Welcome to Zion Lutheran Church

Week of August 26-September 1, 2019: “Percentage Figure” … Luke 13:22-30.

As Jesus was making His final journey to Jerusalem, He was asked, “Lord, will those who are being saved be few?” Perhaps you’ve asked that same question yourself. Maybe this person was looking for a percentage figure from Jesus. But the Lord, instead, told the person, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”

While Jesus gave no percentage, He had said, in Matthew 7:13-14, that those who would find that narrow passageway would be few. He also said, going back to Luke 13, that any mere “outward association” with Him doesn’t save (vv.26-27) nor does being of physical descent from the People of Israel (v.28). Though there would certainly be those in the end who would be saved (vv.29-30), it would appear, from Jesus’ own words, that the “sample size” kept getting less and less.

So how many, or how few, are going to be saved? While the Lord wants all to be saved (Ezekiel 33:11, 1 Timothy 2:4), the truth is that “many are called, few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). But while the Lord doesn’t give us a percentage figure while we are yet here in this life, the question that He really wants us to be concerned about is, “Are you among the saved?” Any “outward association” with Jesus by having church membership won’t, in and of itself, save you (merely having your backside in a pew, simply isn’t going to do, if you, in the end, want to be numbered among the few). Nor does the fact that you might have had “religious ancestors” as the Jews in Jesus’ day tried to claim for themselves.

The question remains: “Are you among the saved?” and, “Are you striving to enter through the narrow door?” But as sinners, however hard we might strive, we have a 0% chance of making it through that door (Matthew 5:48). But, thankfully, “What is impossible for man is possible for God” (Luke 18:27) as we enter through that narrow door of salvation through Jesus Christ who Himself tells us, “I am the door …” (John 10:7). When He reached Jerusalem, He gave His 100% for us upon the cross. In Him our sins are 100% forgiven. In Him we are given 100% of the power to strive to enter through that narrow door (Colossians 1:29) so that we, in the end, would be among those who “will come from the east and west, and from north and south, and will recline at table in the Kingdom of God” (Luke 13:29).
 

Your Pastor  Pastor Bill Mugnolo   Hi, I’m Pastor Bill Mugnolo and I have been serving at Zion Lutherran and at our sister congregation of St Johns in Elyria since September 2017. I was born in Baltimore, Maryland and I grew up on Long Island in New York State, in Northern New Jersey, and in Atlanta, Georgia. Since my graduation from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, I have lived in and have had an ongoing family connection to the Rochester, New York area which I consider to be my adopted hometown. I was confirmed in the Lutheran Church as an adult in 1984. I went on to seminary at Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. I was ordained on August 16, 1990 on the thirty-first anniversary of my baptism. I have served congregations in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania (1990-1998), Newark, New York (1998-2016), and Columbia Station, Ohio (2016-2017). I was joined in marriage to Sabra LeClaire of Rochester, New York on October 1, 1993. We have two daughters—, Emilia and Rebecca. I enjoy power walking, cross-country skiing, dumbbell training, travelling, and a wide variety of music. It is my great honor and privilege to serve both the Lord and you as pastor at Zion.

Wednesday and Thursday

9 A.M to 12 

440-282-8418 

Email pastor.mugnolo@yahoo.com

440-282-8418 Pastor Bill