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
Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.
Combine crushed crackers, Parmesan cheese, and pepper in a shallow dish.
Slice each breast in half horizontally. Pound pieces between sheets of plastic wrap or use chicken tenders.
Coat chicken in butter, then dredge in cracker mixture. Press crumbs into chicken.
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.
Yard Sale! Yard Sale! Yard Sale!
Just like everything else, the price of Passport has gone up this year! The children who are planning to attend from our church hope to defray some of the expense of this wonderful camp by hosting a yard sale in early May.
As you do your spring cleaning over the next few weeks, look through your house to see what you could contribute to make the yard sale a success. You may bring your items to the Sunday School room beside the choir room, beginning Wednesday, April 10. If you need help transporting items, please let Cheryl Beck know and we can arrange to have items picked up at your home. The date of the yard sale will be announced soon. Thanking you in advance for your contributions!
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!
Maundy Thursday Service with Communion
Unimaginably, Holy Week is upon us. A significant scheduling difference involves Wednesday and Thursday of next week. On Wednesday, March 27, there will be NO evening activities at church, including choir rehearsal.
On Thursday, March 28 at 6:00 p.m., we will gather in the sanctuary for a brief time of worship, as we commemorate our Lord’s inaugural communion. As you know, Maundy Thursday is the catalyst for Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Glorious Easter.
On Maundy Thursday, we’ll observe the Lords table through intinction. If coming forward presents a barrier to participation, the elements can easily be brought to you.
At approximately 6:45 p.m., the service will conclude and choir rehearsal will follow.
Church-Wide Conversation
YOU have an opportunity to help the Pastor Search Committee!
Through our relationship with CBF-NC, we are hosting three important Sunday events intended to shed light on (1) where we have come from, (2) who we are now and (3) what God is calling us to be in the future. These events will directly feed into the important decision making that we have vested in our Pastor Search Committee to find our full-time Pastor. Your voice is important.
The first conversation (focusing on events in our past that have shaped our church) will be held following the worship service on Sunday, March 17th. We encourage all to attend and to have a voice. Importantly, the insights of those who have been members for many, many years will be great contributions to the conversation.
Andy Hale will preach our worship service and will also lead our conversation. We will have a pizza and salad lunch after worship in the MFC around 11:45. From 12:30 -1:30 Andy Hale will lead us through a conversation that will help the Pastor Search Committee to look at how our past actions, activities and missions have shaped us. This is an important first step in gaining church-wide input.
FOOD: Pizza from Mad Batter will be our main entree. We are asking for volunteers to bring side salads and desserts. Please let Janice Trull know what you will be bringing. You may call her at 828-586-2095 or email her at fbcsylva@gmail.com.
CHILDCARE: We invite you to bring your young children to lunch and there will be childcare available in the nursery during the meeting that follows.
The second and third church-wide conversations are scheduled for Sunday, April 21 and Sunday, May 19.