Job Transition Workshop

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans will be sponsoring a FREE Job Transition workshop at Zion on Tuesday, July 14.

Complete details including RSVP information can be found at changeyourstripes.net.  If that day or time does not work for you, alternate locations are listed here.

Do You Suffer From Chronic Lyme Disease?

Lyme Diseas Education

There will be a community film screening of Under Our Skin and forum on Lyme Disease at Zion on Sunday, June 7th from 1-4pm led by Zion member Cassie Smith.

Lyme disease is one of the fastest growing infectious diseases in the United States. Unfortunately, each year thousands remain undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

Join us to learn more about the many misconceptions regarding Lyme disease including its diagnosis, treatment and support options. All are welcome to this free event.

Contact Cassie with any questions about this event.

Zion Wellness Group

Have you ever wondered what God thinks of nutrition and health? We live in a world that is laden with disease, anxiety and worry. God, our creator has biblical words for us concerning these matters because God loves us so much. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with you body.”

Come for a fun evening on Wednesday, May 13th with Sarah Lea; a biblical health, nutrition and gardening teacher. We will gather at 6:30-8:00pm in Zion’s Library.

Sara and her husband Pastor Bob live on a hobby farm in Cokato. They are 95% sustainable with the crops and animals they raise on their farm. The crops they raise are heirloom plants. Sara speaks all over the country on this subject. Learn more at www.milkandhoneyfarm.com. Come listen to this amazing lady, there will be a love offering for Sarah to cover her expenses.

Please RSVP to Nancy Elam @ 612-581-0377.

Zion Day of Prayer

Please set aside about a half hour of your day on Wednesday, May 6, to come to the church and pray for our congregation.  The church will be open from 6am until 10pm to accommodate busy schedules.  Devotional materials will be provided.  If you cannot come to the church, the devotional guide will be availalble online and at the church before that date.

Zion Day of Prayer

Survivor Writing Workshop

Creative writing has been known to have a therapeutic effect on the healing process for survivors of sexual trauma.  For many survivors, writing in a group setting can create a comfortable, supportive atmosphere in which to explore themselves and the practie of writing.

The Central MN Sexual Assult Center is offering a series of group writing workshops for women survivors.

The group will meet at Zion on Tuesdays from 9:30-11:30am (June 16-21).
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i thank you God

i thank you God for most this amazing day:
for the leaping greenly spirit of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;
and for everything which is natural
which is infinite
which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any – lifted from the no
of all nothing – human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

e.e. cummings (1894-1963)

More on The Shack by William P Young

A conversation about this popular book will be take place at Zion in May.  More specific times and dates will be announced, but you can start the reading now!

Mackenzie Allen Philips’ youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment, he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack’s world forever.

You can read more about this book at Christianitytoday.com.

If you would like to listen to Chapter 1 as an audio book, check out this free download.

Changing Lanes on March 20

You may have missed “The Power of Forgiveness” on March 6, but you won’t want to miss “Changing Lanes” on March 20!

Join Pastor Chris for a movie and conversation about the theme of forgiveness woven through this movie.

There is no cost.  Popcorn and soda will be provided.  You are welcome to bring your own comfortable folding chair (such as a lawn chair) if you prefer that to the usual Trinity Hall chairs.

This movie is rated R and is for adults; there will also be childcare and a movie for children (Kung Fu Panda) shown in a separate room.

More information

China Connections at Luther Seminary

The China Connections event at Luther Seminary features:

  • Exhibit of Luther Seminary’s collection of Chinese clothing and artifacts from the mission field
  • Commentary by Luther Seminary Archivist Paul Daniels

The program at both events will be similar. You are invited to attend either or both.

April 25, 2009
Morning brunch and silent auction, 10 am: $25.00
Evening dinner and live auction, 5:30 pm: $40 per person or $75 for two

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1,573 and Counting

Library Cataloging Party

Library Cataloging Party

Today 11 volunteers worked at getting much of Zion’s library cataloged and online.  You can now browse over 1,500 of the library’s books at librarything.com from home or work as well as in the library on the computer provided and set up by the Zion Foundation.

Thanks to Donna, Beth, Cheryl, Amy, Charlene, Anita, Scott, Roxie, Chris, Mindy & Maurean; to our younger helpers: Kasenia, Meghan, Brynn, McKenna & Hanna; and to Thrivent Financial for Lutherans & the Zion Foundation.

Freed-Up Financial Living

March 14 from 1-5, and the following Monday evenings: March 16, 23, & 30 from 7-8:30 p.m.

The Freed-Up Financial Living curriculum “outlines biblical essentials on earning, giving, saving, spending and reducing debt, while providing practical tips to help participants achieve their own financial, personal, and spiritual goals.”

