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Zion Church offers a weekend schedule of three Liturgies.

Saturday Lessons & Themes usually anticipate the coming Sunday

Saturdays: 5:30 P.M.
Word & Sacrament

Sundays: 9:15 A.M.
Family Worship:
Word & Sacrament & Sunday School

Sundays: 10:30 A.M.
Word & Sacrament with Choir

Comments? Questions? Would you like us to contact you? Send us an email or phone us at 732-388-1815 with your contact information and we'll get back to you.

Comments? Questions?
Would you like us to contact you? Send us an email or phone us at 732-388-1815 with your contact information and we'll get back to you.

Cafe Z

Feb. 20
Laible Blu

 

Worship & Music
Special Event Report

Snake Oil
and Good News

 

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The Text This Week
Lectionary, Scripture
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Pastor MargayJo Whitlock
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Whitlock, Pastor
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Jeffrey Mayer Enterprises
www.jme1.com

 

January 2010

1   Name of Jesus
New Year’s Day
Pray that this new year be filled with good things, with the comfort of friends and family, with strength to help those in need and the humility to accept help from others.

2  We pray for Camino de Vida, Albuquerque, N.M., and Mission Developer Guillermo Yela as he leads that new ministry toward the start of worship later this spring. Camino de Vida is an ecumenical partnership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Presbyterian Church (USA) reaching out to Spanish-speaking immigrants.

3   2nd Sunday of Christmas
Gracious God, you sent Jesus to be the Light of the world. We are thankful for the sacrifice made to save us. As we enter into a new year, we pray that you would guide us so that we stay focused on that Light and ask that our light shine brightly before others. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

4   We ask God to provide wisdom, passion and strength to lay developer Tsena Dinssa as he equips members of the Dallas Oromo Evangelical Lutheran Church, Dallas, Texas, for evangelism and discipleship. 

5  Keep Mary Margaret Powers in prayer as she serves at the Helen Keller School for the Visually Impaired in Beit Hanina, Jerusalem.  Mary is part of the ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission program.

6   Epiphany of Our Lord
Today as we remember the star that led the magi to the Christ child, also remember ELCA missionaries who supply ministry-building skills for companion churches and support projects that address social and economic issues.

7  Give thanks for ELCA missionaries Pastor Dana Nelson and Tom Ososki who work in parish ministry in Peru. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Peru is a young church of over 1,100 members and is committed to working with the most vulnerable in society.

8  Please pray that the Holy Spirit might inspire and strengthen Pastor Mikki Gay and the people of Breath of Life Lutheran Church, Blythewood, S.C..  This new ministry is reaching Latinos, African-Americans, and European-Americans. 
                       
9  Osoko, Jesu, Osoko!” – “Thank you, Jesus, thank you!” for Pastor Deborah and Joseph Troester, Missionaries in the Central African Republic. Deborah teaches Greek and English at the Theological School in Baboua. Joseph is the technical advisor for a water management project, sponsored in part by the ELCA.

10 1st Sunday after Epiphany
Baptism of Jesus
Transforming God, we remember with joy the baptism of Christ Jesus.  Call your children of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Iran and Iraq into your embrace that they may be immersed in your life-giving Holy Spirit. Amen.

11  Human Trafficking Awareness Day
Pray for God’s help to live out the call to love and do justice for others.  Ask God to open our minds to learn about human trafficking and open our hearts to serve our neighbors, especially those who have been trafficked. 
                       
12  Give thanks for Pastor Benjamin and Margit Coltvet who have served  the American Church in Berlin for the past 8 years. In November the Coltvets hosted 368 people at a Thanksgiving dinner held at the church building.

13  Keep in your prayers today ELCA missionary Robin Strickler who serves in Rwanda, working in education development. Started by Rwandan refugees, returning from the genocide of 1994, the Lutheran Church of Rwanda (LRC) has 17,000 members. As a new church body, the LCR focuses on training leaders and is building a secondary school and a women’s center.

14  We celebrate the ministry of small ELCA congregations, like Christ Lutheran Church, Wise, Va., which sees itself as a “small, vibrant core of Lutherans” focused on outreach and ministry. 

