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Brothers and sisters,

A few weeks ago, I went up to Charlottesville, VA with some friends in order to go apple-picking. We’d planned the trip for months, talking about how the four of us wanted to do something that felt quintessentially “fall”, if that makes sense. And we had a wonderful time! We ended up picking a literal bushel of apples, meaning I came home with a lot of apples. Fujis, Granny Smiths, Staymans, and Winesaps—all of them freshly picked, all of them delicious. Now I had a quandary: what to do with ¼ bushel of apples?

I started out by making a batch of apple freezer jam using some of the Granny Smiths and the Staymans. That jam has been delicious layered between pancakes on Saturday mornings. The Fujis and Winesaps have made their way to the office with me as afternoon snacks. But the main thing I wanted to make was a fresh apple cake, specifically the fresh apple cake my mother used to make.

So, I texted Dad and asked him if he could find the recipe anywhere in Mom’s old cookbooks or recipe cards. And he delivered, though not the way either of us was expecting. He texted me five pictures of five different recipes from Mom’s cookbooks and said, “It was one of these, but I don’t remember which one.” Each of these, by the way, was drawn from either the Methodist or Baptist cookbooks from various churches in Mom’s hometown, Ahoskie. I looked over the recipes. Some were more helpful than others—one suggested I bake the cake, “in a warm oven till done”—but I chose one to bake, and set to it. And you know what? I picked the right one! My kitchen smelled like Mom’s kitchen. The cake looked like hers. And, most importantly, it tasted just right!

When I was telling Dad about my cake, he asked me which recipe I’d used and how I’d known to pick that particular one. So, I said, “Well, there was one picture where the page looked like it had wrinkled from being wet. Mom didn’t always dry her hands that well after she washed them, so I figured that water damage was from her. Also, that recipe called for a 325° oven and Mom always used to say fresh apple cakes take forever to cook. This was also the only recipe that called for nuts and Mom loved desserts with nuts in them. Finally, I saw where the recipe called for cinnamon and nutmeg, but I remember Mom always saying she didn’t like nutmeg so any recipe that called for it, she’d sub in cinnamon. So, you know, that made it obvious.” Dad just laughed and said, “Oh, is that all? You two really did know each other well, huh?”

We celebrated All Saints Sunday this past Sunday. We talked about all the ways those who came before us have shaped us and shaped our faith. But there are a lot of different ways folks shape us, aren’t there? And even when it’s not explicitly faith-related, they can shape how we see the world, can’t they? It’s a gift to be able to live together as a church family and be shaped by such a cloud of witnesses, to be able to encounter challenges and draw on the faith and ideas of others to meet those challenges. Who are the folks in your life who have shaped you as a person and as a Christian? What are the things you still do that they taught you? Can how can that memory provide you with comfort?

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

In just a couple of Sundays, we will be celebrating All Saints Sunday. Now, if you’ve been coming to Hope Valley for a while now, you know what things typically look like on All Saints Sunday. You know what this Sunday means to folks and for folks. But for those that may not know about All Saints Sunday or for those of you who may be thinking, “I remember we always do some-thing that day, but I can’t remember what,” let me tell you a little bit about it.

All Saints Day has been celebrated by the Catholic church for centuries. Basically, it is a holiday on which Catholics remember and celebrate the saints of the Catholic church, i.e. Saint Peter, Saint Christopher, etc. They will also celebrate anyone who died for their faith. (By the way, we get our word, Halloween, from All Saints Day. “All Saints” can be written as “All Hallows” and since “All Hallows” is on November 1st, that makes October 31st “All Hallows Eve,” aka “Halloween.”)

However, as time has gone on, Christians—particularly us Protestants—have begun to refer to all believers as “saints,” since that is one of the words used by Paul to describe us. And so, we Protestants have be-gun to celebrate All Saints Sunday on the first Sunday of November. All Saints Sunday, then, is a time to remember those Christians that have come before us and celebrate their lives and their faith journeys. It is a time to contemplate the ways in which we have been shaped by “so great a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1; NRSVUE).

It is also a Sunday on which we honor specific church members and/or the immediate family members of church members who have passed away within the last year. It’s a time when we can come alongside their family and remind them that we love them, that we are with them. It is a time to remind them that we loved their family member, too. It’s a time to catch up, tell stories about the person, and be grateful for all they meant to each of us.

This coming All Saints Sunday, we’ll be remembering five people who have gone on to glory: Bonnie Lyon, J.J. Bush, Dorothy Moore, Herb Finch, and Carolyn Tippett. During the service, we’ll read their names and have any family present stand. Then, we’ll light a candle for them and ring a bell. It’s a touching moment as we remember them.

So, plan to be here on Sunday, November 2nd as we remember those saints who have gone before us. Come to honor their legacy. Come to spend time with their family. Come to worship a God who promises us that death does not have the last word.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

In just over two weeks, we’re going to be having our annual Fall Festival here at the church. As you all know, this is a night when we come together as a church family to offer things like Trunk-or-Treat, carnival games, prizes, crafts, and food to our neighbors. It’s a wonderful time each year as we set aside a Saturday to provide good, clean fun for families in our community. Every year I look for-ward to this event because every year it is a reminder of the joy that comes from time spent together.

Read through just about any part of the Bible and you will find biblical authors who write about joy. Even in the midst of hard times, they will find reasons to celebrate and to speak of the goodness of God and the joy that brings them. The psalmist declares, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). As Paul ends his first letter to the Thessalonians, he writes, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:16-18). The whole of the Bible speaks to the idea that in good times and in bad, be-lievers can find joy because we know that God is with us.

Why do I bring all this up? Because right now, there’s a lot of stuff happening in our world that seeks to steal our joy. The news apps on my phone love to send me upsetting headlines that, as a whole, send a message that the world is scary, that fear is good, that community is fundamentally broken, that joy is silly. But joy is not silly. It never has been. It has always, always been a form of resistance. To acknowledge that life is difficult and still choose joy takes strength and dedication. I’d argue, it takes faith.

On the night that he was betrayed, Jesus talked with his disciples and gave them his final sermon. According to John’s gospel, Jesus touched on topics like love, persecution, community, justice, and more. But I think one of more important things he told his disciples was this, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:10-11; emphasis mine). When facing trying times, Jesus tells the disciples his joy would be with them, if they would simply believe in him and follow his lead.

So, on October 25th from 4:30-6:30 PM, our church will have a Fall Festival. We’ll have it because it’s a fun event for everyone involved. We’ll have it because it will bring joy to our community. We’ll have it because in the midst of all these headlines desperately trying to tell us the world is falling apart, we can remind folks that community is still possible, people can still be good to each other, and there is still joy to be found. We’ll have it because Jesus tells us that his joy is in us and that makes our joy complete. Let us be joyful believers in Christ!

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben