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Church Email News, May 8, 2020

ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH

Friday, May 8, 2020

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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

What is truth? That’s what Pontius Pilate asked Jesus. I think we’ve asked that question more than once as we read and hear stories about the virus, the government, the economy, and what is going on in the world? What is truth? What is real? What is correct? What is right? What is false? Jesus tells His disciples that when He goes away He will send the Holy Spirit who will lead them into all truth. Since Jesus Himself is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, that means the Spirit is going to lead us to Jesus. You know what’s never fake news? That Jesus died for you and rose again. That’s Good News! That He forgives you all your sins and will raise you up on the Last Day and give you everlasting life. With all the fake news and falsehoods that surround us, the Spirit has got you covered: He brings the Good News, the Truth of Jesus. Unchains truth. True truth. Jesus is the truth. No lying! He loves and saves you.

Movie Pack Fundraiser for Zion!
Check out this easy way to raise money for our school and have a great movie night! Order by SUNDAY. Our pickup is TUESDAY so order today!

Honoring Our Graduates
We’re going to take time in the service Next Sunday, May 19 to honor our High School and College Graduates. It’s been difficult for them since they don’t get a chance to enjoy the traditional ceremonies and events. Please send us a Senior Picture or Portrait, your student’s full name, and the name of the high school or college they’re graduating from. We’ll feature them during our streamed service next week with a special prayer and blessing for them. Please have the photo and info email to the church office (or send to pastor) by WEDNESDAY, MAY 13.

Family in Need of a Car
Once again we have a (different) family in need of a reliable and inexpensive vehicle. If you know of such a vehicle or someone that has one, please let Pastor or Brandy know. We had a similar request a few weeks ago and a Zion member responded with a great deal that worked out for the person in need. Thank you!

Color A Stained Glass Window
Our church stained glass windows are turning into coloring sheets! Download the latest window HERE.

When can we worship in church again?
The Governor of Illinois has slightly modified the Executive Order that we’re living under. There is talk about possible services where people are socially distanced but the numbers are no more than ten people. Here’s my pastoral take on this:

(1) If anyone were to transmit the virus to me, then I would be the central point at which the virus is transmitted to many others. Ten is not a magic number. If someone is sick, they could pass it along and meeting in multiple groups of ten would just be a way to pass the virus to multiple people a few at a time.

(2) The best advice we are being given is still to stay at home unless we need to go out for something like food or medicine. I don’t want to encourage people to leave their homes, even if we say it’s for church because I don’t want to encourage people to be leaving their homes!

(3) I know that we are eager to worship together. However, I don’t want to try to worship in a way that encourages some to be here while others cannot. Our regular way of living is that we gather as many as we can in worship and we tend to our shut-in and homebound members and those in nursing homes on a regular basis. Until we can do that again, it seems the loving thing to do is to bear this burden together.

The current Order goes through May 30. For now we’ll continue to stream and record our services each week, to have devotions each morning, and to study the Lord’s Word together using tools like Zoom. We’ll continue to check on one another, pray for one another, talk to and encourage one another. We’ll continue to send our offerings in for the sake of our staff and the work we can do. Together we will bear this burden patiently until the Lord sees fit to remove it and restore to us the joy of gathering together as His people. If the time comes when larger groups are going to be OK, we’ll revisit how we might hold services. Until then we’ll with patiently and trust in the Lord.

Here’s the rest of the information we’ve been running each week:

Streaming and Recorded Video

We stream live on our FACEBOOK PAGE HERE.

Our videos are also live and recorded on YOUTUBE HERE.

The simplest way to watch online (not live) is probably through our church’s website HERE.

Make sure to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to our Facebook and YouTube Pages so you get updates when we go live and or add videos.

Weekly Worship Services:
Sunday, 9am – Facebook and YouTube
Wednesday, 7pm – Facebook and YouTube

Remember that all services are recorded and will be available to watch any time after they are live on our YouTube Channel or via the church’s website.

Daily Devotions
Pastor is live on Facebook every day, Monday through Friday for Daily Devotions. Tune in to start your day with the Word of God and prayer. Beginning next Saturday, Pastor will let you practice devotions on your own on Saturdays. If you’ve been following along, you know how to pray!

Bible Studies!
We are back to our regular weekly Bible Study schedule. We’re using the Zoom service where we can meet together online.

To join the meeting on your Computer (with camera and microphone) or Phone, click the link HERE.

If prompted use the following information:
Meeting ID: 815 385 0859
Password: ZionLions

If you’d like help getting this set up ahead of time, let Pastor know.

Bible Study Schedule:

Tuesday, 10:30 AM

Sunday, 8:00 AM

Learning the Faith, 10:15 AM

For Learning the Faith, children are encouraged to participate and watch along. We’ll keep the sessions shorter than in person.

Prayers for Healthcare and other “Frontline” Workers
We’re including a list of family and friends who we know are working on the “front lines” of this pandemic. If you know of healthcare workers, first responders, grocery store cashiers, and others who are out there working during all of this, please let us know so that we can compile a list of their names to bring before the Lord in our prayers. You can EMAIL, CALL THE CHURCH OFFICE OR PASTOR, or TEXT PASTOR names you would like included. Please let us know their NAME and WHERE THEY WORK.

Offerings
We ask and encourage every family to consider their offerings that they would normally give to the church. Please MAIL YOUR CHECK or set up your bank account to make a DIRECT BILL PAY to the church. I know there is a ripple effect in our economy. Please consider God’s promise that He will indeed provide us our daily bread. Our offerings help provide for our brothers and sisters in Christ through pastoral ministry and for those in need.

Portals of Prayer
If you need Portals of Prayer (or any other resources), please let the Office know and we can mail you a copy.

Do You Need a Hymnal?
If you would like to order a hymnal so that you can follow along with our services and have a resource for your prayers and devotions at home, let Brandy in the Church Office know. The standard pew edition is $20. Every home should have a hymnal! If you would like to borrow one from church, you can do that too. Just call and you can stop by to pick one up.

Pastoral Care
I’ve been calling to check in on our members. My number is:

(618) 318-3680

It’s an unusual area code (Southern Illinois) which means you might think I’m a scam caller. So if you see that number pop up, it’s just me. Please ADD ME to your Contacts so you’ll know who’s calling.

In Christ,
Pastor Buetow

Download this week’s Bulletin, Daily Devotions, NewsNotes and Volunteer Schedules from our website here:

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