Did You Know it's Pastor Appreciation Month?
October is Pastor Appreciation Month!
October is a great time to bless Pastor Grimenstein and family in gratitude for the many ways they bless Zion!
“‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. Jeremiah 3:15
Pastor’s Mailing Address:
3199 Washington Pike
Bridgevillle, PA 15017
Sunday School News
Rally Day 2023-24 was held Sept 17th. Sarris Gift Cards ($20) for CPH Summer Reading participants were awarded to the Chilcott, Durnetto/Migyanko, Trentini, Wilson, Carter, Ma, and Grimenstein families. Nathan Grimenstein was the winner of the grand prize drawing (see details on opposite page)!
Let’s not forget the wonderful selection of bagels, pastries, and donuts, and the decorations provided by the Events Committee for all to enjoy before the children were introduced to their teachers and they proceeded to classrooms -- THANK YOU! At the end of the lesson, "The Praying King-Hezekiah," all the children received gift bags to enjoy.
Sunday School News: This Sunday School year we began with the remaining lessons from Unit 6 of Enduring Faith and will then proceed to Units 7 and 8. For September, we will be covering Lesson 8, "The Praying King-Hezekiah," and Lesson 9, "The Restoring King-King Josiah." For October, we will finish Unit 6 and then move on to Unit 7. October lessons include: Lesson 11, "Abomination Nation-The Lord Leaves the Temple," Lesson 12, "The Rescuing Queen-Esther," Lesson 13, "Return to Rebuild-Rebuilding the Temple," and Lesson 14, "Promised Messengers-Waiting for God’s Messenger."
Megan Migyanko has joined our SS staff as a teacher in the Grades 1-3 classroom; she will rotate with Tevia Grimenstein and Christa Blayney at that age level. Thank you Megan!
Adult Bible Study: Adults and youth 7th grade and older are invited to the Fellowship Hall for Pastor's fascinating study on Exodus! Sunday School & Adult/Teen Bible Study are from 9:15 to 10:15 am. All are welcome....bagels and donuts provided.
"...man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." --Deuteronomy 8:3 NIV
Bulletin: Sunday October 15, 2023
View the bulletin for Sunday, October 15, 2023
8:00 a.m. - Worship Service with Communion
9:00 a.m. - Adult/Teem Bible Study, and Sunday School
10:30 a.m. - Worship Service with Communion
(The 8:00 a.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)
All are welcome
Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”
Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”
Archive of Bulletins
THIS WEEK AT ZION
Saturday October 14
10:00 a.m. - LWML Zone Rally (Zion Lutheran in Lawrenceville)
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
Sunday October 15
8:00 a.m. - Worship Service with Communion
9:15 a.m.. - Adult/Teen Bible Study & Sunday School
10:30 a.m. - Worship Service with Communion
6:00 p.m. - Youth Group Meeting/Pumpkin Carving Game
(The 8:00 a.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)
Monday October 16
6:00 p.m. - 1st Year Confirmation
6:30 p.m. - Faith Bell Choir Practice
7:00 p.m. - 2nd Year Confirmation
Tuesday October 17
6:15 p.m. - Grace Bell Choir Practice
7:15 p.m. - Adult Choir Practice
Wednesday October 18
NO Mid-Week Service due to Construction in the Sanctuary
Thursday October 19
7:00 p.m. - LWML Crismon Craft Night
Additional Details
Friday October 20
No events scheduled
Saturday October 21
No events scheduled
Sunday October 22
8:00 a.m. - Worship Service with Communion
9:15 a.m.. - Adult/Teen Bible Study & Sunday School
10:30 a.m. - Worship Service with Communion
Voter’s Meeting after Second Service (Lunch Served)
(The 8:00 a.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)
3rd Annual REFOR-FEST! ... Sunday October 29th
Join Us for Zion’s 3rd Annual REFOR-FEST!
Sunday October 29, 2023
12 Noon - 3:00 p.m. … Rain or Shine
Catered German Meal!
Beer & Root Beer
Guessing Jars
Pastor’s Famous Bingo
Steelers vs. Jaguar’s on the Big Screen
Advance Tickets Required
Adults: $18
Kids (4-10 yrs.): $8
3 and Under: FREE
Purchase your tickets in the Narthex after Sunday Service
Questions: Contact events@zlcb.org
CHECK OUT PHOTOS FROM REFOR-FEST 2022
The Foster Love Project
Join us this Sunday 10/22 at 9:30 a.m. before Adult/Teen Bible Study when Zion's own John & Megan Migyanko will share their experiences with foster care and the Foster Love Project. They will discuss how the Foster Love Project shows love in action to children impacted by foster and kinship care through provision of goods, services, and support.
Zion will be running a matching campaign up to $1,000 to support the Foster Love Project during the month of October. That means every contribution you make to Foster Love this month is matched dollar-for-dollar by Zion.
Donate through the offering plate at church (make checks out to "Zion" and write Foster Love on the memo line) OR CLICK HERE to donate on Zion's website.
