What to Do When the Mission Field Fills Your Church

Some years ago, I served as a youth minister. As I came to learn, working with children and adolescents can be quite the education. Young people demand that we get to the point quickly, and that we make the message accessible and authentic. 

But what I most remember about my youth ministry days was how effective young people are at teaching. And by teaching, I mean teaching me. 

If I recall correctly, we were sprawled out in a circle on the floor of the youth room when I shared the old familiar story about Hannah’s son Samuel and how he became Israel’s prophet par excellence.  

“What does God want us to learn from this story,” I asked the youth. 

A middle-schooler perked up, “You mean besides the fact that we should have more lock-ins? Didn’t you say something about this kid sleeping in the sanctuary of God?”  

I sighed. “Yes, besides the fact that we should have more lock-ins. What is God trying to tell us in this story?” 

A skeptical teenage girl caught me off guard with her observation. 

“Let me get this straight,” she said. “Hannah gave her son to God?” 

“Yes. She dedicated her son, Samuel, to God.” 

“My parents haven’t dedicated me to anything,” she said soberly.  

After a few moments of silence, a high school guy spoke up and said, “I think it’s cool that Samuel had someone to go to when he had a question—when he didn’t know what was going on.”  

A few others nodded in quiet agreement.  

A high school senior then spoke up with a question that sounded much more like a statement. “It was the priest, Eli, that taught him how to listen for God’s voice, wasn’t it?”  

“Yes, it was,” I confirmed. “He taught Samuel how to hear God’s voice and then instructed him to respond to God by saying, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”  

The senior held my gaze for a moment, and then said simply, “Yea. I like that.” 

“I do, too,” I said. “I do, too.” 

This past Sunday our youth led us in worship. Just as it was true during Samuel’s time, God has something to say to us today. Under the leadership of Carol Cloer, our youth have been listening for God’s voice these last weeks in Sunday School and on Wednesday evenings. Their leadership on Sunday helped reveal that God was speaking to us through them.  

“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” 

Are we? Can we say with confidence that we are listening for God’s Word? The story about Samuel and Eli opens with the revelation that, “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.” I don’t believe for one moment that this is a reflection of God’s absence but is rather an indictment on His people. Apparently, they had a hearing problem.  

And God had something to say to them about it. If memory serves correctly, God took Eli’s sons to task for their evil ways.  

God has something to say to us, and I for one am grateful that He frequently speaks through the youngest among us. I pray that we will be receptive to the message that he sends us through our youth. 

There are ways that we can be like Eli and help shape the faith of our young people. True, our church has employed college students and young people to help teach the faith to dozens of children in our community in After School and in our upcoming summer camp. Yes, both Carol and I will be teaching these Bible stories to the children throughout the weeks they are in camp, but more needs to be done to equip our children to recognize God’s voice and to respond to His invitation to follow Jesus.  

And this is where our entire church can be like Eli. 

This summer, I would like to challenge you to play a role in the mission and ministry that we will offer to our community. There are three levels of engagement that you can choose from: 

1.) Invite your Sunday School class, Circle, or gang of ramp builders to adopt a class of summer camp kids. Ask Kelly how your group of friends can support and encourage these children and their families. 

2.) Tell Kelly that you’re able to commit to volunteering during the Bible story time, or during art or recreation. Learn the children’s names. Take a moment to piggyback on the lesson that Carol and I teach each day. Tell the college student staff member that you’d like to share your testimony with the class one day. 

3.) Arrange to visit and hang out at the conclusion of the day when parents linger for a few minutes of conversation while their kids take their last crack at the tire swing. Introduce yourself. Tell them how glad you are that they are a part of our community and our church’s summer ministry. Go further and make the connection between that parent and the child you helped to paint earlier in the day. Tell that parent how you heard their child make such an astute observation during the Bible story time. Share with that parent how their child taught you about God’s love.  

For years, churches would take mission trips where we would round up children in Backyard Bible Schools to teach them about Jesus. Hear the Good News, brothers and sisters! The children that we used to have to go and find are coming to us! 

To put it simply, the story means that it’s our turn to be Eli. It’s our turn to teach children and youth how to recognize God’s voice and to respond to his Word.  

It’s summer, y’all. And because of God’s rich blessings, our community will be coming to us. They will be worshipping in our Mission and Fellowship Center. They will be learning Bible Stories in our sanctuary. They will be building relationships in our church’s classrooms. In truth, they will be spending more time in our church than we will.  

