyes. When Myrtle was six months old, the family moved to Cedar Springs where she resided the rest of her life. She attended Cedar Springs Schools and was the valedictorian of the Class of 1935. On September 4, 1937 she married Max Eldred who preceded her in death in 2007. Together, they raised two sons, Russell (Mara) of Cedar Springs, and Jack (Mary) of Frederick, Maryland. From 1965 to 1973, Max and Myrtle owned and operated the Cedar Springs Elevator and later were co-owners with their son Russell, of the White Creek Country Estates. Myrtle served as the treasurer of both businesses and as the treasurer of the Cedar Springs Free Methodist Church (now The Springs) where she was a devout and faithful member. In later life, Myrtle and Max enjoyed traveling to Hawaii, Alaska, Europe, and China. Surviving, along with her sons and daughters-in-law are a sister, Doris Stark; grandchildren, Anitra, Michael (Ann), Sean (Caryn) and Brandon (Wendy); seven great-grandchildren; sister-in-law, Margaret Eldred; many nieces and nephews; special friend and caregiver, Marion Liley. The family will greet friends Thursday, July 21 from 9:30 a.m. until time of service at 11:00 a.m. at The Springs Church, 135 N. Grant St. Cedar Springs. Pastor Barry Briggs officiating. Interment Elmwood Cemetery, Cedar Springs. Memorial contributions may be made to The Springs Church.

Arrangements by Bliss-Witters & Pike Funeral Home, Cedar Springs

LifeRun top runners

Alpha Family Center raises $18,000 towards expenses

Walkers and runners hit the pavement on Saturday, June 18, to help support Alpha Family Center, in their annual LifeWalk event.

“It was a great day to celebrate life,” said Executive Director Teresa Hathaway.

“This year’s theme was ‘I’m a prayer warrior for Life,’ which relays the message that we find power through prayer as we walk for the unborn babies.”

The day began with 18 runners taking part in Alpha’s 3^rd annual LifeRun. The Springs Youth Pastor Chris Anton awarded the trophies and medals to the top runners. LifeWalk began with a welcome, instructions about the walk, and an opening prayer. A crowd of over 174 walkers followed behind the LifeWalk banner for the two-mile walk through downtown Cedar Springs, stopping at key points to pray for our community leaders, churches, schools and Alpha Family Center. This year the walk once again included a prayer stop at Metron Senior Citizen Center to help emphasize life is precious at all stages. The walkers returned to the park for a time of refreshments and door prizes, as well as awarding prizes to this year’s winners of our coloring contest, and the top walkers.

A report was also given on the total amount raised this year, which was over $18,000. LifeWalk covers a major portion of Alpha’s operating expenses as they assist over 150 families per year, and give away over 11,000 baby and maternity items per year. Alpha also offers free pregnancy self-testing, parenting classes, and support for abuse, miscarriages, and post-abortion and sexual integrity classes. Alpha also hopes to begin a men’s group this fall to help equip and encourage men to actively engage with their families.

LifeWalk ended with a closing prayer and the sky filled with colorful balloons that were released in memory of the over 58,000,000 babies that have been aborted since abortion became legal in 1973.

Alpha offers a special thank you to the local communities for their ongoing support of Alpha over the years.

A big thank you to The Springs Church Kids for their beautiful Christmas wishes!

A fun family event

By Judy Reed

Does your child have a bike? Do they need one? All kids are welcome at the Blessing of the Bicycles, in the parking lot of The Springs Church, on the corner of First and Maple, in Cedar Springs, Saturday, June 6, from 1-3 p.m.

According to organizer Johna Alexander, there will be stations set up with fun stuff for kids. Kids are welcome to bring their bike and helmet if they have one, and if they don’t, some gently used bikes will be given away, as well as helmets. There will also be a drawing to give away four new bikes.

There will be a blessing said over the bikes, a station to decorate them, free t-shirts, a bike safety handout, a station for minor repairs that need to be made, info on helmet safety, chalk art, face painting, and possibly the Cedar Springs Fire Department.

Johna said she would love to see the blessing of the bicycles eventually become an annual community event. “We just really are hoping to get kids and families out to do some fun stuff,” she said.

Pastor Cherri’ Kerr, Discipleship Pastor

The Springs Church

135 N. Grant, Cedar Springs

Happy New Year! So how goes the New Year’s Resolution? If you’re like me, you are doing okay, for now. But we know the struggle is coming. We can look ahead and see a bright future but it’s that space in between here and there that we struggle.  God knows more about our struggle than we might realize. Exodus 13:17 (NIV) says, “When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”

God knew that the Israelites lacked the faith they would need to get to the Promised Land. The people needed time to prepare for what was ahead of them. And God was protecting His investment. He wasn’t putting a band-aid on their situation. He did not set them free for them to be enslaved again by some other nation. No, He had plans for them and every intention of seeing those plans to completion.

