September 20, 2018
Remember me, O my God, for good.
[Nehemiah 13:31]
Dear Friends,
I want to thank so many of you for your generous
contributions to Rise Against Hunger. We will clearly
reach our goal of raising $3400.
Second, you will not want to miss JD's Organ Concert on Sunday. His program is only 45 minutes long and will be a treat.
My sermon for Sunday is titled Servants of All and continues our brief
trip into the Gospel of Mark. In our reading, Jesus continues to provide lessons to his disciples. This time, Jesus responds to the disciples' argument among themselves about which one of them is the greatest. Jesus
informs them that the first must be last and a servant of all.
I look forward to seeing you all on Sunday.
In Christ,
Our new church
organist, JD Plant, will
offer a free organ and piano concert on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. in the FPC sanctuary. He's
named this concert
Tornado to Oz and promises to take us to some fantastic places in this 45 minute performance.
The concert will feature the Vierne Organ Symphony No. 1. Everyone is invited. The concert is free. Invite
your friends and neighbors.
Thanks to your unbelievably generous donations we have already raised $3050 toward our goal of $3400 for Rise Against Hunger. On Saturday, October 6, we
will gather in the Fellowship Hall and assemble 10,000 food packs that will be shipped overseas. Checks should be made out to FPC with Rise Against Hunger in the memo line.
On Sunday October 7 at 9:45 am, we will hold an All-Church Breakfast. There will be no Sunday School that day. Everyone is invited to gather in the Fellowship Hall between the services for a delicious breakfast. Please RSVP with
the church office. Also, volunteers are needed to prepare a dish and to help with clean up. Worship services will be held as normal at 8:45am and 11:00am.
 The next VanGoes outing will be to Nashville on
Thursday, October 25. They will tour the historic Downtown Presbyterian Church and then have lunch at the old Woolworths on 5th Avenue. Seats are
limited, so contact the church office to make your reservation.
FPC has an urgent need for adults to lead children's Sunday School classes. If you would like to serve in this important ministry please contact Wayne Patton or the church office.
We need teachers for two classes: Pre-school through 1st grade and for 2nd through 5th grade.
Sunday, September 23
4:00 pm - Organ Concert
Saturday, October 6
9:00 a.m. - Rise Against Hunger
Sunday, October 7
Church Breakfast - World Communion Sunday
Thursday, October 25
Lunch at Woolworths
&
Tour Downtown Presbyterian Church
Saturday, November 3
Dinges House Spruce Up
There are a few openings for Lay Readers for the Sanctuary Service. If you are interested please contact Kristy in the church office.
An archive of sermons and bulletins (audio and text) can be viewed here.
Each Sunday the following classes meet—
Faith Builders: A Journey for the 30s and 40s meets upstairs. Led by Jeff and Alice Gossage.
Westminster Class meets in the Sanctuary. Led by Sheridan
Henson, this class uses lessons from The Thoughtful Christian. 8-10 people.
Atypical Adult Research Bible Class meets upstairs. Led by Brenda Thaxton,
this class is reading the
book Short Stories by Jesus by Amy-Jill Levine. 8-10 people.
Women’s Class meets in the Session Room. This female class
is studying various religious beliefs. 5-10 people.
Cross Roads Class in the Library. Led by George Gebhardt. Studying the book If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat, by John Ortberg. 12-15 people.
Preschool - First Grade (ages 4 - 6 years) uses the Growing in Grace and Gratitude curriculum and is led by John Foutch and Debbie Harlan.
Elementary Class (2nd grade - 4th grade) uses the Growing in Grace and Gratitude ; Led by Marty Bone and Barbara Howell. Through Biblical stories shared in a variety of ways, children learn in a setting that stimulates their imagination and encourages class participation.
Middle School Class Uses the Connect curriculum.
High School Class
FPC is an Amazon Associate. When you make a purchase with
Amazon (using the church’s special link), 4% or more goes
directly to the church. It costs you nothing and costs the church nothing. Use
the link to the right. You will need to use the link before every purchase. There is
also an Amazon link on the church website.
Scripture - Mark 9:30-37
30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it;
31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again."
32 But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.
33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the way?"
34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest.
35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all."
36 Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them,
37 "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."
Prayer of Confession
Lord of the Least, you graciously invite us into your kingdom
but we fail to welcome you into our hearts.
We hear you calling but we are too afraid to respond.
We confess that we are more concerned with being first than in lifting up those who have fallen. We would rather be served than to serve.
Forgive us and help us to fully understand the eternal words that you speak. Amen.
PRELUDE:
CONCERTO IN A MINOR ( III- ALLEGRO ) A. VIVALDI - TRANS. J. S. BACH
Working for the Venetian orphanage administration, where he was in charge of the music conservatory, was no easy task for Vivaldi and his position was always up for renewal upon a yearly board vote. This was always a precarious situation and was a close call each time. (The only explanation would be that too many on the board were either tone deaf or lacking in taste.) Finally, in 1709, Vivaldi was fired from his position. I suspect this gave Vivaldi the chance to experiment with more 'secular' forms of musical writing such as operas to sustain a living. Eventually, he gained notoriety across Europe as one of the great composers of the time. Needless to say, the orphanage administration had to swallow a huge pill and unanimously voted to re-offer Vivaldi his previous position with an eventual promotion to the title of Music Director. By 1718, however, Vivaldi was able to add 'extracurricular' activities by becoming Music Director to the prince-governor of Mantua for three years. He then moved to Rome to perform music for the pope. Upon meeting with the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi was inspired to move to Vienna in order to write more operas.
OFFERTORY:
DIALOGUE - F. COUPERIN
In some of Francois Couperin's music we find an interpretive style where the performer has to change the rhythm that is seen on the page to something that is quite different. In Baroque music this is called "inequality" and this is the same as a modern Jazz player playing in "swing style" adding a bunch of dotted rhythms that are not written on the music score.
POSTLUDE:
RONDEAU FROM "SYMPHONY OF FANFARES" - JEAN-JOSEPH MOURET
If you have watched "Masterpiece Theatre" on PBS, you will instantly recognize the Mouret Rondeau. Mouret spent his musical career composing operas and directing musicals and divertimenti for the Parisian nobility during the last years of Louis XIV and for much of Louis XVs tenure. These various appointments afforded Mouret what eludes most musicians, an extravagantly lavish lifestyle. This "Symphony of Fanfares" was dedicated to the son of the Duchess of Maine, the Prince of Dombes (quite grand titles, I say), who was one of Mouret's many patrons. It is sad to hear that after reaching such notoriety and popular heights, Mouret died penniless and was buried in an unmarked grave. I guess that they didn't think of retirement plans back in the 18th century.
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