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Brothers and sisters,

This coming Sunday, October 1, we will be starting a new sermon series entitled, “Uncomfortable Faith.” The basic premise of this entire series is that there are some teachings of Jesus that can make us feel a little, you know, uncomfortable. There are some teachings that we think, “Did Jesus really say that?” Or, there are things he said, particularly parables, that we may think, “You know, I remember that being in there, but I forgot just how intense that passage was.” Those are the types of passages we will be looking at over the next two months.

Here’s the thing. In the midst of these intense passages, these words of Jesus that may make us feel a little uncomfortable, there are beautiful messages of faith and love and grace. In the midst of these intense passages, I am fully confident that God will walk with us. And I would argue that if we are not willing to challenge ourselves, to examine the sometimes difficult teachings of our faith, to consider that we may not have all the answers, then we are doing ourselves a disservice. Faith is a journey. It is a quest to draw closer to God in all that we do. Sometimes that means wrestling with ideas we hadn’t thought of be-fore. Sometimes it means wrestling with passages that make us uncomfortable. But, again, God walks alongside us and guides us in all of this—if we will humble ourselves and listen for the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

Now, for this series we will mostly be looking at passages from the Gospel of Matthew, but we will have two detours. I will be on vacation on October 15th, so a student from Duke Divinity School will be preaching for me. I’ve told him to prepare a standalone sermon, rather than ask him to preach on an uncomfortable passage. And on November 19th, we will hop over to 2 Corinthians and have a more Thanksgiving-themed worship service. But I am looking forward to preaching this series. I’m looking forward to the questions we’ll get to ask and the conversations I hope this series will start.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Y’all, it’s that time of year again. Now, I write that and you might think, “Ah, yes. Football season is upon us!” And that’s true—college and professional football have started their seasons. Or, you might be thinking, “Ah, yes. We’re supposed to start getting cooler temperatures next week, so fall is coming!” And that’s also true—and a little closer to the season I’m thinking of. Truth is, it’s that time of year again—time for pumpkin-everything!

I went to Trader Joe’s last night (Tuesday night) and let me just list off the things I can remember that were pumpkin flavored. You ready? I saw Pumpkin-O’s (pumpkin-flavored Cheerios), pumpkin breakfast bars, pumpkin cornbread mix, pumpkin pancake mix (might have bought that), pumpkin muffin mix, pumpkin chili seasoning, pumpkin creamer, pumpkin yogurt, pumpkin spice coffee, pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin tortilla chips, pumpkin sandwich cookies (definitely bought those), pumpkin Oreos, pumpkin yogurt-covered cookies, and pumpkin oatmeal, among other things. Funny enough, I saw no canned pumpkin!

I bring that up because it seems like the beginning of “pumpkin-everything” season is the unofficial beginning of fall. It marks the time of the year when the days are growing noticeably shorter and there does begin to be a nip in the air—even though here in North Carolina you cannot truly rule out a 90 degree day till about mid-October. But this is a season of the year when we start to celebrate those around us and those in our community. We are preparing for things like the State Fair, where we will see the accomplishments of some of our neighbors in the various contests. We are preparing for Halloween where we reach out to strangers in the community and of-fer a moment of fellowship through trick-or-treating. We are preparing for All Saints Day when we honor those Christians who came before us. We are preparing for Thanksgiving, where we gather with family to remember the things we’re grateful for and, of course, to eat things like pumpkin pie!

Ultimately, the beginning of “pumpkin-everything” season also reminds me of the fact that we are preparing for the celebration of Advent and Christmas. As I sipped pumpkin spiced coffee from my pumpkin-emblazoned coffee mug this morning, I got a reminder from my phone that the choir will start practicing their Advent music this Saturday (9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the choir room if you’d like to join them). And all of this, together, made me think of the various seasons we all go through in our lives and the myriad experiences that come with those seasons. Sometimes, we’re in a season of celebration and rejoicing, where it seems like everywhere we turn our friends, our family, even ourselves are experiencing joy. Sometimes, it’s a season of loss and mourning, where each day is a struggle and getting out of bed is an accomplishment. Sometimes it’s a season of uncertainty, where decisions are not easy to make and a way forward is not clear. The good news of the gospel, though, is that God is with us in all those seasons. Joy, sorrow, uncertainty—God is there. Fall, football, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas—God is there. Even in “pumpkin-everything” season—God is there. Don’t believe me? Google “pumpkin spice communion wafers images” and have a laugh!

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

This week I want us to just take some time to pray for all of the various things that are happening or have happened within the last few weeks. It seems like the news cycles have been particularly difficult and so I would ask you to take some time and pray for folks all over the country. Use my suggestions below as starters if you’d like to, but then take some time to speak to God and ask for God’s grace in all of this.

For the people of Hawaii. The search and rescue process continues on the island of Maui after the wildfires. The process of identifying bodies drags on, particularly because so many of the bodies crumble when touched in any way. Pray for the people who have lost loved ones. Pray for the people who have not heard yet whether their loved one is among the dead. Pray for the rescuers as they continue to do this work that is hard physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Pray for the people of Hawaii as a collective as they process the trauma, the grief, the tragedy of all of this.

For the people of Jacksonville, Florida. They are reeling from the rampage of someone who espoused truly hateful, bigoted views about our brothers and sisters in the black community. Pray for the family of the shooter as they grieve the loss of their loved one and must deal with who he turned out to be. Pray for the families of the victims as they now have to deal with the grief and the trauma of losing someone they loved so suddenly and so violently. Pray for the people of Jacksonville, as they process their grief.

For the UNC community. They are also reeling from a senseless shooting and the death of a young, bright scholar. The university is doing their best to care for the students, but pray for everyone there at Carolina right now. Pray for the students who were in Caudill Laboratories as it happened. Pray for all those students who had to lock down and wonder for hours what was happening. Pray for the elementary, middle, and high school kids who also had to lockdown during the manhunt. Pray for the family of Zijie Yan, the professor who was killed, as they grieve his loss. And pray for the family of Tailei Qi, the shooter, as they grieve and grapple with what he has done.

Finally, pray for the people of Keaton Beach, Florida and the surrounding area. Hurricane Idalia has made landfall there and as I write this article, 1 person has been declared dead and 286,000 people are without power. Pray for everyone in the path of the storm. There will be property damage, loss of life, and so many other things they’ll have to deal with over the next days, weeks, months. Pray that they would receive the help they need. Pray for everyone who has lost or will lose a loved one. Pray for all those who have lost or will lose their homes. Pray for that community, that they can come together and help one another in the wake of this storm.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben