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Earth Day

By Pr. Lisa Rygiel

Today is Earth Day.

Earth Day falls on April 22 every year. This year’s theme is “Our Power, Our Planet”. The theme emphasizes that protecting the environment depends on collective, people‑powered action—from local communities and educators to workers and families—not just governments or elections. [earthday.org]

In short, the theme highlights:

  • The power of everyday actions taken together
  • Community involvement and civic engagement
  • Protecting the places where people live and work

The ELCA has a Social Statement about the Environment, which was adopted in 1993 by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly. Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice establishes the ELCA’s teachings on ecology and the environment, grounded in a biblical vision of God's intention for the healing and wholeness of creation. It speaks of human beings as part of God’s creation and of the human responsibility as servants of all God has made. It provides a framework of hope rooted in God's faithfulness for understanding this human role in creation, the problem of sin, and the current environmental crisis.

Caring for Creation expresses a call to pursue justice for creation through active participation, solidarity, sufficiency and sustainability, and states the commitments of the ELCA for pursuing wholeness for creation — commitments expressed through individual and community action, worship, learning, moral deliberation and advocacy.

You can read or download the full social statement from this link: Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope and Justice.

April 26, 2026, 4th Sunday of Easter
10 a.m. Sunday Worship

Announcements

Flowers April 19 & 24: Given by Julie Morris in celebration of the birthdays of her children Marla & Jeff, and granddaughter Lyric.

  • Fellowship: Join us after worship Sunday in the Fellowship Hall for coffee & conversation. All are welcome.
  • Wednesday Book Club: The Wednesday Book Club is focusing upon What if Jesus was Serious – A Visual Guide to the Teachings of Jesus We Love to Ignore. It meets at 10:30 a.m. each Wednesday in the Fellowship Hall. You can join at any time, so if you haven’t been able to attend before now, why not consider doing so.
  • Children’s Choir: Choir practice is at 3 p.m. each Sunday in the Fellowship Hall.
  • 5-Loaves Volunteers Needed: April 25 is our next 5-Loaves meal delivery day. If you can help with deliveries beginning about 9:30 a.m. next Saturday. We also need some volunteers to help with meal preparation on Friday, April 24. If you can help either of these days, please let Norine Hazen, Terri Watson, or Jo Moss know
  • God’s Work Our Hands: Terri Watson our GWOH coordinator is continuing to match people who are able to provide outreach and support to members of our congregation who need assistance – rides, errands, support. Talk to Terri to see how you can help. More information and sign-up sheets are in the Fellowship Hall.
  • Time of Prayer and Coffee: We are invited to join our siblings in Christ from the Methodist church for a time of prayer and coffee at 10:30 a.m. each Thursday at Kangaroo Coffee -in the Marketplace on Commercial Street.
  • We’re Here for You: For pastoral care, call Zion’s at 719-846-7785 or send an email: zionsluth@gmail.com

Save the Date

  • Bad Faith Film & Discussion: Our follow-up discussion of the movie Bad Faith, which we viewed April 16 at the Methodist Church, will begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 30. Light snacks will be provided. If you did not get to view the film, it is available on both Tubi and Prime Video. We look forward to you being part of our discussion.
  • Zion’s Camp Out: Mark your calendars! We have reserved the group camping area at Trinidad Lake State Park May 31 (Sunday) through Wednesday June 3. We are looking for people interested in leading activities and coordinating this adventure. Please see Pastor Lisa if you have suggestions.

E-formation

When in the early centuries of the church Christians first began to draw pictures of Jesus, they depicted him as the good shepherd. This coming Sunday we hear part of John 10, a chapter that elaborates on the image of Jesus as the shepherd. Come to worship and join the rest of the sheep to honor our shepherd.

John 10:1-10
The evangelist John used the narrative in chapter 9 of the man born blind, who has heard the word of Christ and come to faith, to describe his own community. Most of chapter 10 is a Johannine discourse elucidating the miraculous sign of the healing of the blind man. Relying on the traditional nomadic metaphor of the leader as shepherd, John described the risen Christ as the shepherd of the flock and as the gate to safe enclosure in the church. The evangelist seems confident that the gatekeepers of his community understood the death and resurrection of Christ better than did others.

Acts 2:42-47
Luke wrote that nurtured by apostolic teaching, the wonders apostles performed, and the weekly meal, the baptized community became so bound to Christ that it formed a communitarian unit. Although early Christians were indeed known for their care for the poor, scholars have found no evidence that any such Christian communal economy existed in the first century. Even narratives later in Acts show Luke’s idyllic description to be an exaggeration. More than accurate historical reporting, Luke used the description to suggest the goal for the resurrection community.

1 Peter 2:19-25
First Peter assumed a slave culture. Chapter 2:18 urged slaves to accept their lot. The following verses were addressed primarily to slaves, who suffer unjustly and so were likened to Christ. By verse 25, the “you” has been broadened to include all believers who (see the Greek of verse 16) are slaves of God.

Zion's Lutheran Church

zionsluth@gmail.com

719-846-7785