The News of Zion
Love God
Love People
~Luke 10:27
November 17, 2020
Musings ~ Where did the disciples start??

 The Gospel of Mark is the oldest gospel. In fact, two of the other three gospels are based in large part on what is written in the Gospel of Mark. The gospel itself reads  almost like an action movie. Things move fast and there are few breaks in the action. One such scene is found at the very beginning on chapter one where it says,

16 As Jesus passed alongside the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon and Andrew, throwing fishing nets into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.” 18 Right away, they left their nets and followed him. 19 After going a little farther, he saw James and John, Zebedee’s sons, in their boat repairing the fishing nets. 20 At that very moment he called them. They followed him, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers.

    Notice the reactions of the future disciples. They have heard of and likely heard Jesus preach before this. They were no strangers to the message, but they had not yet committed themselves. In that moment, something clicked. Something changed and the four men—three of whom would end up being Jesus’ closest companions—made their decision. They walked away from steady work and family businesses to become disciples.
     A disciple, as they understood it in the first century, was someone completely and totally devoted to the teaching of a great teacher or philosopher. An example would be Socrates whose disciples—Plato, Xenophon, Antisthenes, Aristippus, Euclid of Megara, Phaedo of Elis—continued his teachings, even going so far to record what their master did not. Quite often, these disciples would forsake everything they had simply to live with or follow the teach wherever they went. When we look at the lives of Jesus’ disciples, we see this method exemplified. Jesus’ followers went where he went, ate what he ate, lived as he lived. Why?
 
To learn from the master.
    Step one: learn from the master. If we wish to be disciples, living into the Way of Jesus we have to know the way of Jesus. How do we know it? Read the gospels. And then, read the gospels, and then, read the gospels. But don’t just read words and assume they mean what we think they mean here and now in our time and place. Find books, writings, teachers, and others who can help you understand what they understood when they heard or read the gospels as they were written. We need to immerse ourselves in the world of Jesus, its culture, its history, its worldview. Then and only then will we begin to understand the teachings as they understood them.
To help, I’ll list some resources here. You can find these on Amazon if no where else.
Social Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels—Bruce J. Molina and Richard Rohrbaugh
Social Science Commentary on the Gospel of John—Bruce J. Molina and Richard Rohrbaugh
Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes—E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien
Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes—Kenneth E. Bailey
The Roman Empire—Paul Veyne
What is the Bible?—Rob Bell
    Remember, this is the starting place for our journey. Don’t feel like you have to get it all in at once. Take a few steps in this direction and get your feet under you. May the Holy Spirit be your guiding hand.
 
Pastor Michael
We will continue worship services socially distanced in the sanctuary at 11:00am. We will continue with the service in the same way we have been worshiping but we will be moving out of the Thompson Family Life Center. The children will begin having activities in the Life Center at the same time, also socially distanced. We will be using a format like Lancaster County Schools.
  • Children will be dropped off at the front door entrance of the Family Life Center to be assessed.
  • Children will have their temperature checked as they enter and any child with a temperature above 100.4 or with any cold or flu like symptoms will need to stay home
  • Children will be socially distanced during activities
  • Children will be required to wear a mask
  • Parents must wait until their children are cleared before the parents leave
Youth will also be meeting at the same time but in the fellowship hall.
  • Youth will wait outside the fellowship hall door until they can be assessed
  • Youth will have their temperature checked as they enter and any student with a temperature above 100.4 or with any cold or flu like symptoms will need to stay home
  • Youth will be socially distanced during activities
  • Youth will be required to wear a mask
We look forward to the opportunity to see everyone joining us for worship and activities on Sunday morning. We hope to have a great and safe time worshiping together.
The Chancel flowers will be placed in the sanctuary this Sunday, November 22 to the glory of God and in loving memory of Pete Evans and Pat Barton by Suzanne Evans
Our Children’s and Youth groups continue to meet on Sundays at 11:00 am. We hope that your youth or children can come out and participate and this will allow parents the time to attend in-person worship. Our appreciation to our youth and children’s leaders for volunteering for this outreach!
Morning Walking Club: Our weekday morning walking group has resumed meeting in the life center Monday through
Friday at 8:00 AM. Church members are welcome to come out and enjoy getting in some exercise out of the elements and in a secure location!
Toys for Tots!! Faith Sunday School class will again be sponsoring the collection of toys for children this Christmas. Donations of toys need to be delivered to the church by Sunday, December 6. Please place your donations in the church vestibule. For toy suggestions, please contact Dianne Sweatt at 803-804-1602.
November is our month to
support HOPE in Lancaster with donations of food for those less fortunate. Particular needs in November are: green beans, peanut butter, canned beef stew, canned tuna, canned pasta, and dry pasta noodles. Please place your contributions in the collection box in the vestibule and they will be picked up and taken to HOPE weekly. Thank you for your continued support of this wonderful outreach for our community!!
As Advent gets closer, we wanted everyone to know that we do plan to decorate the sanctuary for Christmas. Our
Chrismon tree will be delivered and set up by Wednesday, November 25 and we will be decorating the tree that
afternoon beginning at 5:30 pm. Your help is needed and very much appreciated! Poinsettias will also be placed in the sanctuary to the glory of God and in honor and in memory of loved ones on December 13 and 20. If you would like to place a poinsettia, please bring same and place in the church December 13. Please let the church office know how you would like these placed by leaving a message on the church answering machine, calling Missy at 803-804-2434 or emailing the information to zionumc@comporium.net.
Please remember the following with a card or call or over the holiday season:
 
