Sylva First Wednesdays will resume on January 10, 2018.
New Church Bus!
Franklin, Tennessee, Wednesday, December 27, 2017. Dennis Wilkey, Chairman of the Bus Search Committee, and one of four other committee members, Gary Frye,
have arrived at Carpenter Bus Sales to pick up the new church bus. It is a 2017 E-350 Heavy Duty Ford Chassis with a Starcraft Body that also includes a wheel chair lift.
This particular 15 passenger bus was constructed to specific specifications as requested by the Bus Search Committee for First Baptist Church of Sylva.
Photos were taken at Carpenter Bus Sales in Franklin, TN; Interstate 40 Rest Area near Cookeville, TN; Pilot Truck Stop near Dandridge, TN and both night and day photos
at First Baptist Church of Sylva.
Help for the Beddingfields
As many of us are aware, the house of our former pastor, Ed Beddingfield, burned down in a rapid and terrible fire on Christmas Eve. Tragically, Ed's wife, Sarah, died in the accident. Their daughter Shannon suffered burns and is in ICU in Chapel Hill. Both Ed and Meghan did not sustain any injuries and have abundant support from their church family and their friends.
In addition to lifting them up in prayer, there are three things that you can do to help the Beddingfields:
1.) Give. Most, if not all, of their possessions were destroyed in the fire. While donated items will be available to them, their most pressing need is money to purchase basic needs. You can help the Beddingfields by giving a love offering to them. Checks may be made out to First Baptist Church of Sylva, with the note: 'Beddingfield Love Offering.’
2.) Search and Share. The Beddingfields’ pictures have been destroyed in the fire. One thing you can do is search through your own photos for pictures of the Beddingfields when they served at First Sylva in the 1990s. Once you find them, bring these photos to the church office and we will turn them into digital files by scanning them so that we can share them with Ed. Our church office will be open Wednesday the 27th and Thursday the 28th, and will reopen after the holiday weekend on Tuesday morning, January 2.
3.) Send a Card. Condolences can be sent to Rev. Ed Beddingfield c/o Memorial Baptist Church 271 Leslie Campbell Ave, Buies Creek, NC 27506
Lastly, a service for Sarah is not imminent as Ed wishes for their daughter Shannon to be out of the hospital and able to attend. If these plans change, we will promptly let you know.
New Church Members!
Our church family has grown so much this past year! We would like to welcome these families and individuals to our fellowship, and we can't wait to see how our church will grow in 2018!
Emma Burnes
Rebecca DeVoe
Julie, Zack, Kuechly, and Lindsey Faulkenberry
Abby Fisher
Janet Ford
Marina Hunley-Graham
Brayden Logan
Teresa Deitz Manring
Ellen Mathis
Robbie and Rusty McLeod
Aerin McLeod
Beth, Chris, Lucie, and Mattie Moore
Linda Phelps
Jonathan and Jordyn Sessoms
Peyton and Noah Sessoms
Trailer for Sale!
CARGO CRAFT 1998 Carry-on 6x12 single axle
ENCLOSED CARGO TRAILER with a side door and a ramp door in back. CAN BE VIEWED IN PARKING LOT OF CHURCH. A STARTING BID OF $1,200.00 is required by all participants.
BIDDING WILL START ON DEC. 17 AND CLOSE ON DEC. 31.
Christmas Nostalgia: The Obstacle to Our Joy?
“How lovely is Christmas with boughs in the hall,
When bells ringle-jingle, and friends come to call,
How lovely is Christmas with joy on the wing,
While under your window the carolers sing,
God rest ye be merry, give peace where you may,
Remember the child who was born on this day,
How lovely is Christmas with songs in the air,
a bright merry Christmas dear friends everywhere.”
Each Christmas, as far back as I can remember, I would sit in our living room and listen to a record that my mother had given me. On this record was the story of young Jethro, a lad who lived in a cabin with his parents a century ago in the wilderness of Kentucky.
The lights were turned off, the tree was aglow, the nativity scene lit only by the star that hung above the manger. I cuddled up with a blanket and stared enraptured at the picture on the record jacket while I was transported with Jethro back to an age long ago.
