Word from the Pastor:
Crucified
May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me,
and I to the world.
—Galatians 6:14
It is really hard for me to get my head around the fact that it is April already. It is hard to believe that we begin Holy Week in a few days with our observation of Palm Sunday. Time has run through my hands like sand! I may not remember much of the mad rush of the first quarter of this year, but I surely got something done!
Even in the rush of our days, it is nice to look back and see what we have accomplished, and think of the wonderful things that might be right around the corner. As passengers on this fast-moving train, it’s nice to have the handholds on which we can settle our identity and find some consolation. We all like markers of identity and meaning, as they often keep us from plunging into a panic that there may be more behind us than in front of us.
However, if Holy Week, culminating in Resurrection Sunday, is to mean anything at all, we need to examine this elementary form of idolatry. In the end, as Paul puts it in Galatians 6:14, our sole boast in life is the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. And before we put a nice coating of religiosity on that affirmation, let’s take a moment and ponder the depths of what Paul is telling us here.
To boast in the cross of the Lord Jesus is to boast in the height of offense, when surveyed by the definitions of power, success, and status regularly dangled before us as the good life. The cross was and is the object of derision and scorn, worthy of ridicule, and finally, oblivion. Martin Hengel reminds us of this in his excellent historical survey of crucifixion in the ancient world:
“It is certainly the case that the Roman world was largely unanimous that crucifixion was a horrific, disgusting business. There is therefore hardly any mention of it in inscriptions; the only evidence from Latin epigraphy which I can find is the pious wish ‘May you be nailed to the cross’ (in cruce figarus = figaris). As far as I can tell, the words crux or patibulum [crux is Latin for ‘cross,’ and patibulum was the crossbeam used in crucifixion] do not appear in Caesar at all, not because he did not use crucifixion as a punishment..., but because he did not want to write about that kind of thing.… Crucifixion was widespread and frequent, above all in Roman times, but the cultured literary world wanted to have nothing to do with it, and as a rule kept quiet about it” (Crucifixion, pp.37–38).
To put all of that another way, to boast in the cross through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world is to learn to live without the handles of accomplishment, pride of place, and comfort we often draw from who we have been, who we are, and who we hope to become.
In fact, to boast in the cross of Christ is to boast, to find identity and consolation, in that which the world struggles to make invisible. Just as the elites of the ancient world saw the cross as the curse of all curses—not even worthy of public record or notice because those who were crucified were being put in their place and consigned to the dustbin of history—to boast in the cross of Christ is to identify with what we are not, in the great hope that, in Him, we shall be like Him (1 John 3:2). To boast in the cross is to put all boasting aside as we learn to cling to an identity that demands that we give up what we once found important, so that we might gain our true life as children of the Most High God, destined for fellowship, pardon, and peace through our Redeemer who loved us and gave Himself for us (Galatians 2:20).
As each year goes by, and as each season (whether Lent, Easter, Advent, Christmas, Summer, Winter, Spring, or Fall) passes by more quickly than the last, my personal prayer is that I learn to find more room to boast in the cross of Jesus Christ. As I do, as we do, we find ourselves dying to who we fantasized being, as we rush headlong into who we have been destined to become in the Lord Jesus.
In Christ,
Pastor Sam
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Worship
April 10
Palm Sunday
Scripture
Psalm 118:19–26
Luke 19:28–40
Sermon
Where Are the Palms?
Dave Welch
Last Sunday’s Attendance
9:00: In person: 137;
Livestream: 32; Playback: 86
11:00: In person: 115;
Livestream: 14; Playback: 52
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Calendar
Sunday, April 10
9:00 a.m.
Contemporary Worship
Fellowship Hall
10:10 a.m.
Sunday School
11:00 a.m.
Traditional Worship
Sanctuary
6:00 p.m.
Student Fellowship
7:00 p.m.
King Worship
College Room
Monday, April 11
10:00 a.m.
Staff Meeting
Room 123
7:00 p.m.
Worship Committee
Room 123
Tuesday, April 12
7:00 p.m.
Boy Scout Troop 3
Scout Hall
Wednesday, April 13
6:15 p.m.
Handbell Practice
Sanctuary
7:00 p.m.
Praise Band Practice
Fellowship Hall
7:15 p.m.
Choir Practice
Room 202
Thursday, April 14
7:00 a.m.
Men’s Bible Study
Parlor
8:30 a.m.
Meals on Wheels
Fellowship Hall
1:00 p.m.
Women’s Bible Study
Room 117
7:00 p.m.
Maundy Thursday Worship
Sanctuary
Friday, April 15
7:00 p.m.
Good Friday Worship
Sanctuary
Saturday, April 16
4:00 p.m.
Easter Egg Hunt
Lawn
5:30 p.m.
Church BBQ
Lawn
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Holy Week Schedule
We look forward to worshiping in person during Holy Week (see schedule above), observing our customary care for one another. All services will also be livestreamed. Our musicians will practice at the normal times April 13, but there will be no Wednesday night fellowship.
