From The Pastor

Brothers and sisters,

In a little over a week, we will be having another Deacon Ordination service here at Hope Valley Baptist Church. Marie Bush was elected as one of our new members on the diaconate — her first time serving! Because of that, we get to come alongside her as her brothers and sisters in Christ and affirm the call God has placed on her.

The office of deacon can be traced back to various passages within the scriptures. Within the Old Testament, an argument can be made that the judges Moses appointed to help him settle disputes were similar to deacons. Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, saw how Moses was exhausting himself in his efforts to help the people. He gave Moses great advice, telling him that if he continued this way, he would wear out himself and the people. He told Moses to appoint good honest folks to help him care for God’s people. Moses did that and the judges came alongside him and helped him. In the same way, deacons are called to come alongside the pastor of their church and help him/her care for the people God has entrusted to them.

In the New Testament, you can read about some of the earliest deacons within the church in Acts 6:1-6. There was a dispute within the early church about whose widows were being cared for and whose weren’t. The twelve apostles then called the church together and appointed seven people “full of the Spirit and of wisdom” to care for the widows. Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus were chosen. The twelve apostles prayed over them and laid their hands on them. The first deacons had been ordained!

Paul also constantly lists deacons that helped him throughout his own ministry, with one of the most famous deacons mentioned being Phoebe in Rome. Paul says of her, “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchrae, so that you may welcome her in the Lord, as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well” (Romans 16:1-2). Paul understood that the work of God’s kingdom is never limited to one person. It takes a community of people to serve the Lord.

On September 15th, we will come together as a community to honor the work that Marie has been called to. We will pray over her and lay hands on her, the same way the apostles did in Acts. She will serve alongside myself and the other deacons as we do our best to care for the people here at Hope Valley. And she will contribute to the work of God’s kingdom here on earth.

I’m looking forward to the 15th!

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

I just wanted to follow-up with you all about our fellowship event with World Relief Durham (WRD) last Wednesday night. What a wonderful time it was! Twenty-seven church members came out to spend time with us learning about World Relief Durham and the work they do. The food was good. The fellowship was great. And the meeting itself was informative and inspirational.

For those that were not able to join us, Adam Clark, the Executive Director of WRD, talked with us about exactly how ministries like Hope House factor into how they help refugees. He mentioned that Hope House and other houses in the Welcome House Network enable WRD to say, “Yes,” to refugees because WRD knows those refugees will have a safe place to stay once they reach America. He talked about the way that Hope House has inspired other churches in the area to look into creating their own temporary housing for refugees. He talked about the ways that each individual can get involved on behalf of refugees—through donations, through advocacy, and through prayer.

Then, John, one of the first people to stay in Hope House, stood up and told our church about the positive impact Hope House had on his life. He talked about how deeply loved he and his family felt by this church. He said that every year he and his family go over the blessings in their lives and every year they mention Hope Valley Baptist Church and, in particular, Bill Bigger. John also told us about his plans to become a nurse and his dream of working with refugees. He also informed us that he loves North Carolina, but that our weather has taken some getting used to!

At the end, Garry Crites, their new Church and Community Engagement Manager, had set up a table with mate-rials for all of us to take home that further explained the work WRD does. One of the things he had was a bookmark with “40 Days of Scripture & Prayer.” Basically, it was 40 passages to read and pray over on behalf of refugees. I’ll leave you with one of those passages, “When a foreigner re-sides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:33-34, NIV).

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

Earlier this summer I had an opportunity to meet with a couple of the leaders over at World Relief Durham (WRD). The reason for the meeting was simple. WRD had a new Development Specialist, Megan Wylie, and she was interested in learning about how our church partners with WRD to help refugees.

We set up a time to meet—myself, Megan, and the director of WRD, Adam Clark—and went to get coffee at Joe Van Gogh. Over the course of an hour, the three of us sat and chatted with each other about all kinds of things. We talked about how Hope House came to be. We talked about Megan’s recent move to NC and about sports. Then we talked about some of the broader things happening at Hope Valley, with our main topic of discussion being Super Saturday Adventures.

