This confirms what many have asserted and believed from the beginning that the word of God in the Bible has a kind of self  authenticating power all its own.  That understanding is what drives us at Zion back to the Bible.  We study the Bible in different settings---small groups, children’s ministries, confirmation, pastor’s classes, women’s circles, and ministry teams.  We always base our preaching on the word in the Bible, but as Zion partners know we actually focus on one or more specific books of the Bible for four or more months at the beginning of every year.  We have done this because our mission is to make disciples and growth disciples. The means of course to help both seekers and Zion partners to grow spiritually and we have always believed the Bible is the best means to growth for any person.  It is good to have that confidence in the Bible confirmed in an empirical way by this new research.

Actually research on Christians and belief has long pointed to the Bible.  More than a decade ago Barna reported on the reasons why adults read the Bible:  For spiritual direction and guidance, 81%; To feel closer to God, 73%; For principles and guidelines for life, 71%; Because it is interesting, 66%; Because it is enjoyable, 59%; Because Christians are supposed to, 39%.  These results certainly point toward the fact that people instinctively know or have experienced the Bible as the best resource for spiritual growth.

It is hard to reframe our thinking to that of servants, because almost everywhere else in our society we are taught that we are the customer and the customer always knows best.  One way to reframe our thinking is to approach our service to the church as if we were part of a team.  On any team there are different functions and different roles to be played.  We can’t all play the same positions, and we can’t all call the plays.  If a team tired to play a game by some sort of consensus of the players it would not go very well, because there would be tension between the players when there should be cooperation and coordination. If everyone is focused on their individual goals, no one is focused on the one big goal of the whole team.

Teams do best when the coach calls the plays.  It is important for all the members of the team to know the plays and especially know their individual roles. When each team member carries out his or her function or assignment then the play goes off well. 

If you have ever played on a team there is real satisfaction and even exhilaration being a part of a team.  That excitement comes from doing your part and knowing that you can count on the other members of the team to do their part too.  When you are part of a team you don’t feel that you have to call all the plays or any of the plays.  You are just happy to be a part of a winning team---to be a part of something bigger than yourself.  When we focus on our identity as servants we are less preoccupied with our own needs and wants and much more focused on what God wants and expects of us.  When that happens we are much more likely to give glory to God.    

It is a good idea to get input from the congregation when you are setting goals and doing planning.   We have done that many times here at Zion.  Most congregations do.  But there are dangers in using that kind of information that we should always be cautious about.  Surveys often give parishioners the sense that they are the customer, that the congregation exists to serve their needs, tastes, and wants.  This is because usually in marketing surveys it is the customers whose needs, tastes, and wants are collected.  Because the business seeks to know what the customer wants or needs and then tries to supply it better than any other company.  That is how you become successful and make money in business. 

But the church has a different organizational plan.  This is Christ’s church not the people’s church.  The members of the church are not the customers---God is the customer!  Those of us who belong to the Church are the workers and if we want to please our customer and succeed as a church we will want to find out what God wants. 

Surveys can help us better understand where we are at as members of the church.  They can help us assess our spiritual weaknesses and blind spots.  They can be useful in helping us as a church develop appropriate strategies to get us from where we are to where we should be and where God wants us.  But they can actually turn us away from God if we use them to set direction or mission.  The true direction and mission of the Church is not a matter of what gets the most votes on a survey, but rather what gets the one vote from God that really matters.    

It is important when we consider these questions that we draw a distinction between publically affirming our faith and defending it if necessary, and aggressively trying to force it on others.  Nowadays it seems that if you even go so far as to publically declare or affirm your beliefs someone will accuse you of being overly zealous or radical.  Those same people will aggressively assert their political views and try to force them on others, but consider even a statement of faith to be too aggressive.  As believers we should not be intimidated by those tactics.

                Later in June we will also welcome Jonathan and Rocio Mikes.  They are missionaries with Latin American Mission another Zion mission partner that plants churches in Mexico providing spiritual, emotional, and physical rescue for the lost and at risk.  Mikes is pastor at the church La Fuente in Coyoacan, Mexico City.  We will be able to hear the story of his ministry in Mexico, meet his family, and show our support.

