NEWSLETTER - Zion Lutheran Church LCMC

Zion Lutheran Church
NEWSLETTER
WELCOME TO THE ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH NEWSLETTER
Zion is a member congregation of Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC)
FEBRUARY 2015
Pastor Mark’s cell: 515-538-2200
5831 GRUNDY ROAD, HUDSON, IA 50643
Church & Parsonage: 988-4534 www.zionlutheranhudson.com
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
On Wednesday, February 18, we will celebrate
Ash Wednesday with a service of Holy Communion
and the imposition of ashes at 6:30 PM. As in
previous years, we will continue the tradition of
holding Wednesday evening Lenten worship services
at 6:30. Beginning February 25, the worship will be
preceded by a supper. All are welcome.
The theme of this year’s Lenten worship services
on Wednesday nights will be “Open the eyes of my
heart, Lord. “ “Open the Eyes of My Heart” is, of
course, the title of a song we sometimes sing during
our worship services. In particular, the line “to see
you high and lifted up, shining in the light of your
glory.” How do we understand that phrase? Martin
Luther was very careful to distinguish between a theology of glory and a theology of the cross. When we
think about Jesus being “high and lifted up,” we may
think of Jesus on the cross.
Luther taught that we receive our most complete
understanding of who God is by looking at Jesus on
the cross. We see Jesus as one who has been ridiculed, beaten, abandoned and murdered. Jesus has
been through the entirety of the human experience
and understands completely all aspects of human
life. The cross of Christ is where we see The Word
made flesh who came to live among us, who died in a
tragic, shameful death, but was raised from the dead
on the third day, putting an end to the curse of death.
In the Lenten season we recall the totality of
Jesus humanity as well as his divinity, remembering
that his death destroyed the power of the grave for
all time when God resurrected him from the dead.
Peter, James, and John saw Jesus “high and lifted up,
shining in the light of his glory” on the mountain of
transfiguration. They had the joy of witnessing Jesus
face shining like the sun, yet moments later they had
to descend from the mountaintop and return to normal, everyday life.
We are disciples like Peter, James, and John, yet
we don’t get mountaintop glimpses in our everyday
lives. We won’t see Jesus “shining in the light of his
glory” until our own resurrection on the last day. Until then we must live our lives in service to Christ and
the world at the bottom of the mountain.
So where, then, do we see Jesus? This Lenten
season with the theme of “Open the eyes of my
heart” is meant to help us discover those places
where we will see him most clearly. We will see him
in the hungry, the poor, the widow, the outcast, the
orphan, and so forth. It is in the most unexpected
places and people that we meet Jesus, and where he
encounters us in all of his fullness.
So please join us, as we look at the theme of
Jesus meeting us in unexpected places. We will see
how Jesus meets us with unexpected invitations, and
meets us in expected yet unrecognized places, how
Jesus meets us in our everyday lives, and then finally
with the question when did we see you Lord?
In Christ, Pastor Mark Decker
CALLING ALL ZION MEMBERS! It is an
exciting time at Zion! The fellowship hall remodel
has a start date of February 16 (Monday). It was
recommended by our members that we save money
by doing the tear down / demolition ourselves.
Please mark your calendars for the weekend
of Saturday, February 14 to begin demolition and
Sunday February 15 to come together as a congregation to complete the demolition. We will continue
the teardown on Sunday, 15, immediately following
fellowship. Wear your work clothes and bring any tools
that you feel may be helpful.
Projects include: Removing carpet off walls,
removing ceiling tile and lights/fans, removing trim
around windows, removing countertops, removing
sinks in kitchen.
If you have any extra time February 8 after the
annual meeting, we will need help moving tables and
chairs to the undercroft (under the sanctuary) of the
church which is where we will host fellowship
during the remodel.
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering
God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10
SOUPER BOWL OF CARING” is Sunday,
February 1, 2015.
Souper Bowl of Caring helps young people across
America develop a stronger connection in their community by caring for their neighbors in need. The Zion
high school youth will be taking part in this movement
that is transforming Super Bowl weekend into the
nation’s largest youth-led weekend of giving and
serving.
Please donate money to the soup pot on
February 1. Money collected will be given to the
Northeast Iowa Food Bank in Waterloo. Thank you for
giving and thank you for helping tackle hunger in our
own community!
SUNDAY SCHOOL - CONFIRMATION
This year Zion’s Sunday School is blessed with a
preschool class led by Phil Laube. They are working
through the church’s children’s bible set. What a joy
they are to have.
In the elementary class this fall the topics centered
on patriarchs of the Old Testament. After the Christmas program practices the class has turned its attention
to the prophets and kings of the Old Testament.
Cindy Appleton
LENTON SEASON begins on Wednesday,
February 18 with Ash Wednesday service including
Holy Communion and Imposition of Ashes. Remaining
Lenton services will be on Thursday evenings preceded
by a Light Sandwich Supper at 5:30, with
worship service at 6:30. Due to the reconstruction of
the fellowship hall, these suppers will be held in the
old basement. To keep the suppers simple we’ll be
using paper plates and utensils; therefore instead of
having a main dish furnished we will be having various
kinds of sandwiches. If you would like to furnish the
sandwiches for any of these suppers, please contact
Elaine Brandhorst or Kay Degener. The rest of the
meals will be potluck, please bring a dish to share. Due
to limited electricity outlets, perhaps salads etc. would
be best.
Zion’s Confirmation Class is on a dual learning
path. On Sundays, the focus of study is the Old Testament, working through Genesis and Exodus and the
lessons they can show us for today’s environment and
society. The class will provide an insight to this work
through a service project of providing fellowship on
February 1st. Don’t miss their (more modern)
interpretation of the “Land of Milk and Honey”.
