F ebruary Messenger. P astor s EP istle

Transcription

1 F ebruary Messenger P astor s EP istle Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1-2 We often trap ourselves into thinking that God wants us to be loving, gracious, generous, and all those other good things because God wants us to behave ourselves and get along with each other. That would, in fact, by a wonderful by-product, but it isn t the goal. God s desire is not for us to be merely servants, doing as we are commanded. He wants to see ourselves as His children. Just as any good father would want to instill his values and his character into his children, so too, our heavenly Father wants for us to follow in His footsteps and be like Him. In other words, to be like Him, or as Paul says, to reflect His image. God wants us to be loving, gracious, generous, and all those other good things because He is all those things. The Holy Spirit equips us to do just that. Think of the fruit of the Spirit Paul talks about in the fifth chapter of his letter to the churches of Galatia (verses 22-23). But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Often, we approach these nine items as a to do list, checking them off, one after the other. Was I patient in the HEB line today? Check. Did I not hold my tongue when they took my parking spot when I clearly had my blinker on? Check. Was I kind to the cashier? Oops. Better work on that one. But it s more than that. These aren t a one-a-day type of fruit. These are aspects of God s character that He wants us to integrate into our being. God is relentless in pursuit of His image being found in us. And He won t diverge from that goal and neither should we. God wants us to love because He is love. He wants us to be joyful because He is pure joy. He wants us to be patient as he is so incredibly patient with us. He wants us to forgive because He has forgiven. He wants us to give because He has given. The list could go on and on. And, in fact, it should. Sure, we fail; to be sure, we will fall short. But that doesn t mean we stop trying. We get up every day, putting on Christ. Over and over again. Put on the mind of Christ. It ll sink in little by little until it becomes second nature.

2 Children s Ministry & ZYG P arent s Night Out February 15th 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Pre-register by calling the c h u r c h o ff i c e a t or Meredith Cockrell at If y o u w o u l d l i k e t o v o l u n t e e r to help with this event please contact Meredith Sunday School will continue with the Armor of God series through February. Please join us on February 24th as we present our Full Armor of God to the congregation along with a special poem and song. ZYG meets every Sunday after church and again from 12:00 to 1:45 ConFirMation Class Meets every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Soup-er Bowl Sunday On Sunday, February 3rd ZYG will be selling soup after worship to raise money for the 2021 ELCA Youth Gathering. If you would like to bring a soup please see John Zamudio. Vacation Bible School planning has begun! If you would like to volunteer to help please contact Meredith at IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP WITH THE CHILDREN S MINISTRY EVENTS OR SUNDAY SCHOOL PLEASE SEE

3 Happening in February February 01 February 04 February 04 February 04 February 11 February 11 February 14 February 15 February 15 February 15 February 16 February 18 February 18 February 19 February 20 February 20 February 22 February 24 February 25 February 26 February 28 February 28 B irthdays Hannah Lenamon Erik Hensel Delmer Neuman Loren Perry Sharon Wendt Billy Zacharias Joyce Wiethorn Kaycee Edwards Wanda Owen Conner Zacharias Dwayne Spohn Marilyn Goebel Audrey Lillard Sheila Hoehn Ray Dietzman Christopher Knox Emily Velin Kevin Lillard Viola Lammert Ray Schraeder Chase Lillard Zachary Harper Newsletter Deadline: February 17th The 2019 Church Council will be installed on Sunday, February 10th during Worship Rebekah Circle meets February 18th at 7:00 p.m. Council meets Sunday, February 10th Esther Circle m e e t s February 11th & 25th at 1:00 p.m. February Noisy Offering to benefit Meals On Wheels O u t r e a c h M e e t i n g : February 21st at 5:30 p.m. Q uilting F EBruary 19th at 2 P m Z i o n L u t h e r a n M c G r e G o r F e b r a u r y M e s s e n G e r :

4 Finance Our Tithes & Offerings December 30th: $3,566 January 6th: $5,423 January 13th: $3, January 20th: $3,554 Noisy Offering: $ Giving Goal: $5,540 as of December 31, 2018 income: $244, expenses: $234, ($10,659.18) Our deepest Sympathies to: to Anna Mae rogers and family upon the death of Martha to Lou Engelbrecht and family upon the death of Mildred to the Frase Family upon the death of Christine Al and Pastor Chris upon the death of their brother-in-law Tom Ewell Adult Bible Study Join us for great Bible study in the adult class following church. Larry Adams is doing a super job presenting the lesson, sprinkled with his subtle humor and interesting facts. We ve studied numerous Adam Hamilton books and watch an accompanying DVD to supplement the book. The material is fantastic (as evidenced by our attendance). Won t you join us?

