 A Pastor’s Perspective Please join us for In Person Worship Sunday mornings at 10:00 am For everyone’s health, we are continuing with precautions: 1) Wear a mask while inside the building. 2) Temperatures are checked upon entry. 3) Practice social distancing. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. Together we can stop this virus from spreading in our community. See you Sunday! Peace, Gary  YOUTH Join us for in person group time, Wednesday nights from 6 – 8 pm in the JCAC. If you want to eat, you’ll need to bring your own food. Due to covid restrictions, we aren’t able to serve a meal. I’m looking forward to seeing all of you! Love & Prayers, Shauna Becker “Abandonment” In Matt 27:46/Mark 15:34, we find a quote from the 1st verse of Ps 22: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” For first century CE Jews, which would include Jesus, the Psalms were a source of wisdom about life and a ready resource for prayer. It would have been common for Jews to recite a psalm, or piece of one, in their daily living. Ps 22 is a lament. There are 60 laments in the Psalter, prayers describing a world that seems out of control and marked by emotions like suffering, despair, anger, and doubt. Sometimes a lament calls the Holy to task for not acting like God, even questioning whether the Divine cares about humanity or creation. There are more laments in the Book of Psalms than any other identifiable form. In Ps 22, the psalmist cries out to the Holy in a moment of great distress, wondering if they have been abandoned by their Creator. Despite plenty of assurances that the Divine is always present and would never abandon the psalmist, the current experience of utter despair calls such assurances into question. Here the gospel writers show us the full humanity of Jesus. Suffering a horrible death by crucifixion, Jesus cries out to the Holy and asks why he has been abandoned. This is a great reminder to us that, no matter how strong our faith may be, there are times when we will have doubts, when we will wonder where the Divine is in the midst of great suffering, whether our own or others. In moments when life does seem to be out of control, with ever increasing violence, disease, and oppression, to our eyes it may seem that the Holy has abandoned this world. The stories of our faith, though, continue to remind us that the Holy is always present. In fact, in the moments of our pain and distress, the Divine is there suffering with us as well as calling humanity to do the work of easing pain and ending the cycles of violence and hate that perpetuate suffering. When we see others in the throes of feeling abandoned and doubting all that they hold dear, we must not judge them nor meet their experience with trite phrases, like “God never gives us more than we can handle.” No, it is our task to bear witness to their pain and remind them that they are not alone. This is how we live out our calling to be reflections of the Holy in the world. By: Rev. Dr. Lisa W. Davison Johnnie Eargle Cadieux Professor of Hebrew Bible Phillips Theological Seminary | |
| Join us for in-person worship or online at our YouTube channel Sundays at 10:00 AM Share the link with your family and friends! https://www.youtube.com/user/FirstCCMWCOK Weather permitting Drive-In Communion in the church parking lot (enter Anderson Road) at 11:30 AM     Father, I stretch my hands to Thee With text by Charles Wesley, the song was first published in the UMC Songs of Zion, which ethnomusicologist Eileen Southern calls one of the “great monuments of Black church music.” It appears in our Chalice Hymnal without “parts” that is, it is notated in a lined format, as a reflection of the importance of the validation of oral traditions in the Black Church. Our Chalice Hymnal has a limited version of the melody, which is actually an embellished version of the MARTYRDOM hymn tune (Hugh Wilson, 1766-1824), the same melody used for “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed” by Isaac Watts. Following the Civil War, and despite the ban on education of any kind—including religious education—for black people, there were those who felt it important to teach black people the correct way to sing hymns. Interestingly, both educated black and white clergymen alike, were disparaging of the “extravagant and nonsensical” music that the slaves composed themselves. Little did they understand that the God-given creative impulse of African-derived people could not be squashed and that whatever they were given would be converted to fulfill their own spiritual and cultural needs! That this song now appears in our denominational hymnal is a strong testament to the diverse and inclusive nature of Disciples – what a glorious blessing! Another distinction of the style is that after each line, in a manner quite different from the syllabic style of most hymns, the congregation would sing the lined-out phrase, adding flourishes with highs and lows to a melody that had pentatonic or modal tendencies. While the lining out of hymns was practiced in other communities of low literacy, doing so in a melismatic style (multiple notes sung within one syllable) was