This Sunday, February 21, is the first in the season of Lent, the seven weeks of the church year preceding Easter. Recalling Jesus’ 40-day temptation in the wilderness, Lent invites us through introspection and penitence to consider the costliness of Christ’s sacrifice for our sin. Lenten worship is hence more subdued, signified by the purple liturgical color as well as by the temporary absence of flowers and alleluias. Be sure to pick up your copy of our Lenten Devotional outside the Fellowship Hall or sanctuary. If you prefer, contact the church office, and we will mail a copy to you.

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: February 19, 7:00 p.m.

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Meeting ID: 826 4875 1043

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FPC Home Groups are starting back up with Lent. Home Groups are just what they sound like: people getting together in homes (or online) for fellowship and study, using age-appropriate material supplied weekly by church staff.

Home Groups are an innovative way to continue weekly fellowship and Bible study while staying safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Home Group can be a gathering of friends, neighbors, or one or more families. We provide an intergenerational Bible study each week to each group, and the Sunday sermon reflects on its theme. If you’re not already in a Home Group, go to our Home Groups 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. /Dave Welch

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.

We are collecting Goldfish, the little cheese crackers, for the students of our neighborhood school. Please leave your contributions in the corner of the Fellowship Hallway where the little house usually stands.

“Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort” (“Keep us, Lord, faithful to your word”) is a Lutheran hymn by Martin Luther, with additional stanzas by Justus Jonas, first published in 1542. It was used in several musical settings, including the chorale cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort, BWV 126. It is also the tune on which the Lenten hymn “The Glory of These Forty Days” is commonly sung. On Sunday I will play three different settings by three Baroque composers, Johann Christoph Pachelbel (at left; 1653–1706), Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), and Johann Gottfried Walther (1684–1748).

David Akard Jr.: to Local Missions from Jane King Allen, from Mitch & Ginger Cain, from Ron & Joan Guest, from John & Karen Vann, from an anonymous donor; to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund from Eddie & Peggy Hill, from Tom & Leigh King

Patricia Bolling (mother of Teresa Mills): to the Memorial Fund from Jack & Anne Southerland, from John & Karen Vann; to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund from Eddie & Peggy Hill

Chad Cline (son of Karen White): to the Technology Fund from Fred & Heidi Harkleroad

Helen Davidson (aunt of Rhonda Comer): to the Memorial Fund from John & Karen Vann

Robert Duncan (father of Kelley Mayden): to the Memorial Fund from John & Karen Vann; to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund from Eddie & Peggy Hill

Diane Glymph (mother of Mary Ellis Rice): to the Memorial Fund from John & Karen Vann

Edith Gose (grandmother of Laura Bassett): to the Memorial Fund from John & Karen Vann

Ron Grubbs: to the Minister’s Discretionary Education Fund from Ann Abel, from Bill & Betty Bingham, from Robin L Boyd, from Sally A Burns, from Mitch & Ginger Cain, from Fred & Heidi Harkleroad, from Julie King, from Dot Mattison, from Betty & Paul Nelson, from Dotty Royston, from Jack & Anne Southerland, from Barry Staubus, from John & Karen Vann, from an anonymous donor; to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund from Linda Darnell, from Tom & Leigh King

Lisa Holmes: to the Memorial Fund from John & Karen Vann

Dutch Keyser (brother-in-law of Al Thomas): to the Memorial Fund from John & Karen Vann; to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund from Eddie & Peggy Hill

Bob Millard: to the Memorial Fund from an anonymous donor; to the Technology Fund from Fred & Heidi Harkleroad

David Mott (brother of Betsy Galliher): to the Technology Fund from Fred & Heidi Harkleroad, from an anonymous donor

Sue O'Dell (sister of Bob O’Dell): to the Memorial Fund from John & Karen Vann; to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund from Eddie & Peggy Hill, from Bill & Ann Woods

Peggy Peters (sister of Dee Eldreth): to the Memorial Fund from John & Karen Vann; to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund from Eddie & Peggy Hill, from Bill & Ann Woods

Peggy Truman (mother of Linda Welch): to the Technology Fund from Fred & Heidi Harkleroad

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