The same is true for us. God has everything we need to get from here to there. Have you ever noticed that the problems that tend to bother us are things like debt, obesity, addictions, anger and worry? These things are symptoms of our real problem. And like the Israelites, God isn’t looking to set us free so that we can become captive again to something else. He isn’t offering a band-aid. He offers a solution. God knows that all that we struggle with in this life starts in our heart.

Ezekiel 36:22-23 (NIV) “Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name… Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.

As you journey from here to there remember that you’re not the only one with skin in the game. God is completely invested in you. It is His Holy Name, His character, His power which is called into question when Christians choose to live enslaved.

Ezekiel 36:25-26 (NIV) says, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

Real change comes from a changed heart. God changes people from the inside out. This year allow God to uncover some things that may be hidden in your heart so that you may experience the fullness of God’s blessing in the coming year.

Pastor Barry Briggs

The Springs Church

135 N. Grant, Cedar Springs

Nobody carried greater stress in life than Jesus. Not only did He carry the weight of being the Savior of the world on His shoulders, but there were constant demands on His life. People wanted to see Him. People were trying to trap Him. People were trying to kill Him. Nobody has ever experienced greater stress than Jesus did.

Yet, if you look at His life, He doesn’t seem to be bothered by it. He handles all the pressures with peace. In fact, we never see Jesus in a hurry, even though He had the most important assignment in life. No matter what the world threw at Him, He handled it with grace.

I want to learn how to do that. I want to learn how to be at peace under pressure. I want to learn how to handle stress. Fortunately Jesus gave us a model. And if you will follow Jesus’ example, your stress will go down and your fulfillment and joy in life will go up.

So how did Jesus handle stress? He did it in three ways: By getting alone, by getting away, and by getting together. Let’s unpack those.

First, the Bible says if you want to learn to be stress free like Jesus you need to get alone with God. Mark 1:35 (NIV) is the secret of stress relief.  It says, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.”

What’s Jesus doing? He’s having a quiet time. He’s getting alone, getting quiet, and spending time with God. Over and over in the Gospels we see Jesus doing this. Look at Luke 5:15-16 (NCV), “News about Jesus spread even more. Many people came to hear Jesus and to be healed of their sicknesses, but Jesus often slipped away to be alone so He could pray.” Notice it says Jesus did this often. You need to do this often too. You need to have a quiet time every day to reflect, renew, and recharge.

Next, if you want to reduce the stress in your life you have to take time to get away. Trust me, Jesus had more important work than you or I do. But He frequently took the time to relax, to go to parties, go to weddings, to kick back and have fun. Jesus said, “I, the Son of Man, feast and drink…” (Matthew 11:19 NLT).

The Pharisees accused Jesus of being a party animal. They said this guy’s always going to parties, always eating and drinking. Do you want to be Christ like? Go to a party. Enjoy life. If you’re too busy to take your vacation time, you’re too busy. If you’re too busy to pray, you’re too busy. And if you’re too busy to relax, you’re too busy. Life is meant to be enjoyed, not merely endured.

Jesus lived a stress free life because He would get alone, get away, and finally because He would get together.  Look at Matthew 26:38 (NIV), “[Jesus] said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.”

The night before Jesus went to the cross He went to a place called the Garden of Gethsemane. He went there to pray, but He didn’t go alone. He took His friends with Him. Even Jesus needed a group of friends to help Him through the tough times, and He was perfect. Like Jesus, when we’re going through stressful times we need friends to be there with us too.

Stress is increasing in our culture. So you’ve got to take some intentional steps to combat the stress in your life. What are the steps? Jesus modeled them for us: get alone, get away, and get together. Do this often and it will reduce your stress.

Hear the full sermon at thespringschurch.info. Click on media.

City residents may get a knock on the their door Sunday morning, September 25. The Springs Free Methodist Church will be coming around door to door from 10 a.m. to noon to collect donations of food for North Kent Community Services.
Residents are asked to donate canned goods and dry boxed items such as cereal, noodles, brownies, cakes, hamburger or tuna helpers, etc.
They will try to collect from as many homes as possible, but they run out of time and are not able to collect your donation, please feel free to bring to the church, at the corner of Oak and Grant, when you can.

What does it mean to be an active participant in your worship music? Come find out Friday night, March 11 at Breathe 2011! Join members of our community and special guest musicians in an experience you don’t want to miss as we take Christian Rock to the next level. This is a live worship concert teaching that we can connect to God through expressive worship. It will be held at The Springs Church on 135 N Grant St., Cedar Springs, and doors open at 6:30. A $5 suggested donation is asked to help offset the event costs. Free child care for infant to three year olds will be provided. Also, live recordings of the concert will be available for purchase on CD’s and DVD’s. Pre-order at the event to ensure yourself a copy.