The Mark of the Nails

“The Mark of the Nails” – Rev. Benjamin Wines

Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty firmament!
Praise Him for His mighty deeds;
Praise Him according to His surpassing greatness!
Praise Him with trumpet sounds;
Praise Him with lute and harp!
Praise Him with tambourine and dance;
Praise Him with strings and pipe!
Praise Him with clanging cymbals;
Praise Him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!Psalm 50

We invite you to join us for Worship! We will be reading from John 20:19-31, as we continue our “A Whole New World” Sermon Series. Rev. Benjamin Wines brings the message, “The Mark of the Nails“.

What Are You Looking For? Easter 2022

https://youtu.be/lyn0j70o0UEv

O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His steadfast love endures forever!
With the Lord on my side I do not fear.
What can mortals do to me?
The Lord is my strength and my might;
He has become my salvation.
There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
“The right hand of the Lord is exalted;
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”
I shall not die, but I shall live,
And recount the deeds of the Lord.
I thank You that You have answered me
And have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes. -from Psalm 118

We invite you to join us for our Easter Service at HVBC! Pastor Benjamin Wines brings the message, “What Are You Looking For?” We will be reading from Luke 24:1-12.

Good Friday Service

My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Why are You so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer;
And by night, but find no rest.
Yet You are holy,
Enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In You our ancestors trusted;
They trusted, and You delivered them.
To You they cried, and were saved;
In You they trusted, and were not put to shame.
I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It is melted within my breast;
My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
You lay me in the dust of death.
But You, O Lord, do not be far away!
O my Help, come quickly to my aid! from Psalm 22

Services This Week

This is the last Illuminator before our joyous celebration of the resurrection and so I want-ed to be sure to write a little bit about the special services we have coming up.

The first is Palm Sunday—this Sunday—at 11:00 AM in the sanctuary. You are invited to join us in worship as we celebrate and commemorate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. We will celebrate Christ’s arrival as the arrival of a different kind of king, one who will bring true peace to his people.

Our second special service will be on Wednesday, April 13th at 6:30 PM in our sanctuary. This will be our hand-washing service where we will seek to imitate our Savior by washing each other’s hands as an act of love and service. We will make sure to perform the hand-washing in a Covid-conscious manner that is safe for all involved.

Our third special service will be on Good Friday, April 15th at 7:00 in our sanctuary. At this service we will read through and ponder the crucifixion, death, and burial of Jesus. It is a more somber service as the Christ light will be extinguished, the altar will be stripped of all decoration, and the service itself will end in silence and darkness. It should be a powerful service that re-minds us all of the tremendous faith and courage of Jesus.

Finally, please be sure to make plans to be with us on Sunday, April 17th at 11:00 for our Easter Sunday celebration! The good news of the Gospel is that while Jesus may get laid in a tomb on Friday, he doesn’t stay there long! Come as we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord and declare that Christ has risen!

Make plans to be here with us for as many of these services as you can! I look forward to seeing you all throughout this coming week!

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Colts and Stones

Colts and Stones – Rev. Benjamin Wines

O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His steadfast love endures forever!
I thank You that You have answered me
And have become my Salvation.
The Stone that the builders rejected
Has become the Chief Cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we beseech You, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech You, give us success!
Blessed is the one who comes in the Name of the Lord.
We bless you from the House of the Lord.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to You;
You are my God, I will extol You.
O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,
For His steadfast love endures forever! – from Psalm 118

We hope you will join us for our Palm Sunday service! We will be reading from Luke 19:28-40, and Pastor Benjamin Wines brings the message entitled, “Colds and Stones”.

Holy Extravagance

“Holy Extravagance” – Rev. Benjamin Wines

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with shouts of joy;
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us,
And we rejoiced.
Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
Like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
Reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
Bearing the seed for sowing,
Shall come home with shouts of joy,
Carrying their sheaves. -from Psalm 126

We invite you to join us at 10:45AM – either in person or via YouTube – for our Morning Worship Service. Rev. Benjamin Wines bring the sermon, “Holy Extravagance”. We will be reading from John 12:1-8.

