Greetings brothers and sisters, and welcome to another Midweek Manna. This coming Sunday, the title of our sermon will be called, “Returning to the Temple,” because originally we were going to return to the temple, this coming Sunday. This was to be our first Sunday, but alas, 90-degree weather out on the courtyard, and other factors, well, we preempted that start date, and now we’ve been in our sanctuary for three weeks.
But nonetheless, we are going to celebrate this newness of Spirit in several different ways. In addition to this sermon, which will come from the minor prophet, Haggai, we will also have a fellowship meal. That’s right, we will gather in meal together for lunch following worship, so please go online, sign up via SignUpGenius. I know another SignUpGenius, but friends, we need you to do that so we know how much food to have.
So please, please do that in your leisure. We hope to have you all there, or as many as possible. The doors will be open, so a nice airflow will take place and everybody can eat and worship without worry.
As we do come to this coming Sunday, we will still live in again to that newness of Spirit. And one of the things I’m excited about is to celebrate what is called a remnant in Haggai, because they are coming back from exile and a remnant of people who originally went over there, well, not all of them came back, so we now have a remnant coming back to Jerusalem to basically start anew.
And that’s essentially what we’re doing. We’re starting anew, and we’re living into that idea of being a remnant, because we are not the same people that we were when the pandemic began. And so, I hope you will join us as we live into this sense of identity and formation, and where is God, and where is Jesus Christ, in and through all of that? We look forward to seeing you this coming Sunday. — Barrett
The featured music for this week is the Introit, “How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place,” which is based on the opening text of Psalm 84. And this text was actually used by Brahms in his Requiem, which the choir has done.
And you might even notice, if you are familiar with this piece, just a little similarity that I may have borrowed from Brahms for the Introit this Sunday. So, I’m looking forward to sharing this with you and much, much more. — Matthias
Let us continue this theme of celebration and return to the sanctuary by praying with one of our Psalms, and in this case, Psalm 126, that is traditionally thought to be sung as pilgrims went to Jerusalem, or went to the sanctuary, and is a grouping of Psalms, called the Songs of Ascent. So this is Psalm 126.
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us and we rejoiced. Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the water courses in the Negeb. May those who sow in tears, reap with shouts of joy. Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.
Friends, we look forward to worshiping with you again this Sunday at 10:00 AM in our sanctuary, or online. Peace. — Isaac