There are things we can do to help our kids love the nations and the cause of Christ, even though a heart and calling for the Great Commission is ultimately something only God can grant. Here are a few ideas:

 

1. Pray for missionaries as a family. At the dinner table, we pass around the names and places where they serve and rotate through them during mealtime prayers.

 

2. Read missionary biographies to your children. The stories of Hudson Taylor, Adoniram Judson, William Carey, Gladys Aylward, and other missionary pioneers are captivating ways to orient a child's heart on the most important things in life.

 

3. Draw the whole family into supporting missionaries financially. Teach your kids from a young age that being a good steward of their money involves channeling resources toward the cause of Christ in missions. Older kids can donate some of the money earned from mowing lawns or babysitting. Younger children can set aside money earned doing chores around the house for missionaries.

 

4. Find your child a missionary- kid pen pal. Many children of missionaries would be delighted to get mail from a child their age of another culture. Your child, as well as the whole family, will learn valuable insights about living abroad through the eyes of a child. Also, when the missionaries visit your church, your child will already have a relationship with their pen pal and will be able to include them more easily.

 

5. Take risks as a family. There are ways to live life which would help children grasp the reality that discomfort and suffering are normal and rewarding parts of the Christian experience. Some things you may consider are; volunteer at a rescue mission, house a single mother, or move to the inner-city.

 

6. Affirm and nurture qualities in your children that could serve them on the mission field. As your children grow in knowledge and skill, encourage them to think about how they could use their gifts in missions work. Then, if God says "go," release them to go!

 

7. Teach your children to be world Christians. Don't expose them only to the American perspective on news and realities around the world. Go out of your way to make them more aware than the average American Christian about geography, world history, and the plight and perspectives of people across the globe.

 

8. Read missionary prayer letters to your children. Ask them questions about the content and look up facts about the missionaries' location on the Internet.

 

9. Use missions fact books and resources such as Operation World, the Global Prayer Digest, the Joshua Project, and Voice of the Martyrs (VOM). Kids of Courage is the youth-oriented arm of VOM and offers activity books, spotlights on the persecuted world, and more. 

 

Authentic worship is a lot easier said than done. Although it may be somewhat convenient for us to worship God for a few hours on Sunday mornings, we all have experienced the challenge of living a life of worship throughout our daily lives. Yet true worship is just that.

God commands us not only to love Him, but also to love others. When we consider what true worship requires us to do, we begin to take the focus off ourselves and point it toward Christ. It is then that we start to see why loving others is foundational to a life of worship. Let us be a church that responds to the needs of others, living out a life of true worship and, in turn, glorifying our Heavenly Father.

We all are born with an innate need for connection and community. The concept of community has many applications in our culture. We live in a community, we are a community of believers, and we are also part of a world community. 

 

Other kinds of community exist as well. They are the communities within Zion: Interest, Support, Spiritual Growth and Home Groups. As leaders, we can work toward developing these in a variety of ways. One example is by coming together with our members and working on missions projects. 

 

Consider introducing the concept, brainstorming together and coming up with a plan, or join an effort that is already established. Your community will become richer and the kingdom of God will be furthered!

 

 

Connect Groups comprise Interest, Spiritual Growth, Support, and Home Groups. For more information on all Connect Groups, check us out 'in the lobby today,' on our website at www.ziononline.com or call Cheryl at 723-1216.

 

The Financial and Elder Board of Zion set a weekly budget for this fiscal year of $10,600.  Having completed three quarters of the year, we averaged $9,086 per week, yet, God has blessed your giving to help us to this point with a possitive cash flow.  Zion has ended the third quarter in the black by $7,797.00.  This means our ministries are spending less than budgeted.

 

With God's continued enablement and your faithfulness, we pray God's blessing on you so that we will reach out goal of $10,600.

 

If you have a testimony of how God has blessed you through your giving, please email it to me.  We would love to share with the congregation how God is working through our families and their finances. 

 

Young at Heart is back in full swing on Thursday mornings from 10:30 am until 12 Noon. 

 

We have begun studying the series "People of the Covenant." which depicts God's wonderful involvement with His children in both Old and New Testament settings. Of course, a covenant is a contract and it takes at least two to form one. We invite you to come and see how God fulfills His part of the contract and how we are expected and instructed to fulfill our part.

 

While Young at Heart started out as an avenue of involvement for senior citizens, it now includes and welcomes folks of all ages.

 

If you are free on Thursday mornings, come join us! The last Thursday of the month is always Pot Luck Lunch at 11:30 am.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Rudy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Families Connecting with Families
Lunch in the Park
Sunday, February 21st at Noon
For more info contact Cliff at  728-2222