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July 25, 2007
THE BUZZ AT ZION
Walt & Ople Jorgensen
Phone calls have been flooding the office with anticipation for Walt and Ople. Walt’s surgery went well but he is weak and unable to walk, therefore, they are not able to return home at this time. As of now we have no further updates. If you would like to send them a card or offer an uplifting phone call there information is as follows.
Walt & Ople Jorgensen
c/o Dean Duncan
6301 Fieldstream Drive
Avon, IN 46123
(317) 839-8455
Summer Sermon Series
From the Book of James
Practical Messages for Christian Living
What are the problems, issues, or trials facing you? Join us during Morning Worship this summer as we discover together how to face and respond to the testing’s and challenges of life.
Birth Right Potato Booth
Each year Zion helps support the Birth Right booth at the Fair. This year Zion has volunteered to work the booth on Friday, August 3rd from 10am -10 pm. Shifts will be in four hour increments with two volunteers per shift. A list of times that need filled are below:
10am-2pm- 2 volunteers
2pm-6pm - 2 volunteers
6pm-10pm - 2 volunteers
If you are able to help please see Jennifer to sign-up.
The Rock Youth Service
The Rock Youth Group has had an extremely busy summer! Now that things are coming to a close and we are already making preparations for another school year, we would like to take the time to show ALL of you what we’ve been up to. We have set aside the morning worship service on Sunday, August 5th for our annual youth-led service. Jeremiah Heiser will be preaching and members of the youth group will lead the rest of the service. Please make plans to attend and support the awesome youth of our church!
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
We will receive into membership this
Sunday:
Steve and Susan Kiracofe
Jerry and Mary Ellen Girard
We are pleased to welcome these new members into our Church family.
NEW MEMBERSHIP/FRIENDSHIP CLASS
Begins Sunday, September 16 at 9:15 a.m. in the Chapel
Want to join our church or just find out about our Church’s beliefs, history, ministries and meet our leaders? The class will meet for five Sunday mornings from September 16 through October 14. If interested in coming, please speak to Pastor Ralph Partelow or Dan Scheuerman (leaders of the class)
COMING SOON
SPAGHETTI DINNER
SUNDAY, AUGUST 12 @ 5:30pm in
the Fellowship Hall
All proceeds will go to LeRoy & Judy Fabricius
Entertainment including a pie action.
Tickets are available for a
suggested donation price of:
$10.00 for Adults
$7.00 children 7-12
THINGS TO MAKE YOU SMILE
Palm Sunday
It was Palm Sunday and, because of a sore throat, five-year-old Johnny stayed home from church with a sitter. When the family returned home, they were carrying several palm branches. The boy asked what they were for. “People held them over Jesus’ head as he walked by.” “Wouldn’t you know it,” the boy fumed, “the one Sunday I don’t go, He shows up!"
Children’s Sermon
One Easter Sunday morning as the minister was preaching the Children’s Sermon, he reached into his bag of props and pulled out an egg. He pointed at the egg and asked the children, “What’s in here?” “I know a little boy exclaimed. “Pantyhose!!”
First Time Ushers
A little boy in church for the first time watched as the ushers passed around the offering plates. When they came near his pew, the boy said loudly, “don’t pay for me daddy. I’m under five.”
Prayers
The Sunday school teacher asked, “Johnny, tell me, do you say prayers before eating?” “No sir,” he replied, “we don’t have to, my mom’s a good cook!”
RALLY DAY, SEPTMEBER 9TH
A CELEBRATION OF CREATION
Sunday School at 9:15 a.m.
See “Indescribable” and be
amazed beyond words
Morning Worship at 10:45 a.m.
Message: GOD CREATED
A creation gift for everyone present
Picnic in Sander’s Park at 12:00 Noon
Celebrate with friends,
food, and fellowship
LIBRARY NEWS
The reality of God’s goodness is often difficult to see as we walk through trials. There are many biographies in our church library where real people see the goodness of goad as He carries them through incredible circumstances.
Read of Howard Rutledge, a P.O.W. in the infamous Hanoi Hilton from 1965-1973. He tells his story in In the Presence of Mine Enemies.
Corrie TenBoom, in The Hiding Place, tells an inspiring story of God’s goodness while she was a prisoner in a concentration camp during WWII.
Experience the truth of God’s goodness with these and other extraordinary books from your church library.
