LUTHERANS engage - Fall 2023 Issue
LUTHERANS engage - Fall 2023 Issue
“Do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith,” St. Paul says in Galatians 6:10. This issue of Lutherans Engage the World shows how Lutherans are doing just that — for residents of retirement communities, for children in Kenya, for homeowners in need of a little extra help, and as we encourage young people to consider how they can serve God and neighbor.
Thank you for reading, as we celebrate with Hellen Jennifer, a Kenyan sister in Christ, that we are “Lutheran, justified by grace through the faith on … account of Christ.”
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Tevia Grimenstein sings with the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh
The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh. Zion's own Tevia Grimenstein front row, center.
Tevia Grimenstein has been invited to sing with the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh. The Mendelssohn has been performing in Pittsburgh for over a century and is the "chorus of choice” for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. This season, Tevia will sing Brahms Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Holiday Pops, Liszt’s Dante Symphony, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the PSO. Tevia invites you all to the Mendelssohn’s free concert titled “Coming Home” on Sat., March 9th, 7 pm, at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Upper St. Clair. To learn more and to reserve your free seats, visit https://www.themendelssohn.org/mcp-concerts/coming-home/.
AUDIO: Announcements, Readings, Sermon & Adult Choir for Sunday October 29, 2023
This recording is from Sunday October 29, 2023 — delayed due to networking issues.
Sorry for the inconvenience,
Zion’s webmaster
View the bulletin for Sunday, October 29, 2023
8:00 a.m. - Worship Service with Communion
9:15 a.m. - Adult/Teen Bible Study, and Sunday School
10:30 a.m. - Worship Service with Communion
12:00 Noon - Refor-Fest - ADDITIONAL DETAILS
(The 8:00 a.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)
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First Reading -- Revelation 14:6–7
Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
Epistle Reading -- Romans 3:19–28
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the eighth chapter.
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
VIDEO: Wednesday November 1, 2023 - All Saints Day - Complete Service
View the Bulletin for Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Service Time: 2:00 p.m.
Bible Study: 2:30 p.m.
All are welcome, bring a friend, neighbor or relative
Visit our YouTube channel — Click the red “subscribe” box, and then click on the “bell” next to that box to receive Live Streaming notifications. You must be logged into YouTube to activate these features.
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AUDIO: Funeral Service for Millie Thielet - Saturday October 28, 2023
View the Funeral Bulletin for Millie Thielet - Saturday October 28, 2023
View Obituary on Zion Website
Funeral Service at Zion Lutheran Church
Saturday, October 28, 2023 at 10:00 a.m.
(Visitation Friday October 27, 2023 3:00 - 7:00 p.m. at Warchol Funeral Home
Old Testament – Revelation 7:9-17
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Epistle Reading -- 2 Peter 3:1–11
This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness?
Gospel Reading – John 10:1-18
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
AUDIO: Announcements, Readings, Sermon & Bell Choir for Sunday October 22, 2023
This recording is from Sunday October 22, 2023 — delayed due to networking issues.
Sorry for the inconvenience,
Zion’s webmaster
View the bulletin for Sunday, October 22, 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
All Church Voter’s Meeting after 2nd Service — Lunch Served
(The 8:00 a.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)
All are welcome
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Old Testament Reading -- Isaiah 45:1–7
Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
and to loose the belts of kings,
to open doors before him
that gates may not be closed:
“I will go before you
and level the exalted places,
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron,
I will give you the treasures of darkness
and the hoards in secret places,
that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
For the sake of my servant Jacob,
and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name,
I name you, though you do not know me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God;
I equip you, though you do not know me,
that people may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is none besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness,
I make well-being and create calamity,
I am the Lord, who does all these things.”
Epistle Reading -- 1 Thessalonians 1:1–10
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace.
We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the twenty-second chapter.
Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle [Jesus] in his talk. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.
Grace Bell Choir
This is My Father's World
November 2023 Newsletter
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