VIDEO: Sunday April 28, 2024 - Complete Service

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AUDIO: Announcements, Readings, Sermon & Bell Choir for Sunday April 28, 2024

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First Reading -- Acts 8:26–40 
An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: 

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opens not his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.” 

And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. 

Epistle Reading -- 1 John 4:1–11 
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 

The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the fifteenth chapter
[Jesus said:] “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” 

REMINDER: Important Voter’s Meeting Sunday 4/28

In recent weeks Zion's Call Committee has reviewed documentation from seven candidates, and from there narrowed its search down to two. Most recently, on March 20th the Committee interviewed the two candidates. Following the interviews and much discussion, the committee unanimously chose Joanna Lee as the candidate to whom they would like to extend a call. 

Joanna Ruth Lee (Johnson) was born in Saginaw, MI and grew up in Newton, NC. She is the daughter of an LCMS pastor, and the third of six siblings. While serving as an LCMS missionary in Taiwan, she met her husband, Richard (Chun Yu Lee). The Lees have a daughter, Janna, born in 2020, and a son, Leopold, born in 2022. 

Joanna will obtain her Master of Arts in Deaconess Studies this August from Concordia Theological Seminary at Fort Wayne, IN. She is currently interning at Perry Lutheran Homes and Christ Lutheran Church in Perry, IA. Prior to seminary, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Church Music from Concordia University, St. Paul, MN. Joanna is a Rostered Director of Parish Music (Commissioned 2017). 

On Sunday, April 28th following the 10:30 service, a Voters' Meeting will be held during which the committee will recommend Joanna Lee for approval by the congregation. 

Please make every effort to attend this important meeting and participate in the call process. 

Bulletin: Sunday April 28, 2024

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THIS WEEK AT ZION

Saturday April 27
No Event’s Scheduled

Sunday April 28
Following the 10:30 service, a Voter’s Meeting will be held
during which the committee will recommend Deaconess Joanna Lee for approval by the congregation. 
Voter’s Meeting regarding Deaconess
8:00 a.m. — Worship Service with Communion
9:00 a.m. — Adult/Teen Bible Study & Children’s Sunday School
10:30 a.m. — Worship Service with Communion
Voter’s Meeting following second service — lunch served
(The 8:00 a.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)

Monday April 29
6:00 p.m. - 1st Year Confirmation
6:30 p.m. - Faith Bell Choir Practice
7:00 p.m. - 2nd Year Confirmation

Tuesday April 30
6:15 p.m. - Grace Bell Choir Practice
7:15 p.m. - Adult Choir Practice

Wednesday May 1
2:00 p.m. Mid-Week Worship with Communion
2:30 p.m. - 30 min. Bible Study
(The 2:00 p.m. service is streamed Live on our YouTube channel)

Thursday May 2
6:30 p.m. - Event’s Committe Meeting

Friday May 3
No Event’s Scheduled

Saturday May 4
No Event’s Scheduled

Sunday May 5
8:00 a.m. — Worship Service with Communion
9:15 a.m. — Adult/Teen Bible Study & Children’s Sunday School
10:30 a.m. — Worship Service with Communion
12:00 Noon - Zion Women’s Ministries Spring Rally ADDITIONAL DETAILS
(The 8:00 a.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)

Lutheran Church Extension Fund

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

Greetings in Christ!

Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) has served the congregations, schools and associated ministries of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) for over 40 years. Our mission is to ensure you have the resources available to fulfill your call for God’s glory. In accomplishing our mission, we place LCEF District Vice Presidents in your area to help and support you and the congregations of the LCMS.

LCEF is currently seeking an individual to serve as the LCEF District Vice President in the Atlantic, Eastern and New Jersey Districts. I humbly ask for your assistance in identifying potential candidates to fill this critical role. Please know that this position is intended to help and support you and the congregations of the LCMS. It’s important we find the right person for this position. To support our search, we will be awarding a $1,500 referral grant to the congregation who assists us in finding the right person.

Please consider passing along the position description and application found HERE. Thank you for your assistance in finding the right person for this position and for your ser-vice to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Blessings, 

Vanda Toner 
Senior Vice President, District Solutions 
Lutheran Church Extension Fund 

Lutherans for Life: Unchanging

Only another --and greater--certainty can deliver us 
by Pastor Michael Salemink, Executive Director, LFL 

Springtime brings changes. Weather, wildlife, and wardrobe are switching. Timepieces, taxes, and athletics are shifting. Improvement? Erosion? Or just over and over again? Whichever, we rarely and barely keep up with all the moving targets. 

The sanctity of life has also seen its share of changes. Medical ultrasound machines arrived in the 1940s. Chemists first synthesized hormonal birth control in the 1950s. The “sexual revolution” started in the 1960s. Abortion access became mandatory in the 1970s. In vitro fertilization commenced in the 1980s. Physician-assisted suicide gained acceptance in the 1990s. Pill abortions arose in the 2000s. CRISPR genetic engineering originated in the 2010s. 

Public regulations and political regimes continue to fluctuate. Novel measures using death as a solution keep emerging. As the hymnwriter memorably said, “Change and decay in all around I see.” It echoes the Apostle: “the present form of this world is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:31, in a discourse directly addressing marriage and sexuality). 

The whole creation convulses in the aftershocks of humankind’s fall. Since the forbidden fruit, sin and death have remained a constant of our race and our universe. Whatever our size or skills or circumstances, brokenness retains its hold. Evil may change clothes but never its core. 

Pastor Michael Salemink 

Only another—and greater—certainty can deliver us. The grace of Almighty God stands universal. The love of Jesus Christ still prevails as it always has and ever will. His work of creating proclaims every human life special—fact. His labor of redeeming proves every human life precious—truth. His activity of calling pronounces every human life priceless—reality. From the beginning—both the first moment of creation and the split-second of fertilization—until eternity this Gospel endures. 

We speak this truth because it changes even the hardest and darkest hearts. We show this love because it saves lives in the most desperate situations and despite age, appearance, or ability. And we receive every neighbor as a gift and privilege because we delight together in a steadfast, faithful, and unchanging God. 

VIDEO: Wednesday, April 24, 2024 - Complete Service

View the Bulletin for Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Worship Service: 2:00 p.m.
Bible Study: 2:30 p.m.
All are welcome, bring a friend, neighbor or relative