We are His Work: Recent Episodes
Pastor Jeff Hensley
In this podcast, pastor Jeff Hensley, of Hester Baptist Church, provides a weekly spiritual message that is based on important texts from the Bible, and interviews church members, pastoral colleagues, denominational and community leaders, and others about spiritual themes. A new message is provided every Saturday, and it is our hope that each one will remind you that God loves you deeply, and like a divine potter, God desires to make of you a vessel that He can use for His glory and that He might work in and through in order to share His grace with the rest of the world. Amen.
In this week's episode, we are exploring the second of the Beatitudes of Jesus, and we hope this exploration of this wonderful saying from Jesus blesses your life. Our guest this week is Dale Hughes, and he will be sharing with us about how God has guided and been with him through his battle with cancer. We hope Dale's story brings comfort and hope to your life. May God bless you. Amen.
We are pleased to be returning with new episodes of our podcast for the fall, winter, and spring of 2023-2024. In our biblical exposition portion, we are beginning a new series in which we will explore the "Beatitudes," which open the "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew 5. Our special guest this week is Rev. Zac Campbell, who is the pastor of Mountain Creek Baptist Church, which is a sister congregation here in Granville County, North Carolina. We hope this episode is a blessing for you, and we invite you to come back again next week as we continue our study of the Beatitudes. May God bless and keep you. Amen.
Our latest episode features an exposition of a wonderful text of faith that is vital to both our Jewish sisters and brothers, and to all those who are Christians. The text is Deuteronomy 6:4, which is commonly identified by it's first word, the Hebrew word "Sh'ma," which means "Hear." After a piano interlude, our special guest this week is Pastor K J Ellington, who originates here in Granville County, but who is now a church planting pastor with the Baptist State Convention of NC and the North American Mission Board. K J will also be one of our featured speakers for this year's Historic Tent Revival we have planned for June 4th through the 7th. We hope you will enjoy meeting K J in today's episode. Thank you and may God bless you. Amen.
In this week's episode, we are considering Lamentations 3:22-23, and our special guest is Dr. David Chambers, who is the pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Roxboro. David will be one of our guest preachers for our Historic Tent Revival, which we have planned for June 4th through the 7th of this year. We hope you will enjoy meeting David through our podcast. May God guide and bless you this week. Amen.
In this week's episode, we are exploring the comforting words of Jesus from the close of His "farewell discourse" in John 16:33. Our special guest this week is Dr. Andy Wakefield, who is the Dean of the Divinity School at Campbell University. We hope you enjoy listening with us this week, and may God bless you. Amen.
We welcome you to our podcast for this week! In our expository portion today, we are exploring Psalm 50:15 and considering the piety that is foundational in the Psalms, the faith that sustains the individual believer and supports the Body of Christ. Our special guest this week is Rev. Victor Blackwell, who is the pastor of the Sharon Baptist Church here in Granville County. We are pleased to have you listening this week, and we wish you God's blessings and strength. Amen.
This week's episode is addressing the tenth commandment, which teaches us not to "covet." This is our final episode in the series on the Ten Commandments. Our special guest this week is Ron and Kelly, who are Baptist missionaries, and they will be sharing with us their own stories of their life journey with Jesus. We hope you enjoy meeting Ron and Kelly in this week's episode. Next week, we will be moving to consider a variety of Bible texts that offer comfort, hope, and encouragement. May God bless and keep you in the coming week. Amen.
We took a break during the Christmas Holiday, and then took some extra time to assemble a fresh, new list of special guests for our podcast, and this week we are back with a new episode. This week, we are examining Exodus 20:16, which is the ninth of the Ten Commandments. We are nearing the end of this series exploring this foundational body of biblical instruction, and we have enjoyed the journey through these important verses. We hope you have as well. Our special guest this week is Rev. Robbie Woods, who is the new pastor of the Tabbs Creek Baptist Church, a sister congregation here in the Flat River Baptist Association. It was a pleasure meeting Robbie, and I hope every listener enjoys meeting him as much as I did. We appreciate Robbie sharing with us his story of his own journey with Jesus. May God bless you as you listen this week. Amen.
