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!
Sunday School and Childcare is Available!
Pen Pal Event Planned for June 7
Pen pals—adult and children—please continue writing to your friends. Both groups love receiving mail from their pen pals.
On June 7, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., there will be a Wonderful Water Day to celebrate the Pen Pal Project. This takes the place of the carnival we have had for the last 2 years. You will be hearing more about it, but in the meantime, get your water clothes together for a fun-filled afternoon!
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!
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 Friday, June 9.
Congratulations, Dean and Shirley Kool!
Congratulations, Dean and Shirley Kool!
June 13 will be their
70th wedding anniversary!
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.
For the Love of Strawberries
As a college student, the first week of June was one of my favorite times in the mountains. No, it wasn’t that I had completed a semester and didn’t have to be cramming for an exam. And no, it wasn’t simply because my summer job hadn’t kicked into high gear.
I can sum up my love for this time of year in one word. Strawberries. Better yet, I’ll use two words: Fresh strawberries.
My father grew strawberries in our backyard, which ripened into sun-kissed deliciousness by the first of June. Dad would observe them in May and grow irritable when forest critters would nibble from his fruit store. At just the right moment, Dad would harvest the strawberries and prepare the kitchen to make what he called ‘Strawberry Freezer Jam.’
Tragically, I didn’t care enough about the magic behind the strawberry jam to learn the secret art of freezer jam-making, and I now pine for the taste of my daddy’s tasty strawberry jam. At the time, I delighted in the bountiful harvest and got busy. If I didn’t eat the newly canned jam, someone else would eat it for me.
You can file this next bit under “Confession Is Good for the Soul.”
If there is something delicious in the house, it doesn’t stand a chance. If I want it, I will eat it—end of story. I must acknowledge that I have little self-control for that which my taste buds desire. Thus, the only self-restraint I possess is at the supermarket. Because if it ends up in my cart, it won’t be long for the pantry shelves.
So, when the strawberries were all sugared-up for consumption at the Mathis household in early June, it was all-feast all the time. There have been rumors that a certain young man in the Mathis clan would sit and watch the Atlanta Braves while spooning freshly-made strawberry jam into his mouth like he was eating ice cream.
(The author can neither confirm nor deny this report)
In a surprising twist, strawberries are not the only fruit worthy of our attention. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. Paul reminds us of this truth in his letter to the church in Galatia: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
I am embarrassed to tell you that I had forgotten that self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. I recall the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and gentleness. Well, these fruits of the Spirit and strawberries.
But self-control?
Of all the fruits that we could talk about (I’m looking at you, strawberries), self-control needs some renewed attention. We live in a time of indulgence where any self-measurement—whether it concerns what we eat, drink, consume, say, text, and post—is frowned upon. Indeed, discretion may be in order.
We don’t have to say everything we think.
We don’t have to be furious about everything that annoys us.
We don’t have to do everything we desire.
We don’t have to be greedy for more of whatever we want.
We don’t have to be ruled by our passions.
We don’t have to eat the whole jar of freezer jam in one sitting.
Proverbs says it better than I can: “It is not good to eat much honey, or to seek honor on top of honor. Like a city breached, without walls, is one who lacks self-control.” (Proverbs 25:27-28)
Just because we can do something doesn’t mean that we should. Consider the messiness, tension, and hostility in your own life, and you may find that these pain points grow out of excess or over-reach.
Strawberry freezer jam aside, self-control may be the best tonic our souls and relationships need right now.
WMU Leadership Team NOT Meeting Next Week
First Baptist Church of Sylva Leadership Team will not meet on June 12. The next meeting will be on July 10.