“How lovely is Christmas with boughs in the hall,” sang the carolers on the album. The music alone takes me back.
The hearing of the story “An Axe, An Apple and A Buckskin Jacket” by Arnold Sundgaard is an annual tradition for me. Yes, even well into my adulthood this yearly Christmas homage to my childhood reigns supreme. Indeed, I am eagerly awaiting the moment where I can find time to listen again to this age-old favorite.
The Christmas Season is filled with moments like this for all of us. We recall baking cookies with our grandmother decades ago. We take trips to see ‘the lights,’ listen to the same Christmas albums, use the same decorations that we did when we were newlyweds 60 years ago. An important practice in our holiday experience tilts toward the euphoric, the nostalgic, the gauzy comfort of Christmases long-gone.
But is any of this particularly good for us? Some will quickly chime in and confess that it is precisely this that makes Christmas so difficult for them.
“It magnifies the losses I’ve experienced,” they will say. “All I can think about are the people who are no longer a part of my life and I spiral into sadness.”
One commentator argues that our predilection to “romanticize…our youth and childhood memories” can “get in the way of what we should be enjoying in the moment.”*
“Nostalgia,” he tells us, “has a complex etymology.”
“The first part stems from nostos, meaning “homecoming” in ancient Greek, which was a heroic quality desired by Ulysses in The Odyssey. That epic poem charted Ulysses’ return to Ithaca after the Trojan War. But the second half of the word, algia, means “pain”. The word as a whole implies the “painful homecoming” – the difficult journey – the return home that’s not without trouble.”
To suggest that our Christmas traditions and practices are distractions seems callous and hollow. The coziness of my Christmas memories is significant and worthy of being savored. But, there is something that rings true in the idea that these wistful recollections are ‘painful homecomings.’
Our celebration of Christmas should be more than a nostalgic longing for the past. As followers of the Christ Child, we should be mindful that His birth is far more than just a snapshot from the past. At Christmas, our energy and attention should be directed at the miracle and majesty of Emmanuel—God with Us—with all its eternal implications.
Yes, if we linger too long in the harbors of Christmas Past we will not have any space left to savor what is unfolding in the present. This is bittersweet in two ways: It moves us out of our idealized pasts—which were not always so ideal, if we pause to think about it; and second, it gives us the freedom to move out of one season and begin another.
Here’s the source of our joy! God’s redemptive power, made manifest in the person of Jesus Christ, can transform the past into a joyful new day and new tomorrow.
So may the joy of Christmas remind you that in Christ Jesus all things are being made new. Be gentle with yourselves and with your memories this Christmas so that you can allow God to graft new moments of joy today and always.
*”Christmas Nostalgia is Something to be Wary of, According to Literary Greats” is an article by Nick Taylor-Collins, and was published in the journal, The Conversation, on December 20, 2017.
BALL Club Christmas Party
The BALL (Being Active, Living Longer) Club will have a Charades Christmas Party Thursday, December 21, 2017 at 10:00 am in the Gathering Room. Bring a sandwich for yourself--drinks and dessert will be provided.
Jennie and Sheila 399-0623
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
Begin your family’s Christmas celebration with the story of Christ’s birth. Join us at 5:30 PM on December 24th for First Baptist Church of Sylva’s Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. Our family friendly event will capture the magic of Christmas with familiar carols, the retelling of the Christmas story and the glow of candlelight. Don’t miss this opportunity to create lifelong memories with your entire family!
A Letter from John Deitz
On the cold morning of Tuesday, December 12th, while snow was on the ground, a group of men from First Baptist Church was at my house at 8:00 AM. They bulit a handicap ramp for my house within about 5.5 hours. These men did fabulous work. I really appreciate that they took the time and had the skill to build my ramp. Please let these men know that I thank them.
Merry Christmas
- John Deitz
Mission Trip Donations
We now have an account open year-round that is designated specifically for mission trips! If you would like to make a contribution to our Summer 2018 Mission Trip, please write "Mission Trip Fund" in the memo line. Thank you all for your support in helping us to do God's work!