5 Odds & Ends Individual hearing devices for worship services are now available. Please see Pastor Chris if interested. DOMINO PLAYERS MEET AT 6:00 PM NANCY ADAMS WI LL BE TEACHING A PAINTING CLASS SOON! THE PIECE IS TITLED CROSS, MY PATH IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE PLEASE SEE NANCY ADAMS. C ONGRATULATIONS TO JONATHAN OLIVER ON HIS APPOINTMENT AS SENIOR ASSISTANT ATHLETIC DIRECTOR AT WEST POINT D i r e c t o r i e s a r e a v a i l a b l e i n t h e Narthex TO LARRY OLIVER ON HIS APPOINTMENT AS PARTNER/MANAGING DIRECTOR AT THE OLD STAGE IN DALLAS TO JOHN THANE UPON HIS RECENT RETIREMENT FROM THE UNITED STATES ARMY The Lenten season will soon be upon us. If you would like to prepare a soup or dessert for a Wednesday night service please contact the office.

6 i n our t houg hts & Prayers 2019 NT-NL PRAYER PARTNERS Pray daily for Christ s redeeming love and grace to be at the heart of our witness and for each of our Congregations, Conferences, and all the ways we are In Mission Together. F E B R U A R Y Pray for The Evangelical Church in Sierra Leone (ELCSL) 3rd Community of Hope, Ft. Worth; Trinity, Pottsville; Texas Impact, Austin 6th Trinity, Fort Worth; Adviento, Arlington; OUTLAST Youth 17th Grace, Carrollton; Santa Maria, Irving; NT-NL Mosaic Agencies 24th Trinity, Lockney; First United, Dallas; Women of the ELCA Zion Family: John Albright, Charles Hoehn, Garron Johnson, Charles Lehrmann, Pat Lindstrand (Barbara Rechtzigel), Mary Ellen Neuman, Milton & Yvonne Schmalriede, Rose Simonian, Dwayne & Sarah Spohn, Dewey Watson (Henager s brother-in-law), Jimmy Westerfeld, our elevator project, Zion Youth, Church growth, natural disasters, the homeless, human trafficking victims, students. Convalescent Residents: Raymond Abel, Norma Lee Ashby, Lou Engelbrecht, Vi Lammert, Vivian Lange, Rena Luedeker, Marion Stewart, Carol Wiethorn, Helen Wiethorn College Students: Noah Adcock, Alli Ainsworth, Cody Cantrell, Katie Farrow, Brian Gould, Dillon Hensel, Ashley Johnson, Stephen Lechler, Hope Lenamon, Paige Lillard, Brody Schmalriede, Camryn Thane, Jakob & Sarah Wolf, Caitlin & Conner Zacharias Military: Tyler Arp, Chris Garcia, Michael/Rachel Mooney, Drew Zacharias

7 J anuary W orship Volunteers E A C H ONE SHOULD USE WHATEVER GIFT HE HAS REC EIVED TO SERVE OTHERS, FAITHFU LLY ADM INISTERING G OD S GRAC E IN ITS VARIOUS FORM S. Altar Guild: Linda Lella, Regenia Arseneaux Bread Baker: Angie Adcock, Casie Velin Sacristy: Debi Smith, Stan Spitzer Noisy Offering Counter: Dovie Luedeker Ushers: Marvin & Dovie Luedeker, Gary Hannemann 3rd Lay Reader: Nancy McClaren (1st: Jeremiah 1:4-10 ; 2nd 1 Corinthians13:1-13) Nursery: Angie Adcock IT/Sound: Joe & Elyssia Gallagher 17th Lay Reader: Lorna Hildebrandt (1st: Jeremiah 17:5-10 ; 2nd 1 Corinthians 15:12-20) Nursery: Al Farrow IT/Sound: Angie Adcock, Patrick Pollei 10th Lay Reader: Dovie Luedeker (1st: Isaiah 6:1-13 ; 2nd 1 Corinthians 15:1-11) Nursery: Teresa Sneed IT/Sound: Mack Grady, Curtis Wiethorn 24th Lay Reader: Sharon Wendt (1st: Genesis 45:3-11,15 ; 2nd 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50) Nursery: Laura, Thompson, Stephanie Hannemann IT/Sound: Kaycee Edwards Westview Team: Diane Fehler & linda lella

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9 PO Box 156 McGregor, TX church council MeMbers: Curtis Wiethorn, President Gary Hannemann, President Elect Stan Spitzer, Treasurer Nancy Adams, Secretary Angie Adcock Diane Grady Bill Hildebrandt church staff: Christine Farrow, Pastor Meredith Cockrell, Church Secretary Wade Gidley, Organist Andy & Carmen Salinas, Custodians John Zamudio, Contemporary Worship Leader and Director of Youth Messenger Call: CliCk: zionlcmcg.com ComE By: Monday - Thursday 8:30am-3pm ContaCt us: zionlcmcg@sbcglobal.net