The Budget and Finance Committee has presented the 2018-2019 Budget to the Deacons, and the Deacons have approved its presentation to the church for its consideration. A question and answer session will be held on the 24th after the regular service. All discussion on the budget will be reserved for that date. A vote to adopt, without discussion, will be held on the 1st of July.
Watering Malawi Project
Remember the water bottles the GAs and RAs distributed after worship service a couple of weeks ago? Remember that you were asked to pray for the people of Malawi as you drank your water? Remember that we you were asked to bring your bottle back to church filled with change (or bills) to help the people of this African country to obtain clean, safe drinking water?
Sunday, June 24th is the day we are asking for you to return your bottles. Over 100 water bottles were handed out on June 2nd and less than 12 have been returned to the church office. Please bring your contribution to this project to church this Sunday. Our children and youth attending Passport will take the money collected and it will be added to the other contributions from across the state, helping to make a real difference in the lives of the people of Malawi.
Thank you for any help you can give!
Thank God for this place
"The war started at night, and we had to run, leaving our parents. We haven't seen them since and still don't know where they are. It was horrifying, but we had no choice. In South Sudan killing is normal. People kill each other like slaughtering hens. When we made it to Kampala we ended up on the street with nowhere to sleep. One day, through CBF and Refuge and Hope, we were able to find affordable housing and get off the streets. Thank God for this place, where we can forget the nightmare we went through."
- Jacob and Esau, about the work of Jade and Shelah Acker, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel, Kampala, Uganda
Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes
Dorothy Edwards Circle learned our tracked Shoeboxes were distributed to Malawi in Africa. Rated as one of the planet’s least developed countries, poverty abounds and clean water is a luxury. Interestingly, our youth are collecting change now for a well to supply more clean drinking water in Malawi.
The Circle thanks everyone for their contributions to the children of this African country.
WATERING MALAWI WATER BOTTLE PROJECT
Every 15 seconds, a child dies around the world because the water they drink makes them sick.
This statement is the reason that GAs and RAs distributed water bottles as the congregation exited the sanctuary. On the bottles was a label with the following instructions:
1)Drink this water. Pray for those who don't have safe water.
2)Cut off top of bottle or cut a slit and fill bottle with change (or bills).
3)Return to church office by June 24th.
The money collected will be our children's and youth's contribution to the Passport project "Watering Malawi".
During their week at Passport Camp, the children and youth who are attending from our church will learn more about this mission opportunity and other ways to reach out with God's love.
If you would like to learn more about the project and about the Passport connection, go to wateringmalawi.org/about.
Our WMU is supporting this project. Thank you to Sandra and Leo James for obtaining the water bottles, Tia Ashley for printing the labels,the GAs for labeling the bottles, the RAs and GAs and their leaders for distributing the bottles, and Emma Burnes for making the announcement on Sunday.
Hope to see a lot of water bottles with money inside returned to the church office by JUne 24th!
Passport Camp Car Wash Fundraiser
Passport Camp Car Wash Fundraiser
June 16th from 10 AM —1 PM
Church Parking Lot
Help us raise money to fund our children and youth’s mission camps
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.