September The Great Unknown

Transcription

1 The Great Unknown Pastor Eric Zacharias Co. Rd. 153 Cologne, MN September 2017 Rev. Eric Zacharias Pastor Home: Mr. Chris Dehning Principal Office: Church/School Office Phone: Fax: Website: Mission Statement Zion Lutheran Church, Cologne, MN is a branch of Christ s family saved by grace alone, rooted in God s love, and growing in faith through worship, teaching, fellowship, and service as we reach out to others with the good news of Jesus. John Wesley Powell and his men had high hopes as they began their journey of the Colorado River. All they knew was that a vast canyon lay out there, as they began to chart the region on their map labeled "Unknown." Early on they experienced hardship, as one of their boats broke to pieces in the rapids. Rock climbing, Powell had to jump from his dead-end position to a fellow who held out his own pants for Powell to grab. All the more difficult for Powell who had lost an arm in the Civil War! They battled whirlpools and craggy falls and ran short on food and supplies. Three months and a thousand miles from their origin, they made it through the Grand Canyon. No men were lost except three, who preferred solid ground to the last stretch of monstrous rapids they saw before them. They were never seen again. At times life seems adventurous and thrilling. The future is a vast "Unknown" for us to chart and explore. Amid the peaceful times there are turbulent times. God calls us to weather all the storms, trusting that he is present and will see us through. The heavenly Father who loved us and gave his Son as our Savior also knows our needs and will always provide and lead us. We praise God for the beautiful summer we have experienced. We praise God for the work done at Zion, improvements in the gym with new lights, fresh paint, mural, and (soon) a new floor. Outside, a gym-sized basket-ball court offers children a place to play. Thank you, trustees and people of Zion, for working out the details that improve Zion. Our thanks to all who support our church and school with talent, treasure, and time. All our labors are a gift of God; we thank you all for your stewardship, given for God's work and glory! Blessings to you and yours, Pastor Eric Zacharias A reminder that our Sunday service begins at 9:30 AM starting at the beginning of September. This will be our start time through the end of May. See you there!

2 Ladies Aid/LWML MINUTES FROM ZION LADIES AID/LWML JULY 6, 2017 Zion Ladies aid/lwml met on July 6 with 12 members present. The meeting opened with a devotion given by Darlene Ulrich titled Praying the Psalms. We each read verses from Psalm 46. A discussion followed on counter cultures of this world. The meeting was called to order by President Juliene and we recited the LWML pledge. The minutes and financial reports were approved and accepted. It was noted that the quilts given to Trinity, Waconia were sent to an Indian mission in South Dakota. We received a thank you from Staving Children Mission. We also received correspondence from First Trinity, Mpls., American Bible Society, Dakota Boys Ranch and Southern Valley Alliance for Battered Women. Organization Notes The LWML Tour for 2017 was discussed. The bus will be leaving NYA at 9:30am to head to St. Cloud for David Church performance. The Tour Parade of Tables was discussed. A committee was selected to plan for it sometime in the spring. The LWML South District Retreat will be held July 28-29th at Mankato. Juliene Klaustermeier, Vivian Buetow and Darlene Ulrich will be attending. We sang birthday hymns for Bev Rolf and Bev Eggers. We also enjoyed listening to one of Roxanne Pieper s favorite song for her birthday and we all enjoyed a delicious dessert by Juliene. There is no meeting in August. Our next meeting will be Sept. 7th at 7:00pm with Roxanne Pieper serving as hostess. Respectfully submitted, Darlene Leistiko, Assistant Secretary The Mite donation for July will go to First Trinity, Mpls, The August donation will to the Clean Water Mission. Roxanne Pieper and Juliene Klaustermeier reported on the LWML Convention in Albuqerque, NM in June. The reported on the highlights of the convention, convention offerings and elections, the new logo for LWML, mission goals and the attendance of 3,471 people.

