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Obviously, this Sunday is kind of a big deal for us Christians. This Sunday, March 31st is Easter Sunday, the day on which we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. It is the day on which we celebrate the fact that the tomb was empty because the one in it had triumphed over death. Easter is arguably the biggest Sunday of the year for churches, with only the Sunday before Christmas coming close to it.

In many Christian traditions, Easter Sunday is not the end of the celebration of Easter. Many other traditions and denominations celebrate what’s known as Eastertide. Basically, Eastertide refers to the seven weeks between East-er Sunday and Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the twelve disciples. It is a time of celebration as we remember the days that the resurrected Jesus spent with his disciples before ascending into heaven.

Here at Hope Valley, we celebrate Eastertide to a certain extent—keeping the paraments white in the sanctuary, singing Easter-inspired hymns through those seven weeks, and singing “Alleluia” in our offertory response each week. But this year, I wanted to emphasize the idea that Easter Sunday was not the first miraculous day in Jesus’ ministry. Too often, we Christians skip from Jesus’ birth to his death and resurrection, leaving out huge chunks of his life and ministry along the way.

This year, I want us to spend Eastertide looking at many of the other miracles Jesus performed during his life. Each of the miracles we’ll look at point toward the incredible nature of the resurrection. They help to predict it and pre-pare the people and the reader for what will happen at the end of Jesus’ life. So, over the next seven weeks, we’re going to take a look at these miracles and see just how they inform our understanding of the resurrection. We’ll see what Jesus was preparing us all for in this, “Season of Miracles.”

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

The last half of March is going to be a wonderful time here at Hope Valley Baptist Church. I want to be sure to touch on just a few of the things we have coming up!

First, during morning worship this coming Sunday, March 17th, the former pastor at my home church, Dr. Glenn Phillips, Jr. will be preaching for you all. Glenn is the pastor that I most remember growing up in Goldsboro. He is the one who baptized me, catching me when I slipped and fell as I was coming back up out of the waters. He and Scott, my youth minister, helped me discern my call to ministry. Most recently, he is the one who preached at my mother’s funeral. He is a truly good man and I am excited for you all to get to hear from him on the 17th.

Then, on Sunday, March 24th we will be celebrating Palm Sunday and participating in the 2024 CROP Walk. During morning worship on that Sunday we will celebrate the arrival of Jesus in the Holy City, though we will also take time to remember what a whirlwind of a week he would have—triumphal entry on Sunday, crucifixion on Friday, and resurrection the next Sunday. After that service, starting at 2:30, the Durham CROP Walk will celebrate its 50th anniversary as people from all over the city and county come together to march in solidarity with those struggling with hunger. It is a wonderful opportunity to gather with members of our wider community and remember that we can do incredible things together.

The rest of that week, we have our two special Holy Week services. On Wednesday, March 27th at 6:30 pm we will be having our hand-washing service over in the sanctuary. The hand-washing service is designed to remind us all of Christ’s simple assertion—that he came to serve, not to be served. By taking that time to wash and dry each other’s hands, we imitate our Lord. Then, on Friday, March 29th at 7:00 pm, we will have our Good Friday service, again in the sanctuary. Good Friday is always an interesting day in the Christian calendar. On the one hand, we mourn the fact that Jesus was killed. On the other hand, we hold on to hope, knowing that there is a resurrection awaiting both him and us. So come out both nights and worship with our church family.

Finally, on Sunday, March 31st we will come together to celebrate Easter once again! On that Sunday, we will celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and the fulfillment of God’s promise to both Jesus and us—that all who believe do not come under judgment, but pass from death into eternal life. In addition to our usual celebrations, we will also be celebrating the baptisms of two new members of our church! Mark your calendars for that Sunday—to celebrate Christ’s resurrection and to welcome a new brother and sister in Christ into our church!

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

I have a random story to tell you all this week, but I hope that it can serve as a reminder of the opportunities we all have to make faithful connections. My story starts with me and my friend, Adam, deciding that we wanted to go to the ACC Tournament this year up in Washington, DC. We made the plans and bought the tickets all in one night. So, when you see that I’m on vacation in a couple weeks, you’ll know where I am!

That raised an issue for me though: I bought all my Carolina clothes when I was in undergrad, which was longer ago than I think! So, this past Sunday afternoon, I had to go to Franklin Street to restock my closet ahead of the tournament—emphasis on the “had to” part! I went through several stores, including walking all the way down to Student Stores on cam-pus, and came away with a good assortment of t-shirts and a nice new Carolina sweatshirt.

Now, when I bought that sweatshirt, the cashier assured me that it was a unisex XXL. When I got home and tried it on, I found that it was not! If I stood perfectly still with my arms down by my side, it barely covered my torso and only about 80% of my arms. I don’t know if you all know this, but at athletic events, you rarely stand perfectly still with your arms down by your side! As popular as crop tops have become, I decided that maybe they were not the look for, you know, the Reverend Benjamin Wines.

So now, I legitimately had to go back to Franklin Street to return this sweatshirt and buy a new one! So, Tuesday night, I went to Franklin Street, strolled up to the store, and found that they had closed early that day—so now I have to go back to Franklin Street a third time for one sweatshirt! Not to be defeated, I went to a couple of other stores and found a sweatshirt that I liked at The Shrunken Head Boutique—an institution! As I was checking out, the cashier and I started chatting.

She is currently a sophomore at UNC and is a double major in, of all things, neuroscience and religious studies. I told her that I had majored in religious studies at UNC and so we chatted about some of the professors there—turns out we had some of the same ones. I told her that I was a minister and asked if she was considering ministry and she said, “Not primarily, but I’m keeping my options open.” So I asked her, “What led you to both neuroscience and religious studies?” And she responded by telling me that she loved science and medicine and wanted to help people, but that sometimes science can get so focused on helping the person’s body, they for-get about the person themselves. She wanted to bridge that gap.

As it happens, Duke Divinity School partners with Duke’s School of Medicine to teach classes on exactly that—bridging the gap be-tween “patient” and “person.” So I told her about the program and encouraged her to look into it. She told me she would and then finished ringing me up. As I left we laughed and said, “What are the odds we’d run into each other and have this conversation?” And if you just consider random, generic “odds”—it’s pretty low. But I happen to believe in a God who can use a decision to go to the ACC Tournament, a closet full of raggedy old clothes, and an ill-fitting sweatshirt to bring people together.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben