Adult Bible Study
Join us on Wednesday nights at 6:00 PM in the Gathering Place Room for our weekly Adult Bible Study.
Fan the Flame
Last Sunday many of you received a small fan to remind you of WMU's Heck-Jones Offering for 2018. This year any contributions received will be given in honor of our graded missions leaders: Beth Moore, Chris Moore, Gaye Buchanan, Kelly Brown, Carol Cloer, Linda Todd Phelps, and others who are helping "fan the flame" -- nurturing our children and youth in love for Christ, His people and for His mission.
If you would like to help honor these dedicated workers, remember to put your money in your offering envelope, along with your tithe, and designate it for the "Heck-Jones Offering".
You can also stop by the church office with your contribution. Please do this by September 24th.
Thank you for your part in helping to "fan the flame"!
Sylva FBC WMU
Painting the Baby Nursery
On Saturday, September 22, we will be painting and updating the baby nursery. With so many babies in our fellowship we believe it is vital to make that area safe, clean and fresh. We will begin at 9:00 AM. If you are willing and able to come help with this task, please contact Afton Stout or Carol Cloer and let them know you are coming. We also need some assistance on Wednesday night, September 19 around 7:00 to move furniture out of that room in preparation for Saturday.
Video Recorder for Youth
The youth are in need of some sort of video recorder. If you have one that we could borrow for a while, please let Carol know. (828) 736-2503. lccloer@gmail.com
Hurricane Florence Response Update
As the remnants of Hurricane Florence move north, our state moves in to recovery mode. Rivers continue to rise and many communities are still under threat. CBFNC has been attempting to communicate with churches in the affected regions over the weekend, to express care and concern, and churches in other parts of the start are asking how they can help. Here are our priorities today:
Pray - Please continue to pray for our neighbors in eastern North Carolina, not only those who have experienced loss, but those seeking to minister to them.
Serve - Right now, our mission partners, Baptists on Mission (NCBM), who specialize in disaster response, have set up operations in several locations. They have the infrastructure to help those in need. They need volunteers. Please visit their website for updates and opportunities.
Give - As with Hurricane Matthew, CBFNC will receive donations for Disaster Response. Such funds will be utilized to assist partner churches in the affected regions minister in their communities, to address short-term and longer-term needs. Click here to donate.
Patience - We all are anxious to help now. But the effects of this storm, and recovery efforts, will go on for months to come. CBFNC is not a disaster response organization. We are a missional fellowship that cares for one another and our communities. We are committed to serve our churches and communities, especially the most neglected, in ways consistent with our unique capacities, for as long as it takes.
Larry Hovis
Executive Coordinator
Take a Hike
Join us for a hike on Sunday afternoon, September 30th! Enjoy God’s creation and the gift of fellowship as we hike in our beautiful mountains. Everyone is invited to join us on the path.
The hike will last no more than 90 minutes and will have gentle terrain and little elevation gain. A water bottle, snack, hiking stick and weather-appropriate clothing are all that you might need. We will meet in the church parking lot at 3:00 PM and will return no later than 6:00 PM.
In keeping with our theme of Path: Walking Humbly With Our God, we will be taking a monthly hike together throughout the year. If you have questions, contact Jeff.
Drive 4 Ur Community Event
The Value of Relationships.
CBF field personnel Karen Morrow shares with others that refugees resettled in the United States receive pre-planned support for six months. That includes the basics, such as a place to live, homemaking necessities, a first job. “But from then on, they’re lost,” she says, explaining newcomers still need help learning to adjust to and fit into their adopted country.
“A Congolese father told me: ‘We do not want your things (although they still could use more things). We want your relationship. Where we came from, our aunties and uncles taught us how to make a life. We do not know how to live here.’ So, we’re here to create community, to make them feel welcome, to teach them how to live here.”
Karen Morrow does that in the name and spirit of Christ. She crosses language, ethnic and religious barriers with friendly support and the love of Jesus.
Cultivating a Jesus-Centered Worldview
This afternoon, I find myself with a handful of other pastors as we survey Jenny Lake in the Grand Tetons National Park. I must confess, I feel modestly guilty about this.
As you can imagine, the setting and scenery that I am enjoying is spectacular. And I am most grateful for the opportunity to be here. Let me tell you a little bit about how I ended up in Wyoming this week.
Earlier this summer, I was invited to be a part of a discussion by the leaders at Nurturing Faith—a Baptist publishing house that provides much of our Sunday School curriculum---with other pastors to discuss the prospect of a ‘Jesus Worldview’ initiative. Many of you will remember that the editor of Nurturing Faith, Dr. John Pierce, was a guest in our pulpit a couple of years ago. This is how he frames Nurturing Faith’s latest efforts:
“More than a project, the emerging Jesus Worldview Initiative is a mission to cultivate a Jesus-centered worldview by developing and delivering a variety of timely resources, quality leadership training and inspirational/educational events that offer a positive, unifying view of the Christian faith and foster congregational health.
This collaborative and integrated effort is being envisioned and guided by Nurturing Faith — the publishing brand of 35-year-old non-profit Baptists Today, Inc. — with ecumenical engagement.
The Jesus Worldview Initiative (JWVI) need grew out of positive responses to writings by executive editor John D. Pierce and contributing writer Bruce Gourley in the autonomous, national Nurturing Faith Journal — that called for emphasizing a “Jesus worldview” to counter the growing misuse of “worldview” terminology to advance divisive and politicized definitions of Christian faithfulness.
“[Nurturing Faith] invited a few pastors and other Christian leaders to see if we could come up with something they we are calling a ‘Jesus worldview,’ rather than a ‘biblical worldview,’” Pastor Jim Somerville told the congregation of First Baptist Church of Richmond, Va. “It didn’t take long … to realize that Jesus had not only dropped out of the so-called biblical worldview, but out of the daily practice of many of us who call ourselves Christians … I renewed my commitment to Jesus as Lord.”
As you can imagine, I’m honored to be included in these conversations and I am thankful for the chance to contribute during this early phase of development.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that our conversation is taking place in a most-remarkable place.
But it is not home. And at this time of the year, I pine for our mountains and for the company of our church family and friends. I will be home soon, and I will see you Sunday.