WISCONSIN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SYNOD

WISCONSIN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SYNOD
Welcome to Zion Lutheran Church!
In Jesus’ name we welcome you to worship today. May God bless you through his Word of grace and
give you the peace and joy that come only from Jesus!
Welcome Guests! We pray the service will be a blessing for you. Please do us the honor of filling out the guest register located in the narthex. Should you desire any further information about
Zion, our Pastor will be happy to speak with you after the service. Additional notes about our
Church are printed on the back page of this bulletin.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
God of all power and might, you are the giver of all that is good. Help us love you with
all our heart, strengthen us in true faith, provide us with all we need, and keep us safe
in your care; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Church Phone—715-582-3680
Child Development Center Phone—715-582-2800
Zion Lutheran Church is a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
Pastor Luke Myslik
Email: [email protected]
Home Phone: 715-801-0051
Cell: 507-327-0902
Sunday Elder: Derek Monnette
Monday Elder: Jason Christenson
Sunday Head Usher:
Monday Head Usher: Karl Bergeson
Organists: Bonnie Behling and Ellen Fritz
Pentecost 7
July 11, 2015
FIRST LESSON
Ephesians 3:12-21
In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I
ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are
your glory. For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in
heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may
strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may
dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in
love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and
high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is
able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that
is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all
generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
PSALM OF THE DAY
Psalm 73 page 94
SECOND LESSON
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations,
there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three
times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all
the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is
why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions,
in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2
VERSE OF THE DAY
Alleluia. Happy are they who hear the Word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart,
and bring forth fruit with patience. Alleluia. (Luke 8:15)
GOSPEL
John 5:1-15
Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in
Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which
is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people
used to lie-- the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had
been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" "Sir,"
the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred.
While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." Then Jesus said to
him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up
his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews
said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry
your mat." But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat
and walk.'" So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and
walk?" The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away
into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him,
"See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." The
man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
SERMON
Will the Church Solve all My Problems?
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
This Week at Zion
July 12—July 20
Today
9:00am Worship
10:00am Fellowship
10:00am Church Council
No Bible Class
Monday
6:30pm Worship
7:30pm Endowment
Wednesday
No Bible Class
10:15am Rennes West
1:45 Rennes East
Sunday
9:00am Worship
With Communion
10:00am Fellowship
10:15am Voters Meeting
No Bible Class
Monday
6:30pm Worship with
Communion
Worship Attendance
Door Collection to be taken on August 16
We are in the process of having mailboxes made for church. These boxes will be placed in the
narthex and will be the place that you will receive all of your church mailings. The Church
Council took a look at the cost that is involved for regularly mailing out church newsletters and
other items and found that we can greatly reduce our cost of postage and save the church
money by building the mail boxes. While the mailboxes will have an initial cost, they will save
us money in the long run. Thanks to a couple memorials we have some of the cost covered.
We are looking to cover the rest of the cost outside of the church budget, so we are taking a
door collection after church on August 16. If you would like to give extra to this project, it
would be greatly appreciated.
3
Bulletins
Bulletins today are in loving memory of
Gust Bloch who passed on July 22, 1971
given by his family.
Weekend of July 5
115
Bible Study Attendance
Sunday Morning Bible Class
Wednesday Morning Bible Class
Our Gifts to Our Lord
14
No Class
$3443.67
We currently need $3900 per week to
meet budget.
4
Pastor Myslik Will Be Gone
Pastor Myslik will be attending the Synod
Convention in Saginaw, MI from July 27
through July 30. He will be leaving after
services on Sunday July 26 and traveling
to the convention. Following the convention he will be taking vacation and
will not return till August 8. There will be
a guest preacher at Zion for services on
August 2. If you have an emergency during this time, Pastor Myslik has made arrangements with Pastor Cole to cover
anything that might come up. So if you
have an emergency please call Pastor
Cole at (906) 863-3095.
Summer Series
The Church
July 12— Will the church solve all my
problems?
The Blessings of Worship
July 19—The Blessings of Worship: Confidence
Vacation Bible School
Summer Sermon Series
Thank you to all who donated their
time to teach the children the gospel during VBS this year. Thank
you also to those that donated
items we needed for our craft projects. It was a success and a lot of
fun.
The Blessings of Worship— We will
begin our second summer series on
July 19. The series that will cover
the second half of the summer and
will deal with the blessings that we
receive when we participate in worship. Please join us as we are reminded why we worship the way we
do.
July 26—The Blessings of Worship: Understanding
August 2—Guest Preacher
Come and hear about the tremendous
blessings that we receive from gathering
together in worship.
Marriage Defined By God
19 Minute
Bible Study
Join us following our worship services
this summer as we spend 19 minutes
studying the Word of God. If you are
new to Bible Study, give this a try.
We will spend just 19 short minutes
immersing ourselves in God’s Word
and strengthening our faith.
Thursday, July 16 at 6:00pm
Pullman House in Menominee
Please sign up in the Fellowship Hall or
call Marquita Limberg at 715-582-3304.
If you need a ride call Marquita.
5
By now it is well known that the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling that states samesex marriage is a right guaranteed by the Constitution and that the states cannot forbid it.
Whether this is now "the law of the land" that cannot be undone or whether there is any avenue for changing the decision is already being debated. Regardless, we find ourselves facing
some important questions: What is the role of the church when it comes to a matter of politics
and law? What is the responsibility of individual Christians whose beliefs clearly run counter to
a governmental law or policy? And what ramifications will there be for congregations, schools,
and individual believers?
First, our synod’s teaching regarding marriage has not and, God willing, will not change. We
will continue to preach and teach what God says about marriage. We will continue to emphasize that, while the nation may recognize the validity of same-sex marriage, we will uphold the
standard that the Creator of marriage has established. We will certainly not give the impression that the sin of homosexuality is in some way more serious or wicked than any other sin,
but at the same time we will in love continue to proclaim God’s law that condemns all sins and
6
calls all sinners to repentance.
Congregations and their pastors may find themselves being asked to facilitate same-sex weddings. Of course we will not do that. We believe that it would be wise for congregations to
adopt a policy that confesses our beliefs regarding marriage and states that, because of those
beliefs, our pastors will not perform nor will our church sanctuaries be used for same-sex weddings. A sample of such a statement that can be adopted by congregations is available on
our synod’s website. Such a statement cannot prevent lawsuits, but it may be helpful in defending a congregation’s practice if a lawsuit is filed. Some have asked whether the day will
come when our pastors no longer serve as agents of the state by performing marriages. That
may well happen—perhaps by our choice—when the state performs the legal marriage and the
church provides the marriage worship service in which people publicly restate their marriage
vows before God.
WELS will continue to confess publicly what we believe marriage to be. We will stand firmly on
the Word of God and obey God rather than men. But as a synod, we will not become directly
involved in a purely political effort or debate. The role of the church is to proclaim God’s Word
faithfully and boldly and to trust in the power of that Word to change hearts.
It’s a different story when it comes to individual Christians. Christians are not only a part of the
spiritual kingdom of the church but also live in the secular kingdom of society. That means that
they have the right—and even the responsibility—as citizens to do all they can to encourage
the government to enact laws that will benefit society and to change laws that are harmful.
Christians can and should speak up—both as salt and light to benefit others and as wise and
concerned citizens to help shape the laws of the government.
It is impossible to know where further assaults against God’s truth will be directed. There is no
way of knowing what kinds of pressure will be brought to bear on a church that continues to
hold to God’s Word rather than the word of man. Will there be lawsuits regarding same-sex
marriage or the use of church facilities? Will there be threats to remove tax-exempt status or
the loss of government-funded student loans? Will there be pressure for us to remain silent?
All are possible and perhaps even likely. What is certain is that those assaults will come; the
Supreme Court ruling is not the end but more likely the beginning of a long battle.
So we pray. We pray that God will enable us to hold to his teachings and not allow our attitudes to be shaped by the sinful world around us. We pray for our nation. We pray for those
caught up in all kinds of sin, asking that God would lead them to repentance and to the comforting gospel found only at the foot of the cross.
Note To Visitors
We sing the Psalms! Before the service it might help to read
through the instructions on page 63 of the hymnal.
Personal Prayers for Worship may be found on pages 10-11 of
the hymnal.
If your child becomes restless, that’s okay....We love having
children in worship at Zion. Feel free to step into the fellowship hall or to use the cry room near the west entry until your
little one settles. There are speakers in both areas.
Restrooms are at the west end entry area also. Changing tables
for babies are in each.
Holy Communion
Holy Communion is celebrated on the first and the third Sundays of each month (and the Mondays after). In the Lord’s
Supper, our Savior offers unworthy sinners a personal pledge of
forgiveness of sins through His body and blood. As He draws
repentant sinners to himself, he also draws them into a special
bond of fellowship with one another. In the WELS, we demonstrate this special fellowship bond in what is called “close communion.” Thus, if you have never communed with us before,
we ask that you first speak with our pastor. He will share with
you the steps toward establishing communion fellowship.
Thank you for respecting our practice. Personal preparation
help is found on page 156 in the hymnal.
Our Mission Statement
As a family of believers in Christ and members of His Kingdom,
our congregation exists to worship, praise and honor the Triune
God, share His pure Gospel message, encourage one another to
grow stronger in faith through daily use of the Word, and urge
each other to demonstrate such faith in daily living.
Service of the Word pg.38
Welcome Bell
Hymn—421
Lesson—Ephesians 3:1221
Psalm 73 page 94
Lesson—2 Corinthians
12:7-10
Verse of the Day
Gospel—John 5:1-15
Hymn—424
Sermon
Offering
Prayer
Hymn—451
Closing
Hymn—422
Announcements
Fellowship
Serving in Christ,
President Mark Schroeder
7
Service Order
8