Zion Lutheran Church Zion Lutheran Church

Zion Baseball Night: Washington Wild Things vs. Joliet Slammers

Zion Baseball Night: Washington Wild Things vs. Joliet Slammers

Zion Lutheran Church is going to the Ballpark!
The Washington Wild Things vs. The Joliet Slammers

We’re headed to Wild Things Stadium in Washington, PA to catch a baseball game! You might recognize their famous “Accordian Man” during the seventh inning stretch – our very own Doug Krantz!

Join us at a private pavilion with food before the game!

Sunday, June 28, 2026 at 4:00 p.m.
Tickets: Adults $15. Kids $10.

Sign up sheet in the Narthex – Everyone is welcome!

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Patriotic Prayer Luncheon

Patriotic Prayer Luncheon
As we look ahead to the 250th Anniversary of our nation’s founding in July, let us come together in prayer, praise and thanksgiving for the goodness God bestows on the United States of America.

Saturday, June 27, 2026
11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Guest Speaker:
Pastor Grimenstein served as an active-duty U.S. Army chaplain from 2004-2011. He primarily served with the U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) at Ft. Bragg, was involved in missions in Afghanistan/Middle East, and at SHAPE in Belgium. Pastor will be sharing about the unique mission work LCMS military chaplains perform on a daily basis

Benefitting LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces

Patriotic Prayer Lunch

Patriotic Prayer Luncheon
As we look ahead to the 250th Anniversary of our nation’s founding in July, let us come together in prayer, praise and thanksgiving for the goodness God bestows on the United States of America.

Saturday, June 27, 2026
11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Guest Speaker:
Pastor Grimenstein served as an active-duty U.S. Army chaplain from 2004-2011. He primarily served with the U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) at Ft. Bragg, was involved in missions in Afghanistan/Middle East, and at SHAPE in Belgium. Pastor will be sharing about the unique mission work LCMS military chaplains perform on a daily basis.

Use Sign Up Genius to RSVP to this event:
Sign Up Genius Link

Benefitting LCMS Ministry to the Armed Forces

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Zion Lutheran Church Zion Lutheran Church

Bulletin: Sunday, May 31 2026 + This Week at Zion

Download/view the latest bulletin. It’s filled with our hymns, the order of service, all the readings from scripture, prayer requests for family & friends, service participants, communion statement, about our worship, the schedule of events for this coming weeks, along with announcements, news updates, happenings, and more!

View the bulletin for Sunday, May 31, 2026
Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”
Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”
Archive of Bulletins

THIS WEEK AT ZION

Saturday, May 30
No Events Scheduled

Sunday, May 31
CONFIRMATION
8:00 a.m. — Worship Service
9:15 a.m. — Confirmand Public Exam/Reception & Children’s Sunday School
10:30 a.m. — Worship Service + Confirmation
(The 8:00 a.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)

Monday, June 1
7:00 p.m. - Trustees’ Meeting

Tuesday, June 2
6:15 p.m. - Quartet Practice

Wednesday, June 3
2:00 p.m. - Mid-Week Worship Service
2:30 p.m. - Bible Study, The Book of Galatians
(The 2:00 p.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)

Thursday, June 4
7:00 p.m. - Elders’ Meeting

Friday, June 5
No Events Scheduled

Saturday, June 6
2:00 p.m. - Grimenstein/Winterhalter Wedding

Sunday, June 7
8:00 a.m. — Worship Service
9:15 a.m. — Adult/Teen Bible Study & Children’s Summer Sunday School
10:30 a.m. — Worship Service
(The 8:00 a.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)


Upcoming Events

CLICK THE UPCOMING EVENTS GRAPHIC to go directly to our UPCOMING EVENTS page

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The Lutheran Witness

The Lutheran Witness: Interpreting the Contemporary World From a Lutheran Christian Perspective
Whether you prefer to read it in print or online, The Lutheran Witness, the official publication of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, is a must-read for Lutherans of all ages!

Published 11 times a year—monthly, with a combined June/July issue—The Lutheran Witness keeps you updated with news from around the Synod, and addresses topical issues with feature articles, columns, Q&As, and more that will both inform and inspire.

DOWNLOAD a sample copy

The Lutheran Witness: Interpreting the Contemporary World From a Lutheran Christian Perspective
Whether you prefer to read it in print or online, The Lutheran Witness, the official publication of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, is a must-read for Lutherans of all ages!

Published 11 times a year—monthly, with a combined June/July issue—The Lutheran Witness keeps you updated with news from around the Synod, and addresses topical issues with feature articles, columns, Q&As, and more that will both inform and inspire.

DOWNLOAD a sample copy

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Zion Lutheran Church Zion Lutheran Church

Our Church Family

Our Church Family
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:24-25

Read the Bible in a Year on our website

Hebrews 10:24-25

Our Church Family
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:24-25

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Zion Lutheran Church Zion Lutheran Church

VIDEO: Wednesday, May 27, 2026 - Complete Service

Each service at Zion Lutheran Church (normally the first of our two Sunday services) is streamed LIVE on our YouTube channel. These streams are for Sunday’s, Wednesday’s, Lenten, Advent, and special services. The entire service is streamed from beginning-to-end. Weddings and Funerals can also be streamed, if requested in advance.

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Audio: Readings & Sermon for Wednesday, May 27, 2026

This audio-only file includes all the readings from scripture, along with the sermon — and when available, the announcements, adult choir, men’s choir, and/or bell choir. Also posted along with the audio file is the text for all the scripture readings, and a link to the current bulletin, and our YouTube channel if you prefer to watch the LIVE Stream.

AUDIO: Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Audio: Readings & Sermon for Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Rev. Dr. Edward O. Grimenstein

View the bulletin for Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Archive of AUDIO “Readings & Sermons”
Archive of VIDEO “Complete Service”
Archive of Bulletins

First Reading – Numbers 23:4-28 
and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering. And Balaam took up his discourse and said, 

“From Aram Balak has brought me,
the king of Moab from the eastern mountains:
‘Come, curse Jacob for me,
and come, denounce Israel!’
How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?
For from the top of the crags I see him,
from the hills I behold him;
behold, a people dwelling alone,
and not counting itself among the nations!
Who can count the dust of Jacob
or number the fourth part of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright,
and let my end be like his!” 

And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” And he answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?” 

And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD over there.” And the LORD met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the LORD spoken?” And Balaam took up his discourse and said, 

“Rise, Balak, and hear;
give ear to me, O son of Zippor:
God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Behold, I received a command to bless:
he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob, 
nor has he seen trouble in Israel. 
The LORD their God is with them, 
and the shout of a king is among them. 
God brings them out of Egypt 
and is for them like the horns of the wild ox. 
For there is no enchantment against Jacob, 
no divination against Israel; 
now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, 
‘What has God wrought!’ 
Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up 
and as a lion it lifts itself; 
it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey 
and drunk the blood of the slain.” 

And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘All that the LORD says, that I must do’?” And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert. 

Gospel Reading -- Luke 22:47-71 
While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” 

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house, and Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly. 

Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him. 

When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their council, and they said, “If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.” Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.” 

Confession 
What is the Office of the Keys?* 
The Office of the Keys is that special authority which Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent. 
Where is this written?*
This is what St. John the Evangelist writes in chapter twenty: The Lord Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” (John 20:22–23) 
What do you believe according to these words?* 
I believe that when the called ministers of Christ deal with us by His divine command, in particular when they exclude openly unrepentant sinners from the Christian congregation and absolve those who repent of their sins and want to do better, this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself. 

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