15  Martin Luther King Jr.
Give thanks for Dr. Mark and Linda Nygard as they serve within the Evangelical Synod of the Nile. Mark is the coordinator of graduate studies at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo.

16  Praise God for the ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL)  and its witness in a turbulent region. Pray for Allison Schmitt, communications assistant for Bishop Munib Younan.

17  2nd Sunday after Epiphany
Vigilant God, you care for and watch over all of creation.  Help us to be more aware of human trafficking in the world and in our communities that we might advocate for those whom we are called to serve.  Be with those who are experiencing trafficking now and embolden us to seek justice for all of creation. Amen. 

18  Confession of Peter
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins
Ask God’s help, through the Holy Spirit, to make us disciples, attentive to the word of God at all times. That when prejudices and suspicions arise, God will give us the patience necessary for reconciliation.

19  Thank God for Judy Perry as she assists in medical work among mothers and infants in the People’s Republic of China and engages in health worker training with Evergreen Foundation.  Pray for all medical workers and those who care for the ill and suffering throughout Asia.

20  Praise God for missionaries, Kathy Kamphoefner and Paul Pierce as they serve the refugee ministry at St. Andrew’s Church in Cairo, Egypt. Pray for the refugee families as they learn a new culture and build new lives in Cairo.

21   Offer thanks for God’s People Serving (GPS) Faith Community in Machesney Park, Ill.  GPS, led by Pastor Rob James, continues to grow as it reaches out to its neighbors, builds relationships, and seeks to be “the hands and feet of Jesus Christ” in their community.

22   Ask God to continue to walk with today’s churches in Cyprus, Greece and Turkey, remembering that the Lord, through a vision to John of Patmos, was revealed among the seven churches of Asia.

23  Give thanks for the continued ministry of Drs. Helmut and Rotraut Diefenthal, who spend 10 months a year at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center in Moshi, Tanzania, and for the companion relationships that exist between ELCA synods and dioceses of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania.

24  3rd Sunday after Epiphany
Merciful God, we remember with hope the gift of peace.  Grant your peace upon the countries of  Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Israel that the power of your love may be known. Amen.

25  Conversion of Paul
We remember how Paul of Tarsus, formerly an enemy and persecutor of the early Christians, was led by God's grace to become an advocate, spokesperson and servant of the church. Ask God to open the heart’s and minds of all people.

26  Timothy, Tuitus and Silas, missionaries
Remember in prayer Barbara and Pastor John LeMond as they serve within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hong Kong.  John teaches world religions at Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong, and coordinates interfaith programs with the Tao Fang Shan Centre.

27  Lydia, Dorcas and Phoebe, witnesses to the faith
Pray for the ELCA Parish Nurse Association, as they find ways to strengthen their organization and extend its reach throughout the nation, thus making a greater impact on the work of the church. Pray that the ELCA may welcome the gifts these professional people bring to our mutual ministry. Pray that we may all learn to integrate faith and health in our respective places of work.

28  Pray for the well-being of missionary family members. When missionaries leave their homes to serve God in other countries, extended family remains behind. Pray for the health, safety and encouragement of these family members.
                                                                                               
29  We lift up to God Pastor Mark Huber, new mission developer of Transformation Place in Marshfield, Mass., and ask God’s blessing on this ministry that seeks to offer a variety of opportunities for spiritual growth and faith-centered service to the local community.

30  Praise God for Erin Odgers and ask God to bless her time and ministry as an English language teacher for the St. Andrew’s Refugee Services in Cairo, Egypt.    

31  4th Sunday after Epiphany
Almighty God, grant your wisdom and love upon the people of Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia, that they may live in peace and harmony. Amen.

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Phone: 732-388-1815

Prayer Ventures is a guide to daily prayer for the global and outreach ministries of the church.

The Sunday prayers, based on the New Ecumenical Prayer Cycle from the World Council of Churches, take us on a prayer journey through various parts of the world.

In addition to their use for daily prayer, Prayer Ventures can be incorporated into the prayers at Sunday worship. This resource may be copied and shared among members and friends of the congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Prayer Ventures is produced by the Division for Outreach and the Division for Global Mission in cooperation with the Dept. for Communication. Write to either of the divisions for additional information:

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
8765 W. Higgins Road, Chicago IL 60631

For more info