Remembering

Judges 8:33-34 - So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-Berith their god. Thus the children of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.

Mark 8:17-18 - But Jesus, being aware of [it], said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?"

Jude 1:17 - But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ:

     Our nation has gone through a major loss with the death of President Reagan. Good things were said about our 40th President, but politics being what it they are, focus on what Reagan did for the country is soon lost. We know about Gideon. Would you believe that similar things happened. Once Gideon was dead, people forgot--in this case, they forgot what God did through Gideon. You see, when we lose focus in our remembering, we lose God (Judges 8:33-34).

     When the people forgot what God did for them through Gideon, they got problems again. The Philistines were there again. They themselves fell into disregard for God--they forgot God. Think about us and our attitudes. When problems are all gone, don't we forget? Don't we often forget God and the help that He has given us? The problem is, when we forget God, we lose Him in our lives.

     When we fail to remember, our reasoning gets flawed and our heart grows hard--we don't see or hear clearly (Mark 8:17-18). Jesus had done a lot of miracles. Do you remember the miracle where they had many people and only a little food, a couple of loaves of bread and a few fish? The disciples were there! In these verses from Mark, Jesus is talking about what things MEAN, but the disciples are just thinking about things. What Jesus says basically is this: God and a relationship with Him brings clarity to life. When we don't have Him in our lives, life is a mess. We don't see the things of life clearly or hear what is going on with real perception. You see, when we don't remember, life gets messed up because we are messed up. Little is seen as it actually is.

     When we're far from God, we need to remember Jesus (Jude 1:17). We forget that it is we who are in control of our thinking. We can direct our thoughts. We don't need to dwell on things that hurt us or our friends or our families. God has created us so that we can direct our thoughts, our thinking, as well as our doing. When we're lost, Jude tells us, remember Jesus. If we can't find God in our lives, these

     Scriptures for July would remind us that we need to work on remembering. When we get carried along with the things of this life, when we don't see clearly, when nothing seems to make sense, Jesus tells us to remember. When God is so far away that we just can't seem to find Him, we need to remember Jesus.

     It shouldn't take another funeral to bring us to remembering. We need to remember that Jesus is the One, the Bible tells us, that saw our problem with sin and separation from God from before the foundation of the world and from before mankind's fall into sin in the Garden of Eden. He is the One who paid the price on the cross to bring us back to God. Through Jesus Christ we can have the price tag for all those things that separate us from God PAID IN FULL by just telling God: I'm sorry for those things that have separated me from You. I want to remember what You have done through Jesus for me. I want Jesus to direct my remembering, God, so that I can have the direction I need for my life.

     God in the end, wants us to remember Him.

     O Holy Spirit, help us remember You and the Father and the Son. Amen.

     Council Members Present:  Vera Avera, Ernie Burnett, Charlie Canning, Linda Gibbs, Pastor Dave Johnson, Pete Midgarden, Darlene Tasso.

     The meeting was called to order by Council President Pete Midgarden at 7:05 p.m.

     Opening Devotions:  Pastor Dave shared selected texts from Genesis 2 regarding mankind and his position in the Garden of Eden.  God created man and then the Garden.  Mankind was placed in the Garden.  The Garden of Eden was a walled garden which was ordered--gardens are organized places.  Mankind was placed within it to till and care for that garden.  A church council is placed in a congregation that has boundaries, but the task is to care for that congregation and nurture it.  God, the Creator of the Universe, not only is our Maker but the One who decides where we will serve Him, the garden of His choice. Our task as members of Zion is to serve Him in the garden in which He has placed us.

     Minutes of May Meeting:    Accepted as presented.

     Treasurer's Report:  Darlene presented the books for May.  The report was received as presented.

     Long-Range Planning Committee Report:  Linda reviewed some of the needs that had been reported previously.  She noted that Handicapped Parking remained a current need.  The initial walkway has been completed and will be extended to the street in its next phase per Charlie Canning.  The library/museum is well under way under the direction of Ernie Burnett.  Office technology has been updated.  Restoration  of the globe at the base of the steeple cross is complete except for its mounting under the direction of Pete Midgarden.  The council discussed at length the church windows because the wood appears to be deteriorating rapidly. It is apparent that the windows, particularly on the west side, will need to be a priority to stabilize before further deterioration. Pete Midgarden will ask Ted Forsman , a local expert in such matters, to assess the problem and suggest a repair strategy. These same windows were repaired only six years ago.

     The potential renaming of the fellowship hall in honor of John Elfstrand and Oscar Johnson was discussed in conjunction with the placing of the existing Elfstrand plaque and the plaques related to various donations used in development of the fellowship hall.  There was no consensus.