In this week's episode, we explore with you the eighth commandment, which says, quite simply, "Thou shalt not steal." Our special guest this week will be Dr. Brian Upshaw, who is the Assistant Executive Director-Treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. We are pleased to have the opportunity to get to know Brian, as he shares with us his story of his own journey with Jesus. Because it is now the Christmas Season, we will be skipping one week, so it will be two weeks before our next episode is published. When we return, we will be exploring the ninth commandment, and we will have another special guest at the microphone. We hope you will plan to join us then, and may God bless you with a MERRY CHRISTMAS. Amen.
In this week's episode, we are examining the seventh commandment about adultery, and our special guest this week is our former pastor, Rev. Randy Bridges, who is currently the pastor of the Rolesville Baptist Church. We are pleased to have you listen with us today and may God bless you. Amen.
In this week's episode, we explore the sixth commandment, which is about not killing another member of the covenant community. Our guest interview this week is a surprise guest. We hope you will listen with us this week, and be sure to tune in with us next week when we will have as our guest someone that everyone at Hester knows well. Thank you and may God bless you. Amen.
In this week's episode, we are continuing our exploration of the Ten Commandments, and our focus this week is on Exodus 20:12, which is the fifth commandment about honoring our parents. Our special guest this week is Rev. Alex Gallimore, my predecessor as pastor of Hester Baptist Church. We hope everyone will enjoy sharing with us this week, and hearing Alex tell us about his own spiritual journey. May God bless you. Amen.
In this week's episode, we continue to explore the Ten Commandments, and we look specifically at the fourth one, which is about keeping the Sabbath. Our special guest this week is Dr. Curtis Freeman, who is the Director of the "Baptist House of Studies" in the Divinity School at Duke University. We believe you will enjoy hearing from Dr. Freeman, as he shares some of his own story and thoughts from his latest book, and remember that, whenever we have a guest who shares details about a new book, a copy of their book is being placed in the Church Library for your use. Thank you, and may God bless you. Amen.
In this week's episode, we will be looking at the third of the Ten Commandments, which is about the misuse of the name of the LORD, or taking God's name in vain, as the King James Version puts it. Our special guest this week is Rev. Brett Pardue, who is the new pastor at the Oxford Baptist Church here in Granville County, North Carolina. We believe you will enjoy hearing of his journey with Jesus. May God bless you. Amen.
This week's episode explores the Second Commandment, which tells us not to make "shaped images." Our special guest is Rev. Larry C. Williams, who was formerly the Campus Minister at Meredith College, and long-term pastor of Louisburg Baptist Church in nearby Franklin County, North Carolina. Since his retirement from the pastorate, Larry has been serving as a Spiritual Director, and in this week's interview he tells us about his journey with Jesus, and about his latest book. We hope you will be blessed through this episode of our podcast. Amen.
In this week's episode, we are beginning our study of The Ten Commandments, and our verse for today is Exodus 20:3. Our special guest this week is the Reverend Dr. Robert Canoy, who is the Dean of the Divinity School at Gardner-Webb University. We are pleased to having you listening this week, and we wish you God's blessings for the coming days. Amen.
In this week's episode of our church podcast, we are exploring together the concluding doxology, which is at the end of The Lord's Prayer in Matthew's Gospel. It is such a wonderful portion of this beautiful prayer, and it has much to offer to us for our own spiritual journey and worship, so we hope you will be blessed by this exposition. Our special guest this week is Dr. Sophia Steibel, who is Professor of Christian Education and Spiritual Formation in the Divinity School of Gardner-Webb University. I believe you will be blessed by hearing part of her story, and I pray that you will continue to listen with us. Next week, we will move on to begin a series of studies examining The Ten Commandments, and our special guest will be Dr. Robert Canoy, who is the Dean of the Divinity School at Gardner-Webb. May God bless and guide you this week. Amen.