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Order Lilies by Monday Morning
To order one or more lily plants for our Easter services, either fill in the form you will find at the church and return it to the office, or order online. Each plant costs $15. The deadline for ordering is 9:00 a.m. this Monday, April 11.
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Petals & Pedals Postponed to May 7
We are still planning to plant flowers and ride our bikes around the church on a spring afternoon, but we’ll wait till May 7 to avoid the forecasted wintry weather. The Petals & Pedals event will begin at 3:00 p.m. on that Saturday. For more information, email Lilly Osborne.
MEF Scholarships Available
The portal is now open for application for Missionary Emergency Fund (MEF) Student Scholarships. If you are the child of an active or retired clergyperson or missionary, or your course of study is designed to prepare you for the ministry, missionary work, or related Christian service, we invite you to apply for a scholarship here.
The Promise for Home Groups
Our new semester of Home Groups has begun! In our new curriculum, The Promise, we are 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. |
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Bristol Bakes for Ukraine
This Saturday, April 9, from noon to 3:00 in the fellowship hall, FPC will host Bristol Bakes for Ukraine, a bake sale whose proceeds will all go to support the work of Doctors Without Borders, the Ukrainian Red Cross, and the World Central Kitchen. Register to participate here. Please bring your baked goods to the fellowship hall on Friday, April 8, between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. If you don't plan to bake but wish to give to this cause, you can donate here. For more information, email Brady Hard.
New Adult Sunday School Class
Before the COVID-19 pandemic reached our area, a Sunday School class for young professionals met regularly, facilitated by Audrey and Chase Arndt. Now it’s back and meeting in the College Room! This group welcomes other young professionals to join them as they go through the book of Genesis together.
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Easter Egg Hunt and BBQ
April 16
Bring your basket and get ready to have some fun! Our annual Easter egg hunt will be held Saturday, April 16, at 4:00 p.m. Bring your appetite, too! Hunting is hungry work, so we’ll share a BBQ dinner at 5:30. Please RSVP for the BBQ. If your last name begins with A–L, please bring a side dish. If your last name begins with M–X, please bring a dessert. Whatever your last name, bring a chair! Questions? Email Lilly Osborne.
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FPC Students Serve Community at Food Pantry
A large turnout of FPC students and Student Ministries volunteers did a good turn for our community at the Bristol Emergency Food Pantry last Sunday. Working with BEFP’s (and our own) indefatigable Jim White, they organized three full pallets of assorted canned goods. Good-hearted good work!
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Register for Orlando Trip
Serve Orlando registration is open! Sign up here. This mission opportunity for students, adults, and families is scheduled for June 23–30. We will work with ministries and agencies in the Orlando, Florida, area, and our group will also enjoy a day at Universal Parks and an afternoon at the beach. Rising 1st graders through rising 6th graders must be accompanied by an adult. Rising 7th graders through rising 12th graders may come solo or bring family and friends. Scholarships are available. For more information, email Katie Arnold.
How to Join Us Online
You can watch the livestream of our worship services and other activities at FPC Bristol on YouTube. Click on the link and hit “Subscribe” to receive notifications of new videos. To connect to our various Facebook sites, go to Facebook and type in FPC Bristol. Several accounts will show up. “Like” the page or ask to join a group. |
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Teddy Grahams
for Fairmount Kids
We are collecting Teddy Grahams for Fairmount schoolchildren. Any kind will be appreciated! As ever, please put your donated snacks in one of the collection boxes (in the narthex and the fellowship hallway). We will take them to the school.
Our COVID Protocols
The session strongly encourages masks for those not fully vaccinated, or at higher risk of COVID-19 complications. The session encourages everyone to consult their medical professional about vaccinations and boosters.
Give Safely
We encourage you to use text, mail, or our website to safely continue your faithful support of our ministries during the pandemic. You can give online by going to our website and clicking on “Give” in the upper right corner. You can send your pledge, offering, or special gift by texting fpcbristol to 73256, or mail your checks directly to the church. |
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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 the following gifts in memory of:
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Garrett Foster (son of John & Karen Vann): to the Brazil Mission Fund from Eddie & Peggy Hill
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Alice Moore: to the Memorial Fund from Anne R. Fleming
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Martha North: to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund from Eddie & Peggy Hill
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Frances Rowell: to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund from Eddie & Peggy Hill, from Wade & Meredith Smith Massie
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Palm Sunday: Karen Lafferty (b. 1948) wrote the praise and worship song “Seek Ye First” in 1974. It has spread like wildfire ever since. It is here arranged for handbells by Martha Lynn Thompson (b. 1940) who has more than 150 handbell titles in print with a score of publishers.
