Zion is seeking a dedicated individual to serve as Congregational Treasurer

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

Zion is seeking a dedicated individual to serve as Congregational Treasurer
This position is vital in supporting the ministry and mission of the church, and a stipend is provided.

Individuals with a background in Accounting, Finance, or a related field are especially encouraged to consider this role. If you are interested in learning more, contact Congregational President Bob Schmidt at 412-608-4600 or bobschmidt47@gmail.com.

If your skills and interests align, please prayerfully consider serving Zion in this role.  

Portals of Prayer: See What You’re Missing

Below is a sample of what’s inside each Portals of Prayer
Pick one up today, you’ll be glad you did … and they’re FREE.

Tuesday, January 6
The Epiphany of Our Lord

Read Matthew 2:1-12 & Psalm 72: 1-11
May all kings fall down before Him, all nations serve Him! Psalm 72:11

All Nations Bow Before Him 
To begin our liturgical season of Epiphany. We remember the Wise Men from the East, who came to worship the child Jesus and to bring Him gifts. These men were Gentiles, not Jews. But by their knowledge of Old Testament prophecy, they knew the Messiah was coming, so the watched for Him. When they saw the star, they knew the promised king had been born in Israel (see Numbers 24:17). These non-Jews had faith in God's promises, and that faith led them to bow down and worship Jesus. 

Most of us are Gentiles like the Wise Men, and we, too, have faith in God's promises. We are also looking for the final promises to be fulfilled. We aren't waiting for the Christ to come to save us, for Jesus already accomplished our salvation by His death on the cross. What we're waiting for is for Jesus Christ to return, to create a new heaven and new earth, and to bring us into the Father's presence, where there will be no more sin or sorrow. 

The season of Epiphany is all about the light of the world, Jesus, being made known to all people. During the season of Epiphany, the readings of the church focus on how God revealed His salvation to us through Jesus.

Lord Jesus, "of Jacob's race, King David's son, our Lord and master, You have won our hearts to serve You only!" (LSB 395:1). Amen. 

What is “Epiphany?”

What is “Epiphany?”
It is a celebration of Christ made manifest to the gentiles (in particular the wisemen). Join us for worship, starting at 2:00 p.m., followed by Bible study at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday January 7th as we celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord and study this gracious event. 

From the desk of … Rev. John Pingel

Roseto, Pennsylvania. Its reputation: the healthiest town in America. 
At the center of that claim is an amazing story. 

Many of the inhabitants of Roseta, PA trace their ancestry to the village of Roseto Valfortore, located 100 miles from Rome. The medieval village centers on a town square and a church named Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Narrow stone steps run up the hillside flanked by rows of stone houses with red tile roofs. The major industry there: stone quarries in the surrounding hills. Villagers would walk 4 to 5 miles each way to work, leaving early and returning late. 

In 1882, a group of 11 Rosetans set sail for New York City. They spent some time in what is known as “Little Italy,” and then travelled 90 miles west to a location near Bangor, Pennsylvania, in order to work in a slate quarry there. 

The initial immigrants were followed by 1,200 more Rosetans over the next few years. They bought land on the rocky hillside and built closely clustered houses resembling those they left behind in Italy. They also built a church near the center of town, naming it, predictably, “Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.” The church became the center of their social and spiritual life. The town thrived. The Rosetans planted grapes and made homemade wine ... opened bakeries and other shops. For several decades, they spoke mostly Italian, the exact dialect spoken back in Roseto Valliafore. They gathered regularly in social clubs and community centers. They worshiped and celebrated their holidays and holy days and significant events in each other’s lives. They rejoiced together and in times of death and misfortune they grieved together. It was evident that no matter what life brought their way, they were in this together, to love and support each other. 

So what made Roseto, Pennsylvania, remarkable? Simply put, rarely did anyone living in Roseto under the age of 65 get heart disease or die of a heart attack, in contrast to the surrounding towns. The medical community began to take note of this. A physician named Stephen Wolf from the University of Oklahoma launched an investigation into the reason why. This was a time, by the way, before cholesterol lowering drugs and aggressive measures to prevent heart disease. He analyzed physicians’ records and took medical histories. He studied their diet. In fact, the death rate in Roseto was HALF that of the US as a whole. Medical clinicians were baffled. Not only was heart disease almost non-existent—there was also hardly any suicide, drug and alcohol addiction, cancer, or ulcers. People simply died of old age. All the while, they ate sausages and pepperoni year round. A full 41% of their diet consisted of fat. Neither diet nor exercise explained their findings. No one ate yogurt or did yoga. Quite a few of the inhabitants, typical of that time period, smoked. 

To make a long story short, the answer to the clinicians’ quest lay not in diet or exercise or the location of the town or genetic good fortune. The answer was Roseto itself. The Rosetans had maintained over the years an exceptional sense of community. People knew one another, and they visited with one another frequently. They stopped to chat on the street. They ate meals with one another. They attended church together and met in their 22 social clubs. The medical community concluded that the people of Roseto were exceptionally healthy -- not for any of the reasons normally associated with maintaining good health -- but because of their sense of community. Roseto was a place where people, in the truest sense of the term, “belonged” and were cared about. 

Our churches are at their best when they reflect a sense of community, where people love and care for one another. Jesus says in John 13:35, ‘By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if ye have love for one another.” “See how they love one another” is a famous quote attributed to the early Christian writer Tertullian in the 3rd century, which in turn quotes pagans observing the early Christians. It refers to the remarkable love, unity, and charitable acts the early Christians displayed toward each other and those in need, which stood out in contrast to the surrounding Greco-Roman culture. 

We live in a rather cold and indifferent age. People live next door to one another and never talk. They don’t know their neighbors. The medical community maintains that the isolation experienced by many takes its toll on us mentally, emotionally and physically. People self-isolate, and yet surveys show that people actually crave a sense of community. They want to be cared about and have an opportunity to care for others. They desire to be “connected,” a desire which appears to have increased in the aftermath of Covid. 

The church from its earliest days is described as a community—a community of faith and love, a place where we “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6: 2), where people are “devoted to none another in love.” (Romans 12:2). Acts chapter 2 says that the early Christians “ate together with glad and generous hearts” and “provided for another as any had need.” They knew that the fellowship they enjoyed in the present would continue in eternity (Revelation 7: 9-17), which made it a pretty special thing. 

Perhaps you are a small church. You may not have a lot in terms of programming. Sometimes leaders of small churches will say: “What do we have to offer?” My answer is: community. You offer a place where people can find a sense of community. Better still, in this community, at its center, stands the Savior, offering us forgiveness, life and salvation. 

So plug in the coffee pot. And have your pot luck suppers. And gather as God gives you opportunity, with a door open to those outside. Invite others. Share the love of Christ. You can be someone’s spiritual Roseto, where people can experience the love of the Savior through you, and find spiritual health and healing in the name of Jesus. 

VIDEO: Sunday, January 4, 2025 - Complete Service

View the bulletin for Sunday, January 4, 2026
Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”
Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”
Archive of Bulletins

Audio: Readings & Sermon for Sunday, January 4, 2026

Audio: Announcements, Readings & Sermon for Sunday, January 4, 2026

Rev. Dr. Edward O. Grimenstein

Download

View the bulletin for Sunday, January 4, 2026
Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”
Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”
Archive of Bulletins

Old Testament Reading -- 1 Kings 3:4–15 
The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” 

It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” 

And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants. 

Epistle Reading – Ephesians 1:3–14 
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. 

The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the second chapter
The child [Jesus] grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. 

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. 

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. 

A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

The Pittsburgh Lutheran Chorus presents 
A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
Saturday, January 17, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. 

Zion Ev. Lutheran Church 
237-37th Street ~ Lawrenceville 15201 
Fundraiser Spaghetti Dinner … Freewill Offering 
Find with GOOGLE MAPS