Y4Life in Washington D.C. - Conference and March
Y4Life in Washington D.C. • Conference and March • January 18-20, 2024
Open to all high school and college students
Just As . . . I AM - with Courage and Compassion
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Thursday January 18, 2024 • 6:00 p.m. ET
Registration and Exhibits
Opening Devotions
Introductions and Icebreakers
Y4Life Conference Session 1: Just as ... I AM with Courage and Compassion with Rev. Trevor Sutton
Music, Sign-making, Exhibits, and Social Time
Friday January 19, 2024 • 9:00 a.m. ET
As Male or Female
Y4Life Conference Session 2: Just as . . . I AM with Melissa Ohden
Pre-March Devotion: Rev. Harrison Goodman
March for Life: Rally, March, and Testimonials
Dinner on own
Exhibits, Social Time
Devotion and Post-March Discussion
Y4Life Conference Session 3: Just as . . . I AM as Male or Female (Panel Discussion on Gender)
Saturday January 20, 2023 • 9:00 a.m. ET
For Blessing and Service
Y4Life Conference Session 3: Just as . . . I AM for Blessing and Service
Y4Life Conference Session 4: Just as . . . I AM Joy Despite Brokenness
Closing Devotion: Rev. Michael Salemink
Location
Hilton Arlington National Landing (near Reagan National Airport)
2399 Richmond Hwy, Arlington, VA 22202
Cost
Conference is FREE for registered youth. Rooms cost $124 per night with group rate, up to 4 people per room. Breakfast included. Limited availability.
Registration
Register with QR Code (top of the page) or at y4life.org
Conference registration closes December 15, 2023
For more information, visit Y4life.org
or email Director of Y4Life, Michelle Barman at michell@y4life.org
God's Clear, Reliable Word
by Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, President of The Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod
God's Clear, Reliable Word
Ours is a day of tremendous ignorance, particularly about the Bible and the Christian faith. Foolish and ignorant views abound. How many times have we heard that the Bible has allegedly been translated so many times into different languages that the original text has been lost and no one actually knows what it was or what it means.
In fact, we have more reliable ancient manuscripts of the Bible in its original languages (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek) than any other ancient literature. The books of the New Testament were carefully copied and spread throughout the ancient Mediterranean world and beyond. Any errors scribes made in copying are overwhelmingly identifiable as the result of speaking or hearing while one person read the text and several copied, or perhaps when a scribe tried to “fix” a New Testament text that bothered him because it was difficult to understand, to harmonize with another text. These are easily identifiable, especially because loads of other manuscripts express the original. A couple of sections of the Gospels are not in all the ancient versions (like the long ending of Mark), but there is no Christian doctrine that depends only on these few texts.
The Old Testament Hebrew text is amazingly reliable. Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1946–1947, the church relied upon a Hebrew text from the 9/10th century. All of a sudden, archeologists found manuscripts a thousand years older, and including many whole books of the Old Testament plus many smaller fragments. The Dead Sea texts and the manuscripts from a millennium later are nearly identical. Ancient Jewish copyists ensured this accuracy by counting letters from the front and back of the Old Testament books, and if the numerical center of the manuscript did not land on a certain letter of a certain verse, the manuscript was hidden or removed from use.
When we confess the “verbal inspiration” of the Bible in all matters, and thus the “inerrancy” of Scripture, we confess this most precisely about the original manuscripts that came from the hands of the prophets, apostles or their secretaries. That doesn’t mean there are not challenges and difficulties, some of which may not be able to be solved in this life. We trust the Holy Spirit and figure He knows more than we do, or assume some scribe made a mistake in copying. And remember, any time you find such a rare problem in the Bible, some 2,000 years of Christians have already dealt with the problem.
The teachings of the Christian faith are, in fact, quite clear. They are found in extremely clear, uncontested biblical texts. For example, every statement of the Apostles’ Creed is linked to clear texts, and most often many clear texts. Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation (2017) builds on these clear teachings of Scripture. This updated edition teaches God’s Word especially well.
I recently asked members of my own parish how many had the new catechism from The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and Concordia Publishing House. I was amazed at how few did. Luther’s catechism proper (the Six Chief Parts) provides the strong doctrine-laden texts that make clear the basics, without which a person cannot be a Christian (Ten Commandments, Apostles’ Creed, Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, Confession, Lord’s Supper). The explanation provides hundreds of crystal clear texts that teach every aspect of the faith, whether the justification of the sinner before God; who God is, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; who Jesus is as God and man; the Sacraments; the church; what is a pastor. It also addresses challenging ethical issues we face today such as marital problems, racism, abortion, drug abuse, giving to those in need and much more. Get the new catechism. In fact, get a stack of them for everyone in your congregation.
I was in Nebraska a few weeks back for their district convention. An older farmer pulled me aside and said, “Pastor, I have to tell you something.” “What’s that?” I said. “Pastor, I see people, young people hurting or confused.” He began tearing up. “I know it when I see ‘em, Pastor. I know they’re hurting. You know what I do, Pastor? I give them a catechism.”
“Oh,” I said, “You give them the little pamphlet edition of Luther’s Catechism, just Luther’s part?” “No, Pastor, I give ‘em the whole thing. You wouldn’t believe what happens.” He proceeded to tell me amazing things that happened in the life of the recipients: conversions to Lutheranism, fresh comfort from the Word and consolation in the midst of struggles. Last week I went to CPH, and I bought a stack of them. Before I got home that day, I gave away three — two to people looking for a church that teaches the Word of God.
“How can I, unless someone guides me?” the Ethiopian eunuch asked Phillip (Acts 8:31). We often have the same question. It’s vital to know the clear and main teachings of the Bible to be able to read it most profitably. That’s what the catechism is and does. It’s nothing but the Bible. That’s why Luther translated the New Testament so early in the Reformation (and continued on to translate the Old Testament as well); it’s why he wrote the Small Catechism and Large Catechism in 1529. The catechism is our Phillip.
Read your Bible. Read your catechism. Read them daily. Buy your kid and grandkids the new catechism. Get The Lutheran Study Bible. Buy your kids CPH’s Bible story books. Knowing the Word will make you confident in your salvation, wrought by Christ and pointed to by the whole Bible. God works through His Holy Word (including the texts in the catechism) to create faith in those who hear and read it. “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty” (Isaiah 55:11).