                Zion is now a member congregation of Lutheran Churches in Mission for Christ (LCMC).  In August Mark VanderTuig the program director for LCMC will be will us.  He will bring the weekend message, answer questions and talk about the work and phenomenal growth of LCMC.  If you have wanted to know more about our new affiliation, its work, and structure be sure to be with us the first weekend in August.

                While the pastors celebrate at communion (that is lead the worship during the consecration of the bread and wine) we usually use lay leaders to help with the distribution of the elements.  We do this for several reasons.  First, the pastors are primarily responsible so see that we follow a good order of worship.  Second, in very large gatherings (like for example in the park) we are able to accommodate more worshippers and allow them to commune in a timely and dignified way.  But even at smaller services we normally use lay leaders to distribute the elements so that the pastors are free to pray with individual partners.   In a large congregation like Zion the opportunities for the pastors to have personal and individual prayers with partners are limited so this provides an opportunity for that more personal connection.  Many Zion partners use this opportunity and have expressed appreciation for being able to enter into personal prayer with one of the pastors.

                The words of institution are a description of the events at the original last supper given by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-25, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “this cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’”   We frequently use these words as a part of the communion service as a convention.  But it would be wrong to somehow conclude that it is the speaking of these words that consecrates or converts the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus.  This miraculous act is not done by words or incantations, but rather is the direct work of the Holy Spirit.  In the small catechism Luther makes the specific point that the only words that are really crucial to communion are “for you” and “for the forgiveness of sin”.  He says that the eating of the bread and the drinking of the wine together with these words are “the chief thing in the sacrament, and he who believes these words has what they say and declare; the forgiveness of sins.”  In the large catechism Luther explains further that the validity of the sacrament does not rest on a particular way of performing it.  In other words the human part of the sacrament whether spoken or some action taken is not the crucial element, but rather the presence and work of the Holy Spirit.   

While the congregation is worshipping the pastors often review their messages and go over them one last time so they can deliver the message most effectively.  The pastors also spend time in prayer before every message.  Not in frequently they use Luther’s vestry prayer which is posted in our vestry (where the pastors dress and prepare for the service).

Lord God, you have made me a pastor and teacher in the Church.  You see how

     unfit I am to administer rightly this great and responsible office; and had I been

     without Your aid and counsel I would surely have ruined it all long ago.  Therefore,

     do I invoke You.  How gladly do I desire to yield and consecrate my heart and

     mouth to this ministry.  I desire to teach the congregation.  I, too desire ever to

     learn and keep Your Word my constant companion and to meditate there upon

     earnestly.  Use me as Your instrument in Your service.  Only do not forsake me,

     for if I am left to myself, I will certainly bring it all to destruction.  Amen    

            This prayer is a powerful reminder to all pastors of their great responsibility and dependence on God to fulfill it.  Pastor’s all realize they are not worthy or fit for their high calling.  This is why most pastors use whatever opportunity they have to prepare their hearts and minds and pray to God before the message.  Luther’s prayer is a reminder of the long heritage and tradition in which pastors stand and their obligation to deliver God’s word as He intends it to be given to the people.  

All that being said we try to make worship meaningful to a broad spectrum of Zion partners and would be partners.  This is why we have for many years offered different styles of worship that connect with people from the traditional to the contemporary and in between.  Sometimes people suggest that the way to reach a broad spectrum of worshippers is to blend the services and offer a little bit of something to each person in each service.   But congregations that have tried this have found that in the end those services do not reach or move anyone, because people always tend to focus on what they don’t like rather than what they do. 

We have found it is better to offer distinctly different services each geared to the needs of a specific group of people.  People come to worship with expectations and one strong message we have found is they do not like to be surprised, much less told they have to learn a certain piece of music or follow a certain liturgy because some feel it is for their own good.  At Zion if you come to the 8:00 traditional service you will not hear drums and guitars, and if you come to the 9:30 contemporary service you will not hear the organ.   We value both kinds of worship and rather than trying to homogenize them into one blended style we try to preserve them in the more pure and genuine version of that style.  We try to do traditional worship very well and invest in it with special traditional choral and Bell choir music.  By the same token we work hard to keep our contemporary services contemporary by using the best of contemporary music and trying to stay current with technology.