Windows
November 12, 2020
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Word from the Pastor:
Binding Wounds
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
That is the closing line of President Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, a speech given on the steps of the Capitol on March 4, 1865, 36 days before the Civil War ended upon Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. If you have never read it, I commend it to you. By many accounts, it is the most theologically weighted political document or speech given by any President in American history. The speech was an attempt by the President to set the tone for what he hoped would be a national reconciliation after the war. Lincoln hoped that the South would come to be seen as a wayward brother to be embraced rather than an enemy to be subjugated.
Ironically, President Lincoln’s words fell on a few deaf ears. Forty-one days after he gave it, he was assassinated in Ford’s Theatre. Among the several things John Wilkes Booth was reported to have shouted after firing the deadly shot was, “The South is avenged!” The poison of resentment and the need to get even outweighed the opportunity Lincoln offered for a better path toward national reconciliation.
As a result, the assassination of Lincoln doomed the Reconstruction effort in the post-war era. The radical faction within the Republican Party, opposed by moderate Republicans like Lincoln, used the assassination to push legislation like the Wade-Davis Bill. American brothers and sisters in the South would suffer for a generation or more to come, ensuring national divisions that, in some corners, persist to this day.
I apologize for the history lesson, but I do have a point. As your pastor, I have no business whatsoever telling you whom to vote for or what the Holy Spirit may put upon your heart as a matter of conscience that weights your vote. Moreover, it is not my place to tell you how to feel about the outcome of the election. I know that our congregation is divided politically in ways that reflect our larger society. Some are pleased; others are disappointed and maybe have a mixture of other feelings as well.
But as I wrote last week, all human projects, and here I mean all kings, kingdoms, and forms of government, are destined to pass away. They are secular; their measure is time. We look forward to a better country, an eternal city that God has prepared for His saints (Hebrews 11:16).
And because this is true, I am asking all of you, as a congregation, to find ways to transcend the fractured politics of our age and reach toward something like the vision President Lincoln gave us. We have a choice.
Actually, we have more than a choice. As Christians, we have a duty, as Lincoln put it, to harbor malice for none and charity for all. 1 Timothy 2:3 tells us that what is right and acceptable before God is that we are to lead quiet and peaceable lives, praying for all authorities, so that Christ may be seen in us. And then there is Paul’s instruction in Philippians:
“Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:5-7).
Gentleness. Lacking anxiety. Prayer. Intercession. Thanksgiving. Peace beyond human understanding. All these things, in Christ. These are the watch words for the body of Christ today and in the weeks to come.
And here, I believe, we have an opportunity to become a community of Good Samaritans, a community committed to binding the wounds of heart and mind by our love extended in the name of our Lord Jesus. Our society is fractured; our Lord is not. Let us take Him as our guide, and practice tolerance for one another, for the Other, and extend compassion to our fellow citizens. Whatever our political tribe may be, we are the church first. Let us all strive for the lasting peace that is possible only through the self-giving love of Jesus Christ.
In Christ,
Pastor Sam
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Worship
November 15
24th Sunday after Pentecost
Lessons
Ruth 1:6-22
Matthew 28:16-20
Sermon
God Is Loyal
Dan Kreiss
Last Sunday’s Attendance
In person: 9:00: 56; 11:00: 31
Livestream: 57
Playbacks: 106
Watch last Sunday’s late service here.
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Calendar
Sunday, November 15
9:00 a.m.
Worship,
Fellowship Hall & Livestream
10:10 a.m.
Sunday School
11:00 a.m.
Worship, Sanctuary
4:00 p.m.
Evangelism & Outreach Comm.,
Fellowship Hall
6:00 p.m.
Student Fellowship
Tuesday, November 17
10:00 a.m.
Staff Meeting,
Zoom
6:00 p.m.
Finance Comm.,
Zoom
Wednesday, November 18
6:15 p.m.
Handbell Practice,
Fellowship Hall
7:15 p.m.
Choir Practice,
Sanctuary
Thursday, November 19
7:00 a.m.
Men’s Bible Study,
Fellowship Hall
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Sunday Adult Classes at the Church
Two classes for adults meet at the church on Sunday mornings. The first, facilitated by Nancy Allerton, discusses the sermon texts for the week and meets in room 123. The second, facilitated by Matt Richardson, focuses on the Gospel of John and meets in room 167. Both classes welcome all adults anytime they can attend.
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Study the Bible Online
We offer two adult studies on our YouTube channel. The Sunday Bible study, Praying With the Psalms, looks at the Book of Psalms through the lens of prayer. We also post a short study every Wednesday. If you subscribe, you will be notified when new studies become available.
