SVLC DEVOTION SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 2023

by | Jun 2, 2023 | Daily Devotions

SHEPHERD OF THE VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH

DEVOTION, READINGS and PRAYERS

SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 2023

 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name. Psalm 97:12 ESV

 NEWS: TODAY there is a special Work Party from 10 to approximately 11 AM at our church. The work involves spreading mulch on our playground area to even it out and help start improving things for our 50th Anniversary celebration on July 16th..mark your calendars! Anyone is welcome to pitch in. Bring a shovel if you can!

Tomorrow we open the longest season on the church calendar with Trinity Sunday. The day starts with Bible study at 9 AM. Pastor Joel continues looking at the book of Genesis with us. In our 10 AM worship service, the title of Pastor Joel’s sermon is, “Let There Be Light.” It’s based on our first reading of the day, Genesis 1:1-2:4 The second lesson is taken from Acts 2:14, 22-36 Our Gospel is Matthew 28:16-20 After we’ve celebrated the Lord’s Supper and our service is complete, please join us for the fellowship time, with coffee and goodies. Then come up the road to Jersey Mikes for continued fellowship. Also serving our Lord and congregation tomorrow are:

Techies:  Ian Andrews, Bruce Woodward

Reader:  Allen Latall

Acolyte:  Josephine Neemia

Greeter:  Daria Roth

Ushers:   Terry & Alba Reilly

Flowers:  Daria Roth

Fellowship: Suzette and Leonard Prokopin 

 PRAYERS: Today we remember the Cerny family in prayer: Amanda, Josh, William and Daniel, who ask for continued health through the summer. Tom Morofski requests prayers for his grandson Sean, who is experiencing pain in his lower back and down his left leg. X-rays will be taken next week and Tom’s daughter Catherine (Sean’s mom) also asks for prayers in this situation.

 READINGS: Jeremiah 7:30-8:17; Psalm 122; Acts 4:32-37

 DEVOTION:

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries

“Meant for You and Me”
June 3, 2023

 

John 6:37 – [Jesus said] “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out.”

Jesus spoke this wondrous promise in despised Galilee. The greater part of His public ministry was spent in that forlorn, forsaken country, which the proud citizens of Jerusalem avoided like the plague. It was in Galilee, the spurned homeland of unclean half-breeds, our Lord performed some of his mightiest miracles, preached some of His most powerful sermons.

He might have appeared before Caesars in Rome, scholars in Athens, or celebrated churchmen in Jerusalem, but to emphasize for you and me that He came “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10b) and that He is truly the Friend of sinners (see Romans 3:23), the Son of the Most High-made Man for us deliberately sought to teach, comfort, and save those whom others gladly shunned.

Our Lord refused to overthrow the Roman rule and to reign in Galilee. He wanted to be accepted as the Sovereign of souls, the King in His realm of grace. What were a hundred empires, the rule of the whole world, to Him in comparison with the saving of a single soul? Taking up His cross, He thought more of you and me than of any scepter swaying over the entire earth.

“Whoever comes to Me I will never cast out,” Jesus tells us. Now some will ask, “Can this really be true?” thinking of the broken promises by which men have led others astray. Or it might be one’s sin that is the roadblock to faith: “My sins are too many, too hurtful to those whom I should have loved and treated differently. Does Jesus really mean He will not cast me out?”

Look to Scripture and see. Peter, a close disciple of Christ turned his back on the Savior in Jesus’ darkest hour. Yet when he came to the captive Christ with tears of agonized repentance, the Lord welcomed him and made him a shepherd of His sheep. Likewise, Paul. As Saul he despised and persecuted the early church; yet when he saw his Redeemer and came to Him contritely, trusting in God’s mercy, he was transformed by the Holy Spirit into the renowned apostle we all know today.

And who can forget David? It was he who in sensual madness for Bathsheba had her husband Uriah, David’s own general, killed in cold blood! Yet David knew the depth of his sin and threw himself on God’s mercy. Read again David’s wonderful words of confession: “Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit” (Psalm 50:9-12).

Can you not see, then, that you must take Christ and His cross earnestly? Throw away all human errors and delusions that seek to keep you from your Savior’s side. Seek the Holy Spirit who alone can break our stubborn resistance and who moves us to believe in God’s Son as our Lord and Savior.

Like Peter, Paul, and David, may you resolve to live as in the words of the triumphant hymn: “Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me. And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”

WE PRAY: Heavenly Father, teach me that no matter how great my sin, Your love is greater still. Amen.

From “Wondrous Love That Welcomes All,” a sermon excerpt from Rev. Dr. Walter A. Maier, the first Speaker of The Lutheran Hour

Reflection Questions:

1. Who might be considered outcasts in our society today?

2. Does Jesus really mean that He will not cast out or send away anyone who turns to Him?

3. How can Jesus’ long-suffering and patience with us be a model for us and how we live?

 

Today’s Bible in a Year Reading: Psalms 61-62, 65; John 13:21-38

 

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/

 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 Saturday and weekend to everyone! For any needs or prayer requests, please contact us

 Pastor Joel, pastor@svlcchurch.org