Men and boys, guests and friends, join us as we gather for some good food and fellowship at our next Men’s Breakfast on Saturday, July 29.
Youth Newsletter
Click HERE to view the spring youth newsletter!
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!
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.
Mixed Berry Pie Bars
These delicious Mixed Berry Pie Bars combine your favorite fresh berries with a buttery crust and crumble. It’s all the flavor of a pie without the hassle of making a pie crust!
Ingredients
Crust and Crumble Topping
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
12 tablespoons cold butter, cubed
Fruit Filling
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sour cream
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease (or line with parchment paper) a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Prepare the crust/topping. In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 2/3 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, and the cubed butter until crumbly. Set aside 1-1 1/4 cups of the dough for crumble topping.
Firmly press the remainder of the dough into the baking dish, evenly covering the bottom. Bake crust at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup of flour, and sour cream. Mix well. Beat in the eggs. Gently fold in berries.
Once the crust is baked, remove it from the oven, and gently spoon the filling over the crust while it is hot. Sprinkle the dough that was set aside over the top of the filling mixture. Bake for 1 hour until the filling is bubbling and the crust is lightly golden-brown.
Serve warm or allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting it into individual servings. Makes 12 servings.
Notes:
• Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
• Equal amounts of brown sugar or stevia can be used to substitute white sugar.
• Frozen berries can be used in place of fresh berries. The trick is to keep them frozen so that they don’t bleed into the filling mixture.
–Provided by Tonya Lloyd
Mixed Berry Pie Bars
Click here to download a printable version.
–Provided by Tonya Lloyd
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!
Women’s Missionary Union Regional Annual Meeting
Ladies! The Women’s Missionary Union regional Annual Meeting will be held on Saturday, August 12, 2023 at Lighthouse Baptist Church on Hwy 441 S from 9-12. The cost is $15. The meetings are very interesting and since it is being held 4 miles from our church, it would wonderful for us to go. We will have wonderful speakers and it would be an excellent way to meet other WMU members in our county and Western NC. Hope you can attend! If you need help with your reservation, please call Gaye at 828-506-3270. To make your reservation yourself, send an email to assistlbc@frontier.com.
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!
Send Us Your Prayer List Updates
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.
Mission Moment 7.12.23
Rev. Durham Harris
Staff Chaplain at Memorial Health System, Gulfport, MS
Fair warning: I have no pithy, wise words to impart. I’m just some dude in south Mississippi you’ve likely never met. So, if you take the following with a grain of salt, I promise I won’t be offended.
Hi, my name is Durham and I work as a CBF-endorsed hospital chaplain. Greta van Fleet, Bela Fleck, and BENEE are my most-listened to artists on Spotify right now. I love all things outdoors; if I haven’t tried it, it’s on my list. Gordon Ramsey cooking shows are one of my favorite pastimes, because who doesn’t like absolute garbage TV every now and then? (My wife, Tiffany, likes TLC’s 90 Day Fiancé…it’s growing on me.)
However, here’s what’s most pertinent about me for our discussion… …You won’t find me sitting in a sanctuary pew most Sunday mornings. Life is complicated. So, too, is my relationship with God. Prayer??? Yikes.
One of the nurses at my hospital will occasionally ask, “Chaplain, how’s the good Lord doing this morning?” I typically jest with a lighthearted response, “I don’t know, I ain’t talked with ‘em yet.”
Such is not too far from the truth, though. I’m sure that’s the case for plenty of other folks, too. There’s a reason #deconstruction and #exvangelical are trending on hugely popular media platforms like TikTok. Some might argue that this is a byproduct of Protestantism’s exceedingly poor catechesis. I can’t object entirely. Then again, I’m unconvinced our ‘’spiritual but not religious” generation yearns for that kind of dogmatic instruction. I also don’t think it’s prudent to craft grand, sweeping narratives explaining others’ exodus from church, anyway. Leave that to the next generation of historians.
I kinda’ get it, though. Why pray to the God of a people group so sure of themselves yet so…fallible, prone to error? You gotta’ admit we’re a prickly, unwelcoming, opinionated bunch sometimes. A lot of the time. Okay, most of the time. All of the time? *sigh*
Church goer or not, we all maintain what Fredrich Schleiermacher called, “a sense and taste for the Infinite,” reaching for values and assurance in something, anything beyond ourselves. If not within church walls, where and through what means can we satiate this desire?
I still think the answer has something to do with prayer; but maybe we could shift our focus a bit, beseeching the mystics to show us a different way.
Prayer, in my view, is not mere supplication by God’s people for thy will to be done this way or that. It is predominantly a meditative action in the midst of chaos. The prayerful life is about mindfulness in the meantime. Whatever you’ve got on your plate that feels completely and utterly overwhelming…Observe. Notice. Trust. Accept everything that unfolds, good or bad, just as it is and with deep compassion.
What does that actually look like, though, in day-to-day living?
Well, I’ll be vulnerable and share what it looks like for me: waiting for Lexapro to kick in and, in the meantime, nurturing the bruised and tender bits with gentle, kind affection.
One final thought…
Parts of south Mississippi are often referred to as the Pine Belt, given the vegetation and its historic lumber industry. I’ve walked a few different trails through the pine trees meditating, practicing mindfulness and praying. One particular stretch of path regularly undergoes controlled burns. Though the area is seemingly barren and destroyed, jaybirds will peck through the ash for twigs to build a nest. It’s fascinating to observe. Why make their home in the aftermath of ruin? They are mindful of what hides within the dark, rich soil.
New life.
Pray. . .Give. . .Go.