Just a reminder that the deadline to sign-up for Parent’s Night Out is Wednesday, November 30th (that’s tomorrow!).  It costs nothing and dinner (pizza) will be provided (if you don’t want your child to eat pizza or if your child cannot yet eat pizza, please send something for them to eat).

You may RSVP by clicking here or calling the church at (903) 592-1591.  Please include the following information:

• How many of the children you are registering are K & older.
• How many of the children you are registering are Pre-K & younger.
• How many of the children you are registering will eat pizza.
• The best contact number for you, the parent.

Thanks!

We hope to see you there!

Have you ever asked any of the following questions:

• What makes God so great?
• How should I respond to God?
• How does loving God affect the way I live my life?
• Is being connected to a local body of believers necessary?
• Do Christians really have the ability to resist and turn away from sin?
• Etc.

Beginning this Sunday night, Phillip will spend the next 6 months or so preaching through the book of Ephesians, which deals very plainly with these issues and many more.  We would encourage you to make plans to join us.  See you Sunday night!

Sylvania will host its first annual seminar at the church at the end of this month. For more about these seminars (i.e., their purpose, etc.), click here. The details for the upcoming seminar are below. I hope to see you there!

Who Is Speaking?

Ken Myers has been invited to the first annual Sylvania Seminar and will speak on Abandoning God’s Gifts: The Tragedy of Modern Suspicion about Beauty. Ken holds a M.A. in Religion from Westminster Theological Seminary and founded Mars Hill Audio Journal, a bimonthly audio journal which examines the interaction between Christians and our culture. Mars Hill Audio is “committed to assisting Christians who desire to move from thoughtless consumption of contemporary culture to a vantage point of thoughtful engagement. We believe that fulfilling the commands to love God and neighbor requires that we pay careful attention to the neighborhood: that is, every sphere of human life where God is either glorified or despised, where neighbors are either edified or undermined.”

Why This Seminar?

In our local communities, Christians can hear of the truth of God and are aware of the goodness of God in his blessings and gifts to us — particularly his gift of salvation through Jesus. Less commonly do we hear about Beauty and its relationship to God. Ken will guide us in our path to a better understanding of this great truth.

What, When & Where Are The Lectures?

His three-lecture series is entitled “Abandoning God’s Gifts: The Tragedy of Modern Suspicion About Beauty,” and he plans to examine the spiritual importance of beauty in the modern church. The titles of his lectures are:

• Life, the Universe, and Everything: Why the Gospel means more than a ticket to Heaven (Friday, September 30 at 7:30 pm)

• It’s Personal, Period: Why modern culture is confused about Truth, Goodness, and Beauty (Saturday, October 1 at 10:00 am)

• The Culture of Christian Faithfulness: Why churches should nourish artful (not just philosophical) disciples (Saturday, October 1 at 12:30 pm)

All lectures will be held at Sylvania Church, located at 2801 SSE Loop 323, Tyler, TX. Doors will open 30 minutes prior to the lecture. Please use the side entrance. Each lecture will be followed by a 30-45 minute Q&A session. The Friday night lecture will be preceded by a 30 minute concert of classical guitar music played by Glenn Strauss, beginning at 7:00 pm.

Who Can Attend?

The Sylvania Seminars are designed not only for the members of Sylvania Church, but also for the community, whether believing or unbelieving, young or “seasoned,” male or female, etc.

Added Bonuses…

• Childcare will be provided for Sylvania members for the duration of the seminars on Friday and Saturday.
• Lunch will provided on Saturday for all who attend.

May I Help Promote This Event?

Funny you should ask, because we would love your help promoting this event! You may download a flier by clicking here. If you would like any other help promoting this event, please contact us.

How Do I Register?

You can register for the Abandoning God’s Gifts: The Tragedy of Modern Suspicion About Beauty seminar by clicking here.

Just a reminder that the Sylvania picnic is tomorrow at the Green Acres lake property on Lake Tyler (click for directions) from 2pm-7pm.

If you haven’t signed up, it’s not too late.  Simply register in the lobby of the church tomorrow or by emailing Chad.  The cost for dinner is $9/person with a$30 family max.

As for stuff to bring…

1. The lake is low, so boating won’t be available, but swimming is still very possible.  If you do plan to swim, I’d recommend wearing swim shoes or something with a sole.
2. Towels, change of clothes, etc. if you’re planning to swim.
3. You a baller (i.e., willing to play… we’re not exactly having tryouts)?  Bring your shoes and we’ll play full (short) court basketball.
4. Frisbees, footballs, washer toss, bean bag toss, or other outdoor game you’d be willing to share.

So far, it has been really great and the good news is that it is not too late for you to attend.  We would love for you to join us in rooms 103-104 (i.e, Paul McClung’s classroom) at 6:05pm on Wednesdays.

So, for the next four Sunday nights, your pastor will do just that.

We will have a four week series entitled “Hearing Your Pastor’s Heart.” Each week will cover a topic that is of utmost importance to your pastor and just may be a great significance to you as well. Here is the breakdown for each of the next 4 Sundays (minus July 3rd on which there will be no Sunday night service):

• June 19th: “The Importance of Jesus To My Whole Self” from Mark 12:29-31.
• June 26th: “The Importance of Christ in My Home” from Ephesians 5:22-6:4.
• July 10th: “The Importance of Christ in Your Church” from Ephesians 4:1-6.
• July 17th: “The Importance of Jesus in My Speech” from Ephesians 4:25-32.

I would love for you to join us.

The Free Garage Sale outreach is this Saturday from 1pm-4pm and we are expecting approximately 300 shoppers, which is very exciting.

Of course, 300 shoppers is also a bit overwhelming.  So, here’s how you can help this outreach event be as effective as we are praying it will be.

1) Help us setup tomorrow night in the Oasis from 6pm until we’re done.

2) Help with final preparations on Saturday from Noon-1pm.

3) Help during the Free Garage Sale from 1pm-6pm (we need people to love and serve our guests).

I hope to see you in the Oasis tomorrow night and on Saturday!  Let me know if you have any questions!

Renee

If you’re “in” for the Men & Kids’ Campout, please RSVP by emailing Chad by this Tuesday, April 5th, who and how many people you’re RSVP’ing (i.e., you, your kids, etc.).

Our next Men & Kids Campout is THIS Friday! The question is, “Who are the ‘men’ and who are the ‘kids’?” “Men” refers to all men at Sylvania, not just those who are dads. “Kids” includes every guy from birth (although I wouldn’t recommend that young!) to any age (i.e., preschool, elementary, junior high & high school, college, 20′s, 30′s, 40′s, 50′s, 60′s, 70′s, etc.!).

From Friday, April 8th at 5:00pm until Saturday, April 9th at Noon the men and kids of Sylvania Church are invited to campout together at the campsite on Glenn & Linda Peterson’s property.

Stay tuned, as directions and the specifics of what you’ll need to bring are coming soon. The gist of what you need is typical camping stuff like tents, sleeping bags, pillows, food for your meals, drinks, etc.

Please note that directions will be sent in email form only, so please make sure you are registered to receive emails from Sylvania Church. If not, you can register in the footer of our homepage.

It’s always been a sweet time of fellowship, so I hope you’ll plan to attend!