Join us on Sunday, October 22nd for Homecoming Sunday! The Rev. Dr. Wanda Kidd will be our pulpit guest. She is a former church member and former campus minister at Western Carolina University. She is currently serving as the CBFNC collegiate engagement coordinator. A potluck supper will follow in the MFC, so make sure to bring something delicious to share!
Special Music for Homecoming Sunday
On Homecoming Sunday, October 22, our special music will be presented by the Men's Chorus. We will have rehearsal from 8:45--9:25, and will be singing "Great is the Lord" for a call to worship, and a medley of familiar hymns for the anthem. Men of the Sanctuary Choir will be assisted by other men of the church, and we will have some help from the brothers of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia from WCU. Don't miss this opportunity to enjoy making music and to praise God in a special way.
Bob Holquist
Mission Moment
"Last February, our church considered turning our Youth House into a Refugee Ministry but realized that we neither had the financial resources nor the manpower. However, conferences with the Wyatts and local pastors convinced us that with partnerships we could do this. God was at work, and all he needed was our willingness to join him. After the unanimous vote in July to offer up our Youth House, an avalanche of workers descended upon the deteriorating house and turned it into a warm, welcome home for "the least of these" coming to our shores. We are now partners in ministry, offering up what we have for God's use to benefit those who come to our country to make a new life for themselves."
- Charles Allard, pastor of Crabtree Valley Baptist Church in Raleigh, N.C., working alongside CBF field personnel Kim and Marc Wyatt
A Note from Betty Blanton
I guess it goes without saying that you surprised me Sunday with your celebration of my 80th birthday. I was speechless. It made me feel so good to know how much I am loved by my church family. Thank you for the many wonderful cards and gifts. It makes turning 80 not near as painful. I love all of you with all my heart. See you on Sunday. Love, Betty Blanton
Pastor's Tea
The Pastor's Tea was a great success! Thanks to everyone for coming out to enjoy a marvelous afternoon together!
Homecoming Parade
We are setting up refreshments and fun activities for community members watching the WCU homecoming parade on October 27 at 6:30. We would like to have volunteers who can help give out food, drinks, stickers, etc starting between 5 and 5:30 and lasting until about 7:00.
Please contact Tom Graham at tsgraham1@gmail.com or text at 304-228-2547 if you can help. We can take help setting up and/or taking down tables, serving food and drinks, and any ideas on WCU related activities or goodies to have at the church that day.
Thank you so much and hope to see several of our church family members at the parade!
Your Home Church
home /hōm/
Noun
the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.
Homecoming
Home Going
Home Improvement
Home Plate
Homemade
Home Phone
Home Room
Homefront
Homegrown
Home Alone
Homemaker
Homeward Bound
Home Church
I have two, maybe three, home churches. I think.
There’s the church that I was dedicated in shortly after I was born. So, certainly the First Baptist Church in Winchester, KY should be on this list. But then, there’s Smoke Rise Baptist Church outside of Atlanta where we lived for 12 years and where I was baptized. Perhaps that should be considered my home church. Then again, the First Baptist Church of Asheville is the church that knows me best as they ordained me to the Gospel Ministry when I was a young man. Surely, they should be my home church. Maybe?
Alas, there are no hard and fast rules on this. Not to be confused with a house church—or church that meets in someone’s home—one’s home church suggests one’s starting place. Let’s try this this definition on and see if it fits: A home church is the congregation where we had our beginning, and where we frequently choose to return.
Meh.
The reality of a home church implies that we don’t always stay at one church. For the overwhelming majority of us, we don’t spend the entirety of our lives in one church. We grow up. We move away. We move on. Most of us find ourselves at a church for a season in our lives—some seasons longer than others.
As much as it pains me to acknowledge this, people leave church. Sometimes we leave because we relocate geographically. This tends to be the most understandable, though nonetheless difficult. Sometimes we leave a church when we are called to another church. As one who has felt ‘called away’ and ‘called to’ a church in my ministerial career, I know how hard that can feel. At other times, we leave a church because something has changed—either the church, or the individual. In any case, moving from one church to another, or to nothing, can land an emotional punch to all involved.
Let’s not beat around the bush. Being church is hard. It always has been and probably always will be. There aregood (excellent, really) examples of the difficulty of community life throughout the Bible. Moses routinely cried out to God because of his rancorous congregation. Jesus called his disciples together and they were a fractious bunch. The early church was a movement of people who gathered together despite their many differences.
And my oh my, did the early church have their challenges! These churches were especially diverse in their makeup. Early Christians were representative of every social strata and demographic group. Societal groups that never encountered one another were now gathering together in the name of Jesus. The differences between rich and poor, free and slave, male and female, Jew and Greek, obvious sinner and evident saint, all created challenges that cannot be overstated. Don’t believe me? Read Paul’s correspondence to the church in Corinth. Spoiler alert: The church was having a hard time being church.
So why should our churches be any different?
As a pastor, I want everyone to want to be church. But I also know that is an unreasonable expectation. Like any other element in our lives, our participation in any one thing waxes and wanes in time. And naturally, we know this to be true among those who call our church their home. For a variety of reasons, church folk will engage, disengage, and then hopefully reengage.
