Zion Lutheran Church and School, Harbor Beach, MI -- Pastor's Sermons

Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church

Harbor Beach, Michigan

Read the Pastor's Sermons:

Rev. Greg Eilers is serving as vacancy pastor for Zion. He is pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Port Hope. He came to Port Hope as St. John's pastor in March, 2001. He had previously served in Guttenberg and McGregor, Iowa, after graduating from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1996. In his previous life, he was in sales and marketing for a company in his hometown.

Pastor Eilers grew up in Montague, which is twenty minutes north of Muskegon, on the Lake Michigan side. His mom is with the Lord and his dad is still going strong. He has four brothers and one sister.

His wife is Julie and his children are Erin, who is engaged and lives in Georgia; Jaclyn, who got married in August, and lives in Ann Arbor; Addison, who lives at home and works at the Firehouse Pizza and Grill in Minden City; and Alex, who is a high school senior.

He enjoys sports, gardening, jogging and walking, and reading -- especially reading theology.

Pastor Eilers can be reached, in Port Hope, at (989) 428-3305 or using email at porthopepizza@airadv.net.

This new year, some things to consider.

The University of Michigan crams over 110,000 people into their stadium—The Big House—every home football game. Tickets are a hot commodity. Thousands don’t even get a seat, but have to stand. People are fanatical about the team and devoted to the school (even if they didn’t attend it).

Yet, in God’s Big House, every week, there are plenty of seats. The only time there is a "standing room only" situation is when a young person tragically dies. (And, are most people in church to worship the Lord, or to honor the deceased and show support to the family?)

Where’s the fanaticism for the Father’s Son? Where’s the devotion to the Savior?

* * *

Everyone has special interests—gardening, reading, music, working with wood, knitting, and on and on.

When we have a passion for something, we really get into it. We learn about it. We spend money on it. We invest time in it. We perfect our ability in it.

If one’s faith in God—who is his Creator and Savior, and with whom the believer hopes to spend eternity—does not create a similar kind of passion in a person, what’s the scoop with that?

If we insist that we believe in Jesus Christ and love Him, yet we don’t learn about Him (paying attention to sermons, Bible class, personal devotion), or give money to Him (offerings), or invest time in Him (worship), or work to perfect our faith (confession of sins and absolution, attending the Lord’s Supper, living the Golden Rule), is it fair to call our passion into question?

If someone told you that he loved basketball, yet, upon questioning, he says that he never goes to games, or watches it on TV, or reads about it, and so on, would you call him a basketball fan? No way.

Doesn’t the Christian faith work the same way?

* * *

I don’t know anyone who goes without food more than a few hours at a stretch. We need food to live, of course. But, even more, we love food. We love to eat. We love the flavors. We love to chew it and swallow it. The smells delight us.

The Lord Jesus says, "Whoever eats my body and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." Yet, many Christians, who would never starve their bodies of physical food, starve their spirits of this spiritual food. Some of our own members go for months, even years, without stepping up to the Lord’s plate, smelling His divine goodness, and feeding their faith with the body and blood of their Savior.

What I wonder is: do they know they are killing themselves? These people would never starve their bodies, but they carelessly starve their faith. They are fanatical about eating; they are devoted to three meals a day and plenty of snacks.

Where’s the devotion to the Savior?

God’s Word says to work out your faith with fear and trembling, and to check yourself to see if you are in the faith. That’s why I have provided a bit of food for spiritual thought. May it drive you, in repentant faith, to your Savior, Jesus, that you bask in the light of His love and forgiveness.

5WH

Who, What, When, Where, and How

Q: What is the significance of the two candles that stand on the altar?

A: The two candles on the altar are Communion candles, and are only lit when the Lord’s Supper is celebrated. (With Communion every week, it seems as though they are always lit. But, we don’t light them, for instance, during Advent and Lenten Wednesday services.)

These candles are set apart from the two sets of candles, which stand behind the altar. Those, with seven candles on each, are lit for every service. Why are there seven per candelabra? Seven is the number for God working in the world—three for God, four for the world, and add the two to get seven.

That clues you in to why there are two Communion candles. Jesus comes to us in His body and blood, under two forms. Jesus is the light of the world and, in the Lord’s Supper, He lights our world in His body and blood.

The Lord be with you,

Pastor

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info@zionhb.com
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
299 Garden Street
Harbor Beach, MI 48441
(989) 479-3615