SHEPHERD OF THE VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH
READINGS, PRAYERS and HOLY WEEK DEVOTIONS
HOLY MONDAY, APRIL 11
NEWS: It was a very beautiful Palm Sunday at SVLC with 46 in attendance. We give thanks for Pastor Joel and all others who served yesterday.
We have a busy week ahead for this Holy Week, 2022. On Thursday we have our Maundy Thursday service at 7 PM. We will celebrate the Lord’s Supper, followed by the stripping of the altar. We leave the church in silence. Our Good Friday service is also at 7 PM and traditionally we should enter and leave God’s house in silence too. There are NO Potlucks before either service.
This Saturday we will have our Men’s Bible breakfast/study at 9 AM in our Fellowship Hall. At 10 AM our Work Party kicks into gear and goes until Noon. This will be the cleaning up and tidying up for our Easter celebration.
Next Sunday, April 17, we celebrate our Risen Lord and Saviors victory over sin, death and the devil at 10 AM, but not before our Easter breakfast from 8:45 to 9:15 AM, in our Fellowship Hall and an Easter egg hunt for the kids at 9:30!
PRAYERS: Today we especially pray for Margaret Paton. We also lift up Pastor Joel as he drove to Tucson, AZ to see his wife and children for a couple days and for safety on his return trip to lead our services at the end of the week.
COLLECT FOR THE DAY: Almighty God, grant that in the midst of our failures and weakness we may be restored through the passion and intercession of Your only begotten Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
READINGS: Isaiah 50:5-10; Psalm 36:5-10; Hebrews 9:11-15; John 12:1-23
DEVOTION:
Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries
“THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO”
And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on His right and one on His left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” … (Luke 23:33-34b)
How do you measure sin—by what the person meant to do, or by the harm that actually came of it? If I meant to do a minor harm and actually ended up doing lifelong damage, to what extent am I responsible? How much guilt should I feel? Can I ever be forgiven?
Certainly, the men crucifying Jesus had no idea what they were doing. They knew they were killing a man. They might have realized they were killing an innocent man. They had no idea they were killing the Son of Man—the Son of God—God Himself. How do you measure that?
Jesus doesn’t. He refuses to measure their sin at all. Instead, He appeals to the Father, begging Him to forgive them regardless. Jesus is including their sin—this very sin of killing Him—in the whole mass of sins He is laying down His life to forgive. He doesn’t want measurements—retribution—a scheme of debts or repayments. Let it all go, under the blood of Jesus. He is paying in full.
If we have sinned—no matter how deeply we have sinned, or what the consequences have been—we can be forgiven and cleansed through the blood of Jesus. Jesus has paid, and there is no higher price possible than His life willingly laid down. Trust in Him. Measurements don’t matter anymore—except to remember, again and again, the depth of His love, and the wonder of His kindness.
THE PRAYER: Lord, take all my sins from me, and make me clean. Amen.
Reflection Questions:
* Do you tend to value sin and guilt by intentions or by actual harm done? Why?
* Does it make a difference if you are the sinner or the sinned-against?
* How does Jesus’ unbelievably extravagant payment for our sins set us free from worrying over what we owe?
Lenten Devotions were written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Today’s Bible Readings: Joshua 16-18 Luke 11:1-28
To Download Devotion MP3 to your computer, right click here and select “Save Link As” or “Save Target As” or “Download Linked File As”
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:
www.facebook.com/shepherdofthevalleyoceanside
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 Holy Monday to everyone! For any needs or prayer requests, please contact us.