Everything Made New

“Everything Made New” – Rev. Benjamin Wines

Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
Then I acknowledged my sin to You, and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the guilt of my sin.
Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to You;
At a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them.
You are a hiding place for me; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with glad cries of deliverance. from Psalm 32

We invite you to join us on this 4th Sunday of Lent. Our scripture passage is 2 Corinthians 5:16-21. Rev. Benjamin Wines brings the message, “Everything Made New”.

Operation InAsMuch

Brothers and sisters,

I am excited for us to be participating in Operation Inasmuch this year for two reasons. The first is simply that it is nice to do something that feels like “normal” after the last two years. It feels good to be able to take part in a big mission project together. It feels good to work with each other and pull together toward a common goal. It especially feels good to know that we can reach out to people who are in need — whether it is the healthcare workers over at UNC who need to hear how much we appreciate them, those folks experiencing homelessness who need basic supplies to survive, or the children over at Lenox Baker Children’s Hospital.

The other reason I am excited for us to be doing Operation Inasmuch this year is because of some of the memories I have of participating in it as a youth at my home church. I think I have mentioned this before, but I grew up in Goldsboro and was raised at First Baptist, Goldsboro. My home church is a very missions-minded group, always looking for opportunities to help others. So when we first heard about Operation Inasmuch twenty-some years ago, we jumped at the chance to get out and help people! Each year I was inspired by how many people at First Baptist came out to help other people and I was shocked at how many different ways people had thought of to help! Some of us went and did yard work for homebound Goldsboro residents. Some went and built ramps onto houses for people who used wheelchairs. Some stayed at the church and baked cookies for local first responders and wrote them notes. Others sorted through all kinds of donations made to the church that were going to local shelters. And I am sure there were other things we did that I just did not see!

Typically, whenever we did Operation Inasmuch, I would invite my friends to come and participate as well. There was one year in particular that I remember one of them saying, “This is great! I like how everyone is working at different sites, but you’re all working together to help people! It makes it feel like everyone is a team just trying to help.” At its best, that’s what Operation Inasmuch pushes us to do. It pushes us to work together, even if we are separated, in order to accomplish a common goal — helping others. Christ tells us that we are to help our neighbors, to love them as we love ourselves. Operation Inasmuch is such a wonderful expression of that belief. It is a week in which we put actions behind our words.

So, to everyone that is participating in any way, shape, or form, thank you! If you would like to get involved, the most pressing needs we have right now are for new packs of socks and under-wear of all sizes. These will be delivered to Urban Ministries. We will be collecting those through-out the next week, from March 27 through April 3. If you would like to make a blanket for the children over at Lenox Baker, please be sure to contact Barbara Sanders for a kit to get started! And to those of you that have volunteered to bake cookies or write cards for the healthcare workers at UNC, remember that those are due to the church this Sunday, March 27. Again, regardless of how you want to get involved, thank you! This is a wonderful way for all of us to use our time and our talents to provide a blessing to our neighbors here in Durham!

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Hunger and Thirst

“Hunger and Thirst” – Rev. Benjamin Wines

O God, you are my God,
I seek You, my soul thirsts for You;
My flesh faints for You,
As in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary,
Beholding Your power and glory.
Because Your steadfast love is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
So I will bless You as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on Your Name.
My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
And my mouth praises You with joyful lips
When I think of You on my bed,
And meditate on You in the watches of the night;
For You have been my help,
And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.
My soul clings to You;
Your right hand upholds me. from Psalm 63

Today’s scripture reading comes from Isaiah 55:1-9.

Transformation

“Transformation” – Rev. Benjamin Wines

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh
They shall stumble and fall.
Though an army encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war rise up against me,
Yet I will be confident.
One thing I asked of the Lord,
That will I seek after:
To live in the House of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple. – from Psalm 27

Today’s scripture passage comes from Philippians 3:17-4:1.