Our last Vespers for this summer will be on August 3rd! Join us at 6PM at Waterrock Knob (milepost 451 on the Blue Ridge Parkway) for a time of fun fellowship. The church will be providing a hot dog supper, a time of devotion for the adults and play time for the kids.
Exercise Class Postponed
The upcoming exercise class sponsored by WMU has been postponed. " A Matter of Balance" will be rescheduled for early next year due to the instructor having recently undergone surgery. The next series, "Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program" will begin in September. Watch for more details.
A Note from Hazel Monteith
Dear First Baptist Church,
Thanks so much for all the beautiful cards I have received from your church. I love to send and get cards. I see many times the good work your church is doing, especially with the children. I've really loved to work with the children in my younger years.
Remembering your kindness with warmth and gratitude.
Love and Prayers,
Hazel Monteith
Wedding Ceremony for Judy Seago and Jerry Parker
Please RSVP to the email judacula@frontier.com by August 6th.
Dress will be casual. We do not wish for any gifts, but If you’d like, you can make a donation in our names to either the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Heifer International, or READI/Nepal, which is an agency for impoverished children in Nepal. We can take the money with us on the honeymoon to Nepal and deliver it directly to the agency.
Directions to the ceremony:
Follow Highway 107 to Cullowhee. Take a left onto Caney Fork Road across from the Citgo station. After 3 miles take a left onto Judaculla Rock Road.
Drive along the road and follow the sunflowers up the mountain to the ceremony site.
FBC to Attend "As You Go" Event
Celebrate the ways God is using normal Christians to demonstrate the presence of Christ, to offer service for Christ, and to have positive impact in their home towns.
Connect with other lay persons who are seeking to infuse faith in their daily walk.
Be challenged and inspired to be a living witness “as you go.”
“As You Go” events will be held on Sunday afternoons, 4-6pm. Each event will include testimonies, small group clusters, and large group sharing followed by refreshments and fellowship. CBFNC staff members Eddie Hammett and Rick Jordan will lead teaching and discussions.
First Baptist Church of Sylva will attend the October 16th gathering at Hominy Baptist Church in Candler!!
WMU Updates and Inspiration
For all women of the church:
For More information contact Sandra James, 497-6541
Misplaced Passion
On Sunday afternoon, some of our church family made the trek to historic McCormack Field in Asheville to watch the Tourists take on the Greenville Drive. It was a hot afternoon, and one of the teams we watched was hot at the plate.
Spoiler alert: It wasn’t the Tourists.
“So we’ll root, root, root for the home team—if they don’t win it’s a shame.”
Yes it was, and yes it is. Losing is a shame.
Losing haunts me. I would be a bold-face liar if I told you otherwise. The teams I have supported have frequently let me down. The teams I have played on have failed in grand fashion (My one moment of glory on the intramural football field occurred when I caught a touchdown pass down the sidelines, only to find that I was without my sweatpants when I reached the end zone). The teams I have coached haven’t fared much better.
Now, I am most committed to the teams with which I am affiliated. I suppose that it could be said that I have a high tolerance for losing since I stick with lackluster teams. I tend to be loyal to a fault. I am convinced that my NC State Wolfpack should alter their fight song to include the lines from Emily Dickinson’s famous poem: “Success is counted sweetest by those who ne’er succeed.” That way, when opponents see us celebrating with inordinate amounts of enthusiasm, they will know the origins of our joy.
How do you respond to loss?
Perhaps you’re a fighter and you dig deeper when you experience loss. Maybe you’ve arranged your life in such a way that you are insulated from losing. Or, could it be that failure and loss have chased you into the shadows, convincing you that you will lose again if you try? Loss, I believe, is the best catalyst for revealing one’s true character. (Egad…)
In his book, My Losing Season, the late Pat Conroy suggests that times of disappointment and failure can be exceedingly valuable. Losing can be formative – even redemptive – if we allow it to be so. Ah, but there’s the rub. When we lose, when we are disappointed, when we feel like we have failed, it is tempting to think of ourselves as failures and, by default, incapable of any success with future goals. And when this happens, we surrender.
Of course, there are many ways that we experience loss and it is flatly offensive to equate losses on the baseball diamond--or even at the ballot box—with the loss of life, limb or spirit.
In a telling Biblical observation, it should be noted that God’s narrative in scripture has little commentary on entertainment. Unlike our own cultural obsession with the entertainment industry, the story of Israel and the Gospel of Jesus Christ talk about losses with much greater gravity than playoff runs, rivalry games, or even presidential primaries. I think we’ve thus arrived at our point: Maybe we’re too passionate about the wrong things.
Another way to frame this conversation may be to differentiate between life's disappointments and the experience we have with loss and grief. Perspective can be helpful, here. Our disappointments when things don’t go as we wish are not insignificant—but they should also never be conflated emotionally with the kind of grief people from around the world face each day.
Let’s recall that Jesus can teach us something about disappointment and loss:
1.) Jesus didn’t expect everything to go as he planned. God’s Son didn’t seem shocked when things didn’t go as he might have wanted.
2.) Jesus didn’t allow his disappointment with people to influence his response to them. People disappointed Jesus frequently, yet he still chose to trust and to love them.
3.) Jesus was able to see the grief that others were experiencing and rushed to be present with them. Let’s recall that other people’s mourning changed Jesus’s plans.
4.) Jesus, himself, experienced grief when he lost his good friend Lazarus to death.
5.) God, Himself, experienced loss when He lost his Son, Jesus, to death.
Jim Valvano was on the backside of a season of loss when he anticipated his own death to cancer. Speaking with the authority of a circuit-riding evangelist, he urged his listeners at Reynolds Coliseum in 1993 to never, ever, give up. It would seem that his message was divinely inspired, as God models for us a redemptive response to disappointment and loss.
You see, God hates loss just as we do. That’s why he redeemed Christ’s ultimate loss by resurrecting him from death to newness of life.
Some perspective might do us some good. A resilient spirit with an uplifted chin wouldn’t hurt, either.
For that matter – and since we’re asking for things – neither would a come-from-behind 6-run inning by the Braves for the win.
Ice Cream Fellowship with Pastor Ernesto Bazan
Ernesto Bazan, pastor of our sister church in Holguin, Cuba, is coming to visit us from July 28-August 9. We will be hosting a time of dessert and fellowship in our Mission and Fellowship Center on Sunday, July 31st at 7 PM. Please join us and bring a dessert to share as Pastor Bazan will be sharing about his hometown and church.
Bob Holquist to Present Recital
On Sunday, July 31, Bob will sing a recital as a part of the "Sunday Evenings in Webster" series at the Webster United Methodist Church at 5:30 pm. There is no charge for the program. The concert will have something for everyone, including "Ol' Man River," "Shenandoah," two duets with Carmela Brooks--"The Prayer," and "All I Ask of You," from the Phantom of the Opera. A men's quartet consisting of Jay Coward, Mike Nichols, Dean Kool, and Bob will sing "My Anchor Holds," and "Sweet Beulah Land."
"I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked" will be paired with another sacred favorite. Three German love songs will be sung, as well as two numbers from the Romantic opera repertoire. "Danny Boy" will be followed by humorous selections which are always audience favorites.
Linda Stewart will accompany the program, which will be about an hour long, with a reception on the grounds to follow. All are cordially invited to attend.
Our Summer Explorers Enjoyed Field and Water Day!
A HUGE "Thank You" to the Smithfield First Baptist Church and their awesome youth group for the love and involvement shared among our water themed field day with the campers. What an awesome, and extremely talented group!
Our 1st Explorers really enjoyed your visit, and look forward to seeing you again in the future!