From The Pastor

Brothers and sisters,
It is incredible to me to think that my first month as your Senior Pastor has almost already come and gone! I am enjoying getting to meet new people and getting to know every-one here more fully. Thank you all for continuing to be patient with me as I learn names and learn how different things operate here at Hope Valley. I am grateful to be a part of this community of believers.

As we do get to know each other better, I wanted to give you all a bit of a preview of what’s to come in worship during this summer. All my life, the churches that I have either at-tended or worked in have had pastors who preached sermon series. Typically, a series would last anywhere from four to twelve weeks, depending on what the topic being considered was. I, myself, tend to think that sermon series are really helpful in worship because it allows us all to spend a longer period of time considering either an important figure in the Bible, an important image or set of images, or an important idea. I have always felt that sermon series give us a way to think about our faith together as a church family.

So, over the next nine weeks, we will be taking a look at King David. The series will be entitled, “The Man After God’s Own Heart” and will be a series focused on the complexity of David’s character and the goodness and mercy of God’s character. To me, David is such an interesting figure because he so fully embodies what it means to be human. David is someone whose actions can reach the heights of goodness and faithfulness, but can also fall to the depths of corruption and sin. And yet, somehow, David is still referred to as “the man after God’s own heart.” He is still included in Jesus’ genealogy to the point that Jesus is sometimes referred to as, “the son of David.” He ends up embodying this tension that Christians always live in—that while we are saved, we are still sinners.

Thus, David’s character ends up asking us a lot of interesting questions that I hope we can explore over the next nine weeks. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be faithful? What does it mean for God to be faithful to us? How should our faith affect our relationships with other people? How should our faith affect our relationship with God? These are not always easy questions to answer, but I think that so much of growing in our faith and learning to be disciples comes from wrestling with tough questions.

As we move into this series and into the summer, my prayer is that we will be able to glean wisdom and instruction from the life of David. My prayer will also be that we will continue to meet the challenges posed to us by the pandemic. Even as things begin to open back up and life begins to resemble something like normal for us, let us continue to pray for those in our own society for whom the dangers of the pandemic are still very real. And do continue to pray for health and peace for all God’s children in every nation.

Grace and peace to you all,
Ben

Brothers and sisters,

At the time that I am writing this article, I have officially been the Senior Pastor here at Hope Valley for a little over a week. And what an eventful week it has been! Between preaching twice, moving from Raleigh to Durham, and meeting so many of you, I have had a wonderful start to May! As I am settling into my office and my apartment, as well as settling into the rhythm of Hope Valley, I would greatly appreciate your prayers. I am so grateful to be here. I am looking forward to getting to know you all better and walking alongside you as we seek to serve God faithfully each day.

I did want to let you all know some of the ways to get in touch with me if you need me during this time of transition. My office email address has gone live now, so you can email me at [email protected]. I check my email throughout the day, so if you want to send me something feel free to send it to my office email. As we continue to be cautious in regard to the virus, please feel free to reach out to me and let me know about any cares and concerns you have within our community. I am still learning people’s names, trying to figure out family connections, who is in the hospital, who is in extended care, etc. Any help you can offer me to help me learn where the cares and concerns are in our congregation would be greatly appreciated!

I know that this has not been an easy time for any of us as we continue to deal with the challenges presented by the pandemic. I am so hopeful, though, that we are getting closer and closer to turning an important corner in all of this. As we do, I am looking forward to getting to meet you all under more normal circumstances. Until then, I continue to have faith that the Holy Spirit will connect us and draw us closer together. I am reminded of the old Baptist conviction that the church is not a building. It is not four walls and a roof. It is the people of God, worshiping in truth and goodness. As Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6). Even in the midst of this pandemic, as we continue to keep some distance between ourselves, we are connected to each other. We are bound to each other by the God “who is above all and through all and in all.” The miracle of the Holy Spirit maintains that bond and will continue to refresh and revitalize it as need be.

Grace and peace to you all,
Ben