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Hello, Lisa Rygiel here with this week’s e-formation. 

Yesterday in worship, our offering song was one that I just love.  It was entitled We Are an Offering.  The words are simple but every time I hear it, I just want to raise my hands to God and say take me, I am yours! 

Why does Romans 12:1 tell us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices?  God doesn’t need us to sacrifice for Him.  Jesus offered Himself as a one-time, for all time, single sacrifice and atoned for our sin.  There is nothing we can add to this.  The only thing to "do" is to believe and trust in Him. He does, however, give us the opportunity to sacrifice as a “living” way to express our love and gratitude for all He has done.

Think about the sacrifices we make in our daily lives.  Are you the Mom who eats the burnt piece of toast or settles for the chicken wing?  Maybe you are the hostess who goes all out putting together a meal for fellowship.  Maybe you are a teacher staying late to help a student who is behind in their work.  Maybe you mow a neighbor’s grass after they had surgery.  

We frequently make sacrifices of our time, money, and energy to show our love and care for others.  We turn our love and care into God’s Work Our Hands. 

Paul says because of Christ, we no longer have to bring a sacrifice, we become one. We’re not a burnt offering as offered up in ancient times, we are a living one! We come before God and offer ourselves in gratitude and thanksgiving.  We offer all the parts of our bodies — eyes, ears, lips, hands, feet, heart, mind, etc. — in service to Him and doing His will.  God NEEDS nothing from us, but we express our love for Him through our living sacrifices.  How will you sacrifice yourselves this week?

If you missed service yesterday or would just like to hear a beautiful rendering of, We Are an Offering by Chris Christian click on the link.  And it is ok to lift your hands to God and say take me, I am yours!

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.”  Romans 12:1:

Announcements:

This week (other meetings/gatherings will be taking place as well but here are some things to note):

Sunday, July 24, 7th Sunday after Pentecost

  • 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning Bible study

We are studying "The Wesley Challenge".  This is a study intended to develop our spiritual lives and help us become more deeply committed Christians…

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/907628370?pwd=eFVCTEVhb0xqMXcxY2xaUG5JMUZEdz09 Or Dial 1 312 626 6799 Meeting ID: 907 628 370  Passcode: 332397.

  • 10 a.m. Worship with Holy Communion

Please join us, either in person OR via ZOOM ('hybrid' worship). If you will be worshiping via Zoom, log on or call in using these links: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/91739214242?pwd=b1QrZzk0QzBtM1RXZnZuaVFVMDNmZz09 -- or Dial: 1 301 715 8592 -- Meeting ID: 917 3921 4242 -- Password: 731771. For those of you who will be worshiping in person, masks will now be at the discretion of each individual. We continue to be mindful of all the different ways people are compromised that may not be known and so please continue to practice healthy community habits such as staying home when you are sick etc.

Worship leader: Pastor Kate Schlechter;

Assistant: Lisa Rygiel;

Organist: Connie Pallone;

Ushering: Joni Jones and Becky McNeil

Reading: Joni Jones

Communion prep/cleanup: Pierce Family

Flowers: Donated by Andrea in honor of her & Paul’s wedding anniversary

  • Fellowship time at approximately 11:15 a.m. to share a cup of coffee/soda and conversation!
  • Bread and Belonging on summer hiatus.

Other important stuff of note:

  • It's garage sale time on Saturday, Aug. 6, in the Fellowship Hall. We need people to help with the sale, to donate, and to shop. Please let Julie Wersal know if you can help. Bring your donations beginning July 26.
  • We are looking to add members to the security committee!  These volunteers would monitor the sanctuary door and check that doors in the fellowship hall are locked during services and after everyone has left.  Please see Jeff Smith or any member of the council if you would be interested. 
  • Women's Bible Study:  The Women's Bible Study continues a series on the Psalms. The next session will be held Friday, July 22 at 9:30. am.  We will meet in person in the fellowship hall downstairs and will also be on Zoom. Any questions can be directed to Becky McNeil or Carol Smith.  All are welcome! To Join Zoom Meeting:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83136424723?pwd=TkxsQVllMmo2bVlSekN0dGZqbzF1Zz09  Meeting ID: 831 3642 4723  Passcode: 865505 (or call in 1-312-626-6799).
  • The flower ministry blesses our worship space, and they bring such joy to our sanctuary.  Please coordinate with Lynn Chase to sponsor the flowers.
  • Prayer Shawl Ministry:  Are you interested in knitting one/some to share?  Join the knitters who bless so many. 
  • If you wish to receive a link to last Sunday’s sermon, please get in touch with Jo Moss.

E-formation

This coming Sunday the gospel reading includes one early version of the Lord’s Prayer. Come to worship. Join with the assembly in this beloved prayer, and be nurtured at the table, where God feeds us, like children, good food.

The Readings in the Bible

Luke 11:1-13

Writing perhaps a decade after Matthew, also Luke includes what is called “the Lord’s Prayer,” but his version is different enough from Matthew’s to indicate a different liturgical tradition. Aramaic scholars compare it to a first-century rhyming synagogue prayer. Luke’s address to “Father” is closer to Paul’s “Abba” than Matthew’s “our Father in heaven.” The kingdom of God is found wherever God’s will is done: thus Matthew’s “you will be done” is assumed into Luke’s “your kingdom come.” 

This petition and the last ask for preparedness for the eschatological end time, while Luke’s “each day” is a petition for this time and place. Only Luke follows the prayer with illustrative parables that ask for food. The first parable assumes an entire family sleeping on one mat. What the NRSV renders “persistence” could be shamelessness, being unashamed to keep asking: the KJV had “importunity,” to ask repeatedly to an annoying degree. The second parable invokes the relationship between child and parent. Reference to the coming of the Holy Spirit is typical of Luke.

Genesis 18:20-32

The stories of Abraham are a compilation of several traditions, which account for example for the doublets. The Yahwist story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, urban centers starkly contrasted with Abraham’s tent-dwelling, presents God in anthropomorphic ways, soliloquizing, going to check out the cities and debating with Abraham the justice of divine punishment, which is an on-going issue in the Hebrew Scriptures. Ancient Israel would support the idea of collective punishment. Ten is the number of Jewish males required for public prayer. The story indicates that the chosen people can converse with, and even bargain with, the Lord.

Colossians 2:6-15

Contrary to what the Christians in Colossae are being told, that extraordinary spiritual experience is necessary for salvation (see v. 8, “elemental spirits of the universe,” and v. 18, about angels and visions), the author, Paul or one of his disciples, confirms the community in its baptism. Baptism has replaced the physical sign of circumcision by symbolically incorporating believers into the death and resurrection of Christ. 

The effect of the resurrection has already occurred by giving new life to the body, of which Christ is the head. That they “have received Christ Jesus the Lord” may refer to the baptismal creed, that Jesus is Messiah and Lord. Verse 15 suggests a Roman triumphal military procession. The optional verses repeat the Pauline dismissal of Jewish religious regulations, thanks to the all-sufficient work of Christ.

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Zion's Lutheran Church

zionsluth@gmail.com

719-846-7785