SHEPHERD OF THE VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH
READINGS, PRAYERS and DEVOTION
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2022
NEWS: For THANKFEAST this Saturday we may still need stuffing and veggies. We seem “good” with mashed potatoes, gravy, pies, rolls, cranberries and drinks.
If you didn’t get a chance to sign up on Sunday, just email me back and I’ll put you down (with thanksgiving!)
If you’d like to volunteer for an opening (or anything else), again, just email me back and I’ll put you down, kolkmanallen@gmail.com
We always get a number of people who don’t sign up but bring something “day of” (and that’s great). If you think of something at the last minute, know that it’s welcome!
REMEMBER: Please drop off your donation just BEFORE 2:00. Leave them in the kitchen in the Community Building where Amanda Cerny will receive them and then set out all the food. It’s helpful if you bring it in a way that helps keep it warm since we have very limited space in the oven.
Worship is in the chapel at 2:00 sharp. The service will be 30 minutes or less. We will gather in the Community Building at 2:30.
There will be lots of food and good fellowship! Please invite and bring those neighbors, friends, co-workers, fellow students – both to the Worship and to the dinner. And at both, please befriend and welcome others…. perhaps sit with people you don’t usually sit with…. make a point to get to know others…. wear your name tag.
PRAYERS: Today we especially pray for the Terrill family: Amy, Abby, Lot and Asha.
READINGS: Psalm 148; Jeremiah 33:1-22; Matthew 27:11-32
DEVOTION:
Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries
“Understanding Our Pain”
Luke 23:27-29 – And there followed Him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for Him. But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!'”
Jesus’ words are remarkably graphic: “They will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!'” I spent years unable to have children, and this is not the sort of language I’m used to hearing in public—in fact, most people won’t mention the topic at all. If they must, they usually soften it by saying something like “people who weren’t fortunate enough to have children.” Why, then, did I find Jesus’ bluntness so comforting?
I think it’s because He so clearly understood the pain and was willing to name it—my pain, the pain of anybody going through this particular grief, or any grief, really. Jesus is not mealy-mouthed.
Think about your own losses. Have you noticed how people stop mentioning the name of the family member you lost? How they censor their conversation about your major illness, or job loss, or divorce? They want to save you pain—”I don’t want to remind him/her,” they say. But you haven’t forgotten for a single moment. You may even be desperate for a chance to discuss the grief that never leaves your mind—to stop carrying that burden alone, in silence.
It comforts me to know that God understands all my griefs so clearly and intimately—and to see that He is willing to talk about them. He will not say to me or to you, “Stop being so obsessed about it.” He invites you to come to Him—to lean on Him—to talk as much as you want to Him about your burdens and griefs, as often as you like and as graphically. Even if nobody else will be there for you, Jesus will. He is not put off by your suffering. How could He be, when the Bible itself calls Him a “Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”? (Isaiah 53:3b)
Jesus entered into our grief when He became a Man for our sakes, to suffer and die and rise again. He is not some distant god on a mountaintop somewhere—He’s right here, in the trenches with us. And if He is with us now, we will be with Him when the last day comes and God heals all creation and all griefs—when “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
WE PRAY: Dear Lord, thank You for sharing our pain. Help me as I bear it, until the day comes when You take it away forever. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
1. Have you ever been desperate to talk to someone about your pain?
2. Why do you think people have such a hard time listening?
3. How has God’s care and attention helped you through a difficult time?
Today’s Bible Readings: Ezekiel 5-7 1 Timothy 4
Luther’s Morning Prayer
In the morning, as soon as you get out of bed, you are to make the Sign of the Cross and say:
“God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit watch over me. Amen.”
Then, kneeling or standing, say the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. In addition recite this prayer as well:
“I give thanks to you, my heavenly Father through Jesus Christ your dear son, that you have protected me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you that you would also protect me today from sin and all evil, so that my life and actions may please you completely. For into your hands I commend myself: my body, my soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel be with me, so that the wicked foe may have no power over me. Amen.”
After singing a hymn or whatever else may serve your devotion, you can go about your day joyfully!
Luther’s Evening Prayer
In the evening, when you go to bed, you are to make the Sign of the Cross and say:
“God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit watch over me. Amen.”
Then, kneeling or standing, say the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. In addition recite this prayer as well:
“I give thanks to you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have graciously protected me today, and I ask you to forgive me all my sins, where I have done wrong, and graciously to protect me tonight. For into your hands I commend myself: my body, my soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel be with me, so that the wicked foe may have no power over me. Amen.”
You can now go to bed quickly and cheerfully.
OTHER RESOURCES:
Our church website is: https://www.svlchurch.org/
Below is our Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/shepherdofthevalleyoceanside
Here is the website for Lutherans for Life: https://lutheransforlife.org/
Here is the website for Lutheran Hour Ministries: https://www.lhm.org/
Lutheran Public Radio is listener supported and has two channels, one for sacred music and the other for talk, including news, current issues, politics and spiritual matters from a Lutheran perspective. Hosted by Pastor Todd Wilken, Issues, Etc. airs live Monday thru Friday from 1 to 3 pm Pacific, with the “Best Of” running at other hours: https://lutheranpublicradio.org/
KFUO is the listener supported radio station owned and operated by the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Based in St. Louis, their format consists of teaching, preaching, ministry and sacred music: https://www.kfuo.org/
A very blessed Thursday to everyone! For any needs or prayer requests, please contact us
Pastor Joel at pastor@svlchurch.org
