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Worship | |
January 13
Baptism of the Lord
Lessons
Isaiah 43:1-7
Luke 3:15-22
Sermon
Immersed in Life,
Inundated with God
Gordon A. Turnbull
Hymns
Come, Thou Fount
of Every Blessing
Down Galilee's Slow Roadways
Baptized in Water
Anthem
At the River
By the Numbers
January 6: 8:30: 143; 11:00: 120 |
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Windows
on First Presbyterian Church
January 10, 2013 |
Wednesday Programs Resume
With Wisdom in Winter | |
Explore the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament with Dave Welch in the next several Wednesday evening programs. We will engage the Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, and perhaps even the Song of Solomon, as we find parallels to our own living and our own questions about God and life. The Israelites faced similar questions and grappled with them rationally from the perspective of experience and community wisdom. They may have more to say to us today than modern Christians are used to hearing. We look forward to sharing several evenings together pondering these wonderful avenues for reflection in our scripture. Join us on Wednesday nights, from 6:15 to 7:00. On the menu before the program next week is breakfast for dinner, at 5:30, in the Fellowship Hall.
Meanwhile, in the Parking Lot ...
The Marsh Bloodmobile will be in the FPC parking lot from 4:00 to 7:00 on Wednesday evening. We hope that you will find it convenient to donate blood then refresh yourself at our fellowship dinner. You will find sign-up sheets and flyers in your Sunday bulletin, in the narthex, and in the Fellowship Hall. Your gift of blood could save three lives! You're never too old to give, and you can be as young as 17 (with parental consent).
Wednesday Night Kids
 When we begin our second semester January 16, our subject will be Heaven's Kitchen, a series that explores the parables of Jesus. Through the use of a cooking theme, four-year-olds through fifth-graders will learn how Jesus used ordinary ingredients like soil and seeds, salt, yeast, wheat, and fruit to teach us about everyday living here on earth. Whether making play-dough food, participating in the telling of a parable, tasting the ingredient of the day, or investigating with a kitchen science experiment, all will learn not only what the parables mean but also how to apply them to their own lives.
There will be two classes, led by our faithful Wednesday night volunteers. The younger children will continue with Sujean Bradley and Alice Graham, while the others will be led by Jennifer Covington and Laura Linke. Join us at 6:00 p.m. on January 16, as we meet Chef Emerald and Chowdown the Apprentice and begin our study of the Parable of the Sower. |
Winter Opens Heart to Heart Opportunities for Women | |
 We welcome a new year of fellowship and shared learning with the following opportunities for all women of FPC and their friends.
Weekly Bible Studies
Lynette Wallen will begin a weekly study focusing on prayer and using the book Longing to Pray, by J. Ellsworth Kalas, as a guide. This study began January 9 and continues meets each Wednesday from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. This approach to prayer relies on the Psalms to teach us how to commune with the Father. Child care is provided, and the group meets in the New Mothers' Room across from the nursery. We plan to meet together weekly until summer, taking time at each meeting for fellowship, study, and prayer. For more information, email Lynette at lynette.wallen@gmail.com or call her at 423-360-7488.
Lorri Looney will facilitate a DVD Bible study using Priscilla Shirer's Jonah: Navigating a Life Interrupted, beginning January 16 and continuing through February 27. What do we do when God interrupts our lives? Many times, like Jonah, we run! In this seven-session Bible study, Priscilla redefines interruption and shows that it is actually God's invitation to do something beyond our wildest dreams. When Jonah was willing to allow God to interrupt his life, the result was revival in an entire city. This group will meet weekly at the church from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the parlor. Child care will be available. Workbooks will be available for $12 at the first session. For more information, email Lorri at jeffandlorri@msn.com or call her at 423-573-1676.
Twice-Monthly Bible Study
Betsy Turnbull will lead an inductive Bible study of Revelation, the Bible's most puzzling and, in some views, most intimidating book. This study will begin Tuesday, January 22, with an introductory session on inductive Bible study techniques and a brief overview of the Revelation to John. The group will resume its normal schedule in February, meeting at the church on the first and third Tuesdays of each month, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Consider becoming a part of this group that plans to learn and grow through the shared study of God's Word. For more information, email Betsy at gbturnbull@btes.tv.
Looking Ahead: Read and Feed
Plan on joining us is on a Saturday (to be determined) in February for our annual book review session and soup smorgasbord. We promise you great food and fellowship as we gather to hear about books that can encourage and challenge us in our lives of faith. Watch Windows for more details about this much-anticipated annual event.
March 1-3: Women's Retreat
The annual Women's Retreat will be held at Blowing Rock Conference Center in Blowing Rock, NC, the first weekend in March. This year we'll feature Christian speaker Joan Spitz, who will lead us in a Biblically based study of "The Power of Encouragement." Learn about Joan at www.joanspitz.org. Registration will begin in late January! |
Men's Retreat Coming Up Next Weekend |
 | | We always have a great time when we work together, in any weather! |
The Men's Ministry is sponsoring a service retreat to Washington, D.C., next weekend, January 18-20. We will travel Friday evening, work at the D.C. Food Bank on Saturday, take in city offerings Saturday night, then worship at National Presbyterian Church Sunday morning and return that evening.
