Dave Welch has added a podcast version of this semester’s study, The Message and Meaning of the Minor Prophets, to FPC’s offerings on YouTube. Both the YouTube version and the podcast will always go live on Sunday mornings at 10:30. Podcasts are perfect for those who want to listen while doing something else. If you need help or have questions, email Dave or call 423-764-7176.

We look forward to gathering in person for worship during Holy Week, taking care as we do so. All services at the church on Easter Sunday will be limited to 110 seats; they will also be livestreamed. If you plan to attend in person, you will need to reserve your seats online or call the church office. 

Please join Pastor Sam on Friday nights at 7:00 for community prayer and a brief offering of the Home Group curriculum. Our emphasis will be Scripture reading and prayer, but there will be time for conversations as we grow in faith together.

Topic: FPC Community Prayer

Time: March 19, 7:00 p.m.

Join Zoom meeting here.

Meeting ID: 826 4875 1043

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Have you joined an FPC Home Group? These groups allow us to continue weekly fellowship and Bible study while staying safe during the pandemic. A Home Group is an in-home or online gathering of friends, neighbors, or one or more families. Each week, FPC gives every group an intergenerational Bible study, and the Sunday sermon reflects on its theme.

If you’re not already in a Home Group, go to the webpage, register yourself or start a group, and let us know. If you have questions, please reach out to Dave Welch, Katie Arnold, or Lilly Osborne for answers. Meanwhile, watch for Home Groups updates in Windows and on the FPC Bristol webpage.

Next Saturday, March 27, we will feed our neighbors at Sharing Christ Mission downtown. We are happy to report that we have nearly everything we need! A few more chicken-rice casseroles, and we’ll be set. If you can open a can, you can make this dish.

If you plan to contribute a casserole, contact Beth Flannagan or Becca Tate and let her know. We can store several in the church freezer, or you can take yours to the mission by 4:30 p.m. on the Saturday. Remember that the church office is open from Monday through Thursday, and that you will need to call ahead to make sure someone can let you in when you plan to deliver.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch the livestream of our early worship service and other activities. Just click here and hit “Subscribe.” You will receive notifications of new videos. We also suggest that you connect to us on Facebook. On Facebook, 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.

David Akard: to the Local Missions Fund from Ernie & Karen Pennington, from Lisa White

Keith Foster: to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund from Ernie & Karen Pennington

Ron Grubbs: to the Minister’s Discretionary Education Fund from Jason, Alicia & Max Mumpower, from Lilly Osborne, from Ernie & Karen Pennington, from an anonymous donor

Harry Hillery: to the Friendship Class Fund from Dot Mattison

Logan Smith (son of Melissa Galliher): to the Minister’s Discretionary Education Fund from John & Karen Vann

Kitty Vann (sister-in-law of John & Karen Vann): to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund from Ernie & Karen Pennington

Jim Wiseman: to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund from Dot Mattison, from John & Karen Vann

“Tryggare kan ingen vara” is a Swedish folk hymn written by Lina Sandell in the 1850s. It has been translated to “Children of the Heavenly Father” in English. Beginning around 1850, more than one million Swedes left their homeland for the United States. They left for plenty of reasons, one being the search for religious freedom due to the ongoing Pietist movement in Sweden at the time. This led to the founding of Swedish-American churches and denominations in the United States. Today that legacy lives on in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, as denominations like the Augustana Synod became a part of the ELCA. It’s in many of these Lutheran churches (and even colleges) that you’ll still hear “Tryggare kan ingen vara” sung in Swedish. Below are the lyrics in English:

Children of the heav’nly Father Safely in His bosom gather;

Nestling bird nor star in Heaven Such a refuge e’er was given.

God His own doth tend and nourish; In His holy courts they flourish;

From all evil things He spares them; In His mighty arms He bears them.

Neither life nor death shall ever From the Lord His children sever;

Unto them His grace He showeth, And their sorrows all He knoweth.

Lo, their very hairs He numbers, And no daily care encumbers

Them that share His ev’ry blessing And His help in woes distressing.

Praise the Lord in joyful numbers: Your Protector never slumbers.

At the will of your Defender Ev’ry foeman must surrender.

Though He giveth or He taketh, God His children ne’er forsaketh;

His the loving purpose solely To preserve them pure and holy.

All three arrangements of this hymn that I will play Sunday are fairly similar: gentle, simple, and unpretentious. Near the end of Diane Bish’s (b. 1941) prelude setting, the music suddenly changes key and uses ultra-lush strings to create an ethereal quality. Robert A. Hobby’s (b. 1962) offertory setting uses a 2-foot flute stop to create a melody line two octaves higher than the written notes. J. Wayne Kerr’s (b. 1958) postlude setting changes key at one point, returning to the original key only at the last second, concluding quietly. Shhh! Listen to the postlude.

701 Florida Avenue | Bristol, TN 37620 | 423-764-7176 | fpcbristol.org