"It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

Isaiah 49:6 NRSV

Take a long look at the picture above, snapped in 1957. I'm sure that you will recognize the man on the left, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But do you know the others? Behind Dr. King is the famous musician Pete Seeger; next to Dr. King is Charis Horton, daughter of Myles Horton; then Rosa Parks, who stands next to the Reverend Ralph Abernathy.

Why is this picture important? Well, it is important in helping us recognize the work of those who went before us in the struggle for righteousness. But it is also important to us so that we might remember how our Presbyterian identity within the body of Christ intersects with God's larger work in the world. You see, Myles Horton was a fellow Presbyterian who established the Highlander Folk School in 1932 for the purpose of training and building up poor communities.

This photograph is also important because it was taken not too far from Bristol at that school, one of the few places at that time where whites and blacks could openly work, meet, and collaborate together in the South. The purpose of the school was to train the poor, farmworkers, and black and white communities in ways to pursue equality. Rosa Parks, for example, would come to the school for four months in 1955 to receive instructions before she took her seat on a bus in Birmingham that December. Dr. King would come on several occasions and work to develop a model of organizing and mobilizing his community. When the school was shut down in 1961 by the state on trumped-up charges, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference would take over the school's citizenship program, and through it train more than 100,000 people for nonviolent action.

God did wonderful things through the Civil Rights Movement, and continues to do so. Our story is only a minor footnote in that larger story, but it is a part nonetheless. We can, you can, the church can work in a way to reflect Christ to the nation(s) by exercising care, mercy, and justice. In so doing, we inch our way to that day when Christ shall come, and "we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2).

This is the promise we find in Isaiah 49:6 that struck me when Dr. Dotterweich read it this past Sunday. We might think our call is to be a servant to raise up our own and restore our limited perspective on being the body of Christ. But God's call is bigger; much bigger. That is too light a thing, God tells us. No, God has promised to "give us as a light to the nations, that God's salvation may reach to the end of the earth." God has promised to use us, in whatever way we can contribute, to be a blessing as we bear witness to God's faithfulness and love.

That picture looks old, and that day seems far gone. But it isn't. It's a reminder of God's ongoing call to frame new pictures, take new directions, create new connections, so that we might love others as Christ first loved us. Let's imagine a picture someone might come across of FPC years from now, and let's do our best to make it a picture that reflects Christ's love.

In Christ,

Pastor Sam

Friends, please note that there is an internet and smartphone scam making its way through Bristol and First Presbyterian Church. Scammers, posing as FPC staff, will say that they are in a meeting or unable to attend to an important issue, then ask you to go and buy a gift card (for Walmart, Target, Food City, etc.) to be given to a person or family in need, a worthy-sounding ministry, or other credible recipient. They will instruct you to send the card information to an attached phone number. The message may come to you as a text or through Facebook or similar method. It is a scam. PLEASE DO NOT respond or take any action. The staff of FPC will never ask you to do anything like this! For more information about scammers and gift cards, click on this link from the Federal Trade Commission: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/10/scammers-demand-gift-cards . / Dave Welch

Please join us Wednesday, January 29, at 5:30 for a fellowship supper, followed at 6:00 by activities for children and youth. At 6:15, our Adult Enrichment program will resume the study of 2 Corinthians, picking up at chapter 5, with Pastor Sam. Except when we have special presentations, we worship on most Wednesday evenings by praying, singing, and studying God's Word together.

We are collecting boxes of  Multi-Grain Cheerios for Fairmount Elementary students. About 80% of the children get help with lunch, but their families can't buy snacks to help them through the day. That's where we come in. Please bring your donations to the Little Red House in the Fellowship Hallway to give our young friends at Fairmount a boost on long winter days. Thank you!