Well, greetings, and welcome to another edition of Midweek Manna. And we are excited because this coming Sunday, we return to outdoor worship there on our church courtyard. So we hope you will join us. Please don’t forget to sign up there at mvpchurch.org. We have 125 spots available, so we look forward to seeing you. We will have a lot going on in this particular worship service. And foremost that will be happening is we will be celebrating the gifts of our graduating seniors, along with their families who I’m sure have traversed a unique senior year. And so we will celebrate with them and celebrate all of the future endeavors that they will embark upon. And to do that, we will focus on a unique passage, one that I’ve actually never preached on from Judges chapter 12, the first seven verses.
And I’ll just lay out, first off, the book of Judges is a very dark book, but within the context of this particular reading is I think one that sheds light on how we are called to celebrate those who are different from us, as well as celebrate those who have different ideas than we do. And it is utilized in one word or perhaps two, depending on how you pronounce it, and that is the word shibboleth, or is it sibboleth? And so I will tease you with that and invite you over the rest of the week to maybe delve into Judges chapter 12 and read those verses, that’s the first seven verses. So we look forward to seeing you as we wonder aloud how we are called to engage one another, especially as we venture into this world in the mosaic of truth and experience that we all witness. — Barrett
With this Sunday being Senior Recognition Sunday, that time in their lives, it represents a time of change, a time of excitement, time of uncertainty, a time to decide how they’re going to take over the world. Well, I wanted to choose a piece this Sunday which would evoke a sense of calmness. And so I chose “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need,” an old Isaac Watts 18th century text to the tune Resignation, which is from an American folk song from the middle of the 19th century. And aside from it being a beautiful text and a text that offers us reassurance, the scale of that tune is actually built around is what is referred to as a pentatonic scale. Now singing-wise, that doesn’t necessarily mean that much. However, for guitar players, that’s oftentimes our mantra. We hear it all the time. And in this case, that’s what our melody revolves around, the pentatonic scale. So I’ll look forward to sharing that along with other music with you this Sunday. —Matthias
In this mid weekly way point of scripture and hymns, we now turn to prayer. Let’s go to God together and lift up these prayers. Loving God, you want us to give thanks for all things, to fear nothing except losing you and to lay all our cares on you knowing, knowing that you care for us. Protect us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties this week, and grant that no clouds in this life may hide us from the great light of your immortal love. God, it’s in your name we pray, amen. Friends, we will see you Sunday at 11 o’clock outside in our courtyard as we celebrate our graduating seniors and we worship God together. Peace. —Isaac