The Gathering Place is the new name of our renovated chapel space. Thank you all for all of your generosity and hard work in transitioning our old chapel into a room that can be used in a variety of ways. The finishing touches will be put in place during the next few weeks, then there will be a room dedication soon to follow.
Proposed Budget for 2018
You can access the proposed 2018 budget by clicking the button above.
“Teach Me About Jesus”
The first time I ever sensed that God was calling me to vocational ministry occurred while I was leading Vacation Bible School.
I was 15 years old and was in the youth group at my home church in Asheville. Every other summer, our church’s youth would travel to Hazard, Kentucky where we would serve in a poor, mountain community. We would rise early each morning, loading up in half a dozen vans to pick up children so that they could attend our Vacation Bible School in the parking lot of a local school. If you survived being in the backseat of a cramped van (which took the mountain curves a bit too quickly) at first light, you were expected to be a group leader for the camp later that morning.
Those were long, but glorious days. For in addition to the morning camp that was situated on a scalding hot black top, we would also work on construction projects each afternoon and early evening.
It was in this setting that I heard God speak to me.
My job that week was to teach the children the daily Bible story. I had never served in this capacity before and I was genuinely surprised to learn that I enjoyed telling the Bible story in a way that the children could hear and understand. As an awkward teenager, I was thrilled to learn that I felt confident and strong when I taught. I was drawn to the Bible story like I’d never experienced before and I dove into the scriptures, making sure I was familiar with the content of the text. To say it plainly, I felt like I found my voice that week.
I can’t remember her name, but I can still see the way she looked at me. She must not have been older than about 7 or 8. She had arrived early and was sitting in our group long before we were slated to begin. She smiled at me with an alarming sense of earnestness and said, “Teach me about Jesus.” And in that moment, I had an epiphany that made my heart sigh. True, the words were simple and may have been casually spoken. But for me, I heard God’s voice calling me to consider an invitation that would bring me both peace and joy. I felt God calling me to teach others about Jesus.
The work of the Spirit is transformation. And for me, when I found God’s mission I found myself changed.
Why do we encourage our church and community to be a part of Vacation Bible School each year? Why do we target college students and young people to lead our 1st Explorers ministry? Why do we provide opportunities for you to serve with other helping agencies and to learn more about yourself with tools like the Enneagram?
We want you to find the place where God wants you to be. That is, loving our neighbors through service and in the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ. You see, we find our true selves when we are obedient to God’s will to, “Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God.”
God encounters us so that we can do His will. Christ draws near to us to show us the depth of God’s love. The Holy Spirit changes us so that we can do Kingdom Work.
As we serve our community’s children this week at Vacation Bible School, I am reminded of the power of service and ministry to others. The ones we are serving, it would seem, are not the only ones who are changed.
Vacation Bible School
We would like to extend a huge thank you to all those who have volunteered at VBS this past week! Our volunteers have come out to set-up/ tear down each day, to help with registration, to lead the groups and to help make our week the success that it’s been thus far.
If you are interested, come out and see what we’ve been up to this week during Friday’s closing event in our Mission and Fellowship Center at 11:30 AM! Campers will sing songs & share what they learned this week. There will be a FREE pizza lunch for campers, parents, & volunteers to follow!
East LaPorte Church Picnic
Our Church Picnic at East LaPorte was a smashing success!! Thank you to everyone who came out and enjoyed some fun in the sun with us! Join us for our next Church Picnic on Sunday afternoon, July 16 up on Waterrock Knob.
Home Run Derby Winner
Congratulations to our 2017 Home Run Derby Champion, Zack Faulkenberry!
Car Seat Check Stations
BALL Club Trip to Cornucopia Restaurant
Ball club will be going to Cornocopia Restaurant in Cashiers Thursday June 22. We will leave church at 10:00 am. Be there or be square. Contact Jennie Hunter or Sheila Suitt if you have questions 399-0623 or Sheila 226-0903.
Now, A Word About Perseverance
No ropes. No clips. No safety equipment. It’s just you, your hands and your feet.
It’s called free soloing and it’s a form of rocking climbing that has been in the news these last few days. This past Saturday, Alex Honnold did something that no one has ever done before. He climbed the 3,000 foot granite face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park without any climbing gear—save for a bag of chalk to assist his grip.
Yep, that’s right. With little more than what you are wearing right now, imagine climbing up a rock face wall over half a mile straight up. They call it a ‘free solo climb.’ It would be more like ‘free falling’ for me.
Climbers in the know are calling Honnold’s feat the greatest solo climb of all time. In case you’re wondering, Honnold did the climb alone, and in less than 4 hours.
The first thing that comes to mind, besides vertigo, is the sheer immensity of such a pursuit. When I consider what Honnold did, I find it difficult to imagine that it would be possible. A mistake would mean death (actually, it would mean a nightmarish fall followed by death). Obviously, no one would be able to help you if you needed assistance. The strength, endurance and mental fortitude needed sounds gargantuan.
But here’s the thing. This extraordinary feat didn’t just happen. Honnold didn’t wake up one day and decide between bites of a Krispy Kreme Donut to take it on. The free climb wasn’t a dare. Honnold wasn’t inebriated. No, Hannold was able to accomplish the impossible because he prepared relentlessly for it.
As far back as 2009, Honnold decided to take on El Capitan. He studied the mountain. He enlisted the help of other climbing experts. He used ropes and clips to inspect the mountain more closely, identifying possible routes. He trained on similar mountains all over the world. He gave it a shot nearly a year ago, deciding after beginning his assault that the conditions were not right. Just last week he mapped out the route with chalk, hoping that when he arrived in the dark on Saturday morning that the chalk would still be visible.
National Geographic confirms our hunch about his detailed preparation. “Honnold is obsessive about his training, which includes hour-long sessions every other day hanging by his fingertips and doing one- and two-armed pullups on a specially-made apparatus that he bolted into the doorway of his van. He also spends hours perfecting, rehearsing, and memorizing exact sequences of hand and foot placements for every key pitch. He is an inveterate note-taker, logging his workouts and evaluating his performance on every climb in a detailed journal.”
Alex Honnold didn’t just climb El Capitan. He made it his life’s work.
I am humbled by this climber’s approach to this task and am reminded of Paul’s words to the church at Colossus: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
Extraordinary things happen when we work for them. The things that we consider impossible can be achieved when we "work at them with all our hearts, as working for the Lord." Great things require great preparation, great wisdom and great effort. These monumental accomplishments do not happen with the snap of a finger, but with a focus and grit that only perseverance can achieve.
When I think of the needs of our community and the ways in which our church can address them, I am often overwhelmed by the immensity of what would be necessary to pull it off. And yet, when I am reminded by the fact that, “It is the Lord Christ we are serving,” I remember that God is in the business of making the impossible possible. What is required on our part is the willingness to work toward a God-given goal that can bring glory and honor to Him. The ‘amazing’ and the ‘extraordinary’ don’t just happen. They require vision, planning, hard work and determination.
Unlike Honnold’s ascent, we are not called to accomplish great things by ourselves. But with one another, with God as our vision-crafter and pace-setter, we can accomplish more than we could ever ask or imagine.
Church-Wide Picnic at East LaPorte
Our annual East LaPorte Picnic will be Sunday, June 11 at 4:00 PM. Don’t forget to bring your best potluck dishes! Drinks will be provided by the church. We will also be having our annual Whiffle Ball game and homerun derby! Come out and play, then cool off in the refreshing waters of the Tuckaseegee.