Decorating Party: Saturday December 7th @ 10:00 a.m.

Join us & lend a hand … we’re decorating the Sanctuary 
Saturday December 7th @ 10:00 a.m. 
Lunch will be served 

Sign Up in the Narthex! 

Bus Trip: Gingerbread House Display

City of Pittsburgh’s 22nd Annual
GINGERBREAD HOUSE DISPLAY

Bus Trip on Monday December 9, 2024
No Cost to Participate • 14 Seats Available

We will load up the bus at Zion Lutheran Church at 12:30 p.m. and be back to Zion around 3:00 p.m.
Sign Up in the Narthex or e-mail: deaconess@zlcb.org

December 2024/January 2025 Newsletter

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Effective Outreach

Effective Outreach Creates Connections with Nonchurched People 
Part Two of a Four-Part Series 

The previous article in this series identified three things that make up effective outreach. Let’s look at the first one: 

Effective outreach is the “planting and watering” (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:5-9) through which a congregation intentionally engages nonchurched people in ways that … provide the congregation with means of continuing contact with the nonchurched people. 

It may seem obvious, but it’s important to be clear that outreach has to do with our congregation engaging nonchurched people – that we are doing something that gets the members of our congregation interacting with people who are not connected to the Church. By ‘Church’ I mean the capital ‘C’ Church – “the one holy Christian and apostolic Church” we confess in the Creed. Outreach is not “sheep stealing.” If someone is connected to another Christian congregation, he is ‘churched’ not ‘nonchurched.’ 

‘Engaging’ nonchurched people means that we, as a congregation, are doing something that brings us and nonchurched people together and that we interact with those nonchurched people. In other words, that we create connections with nonchurched people. We can engage nonchurched people in many ways, including our human care activities (e.g., a food pantry, disaster response), our ministries (e.g., day school, early childhood center), events that we host (e.g., Oktoberfest, sausage supper), or community activities that we support (e.g., a local festival, holiday celebrations). 

From what I’ve seen in working with churches across the Synod, most congregations are good at coming up with ideas to engage people through their activities. I find that congregations are very busy planning, organizing, and doing things to engage people. 

The problem is that many of the things that we are doing as outreach are not outreach at all – and they are certainly not effective outreach. Ouch! The reason that much of what we call ‘outreach’ is not outreach is that we’re not engaging nonchurched people through our ‘outreach’ efforts. Instead, we end up attracting and engaging churched people. There is certainly nothing wrong with churched people engaging other churched people. In fact, God’s word encourages it! It is a good thing for believers to serve each other and enjoy each other’s company, but it isn’t outreach. 

Outreach always involves engaging nonchurched people. 
Effective outreach always involves creating connections with nonchurched people – engaging them in ways that enable us to continue contact with the nonchurched people we engage through our outreach ministries and activities. 

Continuing contact with the nonchurched people we engage isn’t rocket science. It simply involves asking people to provide their contact information. Some will, some won’t. That doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we are intentional about asking for it. 

Gathering contact information from nonchurched people should be simple, natural, and voluntary. We need to ask, not insist. We should let people know that we are asking for it so we can stay in touch with them. And then not act surprised when they give it to us. 

Many people want to be connected to a community of caring people. They will be glad to give us their contact information. When they do, we’re on our way to effective outreach. 

Questions to consider: 

1. When does “outreach” become “sheep stealing”? Are we doing any of this? 

2. How well do our existing outreach activities create connections with nonchurched people? What can we do to improve this? 

3. What are we currently doing to gather contact information from nonchurched people who participate in our outreach activities? What are we doing with that information? 

The Youth Group and Sunday School invite you to go CHRISTMAS CAROLING

The Youth Group and Sunday School invite you to go CHRISTMAS CAROLING
at Concordia of Bridgeville on Saturday, December 14, 2024 at 1:30 p.m.
Location: Concordia of Bridgeville, 3570 Washington Pike, Bridgeville, PA 15017
Everyone is welcome to join our youth in caroling for the residents of Concordia of Bridgeville. Wear Christmas clothes and meet outside of the building at the top of the hill.

View a map of the suggested parking area.

VIDEO: Sunday December 1, 2024 - Complete Service

View the bulletin for Sunday, December 1, 2024
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AUDIO: Announcements, Readings & Sermon for Sunday December 1, 2024

View the bulletin for Sunday, December 1, 2024
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Old Testament Reading — Jeremiah 33:14–16 
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’” 

Epistle Reading — 1 Thessalonians 3:9–13 
What thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith? 

Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. 

The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the twenty-first chapter
[Jesus said:] “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” 

And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 

“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”