Then, she asked, “Is there anything that we can plan to do together—Hope Valley and WRD?” To which I said, “I’d love to get some kind of fellowship event planned with y’all. A night where you all can come to Hope Valley and talk about the work you do with refugees. And, of course, since it’s a Baptist church we’d have something to eat!” Megan and Adam liked the idea and mentioned that one of our former Hope House residents would be in town in August. They asked if he could come and be a part of this event as well. I happily agreed.

Within the last week, those plans have finally come together. On this coming Wednesday night, August 14th, we will be having a fellowship event with World Relief Durham starting at 6:30 pm over in the Fellowship Hall. We will be serving hors d’oeuvres and small desserts and offering a time of fellowship. Then, World Relief Durham will give a presentation on their work and how they help refugees here in the Triangle. We will also hear testimony from John (Odette’s son) whose family stayed with us in Hope House for over a year. Finally, time-permitting, WRD is open to a time of questions and answers, wrapping up around 7:20 pm.

I think this will be a wonderful night of fellowship together as a church, but also a wonderful opportunity for us to meet with one of our strongest community partners. Also, having talked some with John this past Saturday, I think his testimony about how Hope House helped set him up for success will be uplifting for us all. I hope you will make plans to join us on the 14th!

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

It is that time of the year again — time to nominate and elect Deacons! You’ll notice that the Deacon nomination form has been included in this week’s Illuminator. I would encourage everyone to take some time to think and pray about who you would like to nominate to serve as a Deacon here at Hope Valley. Consider the people you know at our church and how their gifts line up with the mission of the Deacon Board – to provide pastoral care and leadership to the members of our church.

At its best, church is about all of us coming together to care for one another, walk alongside each other, pray for each other, and build community together. Church is never about any one person doing everything. It has always been and should always be a collaboration among all of us. We see several places throughout the scripture where various leaders of our faith realize they cannot go it alone. Jethro encourages Moses to appoint judges (Exodus 18:13-23). The apostle realize they need help in order to preach the gospel and take care of the people (Acts 6:1-6). In his various letters, Paul makes mention of deacons serving the people of the church faithfully, with perhaps the most famous one being Phoebe in Cenchreae (Romans 16:1-2). These leaders of our faith looked to others as partners as they sought to faithfully follow God’s will.

That is the primary function of the Deacons — to partner with the Pastor and other leaders within the church to care for our congregation and help us faithfully follow God’s will. If you know of someone who you think would do a good job leading and serving in this way, I would encourage you to speak to them, tell them the gifts you see in them, and see if they would be willing to be nominated for a position as a Deacon. Or if you yourself feel God calling you to step into this leadership role, I would encourage you to speak to another church member about that and see if they would be willing to nominate you. As always, I would counsel everyone to listen for God’s voice in this process and seek to follow God’s will.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

That’s not a typo. Have you ever “fallen down a rabbit hole” on the Internet? What I mean by that is, have you ever
been on the Internet—reading an article, a story, or watching a video—and you get really interested in it, so you keep clicking more and more links related to it? Eventually, you look
up and an hour or two has gone by and you think, “How on earth did I get here? And where did the time go?!”

I recently “fell down a rabbit hole” while on Google Maps. The thing that prompted it was a very simple question, “Where do people actually live in Greenland?” A whop-
ping 75% of the country’s land mass is covered by a think sheet of ice. The only habitable places are along the coastlines. Even there, life is harsh for most of the year. Because
of that harsh climate, there aren’t many people living in Greenland. Nuuk, the nation’s capital and most populated city, has only 19,872 people, but that makes up a third of the
entire country’s population. Their most populated city has fewer people than Elizabeth City, NC. Chapel Hill has more people than all of Greenland!

But that’s not what I wanted to write about this week. See, if you take some time to browse the Street View images in some of the little villages on the western coast of Greenland, you will see some stunning images. Greenland is a
harsh climate, yes, but my goodness is it beautiful! You can actually get a “Street View” from a boat that has motored out into the bay near the town of Kangerluk, allowing you to see snowcapped mountains all around. Or, if you go to the town of Qaanaaq, you can plop the little Google Maps guy on the beachfront and look out over a bay of glaciers.

Qaanaaq, by the way, holds the distinction of being the northernmost “major town” in Greenland—a bustling metropolis of 646 people. It is the fifth northernmost “public settlement” in the world. Most of the folks in the
town make their living either through hunting or fishing (narwhals, walruses, seals, etc.), with Qaanaaq being so isolated the people have to use every part of any animal they kill. They also deal with “midnight suns”—that is, twenty-
four hours of sunlight—from the middle of April until the end of August. And their average temperature for the entire year is 16 degrees!

