Join us beginning at 4:30 p.m. at the East LaPorte Pavilion on Sunday, June 4, for a time fellowship, river fun, and a delicious potluck supper with church friends.
Honoring Your Father in June
Father’s Day is Sunday, June 18, and we would like to encourage you to submit a photo of your father to be displayed during the month of June at the church.
You can email the photo to Diane White at degenaro@bellsouth.net. Also, be sure to include the name of your father and your name so that it can be added to the photo as shown in the sample shown.
If you don’t email, you can bring the photo to the church office, and Janice will help you. All photos need to be received by Wednesday, May 31.
Lee Minor (June 1)
Peggy Revis (June 3)
Katrina Fisher (June 6)
Brooke Drum (June 10)
Barry Allen (June 14)
Nancy Waldroup (June 15)
Andrew Beck (June 18)
Truman Ayers (June 19)
Shawn Frady (June 22)
Nancy Coward (June 24)
Sarah Davis (June 24)
Cliff Vanderburg (June 25)
Rachel Wilkie (June 25)
Morgan Hunley (June 27)
Rebecca Mathis (June 27)
VBS Registration: Do it Now Online!
Vacation Bible School will be here before you know it! The date for our community VBS is June 12-16. First Baptist is in charge of the set-up and take-down each day, the daily Bible story, and youth activities. Right now, we need adult volunteers to be group leaders. Let Cheryl Beck know if you can help.
Children and youth and adult volunteers, please register now for VBS. See link or QR code.
Thank you!
Dorris Beck would like to send out a very special thank you to Arlin Middleton & Frank Wilkie for all the clearing & yard maintenance she received from them this past week.
Breathing God Into Your Life
W
While reflecting with a friend the other day about a challenge that had presented itself, my friend asked: “What should we be praying for?”
After sitting with the question for a beat or two, I said: “I don’t know.”
No, I wasn’t employing a pastoral care tool to invite further examination or contemplation. I did not know what we should pray for or how to craft the prayer.
Blessedly, Paul’s letter to the Church in Rome encourages us for such a moment. Paul says:
“The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God (Romans 8:26-27).”
Paul’s message is good news! I find the promise of the Spirit’s presence and help to be deeply reassuring when I feel helpless and without a prayer. Even—and especially—when we don’t know how to pray, the Spirit comes to our rescue and assists us with “sighs too deep for words.”
At a basic level, the word Spirit in the Bible suggests wind and breath. The Holy Spirit moves unseen with life-giving power over the earth’s surface and in our lives to direct, enliven, and sustain.
The other week, I picked up a book that got me thinking about my breathing. Breathing for Warriors by Dr. Belisa Vranich and Brian Sabin invites readers to consider that they are not breathing as they could and that our poor use of our lungs and diaphragm results in our bodies failing us in many ways. With corrective breathing activities and mindfulness about how we have control over something that is not entirely automatic—that is, our breathing—the authors suggest that by renewed emphasis on inhaling and exhaling, our bodies, minds, and souls will be the beneficiaries of the increased airflow.
The book’s message has resonated with me. When I am anxious, scared, or agitated, my breathing becomes shallow and located in the upper portions of my chest. My heart rate rises, as does my blood pressure, and I prepare for fight or flight (typically, fight!) rather than a more centered and thoughtful response. By strengthening my diaphragm to breathe more fully from my stomach, I can activate my parasympathetic nervous system’s response, which settles me down and helps me be responsive rather than reactive.
Sunday is Pentecost, the Church’s celebration of God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to Christ’s followers. The Bible teaches us that the Spirit descends upon the disciples like a mighty rushing wind. If communion is an opportunity for us to ingest Christ’s presence through bread and wine, then the Holy Spirit is breathed into us and fills us up, body and soul.
No, we may not always know what to pray for. But we can always pray deeply and trust that the Holy Spirit that fills our lungs and powers our bodies will also provide us precisely what we need.
Our deep breathing of God’s mighty rushing wind will remind us of the promise that “All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).”
The Holy Spirit is available to us all. Breathe deeply, and you’ll feel God in your bones.
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!
1st Explorers After-School Ministry Update
With the beautiful weather last week, 1st Explorers spent a lot of time outside. View their week in pictures:
Cutlines in Order of Appearance:
Amelia Murchie and Lucy Phillips practice their balance skills on the playground.
An improv play by several 1st Explorers was enjoyed by both actors and audience.
Makai Allen is the best airplane maker ever!
Emily Taylor and Ivy Matthews plant sunflowers as part of a science project led by the Taylors.
Daisy Stillwachs puts the finishing touches on her chalk art creation on the sidewalk.
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!
Ramp Building Crew to Serve on June 6
Scott McConnell and the Department on Aging are seeking volunteers to build another ramp. The date is Tuesday June 6, with location and time TBD. Please call, text or email Scott if you are interested and available. Scott wishes to thank Chris Moore, Guy Hall and John Dills for their help with the last ramp.