Author: [email protected]

Posted on

Sheer Silence

O Lord, do not be far away!
O my Help, come quickly to my aid!
Deliver my soul from the sword;
Save me from the mouth of the lion!
I will tell of Your Name to my brothers and sisters;
In the midst of the congregation I will praise You:
You who fear the Lord, praise Him!
Stand in awe of Him, all you offspring of Israel!
For He does not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted;
He did not hide His face from me, but heard when I cried.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him shall praise the Lord.
All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord;
And all the families of the nations shall worship Him.
For dominion belongs to the Lord,
And He rules over the nations. –Psalm 22:19-28

“Sheer Silence” – Rev. Benjamin Wines

We hope that you will join us for Worship this Sunday – either in-person or via live-stream. Our Call to Worship is from Psalm 22, and our Scripture Passage will be 1 Kings 19:1-15a.

Bulletin June 19 2022Download
Children’s Ministry Resources June 19 2022Download
Posted on

Truth and the Trinity

O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth!
You have set Your Glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouths of babes and infants You have founded a bulwark,
To silence the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars that You have established;
What are human beings that You are mindful of them,
Mortals that You care for them?
Yet You have made them a little lower than God,
And crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under their feet,
All sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth! –Psalm 8

“Truth and the Trinity” – Rev. Benjamin Wines

We hope that you will join us for Worship this Sunday – either in-person or via live-stream. Our Call to Worship comes from Psalm 8, and our Scripture Passage will be John 16:4b-15. Today, we will also be recognizing our Graduates!

Posted on

Pentecost …

Brothers and sisters,

It is hard to believe it, but June is upon us! The (very) high temperatures are becoming more regular and the sun is shining longer and longer each day. To me at least, it feels like Easter was just a couple weeks ago, not a month and a half! But as the Easter season comes to a close this Sunday we are invited, as a church, to contemplate the arrival of the Holy Spirit and what that arrival means for us as Christians. There are three main symbols used by the church to reflect on Pentecost and what it means.

The first symbol is a flame. Drawing on the story from Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples as tongues of fire, the church has used fire imagery to symbolize the arrival of the Spirit. The church talks about the Holy Spirit “lighting a fire” in us to go and do the work of the kingdom. You’ll hear people say they have a “burning passion” for something. Famously, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, spoke of attending a church service and having his “heart strangely warmed.” That moment renewed his faith and spurred him to continue to preach. The Holy Spirit creates a kind of energy that fire represents so beautifully — strong and persistent.

The second symbol you’ll see on Sunday is a dove. This is actually a symbol that gets moved from where it originally started over to Pentecost. The dove descending from heaven comes to us from Christ’s baptism in Matthew 3. Jesus goes down into the waters of baptism, led by John the Baptist, and as he emerges from the waters, “suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him” (Matthew 3:16). And so the dove comes to us as a heavenly symbol of the Holy Spirit’s presence.

Finally, you’ll notice a lot of red in the sanctuary on Sunday. The paraments, the scarf on the cross, even Amy’s and my stoles will all be red. On the surface, the red symbolism is pretty simple — it hearkens back to the tongues of fire. Heat and fire can be represented by the color red. But for a long time now, the color red, as a liturgical color, has symbolized a desire for justice. It has come to represent the arrival of God’s Spirit, yes, but also a church that speaks up for those whose voices are ignored. I particularly like this symbol because I think it speaks to the main point of the Pentecost story. Yes, the Holy Spirit descends upon the disciples with power, in the form of flaming tongues. God’s presence is reestablished with them, but the Spirit then immediately sends them out into the world to care for people. The Spirit immediately sends them out to continue Christ’s ministry. It does not descend upon them for no reason! The Holy Spirit comes to guide them to the people who are hurting and give them power to help them.

As we come to Pentecost this year, seek the Spirit’s presence in your own life. Who may the Spirit be calling you to? How might God be calling you to help those people? Jesus’s ministry was centered around his conviction that every person was a child of God. How is the Spirit leading you to continue that ministry?

I look forward to seeing all of you on Sunday in your brightest red!

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Posted on

“Spirit Dwelling”

“Spirit Dwelling” – Rev. Benjamin Wines

When the day of Pentecost had come,
[The disciples] were all together in one place.
And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind,
And it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them,
And a tongue rested on each of them.
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit
And began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
“In the last days it will be, God declares,
That I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh,
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon My slaves, both men and women,
In those days I will pour out My Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
Then everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” – from Acts 2

We hope you will join us for Worship – in person or via livestream – starting at 11:00AM on Sunday, June 5th. We will be reading from Romans 8, and Rev. Benjamin Wines will bring the message, “Spirit Dwelling”.

Bulletin, June 5, 2022Download
Children’s Ministry Resources June 5, 2022Download
Posted on

Witnesses

“Witnesses” – Rev. Benjamin Wines

Clap your hands, all you peoples;
Shout to God with loud songs of joy.
For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,
A great King over all the earth.
He subdued peoples under us,
And nations under our feet.
He chose our heritage for us,
The pride of Jacob whom He loves.
God has gone up with a shout,
The Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
Sing praises to our King, sing praises.
For God is King of all the earth;
Sing praises with a psalm.
God is King over the nations;
God sits on His Holy Throne. – from Psalm 47

Please join us for Worship – in person or via livestream – starting at 11:00AM on Sunday, May 29th. We will be reading from Luke 24:44-53, and Rev. Benjamin Wines will bring the message, “Witnesses“.