3 Tiger Tales Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia In 1517, Martin Luther created 95 Theses, or statements about religion, that showed two central beliefs: that the Bible is the central religious authority and that humans may reach salvation only by their faith and not by their deeds. This sparked what was known as the Protestant Reformation. Now that it is exactly 500 years later, I thought it would be a good idea to use that iconic event as our theme for this school year. Specifically, I wanted to focus on the three solas: sola scriptura, sola fide, and sola gratia. If your ancient Latin is a little rusty, I will translate. Sola scriptura, or scripture alone, asserts that all church traditions, creeds, and teachings must be in unity with the teachings of scripture as the divinely inspired Word of God. Sola fide, or faith alone, is the teaching that justification is received by faith alone, without any need for good works on the part of the individual. And sola gratia, or only grace, means that salvation is an unearned gift from God for Jesus' sake. These teachings of Martin Luther are still very applicable today. Seeing as Zion is a Lutheran school, these are the kind of things that are practiced during the school day. All of our religion classes are Scripture-based. The Bible is and always will be the focus of all our instruction at the school. Mr. Chris Dehning plant. A plant needs to be taken care of; it needs to be nurtured in order to grow. The same is true about our faith it needs to be taken care of and encouraged in order to grow. Zion s school year theme a few years ago was Here We Grow, which specifically talked about growing in our faith. Grace is not just the name of one of my 7th graders this upcoming school year, it also means that we receive an undeserved love from God. At no point in our lives, whether we are doing nice things for others, or going to a Christian school, or even if we become a pastor, do we deserve God s love. There is nothing we can do to earn God s favor and affection. Grace is the term for God wanting to gift us with his love, only because of Jesus and the work He did for us. Scripture alone, faith alone, and grace alone are the theme for the school year at Zion. In a way, these have always been the focus of the school, but we are going to highlight them this year in order to remember the work Martin Luther did exactly 500 years ago. Faith is the most important aspect in everyone s life, so that is why it is emphasized at Zion. Faith can be better understood using the metaphor of a

4 Zion Past and Present PAST 7/24-27 VBS Mighty Fortress 8/23 Parent s Night/Open House PRESENT 9/5 1 st of School (K-8) 9/6 Women s Bible Study 9/12 1 st Day of Preschool 10/1 LWML Sunday 10/2 LWML Fall Rally 10/9 Midterms Sent Home 10/16 Voters Meeting 10/17 School Pictures 10/19-20 No School EdMN Conferences 10/27 Trunk or Treat (6:30 8 PM) 11/3 End of 1 st Quarter 11/6 Soup & Pie Supper (4 8 PM) No School P/T Conferences 11/22-24 No School Thanksgiving Break 11/23 Thanksgiving Service (9:30) We wish to thank you, our Zion family, for your prayers and support upon the passing of our dear wife and mother. Your prayers, kind words, cards, generous memorials, and food donations are greatly appreciated. Special thanks to the ladies for serving the funeral lunch. We are blessed and our hearts are warmed by you thoughtfulness and generosity. Also, thank you to those who visited and send cards during her time at Auburn. She greatly appreciated it as do we. - The Family of Ruth Krueger Thank you to Ralph and JoAnn Herrmann, Ruth Harms, Betty Klaustermeier, and Karen Brockoff for volunteering their time at the food shelf this last month. We really appreciate all your hard work. Women s Bible Study will be starting on September 6th at 1 2 PM in the meeting room, led by Cindy Henschen. We will be studying 12 Women of the Bible. It includes a video and a study book, so bring along your Bible and a pen and let s discuss these women together for 1 hour each Wednesday throughout the fall. Water and cookies will be provided. Please call Cindy at if interested, or just come. Either way! Annual Softener Salt Fundraiser Zion s annual Softener Salt Fundraiser is underway. We offer 50 lb. blocks, Rust-Out Pellets, Yellow Pellets, and Solar Salt Crystal. If you are interested in purchasing some salt, please contact any student at Zion or you may contact the office. Zion s Looking for Food Donations! School is right around the corner and the lunch program is asking for food donations to help our students start the year on the right foot. Peanut Butter French Dressing Brownie Mix Jell-O Jelly BBQ Sauce Granular Sugar Fresh Veggies Chocolate Chips Margarine Marshmallows Miracle Whip Scalloped Potatoes Ranch Dressing Ketchup Cake Mix Pudding Brown Sugar Powdered Sugar Fresh Fruits Butter Butterscotch Chips Rice Krispies Elbow Noodles Graham Crackers

