Joe's Window

By Dr. Joe Yelton
Interim Pastor

I mowed my grass this season for the first time. I didn’t want to however, my neighbor across the street mowed his. It looked so good and by comparison, made my lawn look sickly. So, now the Yelton landscape looks a little better. But you know, mowing grass is much like dusting furniture ... it shows improvement instantly, but almost as quickly, needs to be done again, and again. 

Most of us are busy people. We’re moving at such a pace that we lose sight of why we got in the race in the first place. Jacques Ellul said, “Man has set out at a tremendous speed ... to go nowhere.” That resonates. 

Not infrequently, I come home in the evening tired, even exhausted, without being able to point to one thing I’ve accomplished that genuinely matters. Yes, my time was exhausting, but not essential. I did no harm, but also missed opportunities for good. 

Time, once spent, cannot be retrieved. So then, as we approach the beginning of Holy Week this coming Sunday, it makes sense that we enter the season a bit more aware, sober, focused on living well. At the end of the season, it will not be a blur. It will be an anchor, held in the crucified hands of our Risen Lord. “Lord, teach us to live more intentionally. Teach us the sacredness of each tick of the clock. Teach us the opportunity being with other believers brings. In Jesus Name, Amen.” 

Hurray for Our Nursery Workers of the Week!

A huge “thank you” to Ally Lima and Andrew Beck for serving in the church nursery on Sunday so that child care was provided during the luncheon meeting. We appreciate you!

This Sunday, March 24, Beth Moore and Lucie Moore will be in charge of the nursery. 
Thank you for giving of your time.

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.

Another Opportunity to Help the Pastoral Search Committee

We are thankful to everyone who had the opportunity to participate in our first Church-Wide Conversation this past Sunday under the leadership of Dr. Andy Hale and Dr. Lou Ann Gilliam from CBFNC. Those present completed a “Pastoral Assets Survey Handout.” If you were not present, please drop by the church office and Janice Trull will provide a copy of the survey tool. Please take a few minutes to answer, sign your name to the survey and return to Janice. Answers most frequently selected will be used by the Pastor Search Committee to guide their search.

Joy SS Class To Supply Candy For Easter Goody Bags

The Joy Sunday School class led by Arlin Middleton has been tapped to supply candy for this year’s Easter Egg Hunt goody bags. Please bring individually wrapped candies to the church office by March 28. We need to pack around 40 bags. Thank you, Joy Class!

Mrs. Potter's Chicken

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups crackers such as Ritz, crushed
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 (1 1/2 pounds total) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees F.  Spray large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. Combine crushed crackers, Parmesan cheese, and pepper in a shallow dish.

3. Slice each breast in half horizontally.  Pound pieces between sheets of plastic wrap or use chicken tenders.

4. Coat chicken in butter, then dredge in cracker mixture.  Press crumbs into chicken.

5. Bake 12 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

–Provided by Barb Holquist

Mrs. Potter’s Chicken

Click here to download a printable version.

-Provided by Barb Holquist

Easter Escape Room Coming Soon!

Children ages 8 and up and youth are invited to participate in an Easter Escape Room on Sunday morning, April 7, beginning with a brunch at 9:00 a.m.followed by 4 mysteries of Easter that have to be unlocked in order to exit the Escape Room. The location will be somewhere in the church. Watch for more details in next week’s Church Chimes!

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.

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 3.20.24

Mary 
CBF Field Personnel, Southeast Asia

In the midst of Holy Week and on this day, which marks Dad’s first birthday since his death, I am pondering the prompt for this year’s Prayers of the People: spiritual guides. I am reminded of a note sent to supporters a little over a year ago. You may have read a tribute to my husband, Hunter, who died in 2021, in CBF’s fellowship! magazine. Hunter and my dad shared the unenviable bond of simultaneously battling cancers. After completing a series of chemotherapy treatments in the middle of 2021 with mixed results, Dad had been ready to put an end to the treatments. Then Hunter died more quickly than we had hoped. At that point, Dad asked for another round of chemotherapy. (I would be told these things after he had begun these treatments.) 

Why the change of heart? He wished to stay longer to console me and to spare me additional grief so quickly on top of Hunter’s death. For a brief season, I struggled with this choice. For my part, I would not have asked him to do this. In fact, it is likely that I would have discouraged it. I knew what awaited this faithful follower of Christ—and smile now when I think of him in God’s presence even as I long to hear his voice. While I did not want to lose him, I would have spared him the suffering that his choice to remain entailed. Like the characters in O. Henry’s The Gift of the Magi, we would sacrifice our desires for the joy of the other. 

As Good Friday approaches, yes, I consider the great sacrifice made for all of us on that day. I also see so many of the faces of those who draw others closer to the sacrificial One through their acts of love and joy-infused sacrifice. “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:12-13). God loves lavishly, and people respond with daily acts of laying down their lives. Through the years, ever so slowly, I have learned to pay attention to those acts. Some of those acts, like my Dad’s, are hard to miss. Others are easy to overlook: a listening ear, a kind word, a necessary hard word not easily spoken, patience beyond measure, abundant provision disguised as daily bread, humble instruction, a “widow’s mite,” “seventy times seven” forgiveness, and on and on and on. God is speaking and acting all around us. May God, give us ears to hear and eyes to see. Thank You, God, for each of Your children whose love brings us closer to You.

Palm Sunday Processional

All children are invited to participate in the Palm Sunday processional on March 24. Children will meet in the church vestibule at 10:15 a.m. to distribute palms and then walk into the church with their palms during the singing of the hymn "All Glory, Laud, and Honor." Please come as a family to see this joyful celebration!