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Join Us Online
Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch the livestream of our early worship service and other activities. Go to YouTube.com and type in “FPC Bristol.” Click on the link and hit “subscribe.” You will receive notifications of new videos. We also suggest that you connect to our various Facebook sites. Go to Facebook and type in “FPC Bristol,” and several accounts will show up. Some are open to the public, while others are restricted. In either case, “like” the page, or ask to join a group if it is closed.
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Good Things Come to Those Who Wait
After traveling a very long road, we are now approaching Advent. The first Sunday in the church’s season of anticipation, preparation, and waiting is November 29. Members of FPC have prepared a booklet of devotions to help us as we reflect on the coming of Christ. The Advent Devotional will be available in the narthex, in the Fellowship Hallway, and on our church website. To receive a devotional by mail, contact Scottie Bales at [email protected] or call the church office at 423-764-7176. Please take only one booklet per family.
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Do We Have a DIY Project for You!
Cleverly disguised as a little red brick house, the big box on rollers in the Fellowship Hallway has served us for years as a collection bin for items we intend to take elsewhere, such as snacks for Fairmount students and nonperishable items for the Bristol Emergency Food Pantry. This old house has served us well, but there is no denying that it is a little rundown. We welcome anyone with an idea for how to renovate it to take it home and get to work. And we invite anyone with an idea for a different form of receptacle to speak up. We think the little house would fit in most vehicles, but you would be wise to measure first. If you want to brainstorm ideas, email Beth Flannagan at [email protected]. Otherwise, come and get it! |
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We Work with Sharing Christ Saturday
Our hometown missionaries will serve our hungry neighbors at Sharing Christ Mission downtown this Saturday, November 14. It will be FPC’s last service day of the year in that ministry. It will also be the last in the gifted hands of Dottie Havlik, who will pass the reins to the wonderful team of Beth Flannagan and Becca Tate for 2021 and beyond. We thank all the volunteers who make this ministry possible, and we thank the indomitable Dottie for communicating needs, coordinating volunteers, arranging cooperation between mission and FPC folks, and cooking countless casseroles!
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Pledge Reminder
We are grateful to all who have returned their pledge cards for 2021. We are writing our letters of thanks now! If you haven’t returned your card yet, please send it as soon as possible. Your pledge helps us plan for the new year.
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7-12-7 Campaign
That’s not a date but three points in the day when we ask that all members of the congregation—who can—join us in prayer. We are asking prayer partners to join with us at their choice of 7:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., or 7:00 p.m. Together in prayer we will ask for God’s guidance, deliverance, and mercy for our church, community, nation, and world. The challenges 2020 has presented are great, but God is greater still.
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Victory over Leaves Day
On a bright Halloween morning, Chad McCracken led Boy Scout Troop 3 against the autumn leaves that had brazenly parachuted into yards all over town. Matt Kingsley, Ron Fox (representing the Deacons), J.B. Madison, and Dave Welch, all armed with leaf control weaponry, joined them to turn back the mass invasion. The enemy was curbed!
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Connect with a Connect Team
We’re developing new resources for church communication, and we ask you to share your time and talents in this vital ministry. Are you interested in helping others in the church stay current and connected? Do you have the skills, gifts, and time to make a quick call once a month to approximately eight members of the church, to see how they are doing and share what’s new at FPC? If so, please let Dave Welch know. Contact him at [email protected] or 423-764-7176. |
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Cheerios for Fairmount Snacks
We are collecting boxes of Multi Grain Cheerios for the students of our neighborhood school. Fairmount teachers use them for math lessons at snack time, and the whole grains are just sweet enough to appeal to the children. Please drop your contributions in the little red house in the Fellowship Hallway or leave them on Dottie Havlik’s porch, only four blocks from the church. For more information, email Dottie at [email protected] or call her at 423-956-6747. |
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Give Safely
During the pandemic, we encourage you to give by way of our website or by text or mail. Your continued, faithful giving ensures that we have the resources to continue our ministries. You can give online by going to fpcbristol.org and clicking on “Give” in the upper right corner. You can send your pledge, offering, or special gift by texting fpcbristol to 73256. You can also mail your checks directly to the church at 701 Florida Avenue, Bristol, TN 37620.
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Please Help with AV in Worship
We need you on our audiovisual team! We will train you to control the cameras, modulate the sound, or run the videos and graphics. Just contact the church office to join.
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Deadline & Subscriptions
Deadline for contributions to Windows is the Monday of the week of publication.
Subscribe to our free e-newsletter by sending an email with your name and preferred email address to [email protected].