5 Finances Account Balances Salary Balance (1/1/17) -$60, YTD Income +$185, YTD Expense -$206, Balance (7/26/17) -$81, Missions Year to date total (6/11) $4, Budgeted $3, Non-Budgeted $1, Pledged $7, Goal $15, LHS Year to date total (6/11) $5, Commitment $22, Per communicant member $55.00 Building/Repair Fund Balance (8/22) $36, Suggested household contrib. $ Facility Improvement Updates: We have begun gym improvements, beginning with light replacement and painting. Beautiful murals are being painted in the walls (the Lord s Supper and the our church and school logos). New water fountains are being installed and a brand new sport court has been created out back! A new gym floor will be going in shortly as well. A huge THANK YOU to Dennis Otto for donating his resources to help haul dirt for the sport court. A special thank you to Doug Ralph and the City of Waconia for donating the dirt! We would also like to thank our wonderful trustees for getting all of this done to help our church and school. You guys have been busy busy this summer and we really appreciate all your hard work. New School Website: The new school website is up and running for anyone who would like to check it out. school.zion-cologne.org is the address. As always, if you see anything we ve missed, let us know! SEPTEMBER USHERS September 3 rd September 10 th September 17 th September 24 th Usher Schedule From the Office David Lenzen Jake Thompson Maia Klaustermeier Hannah Klaustermeier Alison Dose Lydia Brueggemeier Dylan Bingham Colin Bingham Office Hours are 8:00 AM Noon, M-F. Please have bulletin items to the office by noon on Thursdays and newsletter items to the office by the third Friday of the month. SVABW: In Need of Volunteers Southern Valley Alliance for Battered Women is offering volunteer training for crisis line advocates, weekly support group facilitators and child care volunteers. Training begins in late September, Gain valuable knowledge and build your professional skills while assisting others. For further information, call Martha at Boxtops, Milk Moolah & More Just a reminder that we are still collecting Boxtops for Education, Milk Moolah, Econo Foods Receipts, Our Family UPCs, Coborns points, and Country Hearth UPCs for our ongoing fundraisers. The collection box is outside the church office. We appreciate your donations.

6 BIRTHDAY LIST 2 Lila Rolf 3 Tori Stacken 4 Krianna Boelke Neal Kroells 6 Carol Henschen 7 Tyler Schulz Jeff Sons Luke Vinkemeier Madelyn Degler Lukas Degler 8 Megan Brueggemeier Stacy Dose Elizabeth Hoen 10 Zachary Bones 11 Erin Bierstedt Jason Hokkanen 12 Wally Buetow 13 Ronald Arndt Anna Brueggemeier Inez Buetow Ralph Buetow Christina Degler Robert Thuening 15 Jeff Brueggemeier Clayton Sauter 19 Rachel Boucher Mark Lenzen Ronald Olson Tanner Olson 21 MaryJo Sauter 23 Logan Lunow 24 Tim Huinker 25 Ashley Waller 26 Sheryl Gruenhagen 27 Colin Bingham Ella Molnau 28 James Rolf 29 Darlene Leistiko Arlys Panning Daniel Stuewe 30 Beverly Gennrich Brady Lunow Jeff Vinkemeier Membership Notes ANNIVERSARY LIST 9 Gary & Cathy Stahlke Michael & Jolene Bergs 10 Terry & Jill Bruesehoff 12 Tim & Kristin Huinker 16 Hilbern & Karen Brockoff Jeff & Christina Vinkemeier 17 Darrell & Barbara Knorr 21 Ralph & Carol Buetow Mark & Nissa Klaustermeier 22 Jeff & Stephanie Gardner 23 Jeff & Theresa Sons 26 Richard & Suzanne Martin 28 James & Pam Ische 29 Jacob & Cara Buetow James & Debra Rolf 30 James & Jean Ische Congratulations to: Thomas and Sarah (Miller) Perry on the birth of their son Thomas Jerrel Perry, Jr. Born on August 16 th Andrew and Emily (Rolf) Case on the birth of their son Hudson Kenneth Case Born on August 25 th Eric and Lisa (Wessling) Sauter on their marriage July 8 th, 2017 In Memory of: Ruth Krueger 2/14/31-7/26/17 Becky Boltmann 11/25/47 8/19/17 VISITATION LIST Belle Plaine Marjorie Wolter Chuck & Norma Woolery Chaska Florence Lindquist Joycelyn Rolf Cologne Gloria AmEnd Norwood Young America Erwin Schmidt Delores Ische Wallace Rolf Waconia Gertrude Honebrink Alvina Fick Lillian Ische Irene Rolf Darrel Knorr Remembering our Soldiers Eben Karnitz Air Force Eddie Karnitz

7 2017 SEPTEMBER ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH CALENDAR OF EVENTS SUNDAY FIRST DAY OF WEEK Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Service 9:30 AM LABOR DAY F IRST DAY OF SCHOOL ( K-8TH G RADE) Women's Bible Study 1-2 PM Service (C) 9:30 AM F IRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL Women's Bible Study 1-2 PM the Harbor 10:15 AM Evangelism Meeting 7:30 PM Service 9:30 AM Women's Bible Study 1-2 PM Service (C) 9:30 AM Women's Bible Study 1-2 PM

8 Zion Lutheran Church Co. Rd. 153 Cologne, MN Return Service Requested SCHOOL STARTS 9/5 8:00 AM Start Time 8:10 AM Opening Chapel (feel free to join us) SERVICE TIME CHANGE INSIDE The Great Unknown 1 Ladies Aid 2 Tiger Tales 3 Zion Past/Present 4 Finances 5 Usher Schedule 5 Membership Notes 6 Calendar 7 Sunday, September 9:30 AM (this will be the start time fall-spring)