Wednesday Devotional: Midwinter Power in the Spirit 2023

Midwinter Power in the Spirit 2023

Wednesday, February 1

Welcome!

We're glad you're a part of the Power in the Spirit online community this week. This morning's e-devotional includes a poem, readings, and a recorded message.

Tonight we will gather on Zoom for our workshop 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 to connect. We will open the Zoom room at 5:30 PM.

Tonight we all have three 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. Synod Staff will be on hand to help you. Consider logging in right at 5:30, so 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 at 7 PM.

On behalf of the Power in the Spirit planning team, we are happy you are part of our community this week. We have time for learning, fellowship, worship, and service ahead of us this week. For now, we invite you to make use of this morning devotional to focus on some rest.

Peace be with you,

Pastor Wesley Smith, Donna Gum, and Edith Blake

Power in the Spirit Coordinators, Virginia Synod

This Year's Theme:

Blessed Are

God's Gifts– © Edith Blake

God has entrusted us with unique and varied gifts

He calls us to use them wisely

Your gift may be as simple as a listening ear or as complicated as using numbers

All He is asking of us is to claim our gifts, act on them, and trust him to use them for good

You may think you don’t have a gift but even your ability to write is important

Caring for loves ones or people in need is also important

Befriending someone is just as important in His eyes

An outgoing personality or your sense of fairness are gifts too

So, don’t think you haven’t anything because you do

Even just a friendly smile to a stranger or a simple thank you can mean a lot to someone

Your willingness to use whatever gifts God has given you is all he is asking of you

Artwork titled "Hearts Leap UP" by Norma Fredrickson from Grace, Winchester

A Reading from Scripture: Matthew 5:3, 6, 8

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

Devotion for Wednesday

By: Jon Page, Commissioned Lay Preacher

Announcements!

Tonight's Schedule

5:30 PM Zoom Room Open

5:45-6:50 Workshops

6:50-6:55 Announcements

7:00 PM Evening Prayer

Live Presentations Tonight: Three Choices!

Join us on Zoom, beginning at 5:30 PM tonight! 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 your 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.

Click Here for the Presentation Options for Tonight

Blessed are the Meek

We are all Children of God. Therefore, we should welcome all to the table. How do we cherish and support those within our communities and congregations to feel connected and a part of what we are creating? Are you interested in widening your understanding and experience with those with differing abilities within your congregations? Are you hoping to learn how to be a support to someone that is interested in being a part of your church community? This session will focus on ways to welcome and support those of differing abilities to all aspects of worship and community. Those with differing abilities are often seen as meek, but when we welcome them, we give them a voice at God’s table. When we welcome the meek, we are all blessed.

Deanna Rennon

Eastern Division Operations Officer, Wall Residences

Blessed are the Peacemakers

We will look through the lens of modern policing to examine the inherent tension which comes with trying to live as a peacemaker in a fallen world. A former police officer and current law enforcement chaplain, Pastor Lou Florio, will provide some very brief context regarding modern police culture and then draw upon scripture, Lutheran theology, and sociology to help us identify where we might find hope and encouragement to become peacemakers ourselves. Pastor Florio is currently Associate Pastor at Christ (Fredericksburg) and serves as a volunteer chaplain with the City of Fredericksburg Police and Hanover County Sheriff’s Office. Along with his divinity education, he has an MS in Criminal Justice from Virginia Commonwealth University and is a credentialed chaplain through the International Conference of Police Chaplains.

The Rev. Lou Florio

Christ, Fredericksburg

Blessed Are

Bible Study on the Beatitudes

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5.1-12) are perhaps some of Jesus’ best-known and most-beloved words in scripture. The Beatitudes serve as a preamble and manifesto for the entirety of Jesus’ ministry of transformational love and grace. Blessed Are… these words serve as comfort and hope for people who are oppressed and distressed- and their lived implications for community may surprise and challenge us. Let’s explore these words of Jesus together!

The Rev. Kelly Bayer Derrick

Assistant to the Bishop, Virginia Synod, ELCA

Live Evening Prayer

Bring each day to a close with time for prayer. We will use a call and response with some of Edith Blake’s poetry interspersed with words from hymns. We will provide an opportunity for you to lift up prayer concerns and general prayers.

Learn more about GraceInside

Give to Support GraceInside

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 GraceInside.

The Power in the Spirit theme, "Blessed are . . ." reminds us that God’s love and presence extend to all people, especially the outcast and the oppressed. GraceInside provides chaplain services to inmates in prisons across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Your gift to GraceInside will support this critical ministry that brings God’s Word into the prisons.

To give, follow the link below to the Virginia Synod's Power in the Spirit giving page. Thank you for your generosity!

Give Now

Power in the Spirit

A ministry of the Virginia Synod, ELCA

www.vasynod.org/power-in-the-spirit

Click Here to View as a Webpage

Virginia Synod, ELCA | 540-389-1000 | vasynod.org