The trees are starting to dry out, if they are not already down. The wrapping paper has been hauled away by the trash man. Unfortunately, some of those long-planned, well-meant gifts have been hauled away too. The ball has dropped on a new year. The festivities are over. The long haul of the school year is about to begin. The parties are over. The time has come for the work to resume!

Sounds a bit depressing, doesn't it? All the work for the parties and festivities have come and gone. It would be easy to let January be such a let down after the hectic, yet happy month of December. It might be easy, but...

For you and me here at Zion, January is a time for us to let the fun begin. We did some heavy lifting in December. Many people gathered for the Voters' Meeting in which we adopted our 2005 budget. It was a tense time. There were many people who spoke eloquently and passionately on all sides of the issues. In the end, the budget passed. And now the fun begins!

The fun begins as we see the many new and different opportunities that we will have to do through mininisty this year. You will begin to hear terms like ChristCare and Vicar in 2005. These will be additions to our ministry. ChristCare is a small-group Bible Study ministry that we have made application to. We will be sending a few of our members for intensive training early this new year so that we can assemble a program that has staying power. We do this to get more of our people into the life-giving, soul-winning Word of God. Keep watching for announcements in coming months and get involved. For it is when God's people are in His Word that the Church grows.

The word VICAR is another word that we will be adding to our vocabulary. We will soon be making application to the Seminary for a Vicar. A Vicar is similiar to a student teacher. He will serve for a year under my direct supervision. He will assist in preaching and teaching, visiting and administration of the ministry here at Zion. It is a win-win situation. I am in need of some pastoral help and the Seminary is in need of places for these young men training for the ministry.

And the fun will continue at Zion Lutheran School as well. Under the very capable leadership of Mr. Stan Cisler, the school is on the verge of going where it has not been in a while. The students and staff are growing in wisdom and faith. I count on Mr. Cisler as an asset to the congregation and a blessing to me personally. If you haven't seen what he and our VERY dedicated staff are doing, take the time to drop by! You will be amazed.

That being said, we here at Zion need to share the fun that we having. Both the Church and School are valuable tools of the Lord in this place. If you know people who are without a church home, please join the fun and invite them to check us out. If you, or friends you know, have school-aged children, please prayerfully consider Zion. We are competitive academically and athletically with any school in the area and we have one bonus, we get the fun of teaching everything in the Light of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ! You can't get any better than that!