Phillips County

At Holyoke (We loved the name!), we were able to have our worship and prayer at Zion Lutheran Church with Reverend Gary Rahe. The name of the church reminded me of the church I grew up in, also called Zion. This dear man was not only very welcoming, he also was encouraging and very ready to join his prayers with ours for Phillips County and for all of Colorado.

How precious was the time we had together sharing the Word, prayer and communion. Gary was ready to lead us in communion when the time was right, and our symbolic emblems had been placed in the ground: our altar reminding us of Elijah’s when he called down fire from heaven in front of all the prophets of Baal, our small chain link for unity, the mustard seed we place in the ground and throw into the air for faith to grow as that little seed across our state, our scroll with Jeremiah 10:6-7; and all of this leads us to our communion time.

What a privilege to have Gary lead us in this time of consecration. I loved his words and they blessed our hearts. He shared these thoughts: At the Passover, we know that Jesus was ready to offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the nation -and for all of mankind. We remembered together that at the Passover, Jesus took the bread and said that this was His body broken for us and we should take it, eat of it, and remember that He did it for us to remember His sacrifice. Then Jesus took the cup, gave thanks, and said that this cup was the new covenant in His blood shed for us, and that as often as we drink it, we are to remember what He did for us. Gary blessed us with the peace of the Lord, and we took the bread and juice together, remembering that the body and blood of our Lord was given so that we could have our sins forgiven and we could have eternal life. In His precious Name we shared communion together, then Tony placed the memorials of communion into our offering.

We found a spot just outside Zion Lutheran Church for our offerings, and discussed their meanings and symbolism as Tony prepared the ground to receive them.

Gary was so kind to allow us place our memorials in the ground just outside the door of the church building. We sang and worshipped together and had a sweet time with this dear man. He taught us, prayed over us and welcomed us. When we had completed our prayers, worship and offerings, Gary prayed over us and blessed us. Lord, bless him also this day for his kindness to us. Bind us together as One Body, and let this church be a great lighthouse to Holyoke and to all of Phillips County. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!