In this week's episode, we explore the last petition of "The Lord's Prayer," which is found in Matthew 6:13a. Our special guest this week is Richard Brunson, who is the Director of the North Carolina Baptists On Mission, which was formerly the North Carolina Baptist Men. This department of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina organizes and enables Baptists of our state to reach out to others in need, especially after tragic events such a hurricanes and tornadoes. Richard has been doing this work for many years now, and we hope you will enjoy hearing about his journey with Jesus.
In this week's episode, we explore Matthew 6:12 and the petition "forgive us our debts." We are coming to the close of our series of studies of The Lord's Prayer. Next week, we will examine the last petition, which is found verse 13a. We will also discuss the Doxology at the end, but will consider that separately. Meanwhile, we hope these expositions of this wonderful prayer are enlightening and encouraging for you. Our special guest this week is the Reverend Johnny Yount, who is the pastor of the Island Creek Baptist Church in nearby Vance County, North Carolina. We hope you will listen to both parts of our episode, even if you choose to listen to each part on separate occasions, and may God bless your week. Amen.
In this week's episode, we are continuing our examination of The Lord's Prayer, which is found in Matthew 6. Our topic today is the provisions of God, and we hope you will be blessed by listening to our exposition this week. Our special guest for the week is the Rev. Dr. DuPre Sanders, who is the pastor of the Roxboro Baptist Church in nearby Person County. I hope you will be comforted and encouraged by listening to DuPre's story of his own personal journey with Jesus. May God bless you. Amen.
The publication of this week's episode was delayed one day due to power outages as a result of Hurricane Ian. In this week's podcast, we are exploring the next petition of our Lord's Model Prayer, which is found in Matthew 6:10b, and the biblical topic is "the will of God." Our special guest is Rev. Bruce Beck, who is the pastor of the West Oxford Baptist Church here in Granville County. We hope you are blessed by hearing about his life journey with Jesus.
In this week's episode, we will be exploring the meaning of the petition, "Thy Kingdom Come," which is part of our Lord's Model Prayer. Our special guest this week is Mrs. Cecelia Hensley, the Music Director and Accompanist for Hester Baptist Church. Cecelia will be sharing with us about her journey with Jesus. We hope you will enjoy and be blessed by this week's episode and hope you will join us again next week. May God bless you with comfort, strength, hope, joy, grace, and love throughout the coming week. Amen.
This week's episode considers the second phrase in The Lord's Prayer, and we continue to emphasize that daily, life-sustaining and spiritually enriching prayer focuses upon God and includes healthy praise of God. Our special guest this week is Rev. Tim Lolley, the son of Pastor Tom Lolley, who was a former pastor of Hester Baptist Church. We are delighted to welcome Tim to the podcast microphone this week, and we hope you will enjoy hearing him tell his own story of his life with Jesus. May God bless and guide you in the coming week. Amen.
This week, we are beginning a new series in our exposition of the Bible. This series is on "The Lord's Prayer," which is found in Matthew 6:9-13, as part of the instructions of Jesus in His "Sermon on the Mount." We plan to spend several weeks on this wonderful, powerful text, which is so important to ALL followers of Jesus and memorized by many believers. Our special guest this week is Casey Champion, our next community leader that we are welcoming to the podcast microphone. Casey is a Funeral Director with the Gentry, Newell, and Vaughan Funeral Home here in Oxford, and she shares with us a bit about her own personal faith and her service to and with families in their times of grief. We hope you will be blessed as you listen with us to this week's episode, and may God guide you in the coming week. Amen.
In this week's episode, we conclude our exploration of Psalm 23 and explore "The Goodness and Mercy of God." Our special guest this week is Rev. Micheal Pardue, the pastor of the First Baptist Church if Icard, North Carolina, and the current President of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. We hope you will enjoy listening and participating with us this week. Next week, we will begin a new series exploring the most famous prayer in the Bible, "The Lord's Prayer," so please join us for our next episode, and may God bless you in the coming week. Amen.