In going down this “rabbit hole,” I kept thinking to myself, “My goodness, this is just a whole other world! It’s beautiful but it seems so unforgiving.” And I sat back and marveled at how different life must be in a place like Qaanaaq. I marveled at the creativity of God, the beauty of everything I saw. But, I felt so disconnected—until…

If you go to Google Maps and you go to Qaanaaq, you’ll see that there’s one supermarket in town. If you click on that supermarket’s name, Google will offer to show you sixteen pictures of the inside of the market. If you do that, you can see what they sell. And would you like to know what hot sauce the Qaanaaq Supermarket sells? The pride of North Carolina—Texas Pete! Y’all, we are far more connected than we could ever imagine. The people of Qaanaaq, Greenland live very different lives from you and me. Yet, the same God created them. The same God loves them. And I hope that the next time you reach for some Texas Pete to spice up your dinner, you’ll remember your brothers and sisters in Qaanaaq and the God that connects us all.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

Last night (Monday), I watched the second half of Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and the Boston Celtics. And, to be honest, it was not a particularly compelling half of basketball. To be even more honest, these Finals were not particularly compelling. Boston quickly took a 3-0 lead in the series (you have to win 4 games to win the Finals), with Dallas avoiding the sweep by winning Game 4 in Dallas. But teams that fall down 0-3 in a seven-game series in the NBA are now 0-157. Boston’s victory was never really in doubt

The part of the series that was more compelling came in the world of sports media. See, Boston has two high-level superstars that sports talk show hosts love to pit against each other. They are Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The narrative you usually hear is something like, “Tatum is obviously the best scorer and the overall best player, but Brown is the leader and on any given night, he can be Boston’s best.” If Tatum has a great game, you’ll hear breathless segments about how that affects Brown’s overall value to the Celtics. Or if Brown has a great streak of games, hosts will ask questions like, “Does this negatively impact Tatum’s basketball legacy?”

Well, last night, a tremendous amount of fuel was about to be added to the fire. During the Finals, an award is given out for “Finals MVP”—the most valuable player in the Finals. Finals MVPs are a big deal and so players really do want to win it. Leading up to last night’s game, pundits were arguing over who should win it—Brown or Tatum. They were arguing over whether or not this would cause a rift in Boston. Should Jaylen Brown get it because he’s been better in the Finals or should Tatum get it because he’s been better throughout the season? They were ready, regardless of who won, to use it as a talking point come Tuesday morning.

Jaylen Brown won Finals MVP. And when he won, he smiled a moment, looked over at Jayson Tatum, and, when given a microphone, immediately said, “It was a full team effort and I share this with my brothers and my partner in crime, Jayson Tatum. He was with me the whole way, we share this [award] together.” Brown knew what others would do with his award—use it against his teammate—if he didn’t nip it in the bud.

It honestly reminded me of the many times that Paul counseled early churches that the only ways they should be competing with each other was in building each other up. He despised the way the Corinthians tried to weaponize the name of the person who had baptized them, as if Christians are divided into teams. He pushed back hard against Peter’s hypocrisy when Peter was willing to eat with one group of Galatians until a different group showed up. Paul understood that the mission of God’s church is accomplished when everyone works together. It was never about which disciple gained more glory. It was always meant to be about people hearing that God loved them. That’s it. Church is meant to be a full team effort, shared by brothers and sisters in Christ who are with each other the whole way.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

Last Saturday, May 18th, our church hosted a community yard sale. The preparation took months as folks brought in gently used items to sell. Over the last two months in particular, Robin and I would get at least one phone call per week letting us know that someone was coming with a trunk full of stuff for the yard sale and asking if we’d help them unload it. We always did and I appreciated the time it gave us to get to talk with you all and hear the stories behind some of the items you donated.

In addition to those months of build-up, the week before the yard sale was itself a busy, but good time of fellowship. The Wednesday and Thursday before the sale were particularly fun days to be at the church because there was so much buzz, so much energy surrounding what was going to happen on Saturday. And so much good, faithful work was done by all the volunteers who came out those days—moving, sorting, organizing, and pricing every single item that had been donated.

