Pastor's  Page

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

As I write this, it is the eve of my leaving for Houston to attend the 2018 ELCA National Youth Gathering.  I will be traveling with seven other members of Zion and several others from the Eastern Conference and the Northeastern Ohio Synod, and 30,000 other Lutheran youth and adults from across the nation.  I’ve never been to a National Youth Gathering and so I am filled with anticipation and hope that it will be all that I have heard it can be for our youth participants and adults. 

For me at least, the spiritual life is not easy to maintain.  I know that for my own spiritual well-being I need little booster shots all the time – several times a day.  I feel blessed to work in a church and generally be surrounded by Christian folks all day.  Maybe it’s the same for you. 

Here’s what I do:
Do Devotions Daily – I have used the same pattern for so many years that I don’t need any particular book or notes.  I often run through my ritual as I fall asleep or as I awake before I get out of bed.  But the discipline is easy to neglect – keep it up!

Listen to Christian music – I can listen at my desk, in my car, in my home, and through my smart-phone.  (I also enjoy an eclectic variety of secular music.)

See Christian Movies – Carol and I just watched, “I Can Only Imagine” and it is inspiring and family-friendly.

Pastor Duane A. Jesse

Sermons

Worship Notes

Go to a Christian Concert – This is one of my favorite activities.  I keep an eye on my favorite artists and go to their concerts when I can.

Participate in Christian Activities – Food Distribution, God’s Work Our Hands, visiting Zion’s homebound, and sick, volunteering in a Christian activity keep my spirit up and it makes me feel good too.

Worship Regularly – The best, easiest, and most regular way I get inspiration is at worship – yes, even for me.  You may think I compose my sermons, but I am merely a vessel for a message divinely inspired by God.  I receive the Word too.

Go on a retreat – I don’t do this often enough and I know we don’t do much to offer them to adults very often (not at all in my six years at Zion).  But you can do this on your own.  Ask me if you want more information on this.

Maybe you have ways you stay close to God that I don’t know about.  And though it is summer and you may go away on vacation, you can always seek the LORD in your usual ways, and worship in a church wherever you are.  It will be interesting to see how another tradition worships.  The important thing is that you stay close to God.

With you on the journey of faith,

The Rev. Duane A Jesse, Pastor

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