     Library Project Report:  Ernie reported that pictures now have the names laminated and mounted below their respective pictures.  The broken cabinet was now repaired.  There still is need for more wall space--Sunday School partitions have been used now to provide additional mounting area. The original steeple cross has been mounted. There is concern for control over moisture, and the Council discussed possible control strategies, e.g., air conditioning, de-humidifier, etc.  The white board discussed at the May council meeting has been removed from the wall and relocated.

     Thrivent Projects Report:    $72 dollars of designated funds remain to be allocated.  Charlie Canning suggested that these funds be used to purchase Treasurer and Newsletter Editor Darlene Tasso a church color laser printer to facilitate her work and minimize her time. 

     After considerable discussion, the following motion was moved, seconded, and passed:  The Council of Zion Lutheran Church authorizes expenditure of up to $700 for the purchase of a suitable printer for use of Darlene Tasso to facilitate printing of Zion newsletters, treasurer's reports, and other church publications.  The Council delegates purchase selection to Darlene Tasso.   Motion 040608--01.

     Funds related to Thrivent-matching Lenten services were designated by Council action:  Sheriff's Boys' Ranch--$100; Heart to Heart Ministry of Robertsdale--$100; Foley Beverly Nursing Home--$238.27.  Fund allocation was moved, seconded, and passed.   Motion 040608--02.

     Other Book-Keeping Issues:  The Council discussed the re-allocation of several funds having limited dollars assigned to those funds.  Consensus was that Darlene Tasso, as Treasurer, should reassign funds so as to zero out these funds by assigning them to the General Fund and pay off the small deficits that are present in some line items. 

     Darlene will present the results at the next Council meeting.

1. Dean Mark Johnson is still in the process of assigning a quartet singing team to us for a day in mid-July.   
2. Men's 710 attendance has been constant at about a dozen with twenty people showing up for the special program on backyard habitat showing up this morning.  
3. Website hits appear to be continuing at last month's levels.   
4. Debbie Owen and Pastor Dave have scanned the archival pictures of the church confirmations.   
5. We will continue working on the military "care packs" for a couple more weeks before that project will be over.  (Pete Midgarden will attempt to get a hard closure date for this project from the Covenant Church.)  
6. The Christian Coalition of Alabama is seeking to have local churches involved with voter registration. (This appears to be a non-issue for members of Zion at this time.)

     New Members: Zion took in three new members on Pentecost. After discussion a motion was made, seconded, and passed: Zion Lutheran Church should formally invite new members to join the congregation on the first Sunday in Advent an on Pentecost.  If there is additional interest in membership, additional new member Sundays should be encouraged.  Motion 040608--03

     Honor of President Reagan:  Ernie noted that churches across the United States would be ringing their bells in sync with the National Cathedral at the funeral services for the former President.  Consensus was that Zion Lutheran Church should join in this recognition of President Reagan.

     Political Activity:  A proposal has come to the Council that a member of the congregation should be designated a Bush contact for the congregation during the election campaign.  Consensus was that the church should not compromise its independence and should remain non-partisan during any campaign.

     Pastor Substitute During Pastor Dave's Absence:  Pete Midgarden will seek to obtain a substitute pastor for August 1 while Pastor Dave is at the seminary classes in Minneapolis.

     Nursery Needs:  Vera reported that she did obtain a number of coloring books for the pew set aside for adults with young children and that they were already being use.  Congregational feedback suggests that the church should not pursue a formal "cry room" in the bell tower as discussed in our last Council minutes.

     Membership:  There was discussion concerning who is a member of Zion.  Darlene noted that there were expenses the church incurred because of assumptions related to membership.  After due discussion, it was moved, second, and passed:  Pastor Dave is to develop a letter related to membership and regular attendance, to determine whether an inactive member desires to remain a member of the congregation, letter to be in draft form at the next Council meeting.  Motion 040608--04.

     The Council Meeting was adjourned at 9:54 p.m. with the next scheduled Council meeting to be on July 13 at 7:00 p.m., rather than on its regularly scheduled date.

Respectfully submitted,
Pastor Dave Johnson
Secretary, Ad Hoc

     Former president Ronald Reagan's family urged churches across the United States to ring their bells on Friday, June 11, 2004, at the conclusion of his  funeral in Washington, D.C. Organizers of the national funeral also asked churches to toll their bells 40 times beginning at 1:15 p.m. to coincide with the end of the funeral.   President George W. Bush declared the day a national day of mourning to honor the memory of Reagan, the 40th president of the United States.

         Reagan is remembered by many as the defining political figure in our generation. His commitment to his faith in Jesus Christ and his devotion to truth made America a better place. The word that underpinned his political philosophy--other than conservatism--was optimism. He believed that optimism was "God-given" to all people.   He is also remembered as a great communicator.

Here are a few of his memorable quotes:


•   "We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free."
•   "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."
• "The taxpayer -- that's someone who Works for the federal government, but doesn't have to take the civil service examination."
•   "America is too great for small dreams."

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me..., for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

     Matthew 19:14