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Our second hymn this Palm Sunday, “A Cheering, Chanting, Dizzy Crowd,” was written by Thomas H. Troeger (1945–2022). Tom just passed away last Sunday, April 3. He was professor of Christian communication at Yale Divinity School as well as a well-known preacher, poet, and musician. He was a Fellow of Silliman College and held a BA from Yale University, a BD from Colgate Rochester Divinity School, an STD from Dickinson College, and an honorary DD from Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in 1970 and in the Episcopal Church in 1999, and remained dually aligned with both traditions. Troeger led conferences and lectures in worship and preaching throughout North America, as well as in Denmark, Holland, Australia, Japan, and Africa. He served as national chaplain to the American Guild of Organists, and for the past three years he hosted the Season of Worship broadcast for Cokesbury. He is the former president of both the Academy of Homiletics and the Societas Homiletica. He is the author of 22 books on preaching, poetry, hymnody, and worship. Many of his hymn texts are found in New Hymns for the Lectionary (Oxford, 1992) and God, You Made All Things for Singing (Oxford, 2009), as well as in our own hymnal, Glory to God.
Tom was an inspiring teacher, mentor, and friend to me during my years as a student at Colgate Rochester Divinity School. He was the one who introduced me to the Pastoral Music program the school was creating in partnership with the Eastman School of Music, in which I enrolled and from which I was their first graduate.
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Maundy Thursday: I feel Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Vocalise” sets the mood well for this Maundy Thursday service. Composed in 1915, it is scored for high voice with piano accompaniment and contains no words—it is sung using only one vowel of the singer’s choosing. It is here arranged for solo piano.
The Latin plainchant “Pange lingua gloriosi corporis mysterium” (Tell, tongue, the mystery of the glorious Body) is traditionally sung on Maundy Thursday. I will play a contemporary setting by Richard J. Clark during the Communion of the People.
To my mind, “Master Tallis’s Testament” by Herbert Howells captures the angst that Jesus felt as he prayed all night in the Garden of Gethsemane. The work is essentially a set of gradual variations on the opening theme, each subsequent variation growing in intensity, complexity, and volume. By the time we reach the fourth variation, the organ has gradually wound itself up, ready for the apocalyptic climax. Here the organ sounds forth in all its glory, a vision of the Almighty in terrifying majesty. The piece then finishes with a soft adagio coda, returning to the opening mood and neutralizing much of the flamboyant drama of the previous section.
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Good Friday: The music of our Good Friday prelude, “He Never Said a Mumbalin’ Word,” reflects the words of each stanza of the hymn on which it is based. For stanza two, “They nailed him to the tree,” the accompaniment uses hammer-like chords on the off-beats. For stanza three, “They pierced him in the side,” the powerful Trompette en Chamade is called upon to provide a piercing melody line above the full organ. For stanza four, “His blood came trickling down,” silvery triplets portray the precious drops of blood shed by our Savior. Finally, stanza five, “He bowed his head and died,” is reverenced by quiet string stops to a hushed final cadence.
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We want to pray for and celebrate with you! Send your prayer requests and glad tidings to [email protected].
Condolences
Our love and sympathy are with Kevin and Kathryn Benton in the death of Kevin’s mother, Judy Benton, April 4; with Vonda Kent in the death of her mother, Jean Stokley, April 3; and with Fritz and Sara Reuning in the death of Fritz’s brother, James Stone Reuning, March 31.
Congratulations
We rejoice with Josh and Morgan King on the birth of Philip Louie King. The newborn’s siblings are Mason, Elijah, and Lizzy, and his grandparents are Tom and Leigh King.
In Our Prayers
Please also pray for the members of our community who wish to remain anonymous.
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Anna Arbo & family
Wayne Ausmus
Kevin & Kathryn Benton
Bill & Betty Bingham
Rebecca Bloomfield
Ralph Booher
Sujean Bradley
Bud & Marg Branscomb
Bristol Tennessee City Schools
Becky Busler
Bill Coleman
Egypt Mission Trip
Randi Edwards
Jane Ehrie
K.D. Forsha
Tammy Fredrickson
DeeDee Galliher
Emma Grubbs & Gina Roberson
Haiti
Lou Hebb
Eddie Hill
Porter Hillery
John & Karen & family
Davan & Kristi Johnson
Kaduna State
Jim & Joan Keith
Martin & Vonda Kent & family
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Marty & Kara Keys
Josh & Morgan King & family
Nancy Lilly
Diana Mattison
Dot Mattison
Roger McCracken
Kathy McGlothlin
Montana Indian Ministries
National & international leadership
Lee & Robin North
Evan & Britt Patrick
Phyllis Phares
Pastor Bruce Plummer
Cora Lee Raccioppo
Kreg Ramey
Fritz &Sara Reuning
Margaret Jane Rice
Roberta
Mike Ruger
Michelle S.
Malcolm Sprinkle
Teachers & school administrators
Scott VanNostrand
Bill & Patsy Ward
Michael Weller
Carlena Williams
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Deadline & Subscriptions
Monday is the deadline for contributions to Windows. Subscribe to our free e-newsletter by sending your name and preferred email address to the editor.
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701 Florida Avenue | Bristol, TN 37620 | 423-764-7176 | fpcbristol.org
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