Children’s Ministry Resources – May 29, 2022Download
Bulletin – May 29, 2022Download
Posted on

Respecting the Spirit

“Respecting the Spirit” – Rev Benjamin Wines

May God be gracious to us and bless us
And make His face to shine upon us,
That Your way may be known upon earth,
Your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
For You judge the peoples with equity.
Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, has blessed us.
May God continue to bless us;
Let all the ends of the earth revere Him. – from Psalm 67

Please join us for Worship – in person or via livestream – starting at 11:00AM on Sunday, May 22nd. We will be reading from Acts 16:6-15, and Rev. Benjamin Wines will bring the message, “Respecting the Spirit“.

Children’s Ministry Resources for May 22, 2022Download
Bulletin for May 22, 2022Download
Posted on

Eating with Gentiles

“Eating with Gentiles” – Rev. Benjamin Wines

Praise the Lord from the earth,
You sea monsters and all deeps,
Fire and hail, snow and frost,
Stormy wind fulfilling His command!
Mountains and all hills,
Fruit trees and all cedars!
Wild animals and all cattle,
Creeping things and flying birds!
Kings of the earth and all peoples,
Princes and all rulers of the earth!
Young men and women alike,
Old and young together!
Let them praise the Name of the Lord, for His Name is exalted;
His glory is above earth and heaven. from Psalm 148

Please join us for Worship – in person or via livestream – starting at 11:00AM on Sunday, May 15th. We will be reading from Acts 11:1-18, and Rev. Benjamin Wines will bring the message, “Eating with Gentiles“.

Bulletin – May 15, 2022Download
Children’s Ministry Resources – May 15, 2022Download
Posted on

“First”

Brothers and sisters,

It is hard to believe it, but my one-year anniversary here at Hope Valley Baptist Church was this past Sunday! My tenure as Senior Pastor began on May 1, 2021, with my first sermon being the very next day! It was a sermon entitled, “First”, and it was based on a reading from 1 John 4:7-21. The theme of the sermon was love (always a good topic!) and we talked about the way that God chooses to love people well and the call for each of us to love people well. I used a tennis analogy to talk about the love of God. I said that the most important part of a tennis player’s serve is the toss—that everything literally hangs in the balance when the ball is in the air. And I said that when God was choosing how to define Godself, everything hung in the balance, and God chose love.

Over this past year, I think we’ve done a good job, as a church, of choosing love. We reached out to McDougald Terrace and helped provide snacks during a time when kids would struggle to stay fed. We have started forming a relationship with teachers at Parkwood Elementary School to remind them that they are appreciated. We created goodie bags for healthcare workers at UNC, donated socks and underwear to Durham Urban Ministries, collected food for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. We’ve continued to house refugees in Hope House and help other people through Families Moving Forward. We’ve introduced new services (like the Service of Lament) in order to meet the needs of our congregation. And we’ve found new and innovative ways to gather together as a church family with Trunk-or-Treat and our Easter Egg Hunt.

It has been a good year and I am looking forward to what the next year has in store for us. I am encouraged by the fact that Covid case numbers continue to go down and so I am hoping that as 2022 continues, we will be able to gather in ways that look a little more normal. I hope that we can continue to reach out to our community, to build relationships with them, and discern God’s will for our church. I hope that we will continue to define ourselves by our love for others. Join me in praying for Hope Valley and the ways that we can remain faithful to God’s call for our church.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Posted on

Show Your Work

“Show Your Work” – Rev. Benjamin Wines

Happy Mother’s Day!

The Lord is my shepherd
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside still waters;
He restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for His Name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff — they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me,
In the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life.
And I shall dwell in the House of the Lord
My whole life long. – Psalm 23

We invite you to join us for Worship – either in person or on-line – starting at 11:00AM. Today, we will be reading from Acts 9:35-43, as Rev. Benjamin Wines shares the sermon, “Show Your Work”. Our Call to Worship is Psalm 23.

Children’s Ministry Resources May 8, 2022Download
Bulletin May 8, 2022Download
Posted on

Brother Saul

“Brother Saul” – Rev. Benjamin Wines

I will extol you, O Lord, for You have drawn me up,
And did not let my foes rejoice over me.
O Lord my God, I cried to You for help,
And You have healed me.
O Lord, You brought up my soul from Sheol,
Restored me to life from those gone down to the Pit.
Sing praises to the Lord, O you His faithful ones,
And give thanks to His Holy Name.
For His anger is but for a moment;
His favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
But joy comes with the morning.
You have turned my mourning into dancing;
You have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
So that my soul may praise You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever. – from Psalm 30

We hope that you will join us in Worship – online or in person – starting at 11:00AM, Sunday, May 1st, 2022. Our Call to Worship is from Psalm 30 and our Scripture reading will be from Acts 9:1-20. Rev. Benjamin Wines continues the sermon series, “A Whole New World”.

Bulletin May 1, 2022Download
Children Ministry Resources May 1, 2022Download