Hilltop Headlines

8:00am:

Elders: Clay Knippa, Steve Muchow

Organist: Janet Meyer

Greeters: Audrey Bielss, Rosanne Capdeville

Offering Assistants: Dave Rowland, Rick Andersen

Hilltop Cafe: Carole Ann Foster

Donut Pickup: Cathy Botos

Golf Cart Driver: Dayton Simmons

Audio: Chad Mathews

Presentation: Brenda Schroeder

AV Tech Director: Cody Stephens

10:45am:

Elders: Gary Miller, Mark Breckenridge

Greeters/Offering Assistants: Lisa Barton, Connie Cockerell, Stephanie Zinsmeyer

Hilltop Cafe: Lindsey Rochner

Golf Cart Driver: Hans Keiling

Connections Coordinator: Josh Hobratsch

Audio: Jim Kelton

Presentation: Kathryn Klein

Camera: Preston Fischer

Offerings/Electronic Giving for this week:

Home $12,961.98; General $12,926.60; Annual Fund $3,244.76; Capital Improvements $990; Wurstbraten $20; Pam Hight Scholarship Fund $800; Learning Legacy Endowment $1,900; Capital Campaign $300.09

Attendance: 8am - 155; 10:45 - 267

10% of General Funds go to the following organizations: TX Dist LCMS, CHS Round Rock, Water Mission, Camp Lone Star, Brookwood in Georgetown, Faith in Action, Rev. John H. Kieschnick Endowment: $1,436.29

Dear Zion family –

Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you get to enjoy plenty of time with loved ones this week reflecting on all of God’s blessings in your life.

With the official kickoff of the holiday season upon us, we have a lot going on. Join us tonight for a special Thanksgiving Eve service at 6:30 pm in the sanctuary. We’ll sing some favorite Thanksgiving hymns and share in Communion. If you’d like to, you’ll be able to receive Communion at the rail near the altar. We’ll also offer Communion on the floor as usual.

Then, this Sunday, it’s the Sweet Sounds of Christmas! You’ll get to enjoy some jazz Christmas carols during worship, your kids will be able to decorate Christmas cookies between services during our Connection Hour, and during Bible class at 9:30 am, our pastors will be hosting an Ask Anything Bible class in the sanctuary. Bring whatever theological question you might have to class, and our pastors will respond to as many of them as possible. And remember, we still have our fantastic Bible class on the Apostles’ Creed going, also at 9:30 am, in the Parlor.

Next, on Wednesday, December 4 at 6:30 pm on the worship center lawn, we’ll light Zion’s 2024 Christmas tree! We’ll sing carols, have plenty of cookies, hot cocoa, and coffee, and you’ll be able to take a special family photo in front of the tree.

In worship this weekend, we’ll kick off a new series called “Gift Exchange.” Christmas has long been known as a time to exchange gifts with friends and family. But long before we exchanged gifts with others, God offered to exchange our heavy burdens for His joyful gifts. This weekend, we’ll talk about how God wants to take our worry and exchange it for His peace, looking at a famous story from Luke 1:26-37:

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; His kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

When the angel Gabriel first appears to Mary, her reflexive reaction is to be “troubled.” But Mary’s worry melts into peace – not because her life will be easy, but because she believes that God’s Word will not fail her. How can we experience Mary’s peace even when our lives become difficult and daunting? Find out this weekend in worship. We worship at 8 am in our beautiful historic sanctuary, at 10:45 am in our wonderful worship center, or online at zionwalburg.org.

Your pastors love you!

– Pastor Zach, Pastor Kevin & Pastor Kyle

Join us for a service to celebrate Thanksgiving and receive Communion on Wednesday, November 27 at 6:30 pm in our beautiful sanctuary. Come and give thanks to God for His blessings!

On Sunday, December 8 at 9:30 am in the sanctuary, Zion will hold a special voters’ meeting to approve the budget for 2025. Join us to hear about the exciting things we have in store for next year. Agenda is in the button below. Paper copies are in the Narthex and Lobby.

Help us celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas season by adding to Zion's Family Tree! We are asking each family to bring ONE ornament (unbreakable please) to decorate our Family Tree in the Lobby. Choose an ornament that represents your family in some special way. We will keep the ornaments and add to the Family Tree each year as Zion continues to grow. Thanks for participating in this fun Zion tradition!

2025 offering envelopes are on the tables in the entryway of the narthex. If you no longer use/need paper envelopes, please drop your box in the bin below the table so we don't reorder for next year. OR if you don't see a box and you'd like one assigned, please let the Church Office know 512-863-3065. Thank you!

We are thrilled to announce that our school's Gala is making its grand return for the 2025/2026 school year. This special event is not only a great fundraiser for our school, but a chance to bring everyone together for a memorable evening of fellowship and community.

How You Can Help!

