SHEPHERD OF THE VALLEY LUTHERAN CHURCH
DEVOTION, READINGS and PRAYERS
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2023
A VERY BLESSED SEPTEMBER TO ALL
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
NEWS: It’s the start of meteorological autumn today and we wish everyone a good fall season. For all the news and information you can use, please refer to the Shepherd of The Valley Church newsletter that Allen Kolkman sent through email yesterday.
PRAYERS: Today we remember Margie and Allen Latall in our prayers. We especially give thanks to the Lord for the blessings we have been given through our marriage to each other as we’ll celebrate our 19th Anniversary on Monday. We also pray for the Woodward family and Eric, who is hospitalized. We lift up Alba Reilly, recovering from surgery. Chet Laird asks us to pray for his family.
In our Summer of Prayer series, we pray for our sister congregations throughout California in their respective mission fields. Because our state is a source of influence in the nation and even for the rest of the world, we pray that the Lord would raise up the church here and help us become a Christ-led state.
READINGS: Esther 8; Psalm 60; 1 Thessalonians 4
DEVOTION:
Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries
“Entryway”
Psalm 26:8 – O Lord, I love the habitation of Your house and the place where Your glory dwells.
This devotion pairs with this weekend’s Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at lutheranhour.org.
A business consultant was working with a manager. At work, the manager was relentlessly driven and constantly driving his workers. At home, however, things were different. With his family, the man was relaxed, patient, fun, funny. So, the consultants asks him, “How do you do it? How do you go from psycho businessman man to super dad?” The manager said, “It’s simple. It all comes down to my third space.” It turns out, the man had built a private entrance into his house. Years ago, he realized that he’d been taking his work home with him. As a result, he was demoralizing his wife and children with unreasonable expectations and inadequate attention. So, he hired a construction crew to build him a separate entrance. Now, he goes straight from his car, through his entryway, directly into his bedroom. There, takes off his suit, showers, and resets; then, comes out to greet his family, a new man.
Adam Fraser, the consultant who observed this, was a researcher in the field of human performance. This manager’s drastic measures gave him an idea about how to communicate his discoveries. Fraser had found that the top performers in their fields were the ones who could reset—quickly transitioning from one interaction to the next. Of course, not everyone can build a private entryway into their house. But, Fraser thought, what if this “third space” wasn’t a physical space, but a mental space, or emotional, or spiritual? A space you could “go” to in an instant, to reflect, rest, and reset, and then step into whatever happens next. Fraser wrote a book about this, and in honor of the manager, titled it The Third Space.
It’s an old idea, really, repackaged for a new time. The people of ancient Israel were doing something like this thousands of years ago, after they had lost their physical worship space, the temple in Jerusalem. The temple was Israel’s physical entryway into a sacred space with God. But, somewhere along the way, the people began regarding the physical temple as the thing itself. The temple became their god. So, the true God sent a foreign army to destroy it. God used the loss to help them reset. And that’s when a collection of poems became even more important to them—poems known today as the book of Psalms.
Over the next several weeks on The Lutheran Hour, and on Fridays with these devotions, I’ll be inviting you to use the psalms in this way, as an entryway into the presence of God. Wherever you are, let the psalms transport you into a hiding place with Jesus Christ. Speak the words of the psalms in faith, as your own words, God-given words that Jesus won for us by His death on the cross, words that He delivers to us through His resurrection from the dead. Use these words as your third space.
Jesus Himself used the psalms in this way. When He was being crucified, cut off from the physical temple, He used at least two psalms to reset, reflect, and remember who He was, where He came from, and why He matters. Alive and made new in Christ, Christians do the same because the risen Jesus is our temple, where life with God awaits us, even now. And the psalms are like an entryway to it.
WE PRAY: Jesus, I love the refuge of Your presence, the place where Your glory dwells. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Speaker of The Lutheran Hour.
Reflection Questions:
1. What helps you more effectively transition from the demands of one activity, environment, or interaction, into a new set of demands?
2. Read Psalm 26. How does David cope with the pressures and demands of his calling as king?
3. Moving forward with Jesus, how might the psalms enrich your life with God?
Today’s Bible Readings: 2 Chronicles 17-18 2 Corinthians 6
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 hour s: 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 Friday to everyone! For any needs or prayer requests, please contact us
Pastor Joel, pastor@svlcchurch.org
