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Brothers and sisters,

Years ago, my hometown of Goldsboro began a project to revive our downtown. The Downtown Goldsboro Develop-ment Corporation (DGDC) cast a vision of what downtown Goldsboro could look like and began applying for grants to execute that vision. And, over the last twentyish years, they’ve done just that. Downtown Goldsboro is now a thriving part of the city with local shops and restaurants dotting Center Street and local special events happening throughout the year. But there was one thing I noticed when I was home last month that brought a smile to my face.

See, one of the unique features that the DGDC incorporated into the design of downtown was an amphitheater near the fire station. The idea behind this amphitheater was that concerts could be had there, events could set up emcees and DJs there, and folks could just meet there throughout the week. But since it was near the fire station (which actually also houses police and EMS), emergency services also like to take advantage of it to do public outreach. And as I was driving downtown recently, I looked and saw where one of our fire crews was out in the amphitheater playing all kinds of water games with local children. They had hooked up one of the fire trucks and were spraying water all over for kids to jump through, jump over, get misted by, and on and on and on. The little kids were all running around, just squealing with delight. When I asked someone about what was happening, they told me that the fire station does that once a week, every week during the summer to give the local kids something cool and fun to do in the midst of hot summers. It serves as a bit of respite for the children’s parents as well. And it helped build camaraderie between police, firemen, EMS drivers, and the community.

I tell you all that story because we have yet another opportunity to reach out to our community and provide a day of respite for folks. Our next Super Saturday Adventure is coming up on Saturday, August 19th. At each of our Adventures, we’ve elevated one of the stations to be our “big event.” In June, we did the cookout. In July, we painted ceramics. This month, we’re playing water games with the kids! And I’m so looking forward to it! I’m looking forward to the parents being able to come, drop their kids off, and know they’ll be cared for. I’m looking forward to getting to see these children again and get to know them better. I’m looking forward to seeing their smiles and hearing their joyful squeals. In all of it, I hope that the children will get to hear about a God who loves them, a God who loves their joy, and a God who gives abundantly.

If you would like to help out, there are several ways you can do that. Registration is open for both children and volunteers on our website, www.hvbc.org. And if you are unable to join us the day of, please be sure to take time to pray for the volunteers, the children, and their parents. Pray that all of us would be knit closer together as a community. Pray that August 19th would serve as a welcome respite for everyone as we learn about God and play some really fun games!

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

A couple of friends of mine and I have an interesting hobby. We don’t get to take part in it very often together, but when we do we always have a blast. We enjoy going to minor league baseball games together. Just about every year for the last three years, we have gone to a minor league game to celebrate my birthday. The first two years we went to see the Durham Bulls and had a wonderful time. Both years they played and beat the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp! We enjoy going to see them, but there’s another layer to our new hobby that the Bulls don’t quite measure up to.

My friends and I love to go to minor league baseball games, but specifically if the team has a funny/ridiculous mascot. Where they live, my friends go to see the Frederick Keys (named after Francis Scott Key) or the Spire City Ghost Hounds. But did you know that right here in North Carolina, we have teams like the Burlington Sock Puppets? Look them up—their mascot is amazing! Or, even better, Winston-Salem hosts a summer collegiate team known as the Carolina Disco Turkeys—I will be spending far too much money on their merch!
Last week, my friends and I made the trip over to see my hometown team, the Down East Wood Ducks, whose mascot is a wood duck carrying a gnarled tree branch like a baseball bat—I love it! Only, we didn’t see the Wood Ducks that night. We saw Los Avocadoes Luchadores de Down East—the team’s alternate mascot, which is half an avocado wearing a luchador mask and flexing his biceps. But in the store at Grainger Stadium, you could buy merch for their other alternate mascot, the Kinston Collard Greens—an old-timey baseball player with collard green leaves for a beard. Now, the game was mostly good. Heading into the top of the 8th, it was tied 3-3, but after a disastrous top of the 8th involving four errors, the Avocadoes were down 8-3 to the Salem Red Sox (what a lame mascot!) and never recovered. But my friends and I had a great time catching up, watching the ball game, eating surprisingly good stadium food, and en-joying the people-watching that goes along with baseball. It was a wonderful night, perfectly timed.

Now, why write about this in a church newsletter? Is it just to send web traffic toward the Disco Turkeys or the Wood Ducks? No. This week reminded me of all the many different identities all of us have. We are sons or daughters, brothers or sisters, wives, husbands, friends, colleagues, customers, fans, etc. We all have unique ways that we interact with the world around us, unique ways we speak to one another. But I also wanted to remind us all that we have specific, unique ways we care for one another and show each other love. Some of us cook amazing food and offer it freely. Some of us are quick to hop in the car and carry folks from place to place. Some of us send cards or emails, make phone calls or house visits.

Regardless of who God has made you to be—and God has made you to be uniquely you—God has given you a unique, special way to show your love and appreciation for others. You have been loved by God in your own unique, special way. So, embrace the gifts and talents God has given to you.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

At this week’s Super Saturday Adventure, we’re going to be talking with the children about the story of Mary and Martha. It’s a pretty simple story on its face. Jesus and his disciples make their way to a village where they are first welcomed by Martha. She brings the disciples into her home and there they meet Mary, who sits at the feet of Jesus and listens to him. Martha, however, was engaged with the many different tasks involved with hosting people in the ancient world — food, drink, overnight accommodations, etc. Frustrated, she came to Jesus and asked him to tell Mary to come and help her. But Jesus replied that Mary had chosen “the better part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42).

Based on that passage, Martha tends to get a bad rap. The more traditional interpretation tends to go something along the lines of, “Mary was right and Martha was wrong. Mary loved Jesus more than Martha. Mary was wiser than Martha, thus Martha needed to be corrected. Don’t be like Martha.” And that interpretation doesn’t sit well with me. Jesus and his disciples depended on people bringing them into their homes in order for them to offer their ministry to folks. And right there at the beginning of this passage, Luke says that Martha “welcomed him.” She believed in his ministry enough to be willing to open her home to him and provide for his disciples. And, yes, she does have her moment of frustration, but the tone of Jesus’ response implies something more along the lines of, “Martha, the things you’re doing are not wrong. But more than anything else, I want to be able to spend time with you.”

At this Saturday’s adventure, we’re going to teach the kids more about that second interpretation. We’re going to talk to them about the different ways that Mary and Martha showed their love for Jesus. And we’re going to remind them that each and every one of us has unique gifts and talents that have been given to us by God. Those talents help us reach out to others, help us care for other people, help us connect with God, and help us become better disciples.

So, if you have not signed up to help on Saturday morning, you can still come by and offer your gifts and talents to help care for these children. You can help teach them about the love God has for each of them. You can come and teach them that the folks at Hope Valley Baptist Church love and care about them too. Or, if you can’t come by, you can still pray for the kids, their parents, our volunteers, and this ministry in general.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

P.S. Martha appears in John’s gospel as well and reminds us of her faith in Jesus. After Lazarus died, she met Jesus on his way into Bethany and they had a conversation about resurrection. In that conversation, Martha identified Jesus as “the Son of God.” The only other person to say that so plainly in John’s gospel was John the Baptist.