We gather for a Worship Service on this Sunday, December 17th, 2023, 3rd Sunday of Advent in person at the Chapel (2700 W 14th Street) at 11:00 a.m.

To join us at the Chapel, buzz Zion Church (Bob Bucklew) from the Directory at the front of the 2700 Building on the campus of San Sofia apartments or enter from the accessible ramp from the rear parking lot. When you arrive, call Bob at 216-375-5323 to open the parking lot gate.

The Sunday Bulletin is attached in PDF format. You may use it as a devotional during the week.

Welcome to Adam D. Petrosino, Our New Music Director/Pianist

We are so pleased to welcome Adam, and his partner, Kiel, to our community of faith here at Zion United Church of Christ of Tremont, Cleveland, Ohio. We’re grateful to you sharing your presence, faith, and musical gifts with us.

Adam can be reached by e-mail at: [email protected] and by phone at 234-205-9397.

Zion’s Administrative Assistant, Beverly Wurm

Beverly will be keeping some limited Office Hours at church/home. The days and hours are:
Winter Schedule
Tuesday – 9am – 1pm
Wednesday – 10am – 2pm
Thursday – 9am – 1pm
Beverly can be reached at: [email protected] or by phone at: 216-273-7561 (church) or 216-310-6810 (mobile).

Third Sunday of Advent

Gaudete Sunday (/ɡaʊˈdɛtɛ/ gow-DET-eh) is the third Sunday of Advent in the liturgical calendar of Western Christianity, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, Lutheran Churches, and other mainline Protestant Churches. It can fall on any date from December 11 to December 17th.

On this day, we light the third candle of the Advent wreath, which is rose-colored (or pink). The word “Gaudete” is Latin for “Rejoice.” This celebration is a reminder that God who loves us is still in charge and that we await Christ’s coming not with fear, but with tremendous joy.

While the theme of Advent is a focus on the coming of Jesus in three ways: his first, his present, and his final Advent, the readings for Gaudete Sunday deal with rejoicing in the Lord – Christian joy – as well as the mission of John the Baptizer and his connection with Advent.

Today, the Spirit of God urges us to rejoice because we know that those who are hungry can be fed and those who are brokenhearted healed. We rejoice because, like John the Baptizer, we can point toward a road that leads to something unimaginably wonderful. With Paul, we can proclaim the message: “The One who calls us is trustworthy” and will lead creation into fulfillment.

Isaiah describes what God is working in our midst, John announces that it’s coming and Paul reminds us that God does great things, not just “once a long time ago,” but today, among and through us. That’s divinely subversive!

Advent Sundays with Zion Church

Sunday, December 17th, 11:00 AM – Third Sunday of Advent

Sunday, December 24th, 6:30 PM – No service Sunday morning; we’ll gather at 6:30pm for a brief Fourth Sunday of Advent service followed by Christmas Eve Service of Carols & Candlelight

A Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

Will be held on Sunday, December 24th at 6:30pm. We invite you to share the light in a service with beautiful music and a message that reminds us of that night long ago that continues to transform our world and our lives. The Christmas Eve worship service will include carols, a relevant Christmas message and our cherished tradition of passing the candle light and joining in the singing of Silent Night. You can also join the service via the Zoom platform online at 6:30 PM on December 24th.

Tremont-Duck Island-Irishtown Bend Holiday Food Drive 2023-2024
Running now through January 15th, 2024

Lend a helping hand to neighbors – families and children – in need in Tremont, Duck Island, and Irishtown Bend and provide help to the 12 local Cleveland food pantries – ministries.

Three Ways to Donate:

1. Give canned goods & paper products – deliver to Zion Chapel (2700 W 14th Street).

2. Donate online by Credit or Debit Card, Venmo, or PayPal – visit: https://givebutter.com/HolidayFoodDrive-TRE-DI-IB. Select the Holmden-Buhrer-Rowley/Mentor-Castle-Clark block clubs or the Auburn-Lincoln Park block club and the food pantry/hunger center you would like your donation to go to.

3. Donate by Check – make payable to the food pantry/hunger center of your choice **(see list below**) – for verification purposes, deliver check to Zion Chapel and Pastor Scott will see that it gets to the food pantry you designate.

Total Collected as of Friday, December 15th, 2023 – $15,430

Goal in Cash/Checks for this food drive: $25,000

The Focus Scripture Reading is John 1:6-8, 19-28

The Gospel lesson turns to these verses in John 1 with John the Baptizer seen as the witness to the light, referring to Jesus. Only in John’s account does John the Baptizer associate himself with the voice crying out in the wilderness of Isaiah 40 (see last week’s Revised Common Lectionary readings). In John’s account, the baptizer is questioned by the religious authorities because he either must be Elijah, a prophet like Moses that would come before the Messiah, or the Messiah himself, but because he is none of those three, the religious leaders don’t know what to do with him, and question why he is baptizing. John the Baptizer came to prepare the way, but in John’s account, the leaders and most of the people were set in their understanding of how the Messiah was to come. Scholars think that John’s account was later than the others – and that the divisions between Jewish followers of Jesus and other Jews were at the point of completely separating, whereas with Mark, that had not occurred to the same extent. It is important to remember all this as we read these stories. We are called to be ready and to prepare through repentance and baptism, because Christ is at work in our world and in our lives in ways, we are not ready or expecting. Perhaps any of us might be the ones to question or doubt what God is doing, if we are not prepared for something new.

Sermon/Reflection: “Who Are You, Really?” by the Rev. Scott Rosenstein.

Please join the Zion Church community to give thanks to God this Sunday in-person in the Chapel!

Pastor Scott Rosenstein
216-273-7561 – church
216-577-1514 – mobile

Bulletin Cover Image:
Advent 3 Candle
By Stushie Art
Church bulletin cover Stushie art unique crayon and digital worship art
A Scottish pastor, ministering in East Tennessee
https://stushieart.com/2016/11/29/ advent-3-art-for-churches/