Church Update:
Our church service begins at 10:30 AM and Sunday School begins at 9:15 AM. Worship services will be filmed and live-streamed on Facebook.
Welcome to Zion’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of Perry Township.
We hope that you find this site to be helpful in learning about our church, activities, and committees. Visitors and new members alike are always welcome at Zion’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Sunday Services – 10:30 am
Sunday School – 9:15 am
(No Summer Sunday School June – Aug)
Zion’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
Where there’s always something exciting happening.
Letter from Pastor Stephanie:
As I am writing this message it seems unreal that Thanksgiving is coming up so soon. Although, when I walked
into a store the last week of October, I almost panicked. The Christmas displays were being set-up. I had to
check my calendar as I thought I had blinked and missed several weeks of my life. No, it was truly still October.
I wondered why we are in such a big hurry to zoom from Halloween to Christmas.
For many of us, the approach of Thanksgiving brings with it a lot of extra work. Thanksgiving might mean
picking up guests from the airports, car rides, huge meals, family gatherings (maybe more than one gathering)
food shopping, cooking, cleaning up and then, planning for Christmas. The list of things to do seems endless.
Sometimes the “busy-ness” of our holidays and our lives is unavoidable. However, we should not carry the
burden of unrelenting “busy-ness” in our hearts and allow it to weigh us down.
During this time of year, especially as we prepare for Advent, we should think about the story of Mary and
Martha. You may remember, Martha was running around preoccupied with all her busy preparations while Mary
was sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to Him. Jesus told Martha that it was Mary who had chosen what is best
(Luke 10:38-42).
We all know that we will undoubtedly have busy moments in our lives. That is normal. However, as Christians,
we do not have to allow the busy moments to take our focus away from Christ. As we move toward Advent and
Christmas, let’s not forget the reason for these celebrations; our Lord is coming to do great things for us!
Like Martha, it can be so easy for us to get wrapped up in OUR plans, and all the work WE have to do to get
ready for our secular celebrations. Sometimes we can completely lose focus on what this time of year is all
about for Christians. Our thoughts should be centered on Jesus who has done so much for us. Let’s remember to
slow down and take time during Advent to contemplate and prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas.
As we begin our preparations for Christmas, may we pause to reflect on the preparations God made for us in the
suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus and give thanks for the gift that God has given to us in the
promise of eternal life.
May we find peace in the Advent season as we prepare to celebrate to birth of the Christ child, the greatest gift
of all.
Advent and Christmas blessings,
Pastor Stephanie