Add this email address to your contacts list on your devices so that our staff and Pastoral Care Team can learn of your prayer requests as quickly as possible. And yes, you may still contact the church office directly at 828-586-2095 to share your prayer concerns, as well.
Recipes Appreciated!
Each week we include a recipe in the Church Chimes and we hope that you are enjoying reading and trying them. You can add your favorite recipes to the Chimes by sending them to Cheryl Beck at cabeck@ncsu.edu. This is an ongoing WMU project.
Thanks for participating!
Giving the Jesus Way
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!
Mission Moment 6.28.23
Rev. Gerry Hutchinson
Retired Navy Chaplain/Endorser for CBF Chaplains and Pastoral Counselors, Stone Mountain, GA
As a retiree, I have a less harried schedule for prayer. No longer do I feel the constraints of squeezing in quiet time with God before leaving for work. The rhythm of my typical day is to take an extended time of reflection and prayer mid-afternoon. Weather permitting, I prefer to sit in an old wooden glider on our back deck. This affords me a view of the woods in our backyard where I commune with God in nature. I can watch the leaves of the trees sway in the breeze as the seasons cycle through. Leaves of green in spring and summer then yellow or red in fall. Eventually the trees become barren as winter approaches. Each day, I hear a chorus of birds sing and call out to one another. I observe the creek which borders our property and watch the slow waters flow. This past month, we observed the transit through our yard of two wild turkeys as well as a red fox. Deer frequently wander through the wooded area and jump the creek heading back from their daily foraging.
My soul communes with God as I see and reflect on God’s care for God’s creation. When I read the Bible and my devotional aids, I keep CBF’s Prayers of the People nearby. Having worked for CBF, I know many of those listed in the Prayer Guide. It is a privilege to pray for our chaplains and counselors, field personnel and staff on their birthdays. I thank God for their calling. I ask a special blessing upon them. I pray for God’s direction, provision and protection for them and their families. I ask God to work in and through their lives. I conclude my time in a prayer walk around a beaten path in the woods and our side and front yards. I began this walk reciting the Lord’s Prayer and conclude with expressing gratitude to God for God’s blessings. Such is the rhythm of my daily prayers.
Sunday School and Childcare is Available!
Hurray for Our Nursery Workers of the Week!
Thank you to Dana Ayers and Autumn Burnes for helping with nursery on June 25.
A new calendar for the rest of the year is being developed and will be sent out soon.
Melanie and Rob Stokely will serve in the nursery on July 2.
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.
The Hospitality Table After Worship Is Back!
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!
Join Us for Worship!
Join us for worship on Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. in the sanctuary! Also join us for Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. for all ages!
The CDC recommends that you wear a mask indoors.
Maximize protection from the Delta variant and prevent possibly spreading it to others.
Our worship service will be streamed online at firstbaptistsylva.com.
Recipes Appreciated!
Each week we include a recipe in the Church Chimes and we hope that you are enjoying reading and trying them. You can add your favorite recipes to the Chimes by sending them to Cheryl Beck at cabeck@ncsu.edu. This is an ongoing WMU project.
Thanks for participating!
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s 2023 General Assembly
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s 2023 General Assembly will be June 28-30 in Atlanta, GA
"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." – Hebrews 10:23-25
Please follow the conversations that emerge from next week's gathering of our closest friends and partners in
ministry.