Posted by Jennifer Herrmann at 03:46 PM | Comments (0)
In Pastor's Words
The Practice of a Living Faith
It feels good to take an exam and do well. I’m not sure how many exams I have taken in my life, when you add up driver’s tests in six states and two foreign countries, grammar and high school exams, college exams, seminary exams, acceptance exams for the Evangelical Free Church (with whom I’ve been ordained) and the Africa Inland Mission (with whom Carolyn and I served six terms in Africa), oral exams, written exams, class room exams, correspondence exams, aptitude tests, language proficiency exams for Swahili and Kikamba, and ministry placement exams. There may be others I have forgotten. No matter what the subject or the manner in which the exam is given, preparation is paramount to passing. Remember how it felt on the night before a major exam in high school or college, wondering, “am I ready,” “do I know the material,” “will I sleep tonight?” Remember what you did to prepare? Stay up all night? Lock yourself in a room with “do not disturb” on the bedroom doorknob? Compare notes with friends? Drink lots of coffee for the long night? For Hebrew class at Denver Seminary at 7:00 a.m., we had a mini test three times a week and I can remember driving the five miles from our house in early morning traffic up to the seminary studying Hebrew vocabulary cards on the steering wheel. For other exams I remember isolating myself from everyone and everything for hours studying, forgetting about meals and concentrating on nothing but the subject at hand. It was important to pass!
It’s important to pass God’s tests, too. Facing a trial? It takes faith! Facing a challenge in your life? It takes faith! Facing an important decision? It takes faith! Facing a responsibility you think is too big? It takes faith! How do I prepare for God’s tests in my life? Just as passing tests in school opens the door for advancement, passing God’s tests brings the benefits of strengthened faith, a deeper relationship with God and opportunities for service you could not have before imagined. James says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” The tests of our faith are meant to strengthen our character, deepen our faith and enhance our relationship with God. But how do I pass these tests of faith?
Tests of faith are passed by preparing for them just like any other test. What do I need to do to pass these tests of faith? 1) Study God’s Word through reading, memorizing and listening. This means it’s important to get to church regularly and faithfully as well as to read the Bible at home. “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11), 2) Stay focused on Christ. Keep your eyes upon Him for guidance, example and help. “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1), 3) Shun evil, even the appearance of evil, that it may not hinder your walk with God. “Resist him (the devil), standing firm in your faith . . “, 4) Serve the Lord with gladness in that spot that just fits you. “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men” (Ephesians 6:7), and 5) Seek God in prayer. “in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6).
Please join us this Sunday as we continue in the Book of James to consider “Faith that Does Work!”
Pastor Ralph Partelow
Posted by Jennifer Herrmann at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)
July 13, 2007
Enjoy One Another
One of the things I love most to see in the Church is people enjoying each other. Whether it’s during a game of softball by competing groups in the church, or at a gathering of friends around the dinner table, or in the coffee hour after the morning worship service, or at a church picnic, seeing people genuinely enjoy one another is a blessing that brings gladness and encouragement to our hearts. As the writer of Proverbs declared in 17:22, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” The joy that will come from knowing and appreciating each other in the Body of Christ protects us from the despair of loneliness and the destructiveness of disunity. One day a friend and I were talking about our respective churches. I asked, “what is your church like? Do people get along and enjoy one another?” The answer was shocking. He explained that in his church deacons don’t get along with trustees; trustees don’t get along with elders, Sunday School teachers don’t get along with each other or their students, the choir doesn’t get along with the organist and the pastor doesn’t get along with anyone!” One can hardly imagine a situation worse than that. It brings to mind the little rhyme, “To live above with the saints we love, oh that will be glory. But to live below with the saints we know, well, that’s another story.” While there is no specific Bible verse that explicitly tells us to enjoy one another, there are plenty of passages that implicitly encourage us to do that.