· Ovedia Griffin, 1939 Zion Road, Lancaster, SC 29720
· Catherine Hammond, 369 Sunnybrook Ln, Lancaster, SC 29720
· Jewel McAteer, Somberby of Mt. Pleasant, 3100  Tradition Circle, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29466
· Marie Moree, 1815 Whitaker Road, Lancaster, SC 29720
· Laura Plyler, 1713 Hillside Drive, Lancaster, SC 29720
· Kathleen Robinson, White Oak Manor Room 208B, 253 Craig Manor Road, Lancaster, SC 29720
· Frances Robinson, 1288 Potter Road, Lancaster, SC 29720
· Bonnie Sears, 412 Shiloh Unity Road, Lancaster, SC 29720
· Eva Small, 1483 Old Pardue Road, Lancaster, SC 29720
· Evelyn Steele, 1814 Zion Road, Lancaster, SC 29720
· Myrtle Walker, 2018 Zion Road, Lancaster, SC 29720
Pastor Michael continues to offer morning prayer and Bible study. Join us each morning at 7:00 AM for Prayer and meditation. Join us, also on Thursdays at 12:00 Noon for Bible Study. Pastor Michael is hosting these from our Facebook page. If you are unable to log in LIVE, these offerings remain available for viewing after on our website and FB page.
Shoeboxes for Seniors
Lancaster County Council on Aging is sponsoring the collection of shoebox gifts for Lancaster county senior citizens. Deadline for the gifts is Sunday, November 29. These have to be delivered by Tuesday, December 1. Late donations will not be accepted as the gifts have to be “quarantined for two weeks” before they can be delivered to area senior citizens who’s health may be vulnerable. 
Suggested items for shoeboxes: sweater scarf, gloves, non slip socks, small blanket or throw, lotion, shampoo,
Vaseline, toothpaste, toothbrush, Efferdent/Fixodent,
chapstick, towel, washcloth, bath soap, dryer sheets, small bottle washing detergent, dishwashing detergent, Kleenex, paper towels, toilet paper, cookies, sugar-free candy, microwave popcorn, fruit cups or pudding, claw/reacher/grabber, 2021 calendar, crossword puzzle book, word search puzzle book, puzzles (100 piece or less), envelopes, ink pens/pencils, cards for seniors to send to other (Get Well, Sympathy, Birthday). Please place your contributions in the vestibule collection box. Thank you!!
While the church office remains closed, you are encouraged to reach out if you have a need or know of a need. You may call Pastor Michael at 1-859-475-8800, call the church office, 285-3864 and leave a message, call Missy at 804-2434 or email lmjarrell@umcsc.org or zionumc@comporium.net; these emails are being monitored daily. The answering machine will also be checked daily. During these times, we ask everyone to pray together for each other, our church family, our community, our country, and our world.
Please remember these in prayer:
Nancy Ackerman
Angela Bailey
Francis Bell
Phillip Bell
Sue Catoe
Carol Cauthen
Angie Dobson
John Elder
Mike Gay
Catherine Hammond
JoAnn Hinson
Rick Joyner
Bill McCorkle
Kevin McCorkle
Marie Moree
Ann Powers
Kathleen Robinson
John Rollins
Virginia Rollins
Bonnie Sears
Eva Small
Greg Smith
JoAnne Smith
Billy Sowell
Robbie Stepp
Matthew Sweatt
Pat Vick
Myrtle Walker
Donna Walters
Ellen Walters
Kim Yost
Our President and Troops
Those affected by the COVID virus

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We remain in prayer for all who have needs! We have went through the prayer list and updated this to reflect those that we know who are still in need of prayer.  If you have ones that you would like to have added back to the list, please contact Missy at 803-804-2434 or at zionumc@comporium.net  With no recent updates on some folks and not knowing how the requests had been placed, we felt that updating the list at this time was best. We welcome your prayer requests!
Even as we offer in-person worship, our services will still be made available online on our Facebook page. Log in to our Zion United Methodist Church Facebook page this Sunday for our service if you are unable to make it to church!! The service will also be available on our website at www.zionumc.com
Current Upper Room Daily Devotionals are available for pick up at the church! We will place some of these in the church vestibule on the table and some in the plastic communication box outside of the life center doors where the buses are for those who do not attend worship or have access to the church for you to pick up. There are large and regular print copies available.
November 19: Peggy (Mrs. Jackie) Knight
November 20: Andy Knox
November 23: Drew Sims, Mr. and Mrs. Harris Plyler
November 24: Wendy VanDyke
Special Gifts to Zion Church
In Honor of:
Marcene Plyler by Frances Parris

Special Gifts to the Building Fund
In Honor of:
Mychal's birthday November 16, 2020 by Allyssa Waters
The Record Speaks....
November 15, 2020

Present for Worship: 48
Needed each week for the General Fund $4,360
Received for General Fund $2,665
Received for Building Fund $10
Received for Needy Fund $20

There are many options available to give to the continuing ministry and outreach of Zion UMC. You may drop your offering in the offering plate as you arrive or leave worship service on Sundays, give through the website www.zionumc.com through Paypal, text your giving to 803-525-1834 and follow the secure link, or if you are not comfortable attending worship at this time and do not wish to give online, you may drop your offering in the mail to Zion UMC at 1665 Zion Road, Lancaster, SC 29720 or drop off in the mail drop box that is located beside the double doors where the buses are. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Missy at 804-2434 or leave a message at the church office, 285-3864 and your call will be returned. Thank you for your continued support of the Mission that is Zion!!

"...because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to."
Deuteronomy 15:10,,
803-285-3864 - www.zionumc.com