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Gifts to the Church
Memorials and honoraria are published in the newsletter only after the family has been personally notified by our business office. Today we gratefully acknowledge gifts in memory of:
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Bob Millard: to the Memorial Fund from Jack & Anne Southerland, from Bill & Margaret Wade
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David Mott (brother of Betsy Galliher): to the Technology Fund from Ann Abel, from Jack & Anne Southerland
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Organist’s Footnotes
Sunday we will hear three pieces all named “Sinfonia”; sinfonia is the Italian word for symphony. In English it most commonly refers to a 17th- or 18th-century orchestral piece used as an introduction, interlude, or postlude to an opera, oratorio, cantata, or suite. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) used the term for his keyboard compositions also known as three-part inventions.
All three pieces Sunday are by Bach. The prelude is an example of the sinfonia as introduction, in this case to Cantata No. 29, “Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir” (We thank you, God, we thank you), BWV 29. He composed it in Leipzig in 1731 for Ratswechsel, the annual inauguration of a new town council, and first performed it on August 27 of that year. The text by an unknown author includes the beginning of Psalm 75 in the second movement and the fifth stanza of Johann Gramann’s “Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren” (Now praise, my soul, the Lord) as the closing chorale. Bach scored the work in eight movements for four vocal parts and a festive Baroque orchestra of three trumpets, timpani, two oboes, strings, obbligato organ, and basso continuo.
The offertory is an example of the sinfonia as an interlude, this one from Cantata No. 21, “Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis” (I had much grief), BWV 21, composed in 1713 and first performed at the palace church in Weimar (pictured), where Bach was the court organist, on June 17, 1714.
The postlude is an example of the third definition of sinfonia. It is No. 13 of Bach’s 15 Three-Part Inventions, all contrapuntal pieces. He composed them as “Praeambula” and “Fantasiae” for his eldest son’s clavier booklet, Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, and later rewrote them as musical exercises for his students. I have adapted this one for the organ by giving the third part to the pedal.
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Birthday Prayer Fellowship
Nov. 15 John Crewey, Sam Jennings, Billie Whisnant
Nov. 16 Cass Madison, Kenzie Porter, Joyce Samuel
Nov. 17 Sarah Galliher
Nov. 18 Rebecca Porter, Susan Solomon
Nov. 19 Sarah Gannaway, George Linke, Grayson Phipps,
Courtney Sharrett
Nov. 20 Mary Jo Gilley, Dave Whitesides
Nov. 21 Drew Rice
Condolences
Our love and sympathy are with Ann Rowell in the death of her son, Austin Michael Rowell, November 4.
Pray for the World
As we weather the COVID-19 pandemic, we are asking you to spend more time in prayer for our church, our community, our nation, and the world. Pray for our leaders, first responders, frontline workers, and the vulnerable. We also ask that you pray for an end to this disease.
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In Our Prayers
Please also include in your prayers the members of our community who wish to remain anonymous.
Family of Brian Alderman
Caitlin Ball
Joe Bell
Chris Blankenship
Scott & Ellie Boggs
Danielle & Todd Booher
Bud & Margie Branscomb
Bristol Tennessee School System
Becky Busler
Christians in Nigeria/ECWA
Community, nation & world
John Crewey
Family of Earl Edwards
Ethiopian brothers & sisters
Sarah & Sam Ferguson
First responders & medical & infrastructure
personnel
DeeDee Galliher
Deborah Garritson
Gladeville PC (Wise) & FPC Pound
Goddards (missionaries in Paraguay)
Elizabeth Graham
Martha Graham
Emma & Gina Grubbs
Ron Grubbs
Conor Haaser & squadron
Lou Hebb
Nate & Angela & newborn Higgins
Kate Hill (missionary)
Davan & Kristi Johnson
Marty Keys & family
Josh & Morgan King & family
Danae & Dan Kreiss
June Lamb
Richard Lee
Nancy Lilly
Laura & George Linke
Marthina Chapel
Dot Mattison
Kathleen McGlothlin
Family of Bob Millard
Alice Moore
National election
National & international leaders
Brianna Necessary
Martha North
Randi Otto
Pastor Nehemiah & family
Rosa Poteat
Jodi & Kreg Ramey
Meg & Drew Rice
Brittany Salter
Strickland family
Jim Swartchick
Allen Vance
Bill Wade
Patsy Ward
Michael & Rachel Weller
Deborah Whitaker
Dave Whitesides
Ann Woods
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701 Florida Avenue | Bristol, TN 37620 | 423-764-7176 | fpcbristol.org
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