very particular to African Americans. You’ll hear this distinctive style in the choir’s arrangement of this wonderful old hymn this coming Sunday, along with a reappearance of guest trumpeter, JT Pundt. With Grace, Peace and Melismas, Mark Johnson   Life Line Screening is coming to FCC MWC Wednesday, April 7 from 8:30 – 4 pm To register, go to www.lifelinescreening.com. If you need help registering, please call the church office at 405-769-2717. The 2021 Church Directory is now available. A BIG Thank You to Jamie Benge and Karen Holt for helping get this project completed! Giving Online Log into MyFCC at: fccmwc.org/my-fcc Select Give from the dropdown menu on the top left. Follow the instructions to set up a recurring gift or send a one time gift. If you have questions, please watch this video: https://player.vimeo.com/video/170043827 Or mail your contribution to: First Christian Church of Midwest City 11950 E Reno Ave Midwest City, OK 73130 When dropping your offering in the church mailbox, please make sure it slides all the way to the back of the slot so that it drops down into the lock box area. Thank you for your faithfulness! FOLLOW US AND STAY CONNECTED ON SOCIAL MEDIA: FACEBOOK Search name: First Christian Church MWC INSTAGRAM Search name: FCC Midwest City YOUTUBE Search name: First Christian Church Midwest City |
  MEMORIALS To the Memorial Fund given by Pairs & Spares Class In memory of Patrick Isaac To the Youth fund given by Mitsy Martin Davis In memory of Lori Lange In memory of Kristyn Reed’s brother Rick To the Memorial Fund given by Nancy Graham In memory of Patrick Isaac To the Memorial Fund given by Carol Hamilton In memory of Lori Lange To the Memorial Fund given by Tony & Judy Speck In memory of Lorene McMahan In memory of Dam Nguyen Join us for in-person worship on Sundays at 10:00 am. We are also streaming live on the YouTube Channel. Weather permitting, we will have drive through communion following the service at 11:30 am in the Anderson side parking lot. https://www.youtube.com/user/FirstCCMWCOK Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Church Office: 769-2717 email: [email protected] Rev. Gary Mitchell cell: 245-8678 email: [email protected] For Youth related events Shauna Becker cell: 820-3178 email: [email protected] For Choir related events Mark Johnson cell: 903-312-3827 email: [email protected] Please contact the church office with new prayer concerns and with updates on those who are listed. Thank you!  PRAYER CONCERNS *The Lange and Moler families; *Lane & Randy Ross; *Kristyn Reid and her family for the loss of her brother Rick McCulloh; Andrea Kintzinger, blood clots in her leg, a result of covid; Paul Niehoff; Beverly Rubino; Lucille Williams, broken arm (Nancy Williams mother); Betsy Hormel, cancer (Leah Wakely’s aunt); Carolyn Slaughter (Niehoff); Kathleen Woodruff (friend of Deidre Burk); Carilee Delano; Anita Oliver and her mother (ongoing health issues); Judy Martin (Mitsy’s mother) *NEW ADDITION Congregation Long-Term Prayer List: Julie Avants; Barbara Benge; Katie Benge; Donna Brubaker; Ashley Dean; Gene Gilbert; Katy Givens; Karen Holland; Tanni Jamison; Richard & Mary Layman; Sandy Lees; Lloyd family; Becky Long; Faye Miller; Shirley Niehoff; Rev. Lee & Mary Nirschl; George Pettigrew; Harold Powers; Kristyn Reid; Vicki Richey; Lane Ross; Millie Sawyer; Jim & Connie Sharp; Wanda Williams; Jim Wylie Shut-Ins Prayer List: Lola Jean Ashford; Virginia Douthitt; Ken Foust; Dr. Gifford McBride; Bill & Robbie McGruder; Bertha Owen; Cole Padgham; Margaret Scears; Joyce Shirley; Shirley Tharp; Renata Thomas; Barbara Wilson Family/Friends Long Term Prayer List: Tom Acree (Acree); Kate Benge (Benge); Lori Bonnewell (Bonnewell); Glen & Allie Benson (Brubaker); John Booth (McKinney); Jim & Bonnie Brooks (Lloyd); Betty Brubaker (David’s mother); Angela Bruning (Martin Davis); Jacob Burkhart (Avants); Johnny Cambell (S Updegraff); Lisa Coffman (Stanfill); Chris Cornelius (Cornelius); Coleen Crow (Lange); Sue Crumrine (Gambill); Michael DeGennaro (Camp); Doug Egerer (M Holt); Barbara Fretwell (Reid); JoAnn Fritz (S Updegraff); Malik Givens (Avants); Jim Graves (Moler); Wayne Haney (Moler); Johnna Harvey (S Updegraff); Tom Henthorn (Albee); Leo Hickman (Gambill); Rev. Lawrence Howard (M Howard); Sam Howard (Howard); Jim Johnson (Greffin); Blair Lanning (Avants); Larry & Sandra Stanfill); Gary LaVigna (S Updegraff); Amber Leamy (Niehoff); Misty Leeper (Jamison); Evelyn & Norman Lees (Lees); Rod & Cathy Lees (Lees); Cathy Martinez (Moler); Sue McCormick (Brubaker); David & Diane McEvoy (Walters); Annis Hickman Miller (Gambill); Cathy Miller (Reid); Kathleen Miller (Gambill); George Niehoff (Niehoff); Michael Niehoff (Niehoff); Darryl Rowton (Northcutt); Ralph Seabaugh (McKinney); Ann Simon (Lange); Susannah Smith (Lees); Joel & Jeff Staggs (Walters); Michael & Debbie Stevens (McGruder); Rosa Stock (M Holt); Jim & Betty Temple (Williams); Alton Ray Tidwell (Niehoff); Austin Traylor (Traylor); Alyse Walker (Gambill); Megan White (Suffridge); Lucille Williams (N Williams); Ann Windel (Cornelius); Cindy Winkle (Fennell); Jorge Zamora (Gallegos); Lori Zang (M Holt) |
