Our church has a wonderful opportunity to partner with Montana Indian Ministries this summer. We are looking to take a group of six to eight men to do maintenance and repair work at the Montana Indian Ministries Camp on the Fort Belknap Reservation. We would like this to be an intergenerational trip of brothers in Christ, and we encourage father-and-son teams, as well as young men in the congregation, to consider this mission opportunity. We plan to leave Saturday, June 11, and return Saturday, June 18. We will meet in the church parlor on Sunday, February 27, at 10:15 to review the project and discuss next steps. The cost of the trip is $25/day for meals and lodging, plus a roundtrip plane ticket from Tri-Cities Airport to Billings, Montana. You can read more about Montana Indian Ministries here.

There has been interest by some in our community in starting a local meeting of Overeaters Anonymous, a 12-step program that helps people work through food addiction issues. OA is not just about weight gain or loss, maintenance, obesity, or diets. ­The program offers physical, emotional, and spiritual recovery for those who suffer from compulsive eating. To get started, however, we need a small group to begin organizing. If you are interested in hearing more, please contact Pastor Sam, and he will connect you with others interested in starting a group. Email Sam, or call the church office at (423) 764-7176.

Our quarterly opportunity to serve at Sharing Christ mission downtown will be on Saturday, March 5. At this point, we need many more baked ziti casseroles (they can be baked ahead of time and frozen) to be able to feed everyone. For more information, email Becca Tate; call or text her at 404-790-1223. Here is the casserole recipe.

We have a two-by-two plan for Fairmount School snacks for the next six weeks. Get out your shopping lists! Our theme is snacks for small hands. We’re starting with juice boxes. Any flavor that strikes your fancy is fine! We will collect juice boxes for two weeks then change over to goldfish crackers for two weeks. Our final two-week snack drive will be for little pretzels. As ever, please put your donated snacks in the Big Red House collection box in the fellowship hallway. Thank you!

Is your chili hot stuff? Is that bushel you’re hiding your talent under about to combust? Your church family wants you for our Chili Cook-Off and Talent Show! If you think you can make Sam sweat or the audience rave, come to the fellowship hall Sunday, February 27, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Bring your best chili, and we’ll help you set up. Or if you’re a stage performer, email Lilly Osborne to sign up for the line-up!

Our new semester of Home Groups will roll out on the afternoon of Monday, February 21. Our new curriculum is The Promise. We will spend 14 weeks talking about God’s promises to Abraham, fulfilled in the Lord Jesus. You can access the curriculum on our website here. You can also watch for it to drop on social media on our Facebook site dedicated to Home Groups.

Marty Haugen (b. 1950) is a liturgical composer, workshop presenter, performing and recording artist, and author from Eagan, Minnesota. For the past 30 years, he has presented workshops and concerts across North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Rim. His 40-plus recordings and more than 400 printed editions are available through GIA Publications. A number of his published songs, including “Shepherd Me, O God,” “Gather Us In,” and “All Are Welcome,” are well-known to many religious denominations. Among his liturgical settings are Mass of Creation and several for Lutheran congregations, including Holden Evening Prayer, Unfailing Light (with Pastor Susan Briehl), and Now the Feast and Celebration. He has also written a communion setting for the new Evangelical Worship Book (ELW-Augsburg Fortress). Marty has served as an editor or consultant for a number of GIA hymnals and has contributed to hymnals or supplements for many denominational groups. On Sunday we will sing two of his hymns, “Gather Us In” and “Healer of Our Every Ill.” I will also play a setting of each hymn: Franklin D. Ashdown’s setting of “Healer of Our Every Ill” for the prelude, and Jeffrey Honoré’s setting of “Gather Us In” for the postlude.

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