Midwinter Power in the Spirit, 2022
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
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We're glad you're a part of the Power in the Spirit online community this week. This morning's e-devotional includes readings, prayers, and a recorded message.
Tonight we gather on Zoom for elective presentations! Look for an email at noon each day of this event, or find the confirmation email you received when you registered. The Zoom link will be there, and we'll open the doors to the Zoom Room at 5:30 PM.
Tonight we all have four elective presentations to choose from! When you first enter the Zoom Room, you can start choosing which breakout room you'll go to for your elective. Volunteers and Synod Staff will be on hand to assist you. Consider logging on right at 5:30 so that you can get to your preferred breakout room in time for presentations to begin at 5:45.
After each evening's presentations, we'll bring our time to a close with Evening Prayer as hosted by the online community Peace+Hope, with Pastor Bryan Katz. This service will take place on the AltarLive platform, which you can learn more about here. Tonight's service includes a concluding reflection from our keynote speaker: Bishop Kevin Strickland!
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Visit the VA Synod website to catch up on past content! |
Did you miss a worship service or presentation? Did you want to go back and hear again something that struck your interest? Visit the Power in the Spirit page on the Virginia Synod website to catch up on this year's event--and events of year's past! Visit www.vasynod.org/power-in-the-spirit to see what we've done! |
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This Year's Theme:
Rest + Renew + Rise
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RISE
© Edith Blake
Raise
Invent
Sunshine
Embark
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A Reading from Scripture: Luke 2:22-40 |
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
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A Reflection: Martin Luther |
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Pastor Wes Smith writes:
St Luke combines the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple by his parents eight days after his birth with Simeon’s pronouncement that Jesus’ birth is for the rise and fall of many. Martin Luther, in his preaching on Luke’s text can’t help but point out how, somewhat tongue in cheek, how devastating that must have been for Mary. But Luther also seems to hint that the rise and fall of humans is somehow linked to Jesus’ own rise and fall on Good Easter, Holy Saturday and Easter. Luther suggests that although many will be opposed to Jesus and “fall,” Jesus, by his rising on the cross and his descent on Holy Saturday, paves the way for the salvation of all. Here is how Luther puts it:
“You have heard the Gospel: how the holy man blessed the holy mother and predicted that her Son should be for the rising and falling of many in Israel, a sign to be spoken against, and that a sword shall pierce her own soul that the secrets of many hearts should be revealed. These words are written so that we should not despair when we see great crowds falling away from Christ. If it had not been foreseen, it would have been unbearable. Simeon spoke of the fall and the sword as if he were saying, ‘Dear Mary, you have borne a Son. The world, the flesh, and the devil will be against him.’ What a congratulation this was to offer a mother of six weeks! … First he blesses the Son, then speaks of his suffering and that all shall be against him… What has the little Child done? He announces: ‘My Father will be gracious to you and will free you from death, sin and hell.’ And then men tread him underfoot and hang him on a cross as one accursed.”
But without Jesus’ descent, he would not have risen again, raising us up with him as Simeon had prophesied.
[Martin Luther’s Christmas Book, ed. Roland H. Bainton, Augsburg, 1948, pp. 64-65.]
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A Word from Pastor Church |
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Each morning we hear from a leader in our Virginia Synod who speaks about today's theme. Today, we give thanks for this message from Rev. Michael Church, Pastor of Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Warrenton, Virginia. Click the video to hear from Pastor Church. |
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Do you need closed captions? YouTube will generate them for you! Once you're on the video page, just look for the "cc" symbol and click it. |
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A Morning Prayer, written by Martin Luther |
I give thanks to you, heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have protected me through the night from all harm and danger. I ask that you would protect me today from sin and all evil, so that my life and actions may please you. 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. |
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Live Presentations Tonight: Four Choices! |
Join us on Zoom, beginning at 5:30 PM on Monday night! Log in as soon as you can so you have time to select your breakout room. Our presentations will begin promptly at 5:45 PM!
To find our Zoom room, click the link you received in your registration confirmation email. We will also send a reminder email at noon each day of our event.
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Candlemas, also known as The Presentation of Our Lord, is festival of the Church year in which Mary is especially celebrated. In this workshop, we will hear more about how our churches can celebrate the mother of our Lord. Have a candle nearby!
The Rev. Katie Pocalyko, Pastor
Living Faith Lutheran Church, Rockville, MD
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Just Enough Structure to Be Helpful |
Let’s have a conversation about how to align congregational needs, constitutional requirements, and the reality of ministry today.
The Rev. John Wertz Jr
Assistant to the Bishop
Director for Evangelical Mission
Virginia Synod, ELCA
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You Are Not a Gadget: The Urgency of the Christian Doctrine of Human Personhood in the Digital Age |
Virtual reality pioneer and Internet-development insider Jaron Lanier has written a book under the title, "you are not a gadget." It is a defense of humanism against the totalizing tendency he sees to be at work in a technology which turns human persons into cogs in its vast machine. The book is also interesting because it exposes the "secular faith" of Silicon Valley as a replacement religion for defunct Christianity. Lanier's humanism hangs by a thread against such a powerful force and in this presentation we will see how the Christian doctrine of the human person made in the image of God for likeness to God is urgently needed to throw a stick into the spokes of the wheel.
The Rev. Dr. Paul R. Hinlicky
Tise Professor of Lutheran Studies, Roanoke College
Docent, Evanjelicka Bohoslovecka Fakulta, Univerzita Komenskeho, Bratislava, Slovakia
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Tapestry: Racial Justice Workshop |
George Floyd, CRT ( critical race theory) BLM -Black Lives Matter are topics that grab attention. The Synod’s Tapestry group invites you to a workshop on inclusion promoting a discussion on racial justice with the understanding that such discussions are uncomfortable but necessary for the well-being of our church and society. Through this workshop, we hope to empower further discussion on race and steps that will assist our call to promote understanding of inclusion within our congregations and our response to our various communities.
Maurice Gallimore
Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
enCircle
The Rev. Harry Griffith, Pastor
Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Virginia Beach
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Live Worship at 7:00 PM, Starting Tonight! |
After each night's presentation, we make our way to www.peacehopeva.org/worship. Peace+Hope is an online community of the Virginia Synod. Pastor Bryan Katz and the community of Peace+Hope will lead us in evening prayer as our time together comes to a close.
Worship includes a closing word from our keynote presenter: Bishop Kevin Strickland!
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Give to Support enCircle! |
There is no fee to attend Midwinter Power in the Spirit Online, but we do suggest a donation of $25. All funds received by Power in the Spirit this winter will be used to benefit enCircle (formerly known as Lutheran Family Services).
Our gifts will specifically support enCircle's work with unaccompanied children in Virginia. EnCircle assists with the assignment process that matches children with host families, and conducts followup visits to assess needs. The funds we raise through Power in the Spirit will go towards needs that aren't always met by large-scale grants. Sometimes a child just needs a new pair of socks, or a backpack for school. Sometimes a child needs a coat for the winter. Sometimes a child needs a bed. Our gifts will help fill those needs!
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Power in the Spirit
A Ministry of the Virginia Synod, ELCA
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