First Presbyterian Church of Middlesboro
  • Home
  • About
  • Mission
  • Contact
  • Photo Gallery
  • Give
Welcome!

Worship With Us

OBSERVING ADVENT AT HOME
The Worship Committee of FPC Middlesboro has prepared materials to assist you in observing Advent at home this season. We hope these guides will enhance your Advent season and preparations for the birth of the Christ. The guides include our traditional Advent litany, a suggested hymn from The Presbyterian Hymnal, the Gospel reading, and an Advent prayer. Click on the links below to download the guides. 

​Advent 2020 Full Guide 
​

Weekly Guides:
Getting Started
HOPE - The First Sunday of Advent
PEACE - The Second Sunday of Advent
JOY - The Third Sunday of Advent
LOVE - The Fourth Sunday of Advent
Christmas Eve



COVID-19 UPDATE as of 9/18/20
​


At its meeting on September 16, the session of FPC Middlesboro voted to continue the suspension of in-person worship at this time. Our Sunday morning Zoom Bible study will continue while worship remains suspended. If you would like the Zoom link to the Bible study, please email fpc4me@yahoo.com. All are welcome! You may also request to receive modified bulletins and prayer lists, and/or the weekly children's Sunday School lesson packet. 

If you would like to contribute an offering to the church, it can be mailed to the church at PO Box 1796, Middlesboro, KY, 40965. The Presbytery also has a means to take online offering payments and distribute them to the designated church. The link is https://transypby.org/paypal/. If you choose to use this link, you will need to click the "other" button and then type in First Presbyterian Church of Middlesboro so the Presbytery knows which church to send the funds to.

Please visit our Facebook page for the most current worship updates.

*************************

First Presbyterian Church has been a vital part of Middlesboro, Kentucky, for more than 100 years.
We invite you to worship with us!

Our Typical Sunday Schedule (currently suspended due to Covid-19):

Choir Rehearsal: 10:15 a.m.
Worship: 11:00 a.m. 
Children's Sunday School: 11:15 a.m. 

Join us for a time of refreshments and fellowship after worship each Sunday!

*************************

December 2016 Pastor's Letter

12/9/2016

 
“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever.” - Revelation 11:15b NRSV

 Before I became your pastor, I was an active member of First Baptist Church in Corbin, teaching Sunday School and serving part-time on the staff. I was also very involved in the choir. One year, as Christmas approached, we were preparing to do selected pieces from Handel's Messiah. Of course the Hallelujah chorus was one of those pieces. It is challenging, to say the least, for untrained, amateur voices and many of us carried the score home and practiced with a recording or took the score and recording "on the road" at Thanksgiving. I was one of those who thought that I could profitably use the time when Gayle was driving to sharpen my skills by singing in the car. As we drove to Nashville, I popped the cd in the player and selected the track for the Hallelujah chorus. I stumbled my way through the early part until I came to the section where the basses have the phrase, "And he shall reign forever and ever" and I really belted it out - "AND HE SHALL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER". Then I heard laughter and Gayle was almost in tears. When I said, "What?", she just shook her head and said, "You mumbled through the rest of the chorus until you came to that phrase. You've really got it!" To this day we joke about it being my musical "forte".

"And he shall reign forever and ever" is a particularly potent truth to hold onto in our country today. The recent turmoil of the outcome of the presidential election coupled with the increasingly bitter divisions among various groups in our country adds a great deal of stress to an already stressful season. The message of Christmas is "Emmanuel" - God with us - and offers us truth for coping with these turbulent times. Christmas reminds us that God is overseeing and over-ruling the world when it seems that nothing could be further from the truth. Remember Paul's words about the first coming of Christ in Galatians 4:4-7:

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. 6 And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

The Roman world had its share of troubles and heartaches and the government was not a friend to the faith of Christians. But Paul's hope, peace, joy and love were not produced by the government and therefore not subject to government whim. Instead, Paul and the early Christians celebrated the eternal sovereignty of God who had repeatedly demonstrated that the "kingdoms of this world" belonged to Him.(Rev. 11:15)

Here is the beauty of the Christmas story: the gift of the Christ child is the historical truth that God is on our side every day in every way. Coming to us as one of us, God reveals that there is no experience, no thought, no concern, no anxiety, not failure, no joy, no experience of life that He does not understand. There is no person, political party, nation, army, evil or terror which can change our eternal destiny or cancel our promised rest. Rejoice, for this is the season of "good tidings" to all humanity! Belt out those Christmas carols and decorate with light and beauty and joy! Christmas is on the way! Hallelujah! "AND HE SHALL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER!

Dr. Phil

Comments are closed.
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
  • Mission
  • Contact
  • Photo Gallery
  • Give