We’re in the early stages of planning and need your help to make this event truly amazing! If you have connections to a caterer or venue that would be a great fit for our Gala, we’d love to hear from you. Your recommendations could help us create the perfect atmosphere for this unforgettable evening!

Additionally, we’re looking for enthusiastic and dedicated individuals to join our Leadership Planning Team! If you're interested in helping with the event's organization, design, or execution, please contact Samantha to get involved and be part of the team.

Phone: -254-760-6584

Email: Samantha.amidon@zionwalburg.org

A small group of volunteers from Ohio and Texas are joining forces again this December to share the love of Jesus in the Beattyville community. We will be traveling Dec 12-16. Our mission includes time spent with the local nursing home residents, working in the food pantry and providing a Christmas Social in town for the residents. At the Social, we’ll be distributing a warm meal, offering gently used coats and clothing, new socks, wrapped toys for the children and a take home bag with some Christmas treats. This mission opportunity includes lots of heavy lifting and transporting of boxes. If interested, reach out to Kathryn Klein. kathkenkle@yahoo.com

The Kentucky mission team is looking to collect new socks of all kinds.

For men, women and children.

Warm socks, fuzzy socks, socks with grippy bottoms.

Wool socks, knitted socks, athletic socks. You name it!

The socks will be shared to those in need in the community and the nursing home.

Look for a collection bin in the Worship Center lobby from Dec 1 through Dec 10.

Help make Christmas extra special for kids in the foster care system. Stop by the display in the Worship Center Lobby to adopt an angel. Gifts are due back no later than Sunday, December 1. Contact Robin Knippa at 512-869-3832 with any questions.

Dear Zion Family,

This past August, Zion's Board of Christian Education and Church Council recommended the formation of a Principal Call Committee in accordance with the congregation's bylaws to conduct a search for a permanent principal so someone may be officially installed in this important role. This Call Committee has now been formed. As part of the initial steps in this process, we are reaching out to solicit referrals for potential candidates.

If you have a recommendation or referral, we kindly ask that you contact Brian Hodgkins at 512-277-0984 or by email, bl.hodgkins@gmail.com, prior to December 20, 2024. Your input and support in this important process are greatly appreciated.

If you are between the ages of Pre-school and 2nd grade and would like to join the children's handbell choir for Christmas, please sign up here. We will practice on Saturday, December 7th @ 9:00 am here at the church. If a second practice is needed, we will do so Saturday, December 14th @ 9:00 am. The children will play for the Christmas program on December 18th @ 6:30 pm.

Please send an email to : leeschroeder82@aol.com with the name of your child(ren) and parent name as permission. Thank you and God bless.

Jonathan and Brenda Schroeder

Thank you for all your kind words of comfort at the passing of my mom, Doris Tyler. Those we love don't go away; they walk beside us in our hearts and memories and Mom left a lot of cherished memories. Wishing everyone a blessed Thanksgiving feast and Christmas celebration.

–Sona Holmstrom and family

Thanksgiving and Christmas cards along with Friendship, Birthday, Sympathy, Thinking of You cards and other categories are available at the Card Ministry cabinet. Stop by and look through the selections. Boxed cards are $6.00, individual cards are 50 cents. thanks, Zion Evening Circle LWML

For the week of December 1-7 pray for:

December 1 - Board of Stewardship

December 2 - Board of Trustees

December 3 - School nutrition program

December 4 - Preschool classes

December 5 - Pre-K Classes

December 6 - Kindergarten classes

December 7 - 1st grade classes

What is the deeper message of Christmas?

The Christmas message has been so stripped of Christ-centered content in popular culture that many people shrug their shoulders as to what its message really is - beyond the colorful lights, TV specials, and holiday parties, of course. So a Christmas devotion that is easy to read and written to convey the original message of Christmas may help people see Christmas in a different way. This year, "Come, Let Us Adore Him" by Dr. Kari Vo, gives a quick and powerful glimpse of God's marvelous work in the birth, life, and ministry of Jesus.

There are paper copies of these Advent Devotions available on the table in the hallway and on the counter in the lobby of the Worship Center. Pick one up to use from Dec.1 through Jan.6. Or you can find them online at lhm.org/advent.

Sermon Schedule

Dec.1

"Will Everything Sad Come Untrue?"

Speaker: Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler

A mother and her young son trade a life of privilege for one of poverty, a story that is borderline unbelievable, yet nonetheless true. (Jeremiah 33:16)

You can listen to The Lutheran Hour on KLBJ on Sunday mornings at 7 a.m. or online at lutheranhour.org, through a mobile app, and on new media platforms like Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Sirius XM satellite radio.

Pastors: Zach McIntosh, Kevin Hintze and Kyle Borcherding

Interim Principal: Suzan Winkelman

Church Office Hours: 8am-4pm Monday-Friday

Church Phone: 512-863-3065

School Phone: 512-863-5345 Fax 512-686-5807

www.zionwalburg.org

6001 FM 1105, Georgetown, TX 78626