Hilltop Headlines

8:00am:

Elders: Clay Knippa, Steve Muchow

Organist: Brittany Mahn

Greeters: Carlene Schultz, Karen Wenzlaff

Offering Assistants: David Van Soest, Eva Froude

Hilltop Cafe: Darlene Zinsmeyer

Golf Cart Driver: Jonathan Schroeder

Audio: Brenda Schroeder

Presentation: Clay Braun

AV Tech Director: Cody Stephens

10:45am:

Elders: Mark Breckenridge, Gary Miller

Greeters/Offering Assistants: Mike Litterst, Peggy Lemanski

Hilltop Cafe: Gail Dankis

Golf Cart Driver: Jeremy Hobratsch

Connections Coordinator: Josh Hobratsch

Presentation: Chad Mathews

Camera: Chad Winkler

Offerings/Electronic Giving for this week:

Home $116,493.78; General $21,437.40; Annual Fund $320; Capital Improvements $100; Pam Hight Scholarship Fund $1,050; Field House $15,000; Altar Guild $1,000; Missions $410; Learning Legacy Endowment $200; Capital Campaign $650.39

Attendance: 8am - 150; 10:45 - 271

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: $2,381.94

Dear Zion family –

We’ve been having all sorts of fun this holiday season at Zion! From a Christmas tree lighting, to cookie decorating, to learning more about the stories behind our favorite Christmas carols, we’ve been celebrating the season right.

The fun continues tonight with our third through eighth grade Christmas program at 6:30 pm in the worship center. You can see and hear the story of Christmas as told through Zion’s spectacular students. Afterwards, we’ll be serving cookies, coffee, and cocoa for you to enjoy. And remember, if you can’t make the program in person, you can always stream it at zionwalburg.org.

With Christmas only two weeks away, make sure you make some time to worship the newborn King whose birth we celebrate this time of year. We’ll host three services on Christmas Eve. We’ll have a children’s service at 3 pm in the worship center, which will be a brief service specifically designed for kids – and every child who attends will receive a special gift, too! Then, at 5 and 7 pm on Christmas Eve, we’ll hold two identical candlelight services in our worship center, where we’ll sing your favorite Christmas carols, hear a hope-filled message, and, of course, light candles and sing “Silent Night.” Then, on Christmas morning at 9:30 am in our sanctuary, we’ll sing great Christmas hymns as we give thanks for God’s entrance into our world in Jesus.

This Sunday in worship, it’s a Texas Christmas! Come and enjoy great country and bluegrass carols and – to sweeten the deal, literally – we'll serve up sweet and cinnamony churros during our connection hour beginning at 9:30 am. We’ll also continue our series “Gift Exchange,” where we are exploring the gifts God wants to exchange with us. This weekend, we’ll talk about how God wants to take our doubt and exchange it for His hope, looking at a story from Luke 1:8-13, 18-23:

Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.” Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. When his time of service was completed, he returned home.

When the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah with the news that he and his wife Elizabeth will soon have a son, Zechariah’s first reaction is doubt. Like Zechariah, we have plenty of doubts, too. So, when we doubt, what do we do? How do we deal with our doubts? 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

Have you ever closed your Bible and thought “what did I just read?” Starting January 12, we will partner with The Bible Recap to read through the Old Testament. The Bible Recap is a chronological reading plan with a daily podcast that highlights and summarizes the Bible in an easy-to-understand way. It will not only help you read scripture but help you love reading it. Click the button below for the reading plan or paper copies are available in the Lobby and Narthex.

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!

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.

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

Choir benches from the old Sanctuary Choir Loft are available on a first come basis until they are gone. The suggested price is $100.00 each and the benches can be viewed outside near the music room steps and smoke house (see photo below). Please contact Dave Rowland at 737-240-0444 or email: old149er@gmail.com if you are interested.

On Sunday, December 29, Bob and Joanne Allen will celebrate a milestone of love and blessings, 70 years of marriage, their platinum anniversary. Platinum is a rare metal, resistant to wear and tarnish, a symbol of endurance. Bob and Joanne's marriage is a testament to the power of love and the beauty of God's grace and goodness. After the service, please join us in the worship center lobby to celebrate this occasion.

For the week of December 15-21 pray for:

December 15 - School office administration

December 16 - Church office administration

December 17 - Zion PTL

December 18 - School Funding Committee

December 19 - Pastors' wives

December 20 - Retired pastors

December 21 - The Table young adult ministry

"Broadcast Guide Updates Enhance Users' Experience"

Have you ever wondered if The LutheranHour or one of the other radio broadcasts is available in your area? If so, online users can now access LHM's updated Broadcast Guide at lhm.org/guide. "The new Broadcast Guide allows you to search for airings of LHM programs by zip code, state, and/or program. The zip code search gives users a map showing signal strength in their area, " says Jared Buschkopf, cloud developer for LHM.

Listed below the map is the program's name, how often the program airs, the signal strength, the call letters of the station carrying the program, the frequency or numbers on the radio dial, the band (AM or FM), the day it airs, and the time. "The map also displays the locations of broadcast towers in an area and the call letters of the radio station transmitting from those towers," Buschkopf adds.

In the months ahead, Gospel Adventures at gospeladventures, org, which features kids programming, a yearly adventure to a foreign land, and the Gospel Adventures Show, will have a broadcast guide.

"The next phase of the update will include airing information for TV and radio specials, which we hope will be ready around the next holiday season," says Megan Mehrle, manager of project management.

At the bottom of the Broadcast Guide is a handy, new option to listen to The Lutheran Hour. By dialing in from a phone, individuals with limited internet availability or without access to a local radio station airing The Lutheran Hour can listen to the weekly message. Call 800-876-9880 and press option 3 to be forwarded to The Lutheran Hour sermon audio. Any landline, cellphone, or smartphone will work and there is no fee.

With these updates, you can hear the Good News wherever you live.

Sermon Schedule

Dec. 15

"Sorrow Welcomed Here"

Speaker: Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler

The church welcomes people, but does it also welcome their problems? Dr. Michael Zeigler says the church should be a place that makes room for both joy and sorrow. (Zephanian 3:14-20)

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