In addition to the yard sale itself, we had a bake sale that benefitted Hope House. So many people in our congregation baked so many wonderful treats and sweets for that sale, which ended up bringing in $300 to continue to support refugees and their families. People also chipped in with snacks and finger foods for the volunteers so that we never had to worry about breakfast or lunch—the church had us covered!

At the yard sale itself, I saw so many people getting excited for the things they had found. Children were walking out the door with stacks of children’s books, along with some toys. Parents were walking out with armfuls of clothes for themselves or their kids. Place settings, picture frames, furniture, and the sorts of random things one only finds at a yard sale walked out as well.

I also saw church members enjoying being around each other and being around the community. We ran into people we knew from previous ministries we’d worked on together. We connected with people over shared interests and the items that go along with those interests. And I saw church members reconnecting with each other after not seeing each other for a while.

And, once the sale was over and the boxes had been packed, a local non-profit organization in need of items for their own clothing closets and community centers came in and took everything away in order to keep blessing our community. That connection was made simply because one of their leaders saw our sign on Thursday and had the initiative to come and ask if we could work together on this.

In the end, the yard sale raised about $1,800 for our church’s capital campaign fund. That in and of itself is wonderful! But I’m also still buzzing over what an overall good day it was. Good work was done in a faithful way to bless our community. That good work brought us all together with friends old and new and connected us with other brothers and sisters in Christ working on behalf of our community. God is good, y’all. All the time, God is good.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

I’m in the midst of moving apartments this week, which means my nights have been filled with organizing my stuff, packing boxes, and, most importantly, looking at things and asking myself either, “Do I really need this?” or “What did I buy this for?” One of the more obscure things I’ve found was a VCR to DVD converter I bought years ago with the intent of converting our copy of the “Star Wars: Special Edition” trilogy into DVDs. You may be asking, “Why?” Because I have strong opinions on some of the changes made between the “Special Edition” and the DVD editions that came out years later. By the way, I never did convert the movies, but I still had the converter.

I bring that up not just to further establish my credibility as a nerd, but also because I’m always struck by the memories that different items can bring up. I remember buying that converter because of how much I loved the “Special Edition.” There are certain cooking utensils I have that I look at and think, “I remember when someone gave that to me” or “Oh, I remember the recipe I bought these for—that did not work out!” And there’s almost always a smile on my face as I do that. It sounds a little sentimental, but these things end up telling a part of my story.

Last week, during Bible Study, we talked about Psalm 98 and the image of God as one who remembers. The first part of verse 3 reads, “[God] has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness.” Throughout the scriptures, the people of Israel in particular talk about God as one who remembers. God knows their story. God cherishes them and God cherishes the stories they’ve shared together. You’ll notice as well that the Israelites will go out of their way to create monuments, to create items that tell the story of their relationship with God and their commitment to each other.

But one of the truly wonderful things about God is that God is always looking to make new memories with people. That extends to all people, in all places. God is always speaking into people’s lives, affecting their stories, and weaving them into God’s own story. There may not always be special items to commemorate those moments, but the presence of God is ever-present in the lives of each of us. I hope that you can take some time this week to reflect on special moments in your own life: be those family moments, good times with friends, or important occasions in your own faith. Take the time to consider them, to remember they are a part of your story, and to look for the ways God is woven into your own story.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

Last Friday, Taylor Swift released her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department. Since the album’s release, the internet has been ablaze with reviews and hot takes. The album has already set multiple records—most Single-Week Vinyl Sales, most Single-Day Spotify Album Streams, most Single-Day Spotify Song Streams, and more. By just about every metric out there, Taylor Swift and The Tortured Poets Department are winning.

The thing is, this album is raw. Swift writes about heartbreak, shattered dreams, and mistakes. She also sings about the ways the music industry hurts those in it. So far, one of my favorite songs has been, “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” The song tells the story of Swift’s ability to compartmentalize her emotions, pushing through the real pain she’s going through to be the persona of “Taylor Swift—Pop Star” the people want to see. The song starts with Swift singing in slow, breathy tones about how she wants people to perceive her “having the time of her life/There in her glittering prime,” but she admits that the persona is a lie. Then, with a quick “one, two, three” the chorus intrudes on Swift, demanding the persona come out to sing. Somehow both peppy and melancholy, you can hear her singing the lyrics with a practiced smile, “Breaking down, I hit the floor/All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting, ‘More’/I was grinning like I’m winning, I was hitting my marks/’Cause I can do it with a broken heart.”

Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like there’s a lot of that happening these days—folks grinning like they’re winning, hitting their marks, all to conceal broken hearts. And while I understand that part of life is learning how to function even when going through difficult times, it seems to me that church ought to be a place where folks can find rest. Church ought to be a place where we can genuinely say to people, “There are no marks to hit here. If you want to celebrate, we’ll celebrate; but if that’s not where you are right now, that’s fine too. There’s still a place for you here.” At its best, the church can be a place of healing where people are told that they are beloved by God and by God’s people, no matter what. But there’s one final layer to the song I want to briefly touch on.

At the very end, the chorus is done. Swift is coming off stage and she speaks to the listener, but her tone is uneven. She sounds like she’s losing it. The practiced smile is cracking. She says, “You know you’re good, I’m good/’Cause I’m miserable/And no one even knows!” But then her voice snaps into an exhausted, but threatening tone as she says, “Try to come for my job.” She recognizes that this back and forth, between her real pain and the persona she’s made for herself, is hurting her. But she can’t let it go. It’s how she’s learned to deal with the world. In her mind, if she loses the persona (even though it’s killing her), she loses every-thing. So just try to take this from her. It’s a real feeling. It is a raw depiction of what can happen when reality and expectations clash.

At its best, the church can be a place that says to people struggling with these kinds of internal struggles, “You don’t need to put on a persona here. You can be you. All that we ask is that you bring your authentic self.” God has made each of us to be wonderfully, uniquely ourselves. The only expectation God places on us is that we love one another. No personas. No crowds cheering on breakdowns. Just a community of believers.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

In just about ten days, our church is going to begin a week-long commitment to missions in our community. That commitment is know as “Operation Inasmuch,” taking its name from the story of the sheep and the goats in Mat-thew’s gospel. When Jesus told the sheep that they had helped him in so many ways, they asked, “Lord, when did we see you this way? When did we do these things for you?” And Jesus replied to them, “Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40; KJV). Thus, we are going to be giving back to our community in several different ways during the week from April 21st through April 27th.

On Sunday, the 21st, the children of our church will be decorating and assembling bags of treats and goodies for the bus drivers at Parkwood Elementary School to show our appreciation for all they do. Those bags will be delivered on Friday of that week so that the bus drivers get to start their weekend knowing that there are some in their community who love and appreciate them.

On Wednesday, April 24th, at 6:30 PM during our usual Bible Study time, the adults of our church will also be assembling bags, but these will be different. These will be bags filled with useful items to give to folks experiencing homelessness in our community. Basically, these bags will be filled with some basic supplies that people who spend all day in the elements may need: bottled water, band aids, sunscreen, ponchos—as well as some snacks. Once those bags are assembled, we will make them available for folks to be able to pick them up and carry in their car. You’ll be encouraged, then, to give out those bags to anyone you see in Durham who needs a blessing. As part of that, we are asking folks to bring in supplies for those bags—the list of needed items is printed in the Operation Inasmuch announcement in this newsletter. So, if you can come out on Wednesday the 24th and pack bags, we’d love to see you! If you aren’t able to help pack bags, you can bring in items that will go into those bags!

Then, on Saturday, April 27th, we are planning to have volunteers go to the home of one of our church members and do some yard work and light repairs. If you are interested in helping with that, please be sure to sign up in the vestibule. If there is a specific type of yard work you’d be willing to do or a specific tool you can bring to help, you can list that next to your name as well. Once I’ve got an idea of who all can help, we’ll coordinate a time with the church member we’re helping and finalize what we’ll be doing that day.

Also, starting Sunday morning, April 28th, we will begin a month-long collection drive for supplies for our Hope House. There are several needed items listed in the Operation Inasmuch announcement in this newsletter. This collection will run through the month of May.

To top it all off, on Sunday, April 28th at 5:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall, we will be having an Ice Cream and Dessert Social with a missionary in India whom our church helps sponsor.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben