Rollie James and Beth Parris
Would like to announce their marriage
On June 6, 2019
At Jarrett Memorial Baptist Church
“Two Families Become One”
Grateful
Sunday is Pentecost. It is the day when we celebrate the birth of the Church.
Luke describes the Church’s birthday like this:
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.”
Jesus’s disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, and the era of the Church began. It is a truly breathtaking moment in the narrative of God’s work in the world. In sending the Holy Spirit to transform otherwise unremarkable people, God chose to work through us to share the Good News of Jesus with a world desperate for a good word.
We know Jesus because of the Church. I think that’s worth celebrating.
So just as I might offer a word of thanksgiving for a dear friend on their birthday, I’d like to pen a few words of thanksgiving to a God who has given us the gift of our church.
I thank God for a church that is generous with their resources.
I thank God for a church that is eager to serve when a need arises.
I thank God for a church that joyfully provides hospitality after worship each Sunday, and on Wednesday nights.
I thank God for a church that errs on the side of grace and mercy when it would be easy to judge and condemn.
I thank God for a church that loves children and delights in providing a place for them to learn about Jesus.
I thank God for a church that is encouraging and optimistic.
I thank God for a church that chooses to respond to challenges rather than react.
I thank God for a church that has a history of honoring and celebrating the role of women in ministry.
I thank God for grandparents who go out of their way to bring their grandchildren to church.
I thank God for a church that sets a beautiful table for families who mourn the loss of a loved one.
I thank God for a church that sings hymns with power and conviction.
I thank God for a church that texts, emails, Facebook Messages, writes, and calls one another throughout the week.
I thank God for a church that purchases tickets for a pancake breakfast from our youth and children so that they can attend mission camp this summer.
I thank God for a church that picks up nails on the playground while workers were replacing our roof.
I thank God for a church that loves and studies God’s Holy Word.
I thank God for a church that allows the Holy Spirit to transform them into the hands and feet of Christ.
But most of all, I’m thankful for each of you who choose to be church together.
Vacation Bible School 2019
Bridge Park in Sylva
June 10 - 14 from 9 AM - 12 PM
Join First Methodist, First Baptist, First Presbyterian, St. John's Episcopal and The Summit for our annual community vacation bible school! Serving Pre-K through 5th grade with missions focused programming for our youth 6th grade+.
Please visit our VBS website for participant and volunteer registration:
Circles Meetings
The Ruby Daniel and Dorothy Edwards Circles will meet on Tuesday, June 11th at 1:00 PM in the Gathering Room.
VBS Volunteer Meeting
Vacation Bible School Volunteer Meeting
Sunday, June 9th and 12:30 PM
Mission and Fellowship Center
Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser
Financial Peace University Course
First Presbyterian Church of Sylva is hosting a 9-lesson Financial Peace University course designed to help you build a budget, dump debt, grow your wealth, and leave money stress behind. Each lesson, taught by Dave Ramsey and his team of financial experts, is based on biblical wisdom and common sense. When you sign up for FPU, you’ll get your member workbook and one free year of Financial Peace Membership, with access to exclusive online tools to help you on your journey. Classes will be Tuesday evening beginning June 25. The cost is $65 per person or couple. Financial assistance is available upon request. Contact the coordinator, Kelder Monar, to sign up and/or to receive more information: 919- 259-8480 or keldermonar@gmail.com. Hurry because space is limited!
The Memory of River Rocks
“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.
I am haunted by water.”
-Normal Maclean, A River Runs Through It and Other Stories-
I, too, find that I am haunted by water.
Recently, while walking along Deep Creek just inside our national park, I found myself ruminating on the power of the flowing water and the ancient corridor that it has carved through the mountains. I was particularly drawn to the river rock that paves the riverbed.
I found myself wanting to identify with the smooth stones. I’d like to have their wisdom.
Like the rocks in the swift currents of the rivers that are found in our backyards and nearby meadows, we too have been shaped by the torrent and the flood. Life teaches us that this process of erosion shapes us by the flow of life’s events and the many particles that nick us and smooth us.
Upon closer examination of these rocks you’ll notice that the stones on the river bottom are not jagged and rough, but are pebble-like because of the eons of polish they’ve received.
I cannot imagine that these ancient, smooth stones can recall the particularities of each sand molecule, or the density of the flowing sediment, or the volume of the grit, and the flow of the water that have worked to shape them over a myriad of millennia. These stones cannot recall each hardship in the crucible of being shaped. But they are undoubtably shaped by them.
Likewise, when we recall the lives that we have lived – and the bruises, scratches, and pains that we have endured—the wise among us choose the limitations of our memories and do not linger long upon each chip and scratch. The savviest among us do not recall the moments of each tumble and friction.
The end result remains the same. We are shaped by the water that constantly washes over us.
The gift of a life well-lived is that there is too much to remember and to recall. Who among us can remember today the pinches, distractions, worries, and anxieties of this day 5 years prior…or 10 years, let alone 20 years, or 50? These small, but admittedly important, moments tend to get washed away. But they do leave a mark. They do “polish” us.
We belong to an ancient people of faith who are commanded to remember. May we have the wisdom to know that which we should remember and cling to, and that which we should allow to flow away from us with the current.
Join us by the river immediately following our Church Picnic at the Deep Creek Pavilion for a brief worship service by the water this Sunday, June 2. We’ll be gathering at the pavilion around 4:00 PM and will eat within the hour.
Sermons in June
Summer Kick-Off Church Family Picnic
Join us for a church-wide picnic to kick off our summer events! The picnic will be at Deep Creek Pavilion in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Sunday, June 2nd starting at 4:00 PM. We will also be having a brief worship service nearby the water after our potluck dinner. Please bring your family and friends and a potluck dish to share!