It is possible to live below with the saints we know in a way that demonstrates appreciation and enjoyment of each other. The Bible gives us several pointers as to how to enjoy one another in the Body. First, BE SPIRITUALLY MINDED yourself. Spiritual life begins with our faith in Jesus Christ at which time the Holy Spirit makes us spiritually alive to the Word and will of God and gives us the inner craving for Christian fellowship with others in the local body. It is important to note that our vertical relationship with God through Christ is a prerequisite to our horizontal relationship with other Christians. I John 1:7 reminds us, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another . . .” Second, BE THANKFUL FOR ONE ANOTHER. To be devoid of jealousy or envy over another’s abilities, talents and gifts, and to genuinely appreciate them in their God-given uniqueness, is to bask in the blessing of enjoying one another. Paul wrote to the Philippians, “I thank my God every time I remember you . . . I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now” (Phil. 1:4,5). After a lengthy discussion about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul concludes, “there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.” Inside of that concern is an appreciation by each of us for others in the way God has gifted us to serve. Third, BE KIND TO ONE ANOTHER. Both Paul and Peter stressed this basic component of our Christian interaction with one other. Paul expressed, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Peter reasoned, “make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness.” Acts of kindness elevate our relationship with other people and contribute to authentic enjoyment of others. Fourth, BE AFFECTIONATE TO ONE ANOTHER. Peter admonishes, “have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22). The kind of love Peter stresses here surpasses mere enjoyment of others to excel in doing everything possible to contribute toward their spiritual and physical welfare.
If you’re not already doing so, why not experience the blessing of enjoying others in our wonderful Zion family through small groups, corporate worship, church activities or through extending hospitality in your own home?
Pastor Ralph Partelow
Posted by Jennifer Herrmann at 10:58 AM | Comments (0)
THE BUZZ AT ZION
Summer Sermon Series
From the Book of James
Practical Messages forChristian Living
What are the problems, issues, or trials facing you? Join us during Morning Worship this summer as we discover together how to face and respond to the testing’s and challenges of life.
FOOD BANK
Thank you for your continued support of our local Food Bank. Summertime means kids at home and more food is needed! When grocery shopping, remember the local Food Bank. Please continue to drop off your items in containers provided at the grocery store or you can drop items in the box in the Narthex and I will collect them. Whatever you can bring will be much help. ~ Helen Schoeler
The Rock Youth Group has had an extremely busy summer! Now that things are coming to a close and we are already making preparations for another school year, we would like to take the time to show ALL of you what we’ve been up to. We have set aside the morning worship service on Sunday, August 5th for our annual youth-led service. Jeremiah Heiser will be preaching and members of the youth group will lead the rest of the service. Please make plans to attend and support the awesome youth of our church!
RALLY DAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH
This year our theme for Rally Day will be “A Celebration of Creation”. During the Sunday School hour, beginning at 9:15 am, we will watch the video, Indescribable, by Louie
Giglio. This is an amazing video that you will not want to miss!
Continuing with the theme we will have a special service of worship and celebration starting at 10:30am.
The celebration will continue at Sander’s Park for our annual Rally Day Picnic! So mark you calendar’s this is a day you will not want to miss.
THANKS FROM A GRAD…
Thank you so much for the devotional book. It is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your love and prayers. Thank you for everything! You’ve all been great mentors.
Love, Lissy Miller
TAKING HIS WORD TO THE
END OF THE EARTH…Zion Church Body~
Thank you for your prayers and financial support to be a part of the Navajo mission trip! My life is forever changed because of this opportunity to minister and love the Navajo people. Thank you for allowing myself to go and fulfill the Great Commission.
Gloria Sala
ITEMS STILL NOT FOUND!
Due to the many events here at the church we have accumulated lots of dishes on the table in the Fellowship Hall. If you by any chance are missing a dish or two, please swing by to reclaim it. Thanks so much!
PICK UP A GOOD READ
If, after Sunday’s
sermon, you are encouraged but
continue to have questions about your trials, the church library is the place to look!
We’ve got:
With God All Things are Possible
How to Handle Adversity By: Charles Stanley
How to Manage Pressure Before
Pressure Manages You
By: Tim LaHaye
Finding God in the Dark: Rays of
Hope for Life’s Difficult Days
By: David Wells
Come, read, and strengthen your faith!
CAMP GETAWAY
Need a break from the heat? How about a break from your busy summer? Want to
reconnect with your family?
Camp Bethal is offering a Family Camp from September 1st—3rd. The cost for this amazing weekend is a LOVE OFFERING! The speaker will be Kenny White of Casper CMA church. This will be a neat time to reestablish old friendships or to meet new friends.
Come and join in for some excellent Bible teaching, fun and fellowship! Staff will be available to watch the children during Chapel times.
There are numerous activities available including volleyball, canoeing, hikes, trap shooting and archery. Paintball is also available for $10 per person per match.
If you would like a registration from please see Jennifer in the church office.
Posted by Jennifer Herrmann at 10:54 AM | Comments (0)