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Joe's Window
By Dr. Joe Yelton
Interim Pastor
Critical mass. In its essence, critical mass is the minimal amount needed to continue operating at present levels. In manufacturing, you must sell enough of the product being produced to pay all expenses (employees, space, machinery, etc.), as well as have enough left to move innovatively. In government, enough must be budgeted and secured to pay for services, employees, infrastructure, etc. Even in your home, you operate with the understanding that there is a point ... a critical mass that must be achieved else, your family will suffer, or worse.
So too, with the church. What is our critical mass? The answer involves more than can be addressed here. However, it’s just too important that we understand our critical mass needs.
Some of our congregational critical mass mimics industry. We must provide meeting space, heating and air conditioning, a new roof every few years, carpeting, furnishings, utilities, and so much more. Additionally, the church must assure capable staffing as well as the necessary equipment (computers, copy machines, etc.) to effectively do the work required.
However, here the church veers into a different direction. Our “product” is intangible ... it can’t be viewed, counted or weighed. Our product is (or should be), Gospel living and telling.
At First Baptist we have a virtual army of volunteers who enliven all the things we hope to achieve. You won’t find that in industry or corporate structure. You will discover it, or should, in non-profits specifically, not just the church. However, no body of individuals should do it better than the Body of Christ.
What is our critical mass? Yes, we must achieve a certain minimal level of financial giving. Yes, we must pay utilities, staffing, upkeep, materials, etc. HOWEVER, the critical mass for the church is never ... never determined by doing the minimum. The church, our church must always seek to achieve the goals Christ sets for us which always exceed the goals we set for ourselves. Examples of those goals would include forgiving seven times seventy, walking two miles when only one mile is required, giving shirt and coat when only a shirt is requested.
We must find the place in which our personally held faith stretches us to become more authentic, more generous, and more loving. That is the collateral of a congregation. Less than this causes us to become ... less. If we became less long enough, we would find ourselves akin to so, so many struggling congregations ... irrelevant.
Thank you for all you do to make our church shine. Thank you for tending to our exterior flowers, singing in our choir, working with our midweek and Sunday morning opportunities, and so much more. Thank you for doing the essential work of getting our new water fountains and upstairs windows in place. Thank you, Harold and Gwen, for filling in so many gaps and for setting the standard high. Thank you, Bible study teachers, for keeping the Word fresh. And a special shout out to those who take seriously the call to tell others outside our fold about just how amazing it is to be inside the family of First Baptist Sylva faith.
Joe
Help Support Our Students!
Support our students by donating school supplies to the Back-to-School Bash co-sponsored by Jackson County Public Schools and the Jackson County recreation department. The bash will be held on Saturday, August 3 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Jackson County Recreation Center (Cullowhee). School supplies needed include: Crayola crayons, glue sticks, marble composition books and pencil pouches/boxes.
Drop off your donation at or mail it to:
Jackson County Public Schools
398 Hospital Road
Sylva, NC 28779
For more information or to have a booth, reach us at 828.586.3211 or info@jcpsmail.org.
Ways to Stream Our Worship Service
Watching the Sunday worship services has become much easier to stream for remote viewers who have smart TV devices. Rather than navigating to the First Baptist Church website or to YouTube on a computer, iPad, or phone, you can now download the “Boxcast” app on the following smart TV devices: Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, or any smart television having direct Internet connectivity. Using your device, go to the “App” icon and search for “Boxcast.” Once the “Boxcast” app is downloaded, search for First Baptist Church of Sylva. For future viewing of the service, simply click on the “Boxcast” app and click on our church’s service for that particular Sunday. Viewing the worship service on a TV screen instead of a computer device will hopefully provide a more meaningful worship experience for the remote viewer.
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!
Our worship service will be streamed online at firstbaptistsylva.com.
Flowers for Sanctuary
If you would like to provide flowers in the sanctuary for Sunday morning services, please contact Gwen Messer at 828-506-8370, or Janice in the church office to be placed on the calendar.
New Church Safety Team
The Deacons of our Church support the idea of establishing a safety team to address any emergencies that we may be faced with in the future. I have been in touch with our local Sheriff’s Department and they are willing to help establish and train a Safety Team for our church. The first step is to see who would be interested in being part of this team. There are many different needs to be filled to establish such a team. Thus many different skill sets will be needed. If you are interested in being part of the very first Safety Team established at Sylva First and are willing to participate in the required training please contact me at jddills1@gmail.com or by phone at 828-506-3815.
Thank you,
John Dills
Hurray for Our Nursery Workers of the Week!
A special “thank you” to Sarah Davis who helped out in the nursery on Sunday until
Cheryl Beck could get there to relieve her. We appreciate your willingness to serve, Sarah.
On July 28, the mother-daughter duo of Beth and Lucie Moore have charge of the nursery.
It will be a fun day!
We are in need of an additional person to be placed in the nursery rotation schedule.
This person would work a couple of Sundays in a six-month period.
If you would like to do this, please contact Cheryl Beck.
Sunday School and Childcare is Available!
Mission Moment 7.24.24
Pilar Castrillo
CEO of Migrant Journey, Florida
This is a mercy’s history.
What I have I give you.
Peter gave healing.
What could I give as a migrant, with a small organization, to help other migrants? That was the question after Hurricane Ian devastated parts of Florida. It affected migrants like me who, with their deft hands and light feet, get food produced on the ground to the supermarket shelves.
A week after Ian, we made it through flooded carts. The first contact, a mother with her son. My skin still prickles and my heart bleeds as I relive her low-volume words asking for water. It was the first day she was able to leave her house. She was incommunicado, with no access roads. Her pleading face, her low voice and trembling hands asking for water, where she could find it for her family. The hurricane had devastated her mobile home.
She asked for water and I had none. She asked for help in mute language with sad eyes, and what I had I gave her: hope that I would return in two days to help her and others with resources and to remedy their need. There were thousands in the same conditions; there was no work as the hurricane took away the crops; no money; no hope of help.
I am a migrant like her; this is not her final place of life just as it is neither mine nor yours. We are all migrants in this land increasingly hit by greed and destruction that cause chaos in the natural forces. Peter gave what he had. And we, a team of volunteers united by a passion for service, provided what we had as immediate help for basic needs. We are giving help that represents dignity, mercy and whatever we have for that neighbor who is helpless and in need.
As I write this near the city of Arcadia, Fla., the wagons are again full of supplies to assist. We will again give what we have, which is neither gold nor silver. We have love and hope.
And you? What do you have to give to others?