Whether we like it or not, the church is not a static community. The church is a dynamic collection of individuals who are constantly changing, evolving, retreating and pressing on. Although I am never pleased when people no longer want to be church with us, I also genuinely want them to feel at home in their church. And if they do not feel at home in our church, then I pray that God’s grace will provide us all a way to continue to be church together even if that means that we belong to different congregations.
Church works best when we bear fruit together. The sweetest fruits, of course, are the fruits of the spirit as they are what nourishes our faith community when we are hungry for God’s presence. “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” all work together to build up God’s church. Indeed, a sweet spirit begets a sweet spirit.
I love calling First Baptist Church home, and I pray that you do, too. Later this month, on Sunday, October 22, we will celebrate our church’s past, present and future, with old friends and with new ones. I pray that our time of Homecoming will call us to a place of gratitude for the church we have been, celebration of who our church is today, and hope for who God is calling us to be tomorrow.
And if you’re still wondering where your home church is, it’s the place where you sense God’s movement in the people that you love and want to call home.
WMU SEWING BEE TO BENEFIT AWM
Anyone who can help iron, cut, or sew is invited to an apron workshop on Monday, October 16th, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m, in the Mission and Fellowship Center. The Jackson County Extension and Community Association group (ECA) will join us to make aprons for the Appalachian Women's Museum. You can stay for an hour or two or three and help with this project that will benefit the museum housed in the Monteith Farmstead in Dillsboro. If you have fabric suitable for making aprons, bring it along with basic sewing supplies, a portable sewing machine (if you have one), and your lunch. Come for a fun afternoon of fellowship with other church members and women from the community. Please call Cheryl Beck at 421-3820 if you have questions.
Blue Ridge Health
The Good Samaritan Clinic is now Blue Ridge Health!
We are a nonprofit community health center with a mission to provide healthcare that is accessible and affordable for ALL.
How is Blue Ridge Health different from the Good Samaritan Clinic?
· We now serve patients of any age, including children.
· We now serve patients regardless of where they live.
· We now serve patients regardless of insurance status.
· We accept Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, etc.
· We have a sliding fee scale for those who are uninsured or are under-insured.
· No one is turned away for inability to pay.
How is Blue Ridge Health similar to the Good Samaritan Clinic?
· We continue to provide a tremendous amount of charity care for those who cannot afford the high cost of healthcare.
· We continue to provide nurse case management, connections with community resources, access to low-cost or free medications, and referrals to community partners and healthcare specialists.
· We continue to serve as a clinical learning site for WCU and SCC students.
· We continue to rely on the support of community partners, faith communities, individual donors, and volunteers to provide care to our neighbors.
What healthcare services are provided onsite?
· Primary Care for Adults and Children
· Behavioral Health Counseling for Adults and Children
· Medication Assistance Program
· Providers include:
o Judy Seago, MD
o Mary Puckett, PA-C
o Chelsea Batten, PA-C
o Jessica Prior, MD
o Ali Campbell, LCSW-A, LCAS
What new resources are available?
· Newly renovated clinical space (Suite C of former Sylva Medical Center)
· New exam tables and exam room furnishings/equipment
· Electronic Health Record System
· Spanish-language translation services available Monday-Friday
God of Vengeance, Rise Up: A Prayer of Lament for the 59 Souls Murdered in Las Vegas
When words escape us and we feel paralyzed by shock, fatigue, anger and grief, we turn to the ancient prayers of God’s people.
Let us pray.
Psalm 94
O Lord, you God of vengeance,
you God of vengeance, shine forth!
Rise up, O judge of the earth;
give to the proud what they deserve!
O Lord, how long shall the wicked,
how long shall the wicked exult?
They pour out their arrogant words;
all the evildoers boast.
They crush your people, O Lord,
and afflict your heritage.
They kill the widow and the stranger,
they murder the orphan,
and they say, “The Lord does not see;
the God of Jacob does not perceive.”
Understand, O dullest of the people;
fools, when will you be wise?
He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
He who disciplines the nations,
he who teaches knowledge to humankind,
does he not chastise?
The Lord knows our thoughts,
that they are but an empty breath.
Happy are those whom you discipline, O Lord,
and whom you teach out of your law,
giving them respite from days of trouble,
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
For the Lord will not forsake his people;
he will not abandon his heritage;
for justice will return to the righteous,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
Who rises up for me against the wicked?
Who stands up for me against evildoers?
If the Lord had not been my help,
my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
When I thought, “My foot is slipping,”
your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul.
Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
those who contrive mischief by statute?
They band together against the life of the righteous,
and condemn the innocent to death.
But the Lord has become my stronghold,
and my God the rock of my refuge.
He will repay them for their iniquity
and wipe them out for their wickedness;
the Lord our God will wipe them out.
Let us be clear. The wicked are the ones who are saturated in hate, and who are consumed with a selfish indifference toward the sanctity of life.
God of love and justice, we pray: "Rise up! God of vengeance, shine forth!"
Rise up for us against the wicked, oh God. And may we have the strength of heart to rise up with you. Amen.