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.
Hurray for Our Nursery Workers of the Week!
Judy Henderson served in the church nursery
on April 28. Thank you Judy for volunteering your time.
Dana Ayers will be in charge of the nursery on May 5. Thank you!
The children and nursery workers are enjoying the newly renovated nursery. We appreciate everyone who transformed the nursery into such a lovely, inviting space.
More Details About the Passport Yard Sale
May 11 is the date for the yard sale to help our children raise funds to attend Passport. It will run from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. The location will be the Mission and Fellowship Center.
People have been asking about good items to sell. Here is a list of some proven favorites:
“What-nots"
Garden Tools
Tools
Books
Camping Gear
Appliances
Games
Toys
Bicycles
Jewelry
Dishes
Casseroles
Working lamps
Exercise Equipment
Fishing gear
Furniture
Clothing (Children & Adult)
Also, just a reminder that only working items can be accepted. We would like to have some homemade cakes, pies, breads to sell that day. Can anyone help us with this?
Please bring your contributions to the Sunday School room beside the Choir Room.
If you have questions, please contact Cheryl Beck at 828-421-3820. Thank you for helping our children!
Left: A decorative fire screen and office chair have already been donated for the sale.
Potluck & Bible Study
Wednesday, April 24 at 5:15 p.m.
Potluck and Bible study with Pastor Ernesto and Dr. Yelton. The meal will begin at 5:15 p.m. with Bible study at 6:00 p.m. Choir practice will follow at 7:00 p.m. Please bring your best casseroles and your favorite desserts and let’s show our honored guests our North Carolina hospitality.
Congregation-Wide Conversation and Called Church Conference
Our second congregation-wide conversation has been moved to Wednesday, May 1 to follow our regular first Wednesday Potluck family meal. Dr. Yelton will lead us in a group discussion that will provide information to the Pastor Search Committee team to use in calling a new pastor.
We will also vote to approve new Church Leadership Teams and Committees(updated) to serve 2024-2025. Please make every effort to attend as your thoughts and input are so important to making this a successful process. Thank you!
Mission Moment 4.24.24
Jessica Hearne
CBF Field Personnel, Danville, VA
I have known Daniel for many years, though his relationship with our community has not always been a positive one. Daniel had started coming to Grace and Main Bible study over 11 years ago. He was the one who finally convinced Bruce to come to my house for a community dinner, a decision that eventually led to Bruce’s getting sober and becoming a leader in our community. Bruce and Daniel were old friends, and Daniel tried several times to get sober like Bruce. The process was much more difficult for Daniel, though, and every time he relapsed, he got more frustrated with Bruce’s success in the face of his own failure. Finally, during a particularly bad relapse, Daniel broke Bruce’s wrist with a baseball bat before leaving the community, possibly for good, we thought.
So, it was a surprise to me when, about three years later, not long after moving in to the first home of his own in many years, Bruce invited Daniel to be his first hospitality guest. Even though I had been helping run my own hospitality house for years at this point, I couldn’t understand how Bruce was able to forgive the abuse that he had endured from Daniel and, more importantly, how he could trust his old friend again after such a bad break. But Daniel’s health was starting to decline, and Bruce knew that Daniel needed a place to stay where he would have a friend to help care for him.
It wasn’t long before Daniel would return the favor. Daniel was there when Bruce went to the doctor and found out the first time about the cancer. Daniel was there at the hospital every day, helping Bruce eat as much as he was able, sitting with him so he wouldn’t be alone. Daniel helped sneak Bruce’s cat into the room one evening as the nurses conveniently didn’t come by the room for a while. Daniel was at Bruce’s side when he went home to die, watching the sun set over the community urban farm that he had put so much of himself into. And after Bruce passed, Daniel stayed in Bruce’s house, offering hospitality himself to another friend, Jody, who needed a place to stay while he also tried to quit drinking. Daniel would tell me, in those times when Jody would relapse that, if Jesus could help him after all that he had done, Daniel knew Jesus could also help Jody. And when he did, Jody would need a place to stay.
Daniel and Bruce certainly aren’t the people that I would have ever thought could be spiritual guides for me. However, I do not think I’ve ever known anyone else who could so radically embody Jesus’ command in Matthew 18 to forgive “seventy times seven” times. Daniel and Bruce lived the gospel of forgiveness: they forgave each other, just as God had forgiven them. And they both lived that forgiveness through acts of radical hospitality.
Hurray for Our Nursery Workers of the Week!
We thank Mary Lou Millwood and Judy Henderson for their willingness to serve in the nursery on April 28. Enjoy the little ones!
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.
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: shampoo (prefer 2-in-1 shampoo & conditioner), body wash, deodorant, toothpaste, child diapers (all sizes), cereal, spaghetti sauce and spaghetti noodles. To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive. Thank you!