Informational flyers are available throughout the church. The total cost of $60 covers travel, two nights' lodging in a hostel, and some food (dinner on Saturday is not included). Reserve your spot with a $10 deposit.
You will need to pack a sleeping bag (or sheets and a blanket), a pillow, a towel, toiletries, ear plugs, work clothes and gloves, and comfortable shoes. Please let Dave Welch know if you are willing to drive your car; we will pay for the gas.
Scholarships are available. If you have any questions, please contact Dave at dwelch@fpcristol.org. |
Nursery Volunteers Needed for Sunday Mornings |
 If you enjoy small children and babies, please volunteer to offer extra love and care for the youngest among us on Sunday mornings. A sign-up form for volunteers will be in the Fellowship Hallway on the next two Sundays, January 13 and 20, for those willing to assist during the 8:30 service or the Sunday School hour. Thank you for your help these past months! And thank you to those who will give support to our children in the months ahead.
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Save the Dates: June 10-12
Vacation Bible School 2013 |
Vacation Bible School 2013: we are deciding on the theme and the times, but we know the dates! As you begin making summer plans, please save June 10-12 for VBS at First Presbyterian. There is sure to be games, skits, and good music as we gather together and learn more about God's love for us. So pray for the planning team, think about who you should invite, and mark your calendars. |
Make Snack Time Cheerio-ier for Fairmount Children |
 Everyone needs a lift in the afternoon, but not everyone can afford an afternoon snack. For that reason, the Neighborhood Initiatives Steering Committee is collecting snacks for children at Fairmount Elementary School who would otherwise go without when snack time comes. The committee is asking us to bring in boxes of Cheerios, plain or multigrain, and put them in the Little Red House in the Fellowship Hallway. The committee will take them to the school, and the teachers will divide them into snack portions as needed.
Kay Ward, the community outreach liaison at Fairmount, has discovered that there are at least two children in each of 23 classrooms whose parents cannot give them snacks. That adds up to a need for 46 snack portions every day, a total of 230 snacks per week, or 920 snacks each month.
Your loving contribution will give dignity to children from low-income families by allowing them to enjoy snacks with their classmates, and tide them over until the end of the school day. Say a prayer of blessing as you send them on their way! |
Our Family Promise Rotation Begins Sunday |
Through our participation in Family Promise of Bristol, we will host selected local homeless families at our church beginning this Sunday, January 13. Families will arrive that evening to begin a week's stay, and we will provide them with food and shelter during the evenings and nights. Thank you to all the volunteers who are working for the success of this project! |
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 Bristol Faith in Action urgently needs more flu season care kits to distribute to families in need. Many items that promote health and cleanliness cannot be purchased with food stamps. Among these are disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer, germ-killing sprays, and tissues. The Evangelism & Outreach Committee asks the FPC family to collect such care kits, or items for them, over the next several weeks. Please bring your donations to the church and place them in the gray bin under the steps in the Music Wing. Thank you!
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Library News from Bill Wade
Let Jim Wallis Help You Set Your Priorities for 2013 | |
 Jim Wallis is a man with a cause. And for that cause he is passionate. Jim writes in the aftermath of the recent economic recession, from which we only now may be making a slow and sluggish recovery, or maybe not.
His book is Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street: A Moral Compass for the New Economy. Jim's theme is just this: we must not, repeat must not, simply look to a recovery that will restore conditions as they were before. Instead, this is the moment to be seized when we must build a new economy around Christian moral principles that will provide economic and social justice for a larger segment of our population. And you may be wondering at this point: who is this guy? Some kind of socialistic nut? Or is he just a starry-eyed idealist? None of the above, Wallis would reply; and so let's take a closer look at his background.
Born in Detroit in 1948, Wallis was raised in a traditional family associated with the Plymouth Brethren. He attended the conservative Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois, and while there he helped establish a religious group known as the Sojourners. His first book, Agenda for Biblical People (1976), summarized his view that the church must be a strong, independent force for the betterment of society. It may be traditional or conservative on issues of family values, sexual integrity, and personal responsibility but, at the same time, must be progressive or even radical on issues like poverty and racial equality. Wallis terms himself a radical evangelical; throughout his career, he has been an outspoken figure for his causes. He is today a preacher, an author of eight books, and still president of Sojourners and editor of Sojourners magazine. He has taught at the Harvard Divinity School, frequently appears on television, attends the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and has been arrested 22 times for civil disobedience. Let's say it again: this guy is passionate for his causes!
