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Brothers and sisters,

Here we are—Advent! This is a wonderful time in the church year where we take time to actively wait for Jesus. We take time to hope for his arrival once again, to believe that his presence in our world changed our world. Advent is this deeply meaningful season of the church year where take time to contemplate what it means for God to have taken on flesh, to walk among us, to live the kind of life we live. It is a season for reflection and contemplation and anticipation.

Now, the way that typically plays out in American culture is that the lead-up to Christmas is a time of busyness. Commercials on TV tell us how many shopping days are left till Christmas. We see characters in commercials, shows, and holiday specials rushing through crowded malls, desperate to get the right present for their loved one. This season is crowded with Christmas parties and special events within the community. It ends up feeling hectic, as we go from one obligation to another.

This year at Hope Valley, we want to help cut through that busyness. We want to provide services that you are welcome to come to and hear the good news of this season—that Christ is coming, and that is enough! We want to provide services that offer words of hope, peace, joy, and love, in the midst of all the busyness! So, I wanted to take time in this week’s Illuminator to explain what these services are trying to accomplish.

The first of these is the Service of Lament happening on Wednesday, December 15th at 6:30 PM in our sanctuary. Christmas is a time of the year when we are often encouraged to focus only on the joy this season can bring. But some of us are carrying grief into the holidays with us. Perhaps you’ve lost someone this year. Perhaps a relationship has been strained or you’re just not feeling joyful right now. The Service of Lament seeks to create a space for all of us to come together, as a church family, and name those burdens we’re carrying, as well as help others carry theirs. Our second special service this year is called, “Sing We Now of Christmas”, and it will be on Sunday, December 19th at 5:00 PM in our sanctuary. I’m excited for this service! Kathryn and the musicians at our church have planned and prepared a wonderful evening filled with songs and scripture that seek to capture the joy and wonder of the Christmas season. It is a service where you will be able to come and hear the gospel in both word and music, as we prepare for the birth of our Savior.
Finally, we will be having a Christmas Eve Candlelight and Communion Service on Friday, December 24th at 5:00 PM here in our sanctuary. I love this service because it provides an opportunity to see our church family and experience the joy of Christmas together. At this service, we’ll take Communion as a re-minder of God’s love for us and we’ll light candles as a reminder to take the light of Christ into the world, a light which the darkness could not overcome.

We invite you to come to any and all of these services. They are designed to help each of us reconnect with God as we move through Advent together. They are meant to be times of respite in the busyness of the holidays. At these services, you will hear about the love of God, the presence of God, and the miraculous grace of God. You will not hear how many shop-ping days till Christmas or that if you order over $100 worth of stuff you can get FREE SHIPPING, but only if you order right now! You will hear a good word from a good God—thanks be to God!

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,

Believe it or not, we are less than three weeks away from the beginning of Advent! It amazes me how, each year, November just seems to melt away. Regardless, we’ve got a lot of really exciting services coming up throughout the rest of the year. This coming Sunday, November 14, will be the close of our sermon series, “We Are How We Eat.” Then the next Sunday, November 21, will be Christ the King Sunday, a day on which we celebrate the royal, regal nature of Christ’s character. The Sunday after that, November 28, is the First Sunday of Advent—the Sunday of Hope—and our Hanging of the Greens Service. I’m excited for this Advent season. I’m excited for this season of preparation as we await the celebration of Christ’s birth. I’m excited for the simple fact that this is our first Advent together! In another part of the Illuminator we’ve printed the schedule of services for the Advent season with times so everyone can be sure to make plans to be here for those services.

As we move closer to the season of Advent, I did want to go on and tell you all about our Advent and Christmas sermon series, “Incredible”. I know that may sound like an underwhelming title for a series, but as I sat here and thought about the different passages we’re going to look at, the different people we’ll meet, and the way that God brings it all together, the only word that kept coming to mind was, “Incredible.” And for this sermon series, I want us to think of the word incredible in all its different meanings. Most of the time, when you hear the word in-credible you think of something being great, right? Krispy Kreme Doughnuts? Incredible! The Sound of Music? Incredible! Spending time with loved ones? Incredible! And I do think that applies to the season of Advent as well. The Savior of the world is coming? Incredible!

But the word incredible also means, “difficult or impossible to believe; too extraordinary and improbable to be believed.” And as we read through the passages I’ve chosen for this sermon series, I think you’ll find that the people in these stories believed that what they were hearing was incredible too. It was impossible to think that this was happening. The plan God was setting in motion was too improbable, too unlikely to work. And yet, time and again, we see the people have faith. We see people trust in God. And, of course, we know that doing incredible things—that’s God’s specialty. So I want us to take some time this Advent to think of the incredible things God has done for humanity. I also want us to take some time to think of the incredible things God has done for each of us.

This will be the last Illuminator before Thanksgiving, so I would encourage you to think about these things over the Thanksgiving holiday as well. What are the things you’re thankful for? What are the things God has done that amaze you? How can you do something incredible for your friends, your family, your neighbors?

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Brothers and sisters,
As I’m writing this article, our church is preparing for our Trunk-or-Treat this Saturday, October 30 (from 4:30-6:30 if you’re reading this ahead of time and want to come!). There is candy in the office. There are pumpkins and scarecrows scattered around the church. There is a wonderful chill in the air and the trees are at this wonderful stage of half-green, half-turned leaves. It feels like the week of Halloween. It feels like something fun and exciting is coming!

I mentioned in an earlier Illuminator article that I love fall and everything that comes with it. In particular, I enjoy Halloween. I love the feeling of mystery and suspense that comes with the holiday. I love the mischief in the air. I love to read some ghost stories and watch a scary movie. But I also love some of the themes that come along with Halloween. It is a holiday that brings up the ideas of life and death. It reminds us that there is still mystery and wonder in our world. And it also can remind us of the communities to which we belong. Over the last few years, I’ve taken an interest in the history of Halloween, particularly where some of the traditions of the holiday come from. Perhaps the most famous tradition, I would argue, is trick-or-treating.

Interestingly, scholars are not sure where exactly trick-or-treating came from. There are some traditions from hundreds of years ago that might be the origin, but those were more focused on cakes and singing hymns. Some say that it comes from concerned homeowners trying to appease pranksters, i.e. “I’ll give you a treat if you don’t play a trick on me.” But most scholars seem to think that trick-or-treating came about during the Great Depression, when money was tight for families all over the country. Their children still wanted to celebrate Halloween and have a night of fun, but not everyone could afford to provide big meals for their own families all on their own. So, neighbors each agreed to make one little treat that they would pass out to any children that came by their door. That way, even though individual households did not have much, the neighborhood could come together to bless their children.

To me, that’s a wonderful way to look at a holiday like Halloween—as a community-driven effort to care about our neighbors. It is a holiday on which we can provide a small blessing to our neighbors, our friends and families, and even complete strangers. It is a time of the year in which we can remember that we are called to be in an authentic community with people, finding creative ways to love them. Halloween can serve as a time of year when we think back to the communities that came before us and shaped us, to the communities that loved us—and be thankful. It can serve as a time of year to bless those around us. And it can serve as a wonderful reminder that those children coming to our doors (or our trunks this Saturday, October 30 from 4:30-6:30 in the church parking lot!), will remember the time that total strangers cared for them. They will remember the time when church people loved them and gave them candy. So, let’s take this opportunity to bless them. Let’s come together and show our community how much we care. Happy Halloween, y’all!

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben