Archive for February, 2011
Did you know that Zion has a Quilting Group? Every Thursday (from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.), our quilters work their magic to create beautiful works of art to give to others in need. Come and give it a whirl! Making beautiful things for a just cause – while socializing – is FUN!
UPCOMING WOZ EVENTS
Ø April 8th through 10th – Attic Treasures (Rummage Sale)
Ø May 1st – Mother/Daughter Banquet
Ø June 16th – Wolf Creek Birthday Party
Ø July 5th – WOZ meeting
Ø TBA – Fiesta Dinner
Adopt a Project!
Pastor Ron has a sign-up sheet for work that needs to be done around the church. You may pick your own dates(s), times, and which project(s) you would like to help with. Look for the sign-up sheet in our Fellowship Hall. Thanks!
Sunday School Meeting
1/9/11
OLD BUSINESS
· The Christmas Program was a great success. Thank you to EVERYONE who helped and participated!!
ONGOING BUSINESS
· Sunday School is resuming regular schedule and curriculum, with occasional whole group lessons/crafts
o Will sing on January 23rd – “Jesus in the Morning”
o Shirley will be gone for the month of February—we will miss her!
NEW BUSINESS
· Easter is April 24, 2011
o Egg hunt and whole group activities
· VBS: July (date(s) to be determined)
o Theme/Verse: The Big Apple Adventure; so faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message of Christ. Romans 10: 17
o Five-day Program
o Similar rotation as last year: crafts, lesson, snack/games (may add music instead of only at closing and openings)
o Groups: Preschool-K, 1-4, youth
· Youth Group Update?
o Youth Group Leaders: Vicki Shoup, Becky Aman, Bev Gregory, and Carrie Blum
o Teen Worship has begun—Sundays from 9:45-10 a.m. in our Sanctuary, with a devotion to follow
o Follow-up on the trip to Brighton
o TEC News: TEC group visiting in February
· Our next meeting will be Sunday, February 6th @ 8:30 a.m.
Thank you for all you do, Holly Bella
In our Christian life we as Lutherans, celebrate two sacraments—the sacrament of Holy Communion and of baptism.
There are a couple of things I’d like for us to consider about our initiation rite of baptism here The first is that while baptism is our initiation rite, it is much, much more; historically, because baptism was more than an initiation.
How in the world do you explain to people who have no concept of such things, i.e., the story of Jesus’ baptism? After all, Jesus is God incarnate, isn’t He? Literally, He’s God on earth, right?
By definition, godliness means perfection. And the early converts also learned that Jesus was born of Mary; therefore, completely human. They were also told by the author of the letter to the Hebrews, in no uncertain terms, that this HUMAN; Jesus of Nazareth was just like us in every way, “yet without sin.”
It is difficult enough for people to get their heads around the two natures of Jesus—human and divine—existing simultaneously. But after the early church converts got this point, they had to grapple with the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ baptism.
Jesus was fully man and yet without sin. So what was he doing down there in the river with this wild baptizer; the same John who, according to Matthew, was baptizing with water for repentance from sin? Matthew tells us that all of Jerusalem and the whole Judean countryside were coming to John for baptism and cleansing of their sins. If this crazy preacher was hollering for people to repent of their sins, seek forgiveness and be washed clean in the waters of baptism, what the heck was Jesus, the one without sin, doing there?
Jesus’ baptism is important; so important that it is in all four Gospel accounts. Even though the early Church fathers struggled mightily to explain it to the pagan challengers of their day, it really does make sense if we think about it. You see, Jesus was indeed the sinless human; however, he never tried to avoid being around sin.
In fact, he repeatedly got into trouble with the religious authorities of the day because he refused to shun the sinful of the community, as they did.
Jesus may not have sinned, but he lived where the sinners lived and spent his time where they spent their time. Therefore, it made sense that He would want to experience what they experienced in life.
Jesus, throughout his ministry, makes it a point to go out of his way to mix socially with outcasts, with notorious sinners, beggars, and the diseased to be “baptized” into their world so as to fully disclose God's love for them.
Stepping into the leftover bath water with the unclean shows us God’s willingness to go to any length to show, not just say, ‘I love you.’
When Jesus came up out of the water after being baptized, Matthew tells us, “Suddenly, the heavens were open to Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove on Him.” Jesus stepped into the waters of baptism so that God, the Father, might take that opportunity to send the Holy Spirit to seal Jesus and to mark Jesus as God’s own, forever. Baptismal water and the Holy Spirit are the elements through which Jesus shows that He is absolutely and irrevocably connected with the Father; the same connection Jesus wants for each one of us.
Everyone in this church this morning is someone's child. And if you’ve been alive very many years, I promise that there have been times in your life when you craved hearing those words from your own father.
Most of us have had times where we rebelled or, for some other reason, the relationship got strained with our parents. Perhaps the parent thought he made the words plain to you, but somehow you two were just not speaking the same language. “This is my son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
These words — spoken so seldom by most of us parents and longed for so often by all children— affirm not only that we are loved, which is a huge affirmation, but they also affirm that we are accepted and acceptable—just as we are, as many people used to say, “warts and all.”
The father’s affirmation of Jesus on the day of his baptism is not only incredibly important for Jesus, but it is just as important for us. While Jesus may have known who He was and what His relationship to the Father was, we often times do not.
We desperately need to hear whose we are and how unconditional that love is. Jesus shared in baptism with us, not because He needed baptizing, but because we did and do. Jesus led the way across the muddy bank, going down to death in the baptismal water and coming up on the other side, resurrected and made new again.
Last week, we baptized Zachary Loose, and I asked the parents and the Godparents, “Do you promise to faithfully bring them (the child baptized) to the services of God's house and teach them the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments? As they grow in years, you should place in their hands the Holy Scriptures and provide for their instruction in the Christian faith (Sunday school, confirmation classes, church services), that living in the covenant of their baptism and in communion with the church, they may lead Godly lives until the day of Jesus Christ. Do you remember what you said? You answered, “I do, I do lord. I promise you.”
God loves you and so do I . . .
Pastor Ron