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Church Email News – January 21, 2022

ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH NEWS

Friday, January 21, 2022

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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

What make baptismal water better than regular water? What makes Communion bread and wine so special? Answer: Jesus’ Words! If Jesus attaches His word and promises to something, then that something gives us whatever Jesus says. Water that washes away sins. Body and Blood of the Lamb of God that will raise us from the dead. If Jesus says it, then it’s so, because His Word is the Word of the Son of God! The centurion knows this. He doesn’t even need Jesus to come to his house in person to heal his servant. He knows that if Jesus just says the word, it will be so. That’s faith! Faith trusts that when Jesus speaks, His Word is true and does what it says. In this Epiphany season, when Jesus is showing us who He is, we see that He is the Word Whose Word works! That’s for this week, the Third Sunday after Epiphany.

PERSONAL MEDICAL UPDATE
My surgery has been scheduled for Tuesday, February 8. The surgeon has ordered one more detailed scan to make sure the cancer has not spread beyond the prostate. This is a fairly new and more sensitive scan than either the bone scan or CT scan. Cutting edge technology! Lord willing, the surgery will still be the plan and that will happen on the 8th. I will be out from 10 days to two weeks, likely necessitating being out at least one Sunday, probably two. In the meantime, there’s a whole bunch of Pre-Op stuff I have to do as well. I appreciate your prayers and your patience as my schedule is a bit wonky with all this medical stuff. If you know of anyone who needs pastoral care, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I will do my best to make sure I can be available at least until I’m in my recovery for a couple of weeks.

NATIONAL LUTHERAN SCHOOLS WEEK
This coming week is National Lutheran Schools Week. We are grateful to be counted one of the 1,800 Lutheran preschools, elementary, and high schools in our Synod that carry out the mission of proclaiming Christ’s love and forgiveness each day to students of all ages. At Zion this week we’ll be celebrating with Theme Days like Hat Day and Cray Hair Day (among others), to change things up and have a little fun as we celebrate being a part of a wonderful network of Lutheran schools. You can read more about our Lutheran Schools in the bulletin insert this week. Thank you for your prayers and support of our school!
2021 OFFERING STATEMENTS
If you would like a paper copy of your 2021 Offering Statement, please let the Office know. These will be printed up and you can pick them up at church or we will mail it if needed.

PRAYERS FOR PETER POLLACK
Please pray that Peter continues to improve enough to be accepted by the transplant team. You can continue to send cards and letters of encouragement to him and Robin here:
Lutheran General Hospital MICU
Attn: Peter Pollack, Room 12
1775 Dempster Street
Park Ridge, IL 60068

 

MASKS IN WORSHIP
We are currently wearing our masks during worship. At this time there is no restriction on capacity or seating arrangements. Please consider the well-being of your neighbor most especially by staying home if you have any symptoms of illness. As always, you can get in touch with me to request a visit if you can’t be in church. Thank you for your patience and understanding and love of neighbor in all of this!

 

LIVE STREAM INFORMATION
You can watch live and find recorded services at the links below:
We stream live on our FACEBOOK PAGE HERE.
Our videos are also live and recorded on YOUTUBE HERE.

 

“Just say the Word, Lord.” Do we believe like that? Just say the Word, Lord, and our sins are forgiven. We know God loves us. We have eternal life. Jesus’ Word is powerful. It does what He says. It can’t be overruled and can’t not work. The Words and Promises that Jesus gives are solid and can’t be broken. The centurion believed this. Naaman the Syrian didn’t believe it. But he did after his leprosy was cleansed! Even in our doubt and unbelief, God’s Word stays powerful. After all, it doesn’t depend on us believing it. It works because it’s God’s Word. So powerful, in fact, that it can turn us from doubt to trust, from unbelief to faith, from death to live. See you in the Divine Service!

In Christ,
Pastor Buetow

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