Sign up today for this series of classes on perhaps the most pertinent topic of our day.

A $15 suggested donation covers the cost of materials.

Weather Cancellation: Fireproof

Fireproof will not meet tonight due to the snowstorm . . .  see you next week :)

Have You Read “The Shack” by William P Young

One of the hottest reads around the country is “The Shack” by William P. Young. It is a novel about the grief and unanswered questions that a father has after the tragic death of his daughter. How God meets this man and speaks to him is quite unique.

A conversation about this book will be take place at Zion after Easter. More specific times and dates will be announced, but you can start the reading now!

In keeping with our Lenten theme of Forgiveness, Pastor Chris Also Suggests

Freed-Up Financial Living

Learning to manage our financial resources with a biblical perspective: March 14 from 1-5, and the following Monday evenings, March 16, 23, & 30 from 7-8:30 p.m.

Join Dave Wright and Mark Minkler for this workshop as we explore our relationship to money in a fun and non-threatening environment, and why that has such an incredible amount to do with our relationship to God. Sign up by March 8.

A $15 suggested donation covers the cost of materials.

Sign Up Here

Concerned About Money?

Who Isn’t?

Sign up for “Freed-Up Financial Living“, a ministry dedicated to managing our financial resources with biblical principles.

This four-session workshop will be offered Saturday, March 14 from 1-5, and the following Monday evenings, March 16, 23, & 30 from 7-8:30 p.m.

Explore with us the five financial areas of life: Earning, Giving, Saving, Debt, and Spending.

A $15 suggested donation covers the cost of materials.

Why Zion Uses Facebook

What is Facebook?

Facebook is a free social networking website that is popular with many Zion members and allows them to communicate with their friends and exchange information. Anyone can a profile and build a list friends that might include family, neighbors, or people from their past. Once you are friends you can send messages in a variety of ways including instant chat, share photos and links, play online games, and more.

How Zion Uses Facebook

Facebook is one more tool that Zion staff use for communication. Staff use features like event listings and messaging for communication with members. Staff and members alike are learning to use groups, tagged photos, movie reviews, and chat to keep in touch with each other during the week.
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What We Learned at Bridgebuilder

On Saturday, January 10, about 150 members came together to learn about the forces that help or hinder a congregation.s ministry to the community, to learn how to strengthen Zion by naming issues that can be addressed through intentional conversation, and to focus energy on healthy relationship building and mission activity.

A congregation is an emotional system: a group of individuals who, by virtue of time spent together, have become involved in meaningful relationships. Whenever people come together and interact, there are emotions that can be amplified as they are passed back and forth between people, often influenced by behavioral triggers, situational responses, or setting specific reactions.

The basic emotion experienced in relationships Read the rest of this entry »

Good $ense Coming to Zion

budgetcourseexp_000Economic troubles seem to be the only message we hear about money today. Good $ense strives to give us the tools to become financially free and honor God.

Participants are taught biblical principles related to money and trained in budgeting tools that integrate the biblical principles into their day-to-day financial life.

Good $ense is a financial stewardship ministry with a curriculum supplied by Willow Creek Church and based locally at Zion Lutheran Church in Buffalo. It supports the pastor in the often difficult ministry of encouraging the congregation to honor God with their money and possessions. In the process, money is removed as a rival god and as a barrier to spiritual growth – we call it transformational stewardship.

“This program is fantastic……….I can’t wait to begin helping people find their way out of debt and into a lifestyle of financial freedom and productivity.  This is SO exciting!”
Senior Pastor – Florida

The Stewardship Committee is currently planning to begin small group programs during Lent. More information, dates and times to come. Learn more about the program at: www.goodsenseministry.com

Buffalo Bible Institute Classes

Spring Classes at Buffalo Bible Institute include Ephesians: As A Jewish Marriage Contract, A Survey of Bible Doctrine, and Harmony of the Gospels.

A Positive Approach to Discipline

Corwin Kronenberg will be presenting “A Positive Approach to Discipline” on Tuesday April 21, 2009, 6:30 -8:30 pm,  at Monticello Middle School auditorium. The Courage to Care Council of Wright County (the child abuse prevention council) is sponsoring this FREE presentation. Mark your calendars to attend if possible because Corwin is a dynamic, humorous speaker who gives practical techniques, including:

  • Making Rules
  • Delivering Consequences
  • Avoiding Power Struggles
  • Disciplining vs Punishing
  • Understanding the Goals of Misbehavior
  • Recognizing the Behavior Con Games Kids Play

Contact Devonna Tierney, Courage to Care Council chairperson at 763.682.8780 with any questions.