It certainly would be a shame for God to speak through these children and we’re not at church to hear it.  

Don’t just pick one option on engagement, First Baptist. Pick all three.  

Sundays in June

Carol Cloer Becomes First Baptist’s Minister of Christian Education

First Baptist Church is excited to announce that Carol Cloer has been named as our Minister of Christian Education. For the last year, Carol has been serving as the church’s Minister to Youth. She will continue in this role. By assuming new responsibilities with our children’s ministry, however, Carol will be in a position to supervise our ever-growing church nursery, encourage and direct our Sunday School offerings to both children and youth, and will broaden her role as a spiritual shepherd to children, youth and their families. We are blessed to have Carol in our church family and look forward to a rich future where we can all grow together. 

Vacation Bible School 2018

All children and middle schoolers (Preschool through 8th Grade) are invited to join us at Bridge Park in Sylva from 9:00 AM until 12:00 PM on Monday, June 11 through Friday, June 15 for our FREE Vacation Bible School. Sign up on-line at rrr.cokesburyvbs.com/downtownsylva and we’ll see you at Rolling River Rampage! Proudly sponsored by St. John’s Episcopal Church, First Presbyterian Church and First Baptist Church in Sylva.

Tourists Baseball Game and Fireworks

The deadline has been extended for the July 4th Asheville Tourists game against the Rome Braves at 7:05 PM. Cost is $10 per ticket. Money is due by 10:00 AM on Thursday of this week. You can pay on-line at http://firstbaptistsylva.com/giving/, in the church office, or at our final Sylva First Wednesday of the spring. Questions? Contact Jeff. 

Act Now to Preserve Your Life

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.” Jesus in Matthew 7:24

It’s as though Jesus knows what we are thinking. After hearing his Sermon on the Mount, many of us are not so sure that we are willing to walk down the new path that he is bushwhacking.

Jesus’s teachings are hard. They are impractical. They demand sacrifice and a radical sense of trust. His teachings lay the groundwork for a new ethic; a new way of being in relationship with one another. In direct and prophetic rhetoric, Jesus is telling us that he expects his followers to live in a new kingdom, even while they are immersed in occupied lands. And it all feels near-to-impossible.

Can we still say we like Jesus without doing what he says?

This familiar passage about building a house on a strong foundation signals the end of Jesus’s famous teaching in Matthew’s Gospel. Like the teaching that immediately precedes this one about false prophets, the image serves as a warning to his listeners.

First, Jesus tells his listeners to beware of leaders who will seek to dilute his words and to use faith as a means to advance their own agendas.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” Jesus in Matthew 7:15

We are to look at the fruits of their efforts to determine if they are true emissaries of Jesus. And if they are not representatives of the Kingdom that Jesus is inaugurating, never fear. They will be “cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Again, Jesus in Matthew 7:19)

Subtle, Jesus is not.

Next, Jesus implores his listeners to take seriously his teachings and to put them to work in their lives. Those who choose to take Jesus seriously here and follow his commands will build a life for themselves that will weather the storms that this world throws at them.

As if that’s not clear enough, Jesus puts an exclamation point on his statement by reporting that, “everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!” (You guessed it. Jesus’s words from Matthew 7:26-27)

It’s not enough to simply hear Jesus’s words. It’s not enough to simply call Jesus, ‘Lord, Lord.’ One must act on Jesus’s teachings. In doing so, our lives will bear fruit. But even more than that, in doing what Jesus commands we will wisely position ourselves for life.

Last night, amidst the heavy rain and flooding in our region, I saw this alert from the National Weather Service out of Greenville, SC:

“MCDOWELL COUNTY UPDATE: A landslide has comprised the integrity of Lake Tahoma Dam. MANDATORY EVACUATIONS underway. ACT NOW TO PRESERVE YOUR LIFE.”

Jesus never promises us that the rain won’t fall and that the water won’t rise. He tells us plainly, however, that when the rain does fall, those who have obeyed Jesus’s commandments will be preserved.

Is there a dam in your life that’s about to burst? Are you experiencing a season of terrible wind and rain? It’s not too late to take Jesus’s words and teachings seriously.

Act now to preserve your life.

Youth Sunday

This Sunday is Youth Sunday! Please join us at 10:30 AM on Sunday, June 3rd for a worship service led by our fantastic youth group, featuring special music, a drama, and the recognition of our most recent graduates!

VBS Volunteers Meeting

There will be a VBS Volunteers Meeting this coming Sunday at 4:00 PM in the Mission and Fellowship Center. Contact Kelly Brown with questions.

Summer Time and the Livin’ Is Easy

Although Memorial Day Weekend typically signals the unofficial start to summer, First Baptist Church got a week’s headstart.

No, I’m not referring to the typical summer-like pattern that evolves in our mountains with foggy mornings and afternoon thunderstorms. I’m referencing our children’s campout and sleepover this past weekend. As our 1st Explorers Ministry Director, Kelly Brown, details in his own reflection, the young men in our Royal Ambassador program went on a campout to the Davidson river while our Girls in Action had a sleepover at the church.

On Saturday morning, I drove across Highway 276 to rendezvous with the boys as they began to strike camp after a wet night in the Pisgah Forest. Yes, the boys and their leaders were a bit damp, but the bacon that Chris Moore was frying had everyone in a festive mood and the boys played whiffle ball beneath the drippy canopy of leaves. There was an unmistakable feeling of accomplishment among them, and I delighted in the sense of community that had sprung up among the men and boys. With the smell of a campfire flooding my nostrils, I couldn’t help but smile as the men drank coffee and the boys acted like boys. After a long and at times torturous winter, we had finally made it to summer.

Summer is a time for Sabbath-taking. It is ripe for new rhythms, late dinners and walks along a lush river valley. Summer is also a unique time for service and ministry as the season provides unique opportunities to assist our friends and neighbors while we tell them the “old, old story” of Jesus and his love. At First Baptist, we will strive to honor both rest and mission.

Here are some highlights of what we have planned for this summer:

-Sylva First Wednesdays concludes for the spring on Wednesday, June 6. Our Wednesday night programming in the fall will begin anew on August 22.

-Our joint Vacation Bible School with other downtown churches will run from June 11-15 in the mornings at Bridge Park. There are countless ways that you can serve the children and our families that week. Join us to help lead the children’s small groups, or to provide water for volunteers, or to visit with parents, or to help set-up tables and tents, or to simply be a part of the joyful chaos that is Vacation Bible School. Truly, the sound of children’s laughter is a balm for a sick and weary soul.

-Speaking of children, our 1st Explorers Ministry will again be offering their robust offering to the community with our Summer Explorers Camp. Although you may not have a child or grandchild participating in this wall-to-wall summer ministry opportunity, your Sunday School class can choose to partner with Kelly and our staff to provide unique opportunities of connection with children and their families this summer. I can think of no better ‘home’ mission opportunity than for a group, ministry, circle or couple to adopt a summer camp group of children who will be on campus with us over 40 hours each week. Think of the relationships that could be built and strengthened!

-As a church family, we’ll gather for fellowship on three Sunday afternoons this summer to relax, play and devour ice cream. Yes, we’ll be headed to the pavilion at Deep Creek in the Great Smokies Mountain National Park on June 24 where we’ll eat and play, and we’ll have our traditional potluck picnic at East LaPorte on August 26. But sandwiched between these two events will be a new gathering where we’ll have supper on the church grounds. On Sunday afternoon, July 15th, we’ll enjoy a hot dog supper followed by a veritable feast of ice cream afterward. It’s been some time since we crowned an ice cream maker champion, so get your recipes primed and ready for our contest after supper that evening.

-Of course, it’s not summer without the crack of a bat. Although our children and youth will be at their respective Passport Mission Camps the week of July 4th, that won’t stop the rest of us from taking in an Asheville Tourists game on the 4th of July at 7 PM. We’ll drive separately but sit together. And after the game, we’ll be invited to head out onto the field to take in their fireworks display. Tickets are $10 each and must be purchased by June 4th in our church office.

-Oh, and there’s much more. Our youth will be meeting together on Mondays from 4-6 PM each week, and there will be church hikes and a host of other mission opportunities to be a part of, as well. We know that your family will be traveling and vacationing this summer, but we also hope you’ll choose to broaden your chumminess with our own church family this summer, also.

Summer is a sweet, sweet gift and we’re not about to waste it. So, look around and see God at work in our beautiful mountain home. Feel the mist from a thundering waterfall. Take in an evening with friends by a fire pit. Barbecue on a rusty grill by a cement picnic table in the national park. Listen to the melody of the songbirds. And above all, be thankful.

It’s summer, and the time is ripe to play, rest and serve.

Church Hike

We had a great hike this past Sunday to Purchase Knob in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park! Please join us for our next hike, which will precede our church picnic on Sunday, June 24 at Deep Creek.