In Rediscovering Values, he lays out his program for the economic revitalization of the nation. The text is peppered with little sidebars that could be pinned on the wall as mottoes, such as "Americans believe not in equality of outcome, but in equality of opportunity." Because he often deals in global or national issues, you may respond that all this has little to do with you. You are no world mogul, Wall Street tycoon, or Washington power broker. What can an individual like you do? His last chapter speaks to that. Titled "Choices Make Changes: Twenty Moral Exercises," it lays out 20 basic questions for all of us. Take his little exam; find those places where you can make a difference, however small. Consider number 16, for example: are you on the mailing list of your representatives in Washington? Have you given your elected officials your views on the things that matter to you? And there are many others that suggest what each of us can do in our own communities. Indeed, we are in that season when so many of us make resolutions for the new year. Jim Wallis already has 20 of them laid out for you, with instructions. You may not change Wall Street, but you can change "Your Street." |
From Steve & Vicki Fey Music Notes | |
Sunday's music participants: Sanctuary Choir.
Sunday's music: In the early 1950s, American composer Aaron Copland (1900-1990) composed two song sets for soloist and piano titled "Old American Songs." Arranged from secular and sacred folk traditions, these solo songs were widely popular, and choral arrangements of a number of them were made with his approval. Copland's musical idiom was distinctly American, making use of harmonic and rhythmic details that were common to the folk music that inspired him. The Sanctuary Choir anthem, "At the River," from his second set of songs, is his version of "Shall We Gather at the River," which has words and music written by Robert Lowry in 1864. The song includes baptismal references and echoes of the celebration around the throne of God described in Revelation 22.
 | | Sylvia Dunstan |
Our middle hymn, "Down Galilee's Slow Roadways," has a text by Sylvia Dunstan set to a sixteenth-century Lutheran chorale melody. Dunstan (1955-1993) was a lifelong poet and an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada. After prodding, she began writing hymn texts; while working with a denominational organization on worship, she wrote, "we were struck with how few baptismal hymns were written for adult baptism." This prompted the writing of this hymn, inspired by the baptism of Jesus. Set to a new melody, it will appear in the new Presbyterian hymn resource Glory to God.
Rehearsal reminders: Don't forget that Cherub Choir and Jubilate Youth Choir resume rehearsals this Sunday, January 13. Sanctuary Bells will meet again Monday, January 14. Children's Handbells, Youth Handbells, and Savior's Singers Children's Choir will resume Wednesday, January 16, as the regular Wednesday evening program gets going again. The Praise Team has resumed regular Thursday evening rehearsals. All children, youth, and adults are invited to participate in a music ensemble! |
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In Our Prayers
Cathy Andersen
Bruce Bales
Mack Blevins
Becky Busler
Mack Calcote
Sue Cannon
Dorothy Dollar
Mary Nell Harris
Sharon Hatcher
Carolyn King
Mary Landrum
Ruth Musser
Jay Regan
Mary Rice
Sam Samuel
Chuck Thompson
Deborah Whitaker
An extensive list of prayer concerns, "Pray for One Another," is available for pickup at the church each week.
To the Church Triumphant
Patricia B. Dulaney
December 27,2012
Condolences
Our love and sympathy are with Phil Bailey in the death of his father, the Reverend H. Earl Bailey, of Lenexa, KS, on December 20, 2012.
Birthday Prayer Fellowship
January 13 Pete Holler, Nell Stigers
January 14 Chris Blankenship, Fritz Reuning
January 15 Molly Mahoney
January 16 Tom Daniel, Dale Davis, Ric Proctor
January 17 Mack Blevins, Trudy McFerrin, Gordon Turnbull
January 18 Maddox McClain, Adrianna Nelson
January 19 Carrie Haaser, Amanda Hankins, John Peters, Michael Thornton |
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Sunday, January 13
8:30 a.m. Worship, Fellowship Hall
9:00 a.m. Cherub Choir
9:45 a.m. Sunday School
11:00 a.m. Worship, Sanctuary
5:00 p.m. Jubilate Youth Choir
6:00 p.m. Student Ministries Fellowship
Monday, January 14
5:30 p.m. Sanctuary Handbells
7:00 p.m. Worship Committee
Tuesday, January 15
9:00 a.m. Staff Meeting
10:00 a.m. Morning Prayer Group
6:00 p.m. Cub Scout Pack 3, Scout Wing
7:00 p.m. Boy Scout Troop 3, Scout Wing
Wednesday, January 16
9:30 a.m. Heart to Heart Bible Study, New Mothers' Room
4:00 p.m. Marsh Bloodmobile, Front Parking Lot
4:15 p.m. Children's Handbells
4:45 p.m. Youth Handbells
4:45 p.m. Savior's Singers Children's Choir
5:15 p.m. Baby & Toddler Nursery
5:30 p.m. Fellowship Dinner
6:00 p.m. Wednesday Night Kids
6:00 p.m. Student Ministries Small Groups
6:15 p.m. Adult Learning
7:15 p.m. Sanctuary Choir Rehearsal
Thursday, January 17
7:00 a.m. Men's Bible Study
12:00 p.m. Noon Bible Study, Bristol Grind House
8:15 p.m. Praise Team, Fellowship Hall
Friday, January 18
Men's Service Retreat Begins |
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