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Our worship service will be streamed online at firstbaptistsylva.com.
Thank you to Pearl Hall, Izzy Joiner, and Reagan Devoe for taking care of the nursery last Sunday. We appreciate your willingness to serve!
On June 25, Dana Ayers will care for our little ones in the nursery.
Thank you, Dana, for helping out!
There is still room on the schedule to serve “the least of these”
on Sunday mornings. It is a blessing to see their smiles and enthusiasm as you spend
time with our infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
Please contact Cheryl Beck (cabeck@ncsu.edu) if you would like to help.
There are 2 opportunities for children to hone their reading skills over the summer. First, preschoolers are invited to go "Down on the Farm" on Mondays, July 10, 17, 24, and 31 in the reading program geared for them and a parent, grandparent, or guardian. The program will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. each of those days. There is no cost and it will be a "barnful" of fun! Please register to participate by July 5th by calling the church office at 586-2095.
First through fifth graders are encouraged to read a book a week in our 8-week challenge starting June 18th. See Cheryl Beck for a calendar where you will record the books you read. At the end of the challenge, prizes will be awarded. Be sure and check out the church library for some great new titles. Find some books you like and get lost in the world of reading!
Please be in prayer for the children and adults who will be attending Passport Kids at Brevard College, June 26-29. This is a wonderful opportunity for children to grow in their faith, have fun, and make new friends. Thank you for your support of this camp.
Ingredients
4 ounces softened cream cheese
1 cup confectioners sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup milk
1 8-ounce container heavy cream, whipped
9” thin Graham cracker crust, baked and cooled
Instructions
Beat cream cheese until soft and fluffy. Beat in sugar and peanut butter. Slowly add milk, blending thoroughly into mixture. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into crust.
Freeze till firm; wrap in transparent plastic wrap after pie is frozen.
To serve: while frozen, cut into medium-small pieces and return any remaining pie to freezer. Allow cut pieces to stand 5-8 minutes before serving. Freezes well up to a week.
–Provided by Beverly Duncan-Midgett
Frozen Peanut Butter Pie
Click here to download a printable version.
–Provided by Beverly Duncan-Midgett
Our church’s longtime friend, Rev. Stan Dotson, will be giving us an update in worship this Sunday on our Cuban friends and neighbors. Immediately following the service, Stan will offer a reading and presentation from his new book, Where Are They Going? Stories and Backstories of Five Cubans, in the Gathering Place Room. Stan will have signed copies of his book for sale ($15, paid for by cash, check, Venmo, or Cashapp)
Stan and Kim Dotson are longtime friends and partners in our ministry alongside Kerygma Baptist Church in Holguin, Cuba. The Dotsons’ love for the Cuban people, and their desire to connect churches from our two countries, make them beloved traveling companions and leaders when we have sent teams to Holguin. We are honored to hear a brief update from Stan in our service and look forward to his presentation after worship this Sunday.
About Stan’s book, Where Are They Going? Stories and Backstories of Five Cubans
Where Are They Going narrates the comings and goings of five Cubans who represent some of the great cultural diversity making up cubania (the essence of being Cuban), with ancestral ties to five different parts of the world. It is an alternative account to the stereotypical storyline about Cuba we often hear in the US media, that of refugees fleeing a dictatorship in search of a promised land. The largely untold story is that of people who find promise in their own patria, their homeland, despite the challenging circumstances they find there. Here you will find five Cubans who do not appear to feel "trapped" in tyranny; each of them has traveled the world and each made the decision to go back to their Cuban homes. The book not only tells their stories, but also narrates the imagined backstories of those ancestors who left their own homelands to come and contribute to the rich culture and resilient spirit that defines what it means to be Cuban. Listen to their stories and you might find yourself pulled away from your own patria, attracted to a land and a life that could prove to be well worth whatever challenges it poses.
-Book listing on Amazon here.
Book Review from The Rev. Dr. Paula Clayton Dempsey (Pulpit guest at First Baptist Church, Sylva in 2013):
"Stan Dotson, thank you for sharing your insight into the cultural threads that make up the exquisite tapestry of the Cuban people--with particular attention given to those who have responded to the call to stay in the land they love! These stories, imaginatively interwoven with history, literature, music and spirituality, demonstrate what it truly means to be a friend of the Cuban people. Thank you for these deeper glimpses into the soul of Cuba!"
During the week between VBS and Passport, we will have a Wednesday evening event night, in the MFC. The Methodist Church youth group will be joining us that evening! Maggie and I are looking forward to some great work together during Bible School and we want to continue that with some great fellowship together that following week. Be sure to let us know you will be coming so that we can plan accordingly. We hope to make these joint meetings a regular event in the future. We do need to get a count so that we know how much food to order. Send an email to fbcsylvayouth@gmail.com to let us know you are coming. Put your name in the body of the email and send it back. If you plan to bring a friend, give us their name, too!
United Christian Ministries is in need of pasta sauce, ramen, pancake syrup, applesauce (6-pack individual cups), and laundry detergent. To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive. Thank you!
Sign up here to provide goodies and beverages on Sunday mornings after worship.
When we are hospitable, our congregation can become a church on the sidewalk after worship while munching on a cookie or sipping fruit punch. Click here and find a Sunday to host our Hospitality Table!
The Budget and Finance Committee asks that you review the proposed budget that was recently sent out, and then bring your questions to the Question and Answer session TONIGHT June 21, at 5:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary. Next Sunday, June 25, we will convene a brief conference at the close of the service for the purpose of voting on this budget.