Treasure Valley Prays

Reimagining Church Together
SHARING STORIES AND EXPLORING SPIRITUAL CONNECTION

Devotions

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Treasure Valley Cluster Connections – February 2023

Welcome to our latest edition of Treasure Valley Cluster Connections. This issue includes information about several upcoming study series open to readers and friends. We are also previewing Ash Wednesday and midweek Lent worship opportunities around the cluster.

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Spiritual practices in community

Video Conferencing and Sacred Space

And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25, 24) I first opened a Zoom video conferencing account when the Lutheran Outdoor Ministry

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red rose

What’s In a Name?

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” (Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2) William Shakespeare These are perhaps some of the best-known words from the works of Shakespeare. The two star-crossed lovers struggle to deal with the fact that they come from competing

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comforting man in hosptital bed

“…a soul on the cusp of the earth.”

“…a soul on the cusp of the earth.”                                                             Kirianne Weaver* Theologian and Pastor, Kirianne Weaver uses this phrase in a short but powerful reflection she wrote describing an event in her life.  I warn you it is a bit stark and perhaps should have one of those alerts they give on television to make the

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Paraplegic lowered from the ceiling to Jesus

Lean On Me

After a few days, Jesus returned to Capernaum, and word got around that he was back home. A crowd gathered, jamming the entrance so no one could get in or out. He was teaching the Word. They brought a paraplegic to him, carried by four men. When they weren’t able to get in because of

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woman with head resting on arms

Guilt

Psalm 27, Triumphant Song of Confidence of David The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh— my adversaries and foes—they shall stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against

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intergenerational women

Blessing of the Ages

O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come. Your power and your righteousness, O God, reach the high heavens. (Psalm 71:17-19) Who

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unlocked padlock

Boundless

“But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going

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ancestors, three sisters.

Thinking about Ancestors

Or The People Who Guide Us This is a photo of Ruth, Ethel, and Isabel, my grandmother and her two sisters, taken around 1910, in Youngstown, Ohio, where all three girls were born. I love the quality of the early twentieth century black and white portrait photography. This image gives me a feeling of three

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travel maps and camera

Road Trips

“In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem, asking, “where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star in the east and have come to pay him homage.” (Matthew 2:1-2) The wise men are

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Nativity scene

The Birth Events of Christmas – Part 2

To resume the discussion on the birth stories, recall that I held up the two Gospel narratives found in Matthew and Luke, and encouraged you to reread them in the last few days. Hopefully, you had the time to do that. At the end of part one, I posed a series of questions. Here are

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Nativity scene

The Birth Events of Christmas

There are a whole lot of things I like about the revised Common Lectionary but the one thing that I most resist is how quickly we are forced to move away from the celebration of Christmas. The various cycles of the three years rather leave alone any recognition of the new year. They launch rather

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gears of time

New Again

And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.” (Revelation 21:5-6a NRSV) It is the

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lego nativity set

Jesus Has Come

Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19) Christmas is my favorite time of year, with all its rituals, music, decorations, celebrations, and even all the secular songs and emphasis on buy, buy, buy. The magnitude of our Christian belief that God has come to us as the lowliest of

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Majestic scene of mountain

Wonderment!

Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” (Luke 1:46) Mary’s song (often called the Magnificat from the Latin word “magnify) looms large in the texts from the Daily Lectionary (Evangelical Lutheran Worship, page 1121) for this day, two days before Christmas Eve. I draw your attention to

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cosmic night sky over water

Peacemakers be with you

“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) One of the recurring questions of my life is, “what

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Trinity sanctuary

Come Into the Wilderness

You would love the way our sanctuary looks right now, during this season of Lent. Some gifted women in our congregation have transformed it into a

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woman standing on balcony

Do Not Be Anxious

My favorite social medium is the podcast. I have a variety of podcasts I follow, including several that are religious or spiritual. One of these

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brown mug with trust in the Lord

Trust

My child, do not forget my teaching,but let your heart keep my commandments;for length of days and years of lifeand abundant welfare they will give

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a stone painted with loved and lost

God is faithful still

“The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18) Earlier in February marked 10 years since

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Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday Services

Introduction On Ash Wednesday we begin our forty-day journey toward Easter with a day of fasting and repentance. Marking our foreheads with dust, we acknowledge

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Volunteers with food and medicine

Being the Good

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love

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fruit of the spirit

Fruit of the Spirit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians

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