In a second avenue of study, the students are
working through Luther’s Small Catechism and its
instruction of the Ten Commandments. This curriculum is delivered through our Wednesday evening class
sessions led by Pastor Mark.
For a service project, the class prepared and served
a meal for those in need through the Catholic Worker
House in downtown Waterloo. It was a good service
project with educational benefits. Look for more insights of what the students learned in near term Sunday
Services.
Andy Appleton
The high school Sunday school class has been
watching the Foundation videos and discussing them.
We are also reading the scripture associated with each
video and adding that to our discussions.
Irv Laube
NEWALDAYA COOKIES - Zion is responsible
for furnishing 12 dozen cookies for NewAldaya each
Sunday during the month of February. Cookies may be
brought to church on Sunday mornings or taken
directly to the home during the week. Can you plan
some baking to help with this task? Thanks in advance.
FOODS RESOURCE BANK:
Making a Difference
Priyanka’s Story – Priyanka, her husband, Sunil
and their two children live in a village in Bihar, one
of India’s poorest states. The family had always been
dependent on monsson season farming, and even when
Sunil periodically migrated to nearby towns as an agricultural laborer, their income was not sufficient to meet
the family’s basic needs. Their children’s education
was oftern disrupted by the family’s financial struggles.
Priyanka became involved with the program’s
Learning for Gender Integration project., where she
can save money, access credit during a crisis and
share and discuss her struggles with others experiencing similar challenges. Priyanka is also using the
new farming technques to increase paddy production
and grow wheat and vegetables on the family’s one
acre of land. She developed an annual household
crop plan based on the farming inputs received from
the program and has access to irrigation facilities.
In addition to improving rice paddy output, Priuanka
is introducing vegetable cultivation on her family’s
land, which will be used for household consumption
and the sale of excess production will ensure that her
children will be able to stay in school. Priyanka’s
family is food secure year round and has a three
month supply of surplus food for protection against
lean times.
Priyanka and Sunil have participated together in
gener training sessions in their community. Through
out their community, men are spending less time in
cities and more time with their families. Couples
are improving household gender relations by making
joint decisions and working together.
Watch for more FRB stories in upcoming newsletters. Thank you for your support of this ministry.
Contributions are needed to offset our participating
farmer inputs. You can make a difference through
your gifts to FRB. Call Marlin Hershey (313-9395045) or Brad Ohrt ((319-345-2640) with questions
or additional information.”
SIGN UP SHEETS are posted in the entryway.
Volunteers are needed for
1. Readers during worship services;
2. Furnishing and serving treats following worship;
3. Baking communion bread;
4. Controlling sound system during worship.
Please note—when signing up to bake communion
please notice that not all months need to have bread
right on the first of the month. One batch makes
enough for approximately 6 weeks so it lasts longer than a month. Please look at all sheets and sign
where you are able to serve your church in any of
these ways.
THANKS IN ADVANCE!
The WEB SITE for LCMC – Lutheran
Congregations in Mission for Christ, is www.lcmc.
net
If you have an announcement, message, quote,
picture, or prayer, that you would like to share in the
newsletter, contact Kay Degener, (319-988-3394) by the
25th of the previous month.
Minutes of council meetings which will be included
in the newsletters will be from 2 months earlier as they
have to be approved at the next monthly meeting before
they can be published.
The Secret of contentment is the realization
that life is a gift not a right.
But Godliness with contentment is a great gain.
For we brought nothing into this world and it is
certain we can carry nothing out.
1st Timothy 6:6,7
Contentment is not getting what we want but
being satisfied with what we have.
Not that I speak in respect of want; for I have learned
in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
Philippians 4:11
No man eve really finds out what he believes
in until he begins to instruct is children.
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children
to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord.
Ephesians 6:4
DATE
1
8
15
18
22
26
USHERS
Ed & Gayle Juhl
Ed & Gayle Juhl
Bill & Lori Gutknecht
Bill & Lori Gutknecht (Ash Wed)
Bill & Lori Gutknecht
Bill & Lori Gutknecht (Lent)
COMMUNION SERVERS
1
8
15
18
22
Andy & Holly Appleton
Andy & Holly Appleton
Harris & Carol Jorgensen
Harris & Carol Jorgensen (Ash Wed) Harris & Carol Jorgensen
ACOLYTE
Brianna Lenton
Austin Appleton
Zoe Lenton
Kristina Kajtezovic
Zach Young
READER
Janine Knapp
Lyle Wulf
Kay Degener
COMM. CLEAN UP COMMITTEE
Carol Weaver & Martha Watson
Carol Weaver & Martha Watson
Evelyn Andorf & Holly Appleton
Evelyn Andorf & Holly Appleton
Evelyn Andorf & Holly Appleton
SHOVEL SIDEWALK SNOW
1 – 15: Andy Appleton & Dan Miller
16 - 29: Chris McCulley & Bruce Bascom
BIRTHDAYS
1 Sherrie Decker
5 Marj Simpson
9 Martha Watson
9 Zander Young
10 Ben Sorensen
14 Chris Brandhorst
17 Thelma Gutknecht
23 Ben Volding
26 Marvin Miller
26 John Neil
27 Jodi Sorensen
ANNIVERSARIES
20 Fred & Bev Wulf
PASTOR MARK’S OFFICE HOURS – Pastor is usually available Monday –
Thursday, however please call his cell phone, 515-538-2200 beforehand to make sure he
is not out doing another visit or attending a meeting.

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