Messages from Pastor Bob

November 2026 – “Every Good Gift and Every Perfect is from above…”

Dear Friends of Zion,

I can remember when Thanksgiving began the season getting ready for Christmas. But now we have already seen artificial trees out for sale for a couple of months now. Even the toys are out on display. It is almost as if Thanksgiving Day is being minimized and the focus is on something else, maybe something more important.

When God delivered His Old Testament people of Israel out of slavery and began to lead them toward the promised land, He warned them about minimizing the God who delivered them and brought them to a land of plenty. God said to them,

“Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Deuteronomy 8:11-14)

Thanksgiving Day in our nation was originally a time to gather and to thank God for the blessings He provided to the people. Sometimes we think of the Pilgrims in Plymouth in 1621 celebrating a harvest festival following a difficult journey and a harsh winter. We may also look back to the earliest national Thanksgiving that was declared by the Continental Congress in 1777. Or to November 26, 1789 when George Washington recommended a “day of public thanksgiving and prayer” at the request of Congress. Washington’s declaration thanked “the beneficent Author of all the good” and urged the nation to unite in gratitude for peace, liberty, and abundance.

St. James wrote, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17). The important thing about Thanksgiving is to remember the Lord our God and not be so consumed with our lives that we forget the One who has blessed us with His presence and grace.

Pastor

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October 2026 – “Heavenly Blessedness”

Dear Friends of Zion,

Martin Luther, the Great German reformer of the church, once designed a seal that he intended to represent his theology. It has been referred to as the “Luther Rose.” We have it in our church. There is stained glass version in the round window in the foyer. There is another one in my office that someone made out of wood and painted. Here is an example of it:

Luther explained the meaning of that seal. In a letter he wrote,

“First, there is a black cross in a heart that remains its natural color. This is to remind me that it is faith in the Crucified One that saves us. Anyone who believes from the heart will be justified (Romans 10:10). It is a black cross, which mortifies and causes pain, but it leaves the heart its natural color. It doesn’t destroy nature, that is to say, it does not kill us but keeps us alive, for the just shall live by faith in the Crucified One (Romans 1:17). The heart should stand in the middle of a white rose. This is to show that faith gives joy, comfort, and peace—it puts the believer into a white, joyous rose. Faith does not give peace and joy like the world gives (John 14:27). This is why the rose must be white, not red. White is the color of the spirits and angels (cf. Matthew 28:3; John 20:12). This rose should stand in a sky-blue field, symbolizing that a joyful spirit and faith is a beginning of heavenly, future joy, which begins now, but is grasped in hope, not yet fully revealed. Around the field of blue is a golden ring to symbolize that blessedness in heaven lasts forever and has no end. Heavenly blessedness is exquisite, beyond all joy and better than any possessions, just as gold is the most valuable and precious metal.”

Every time we look at that seal, we can be reminded of Luther’s theology. We can see the great teachings of the Bible expressed as a picture. And as someone once said, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” The Luther Rose indeed is a picture that is worth more than a thousand words.

Pastor