In this week's episode, we explore Psalm 23:5 and the biblical theme is "The Provisions of God," especially in times of challenge or difficulty, or in the face of persecution. Our special guest this week is Rev. Gus Gillespie, who is the Director of Missions, or the Associational Missions Strategist for the Flat River Baptist Association. I believe you will enjoy hearing about Gus's journey of faith and how God led him into one career, and then called him into a second one in Christian Ministry. Thank you for listening with us this week, and may God bless you in the coming days. Amen.
In this week's episode, we explore Psalm 23:4 and consider the biblical theme of "The Comfort of God." Our special guest this week is Becky Currin, who is the Director of the Church and Community Ministry for the Flat River Baptist Association here in Oxford and Granville County. We hope you will enjoy our episode this week and listen every week. May God bless and keep you through His Comfort. Amen.
In our podcast episode this week, we are examining Psalm 23:3, and our theme is "The Righteousness of God." We spend some time considering that Righteousness is a gift of grace, and that "we are not saved because we are righteous, but we are righteous because we are saved." In other words, God's blesses us with his gift of his righteousness and uses us as vessels through whom God shares his righteousness with the rest of creation. We pray this will be true in all of our lives. Our special guest this week is Rev. Perry Brindley, the Associational Missions Strategist with the Buncombe Baptist Association in my hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. We hope you are blessed by our episode this week. Amen.
This week's episode is the second in a series on Psalm 23. Today we are considering the second verse of this familiar Psalm and celebrating the "Peace of God." Our special guest is Rev. Joe Don Cooper, who is the pastor of the Delrayno Baptist Church here in Oxford, North Carolina. Joe Don tells shares with us his personal testimony of faith and about his calling into the Ministry, and we spend a bit of time talking about what the "Peace of God" means to him. We are pleased you have chosen to listen today and we wish God's blessings and hope for you. Amen.
In this week's episode, we begin a six-session exploration of the most famous biblical Psalm - Psalm 23. We will be examining this beautiful and familiar poem in a verse-by-verse fashion, taking one verse per week. Our special guest for this week is Mr. Mark Pace, who is the North Carolina historical specialist at the Thornton Library here in Oxford. Mark will be sharing with us details about the history of faith here in Granville County and thoughts about how our own church fits into that larger picture. He will also weave into his remarks some observations about the significance of our biblical theme this week. We are pleased to welcome Mark to the microphone this week, and we hope this episode on "God as Our Shepherd" will be uplifting and comforting for every listener. Amen.
This is the fourth episode in a series of four, which examines the four phrases that make up John 3:16, which is probably the most famous verse in the Bible and an essential summary of the Gospel. In this episode, we consider the words "should not perish, but have everlasting life," and our theme this week is "our eternal hope," or more specifically, "what happens to believers when we die?" Our special guest this week is Rev. Ron Cava, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Henderson, North Carolina, in nearby Vance County. I believe everyone will appreciate hearing about the experiences and views of this seasoned pastor. Just a heads up for the future... next week, we will begin a new six-part series of episodes on the most famous biblical Psalm - Psalm 23.
This is the third in a series of episodes that examines John 3:16. This week, we are looking at the third phrase: "that whosoever believes in Him," and the biblical topic this week is "Faith." Our special guest is Rev. Cameron Currin, the pastor of Grassy Creek Baptist Church here in Granville County. Cameron has strong, personal ties to Hester and he will be sharing with us several memories and a bit of his view of the importance of Faith in the life of a follower of Jesus.
This is the second in a series of episodes on John 3:16. In this episode, we consider the second phrase of this important verse and discuss how Jesus came into this world in the flesh. Our special guest is Rev. Steve Brown, the pastor of Enon Baptist Church here in Granville County.
This is the first of four episodes on John 3:16, which considers the first phrase of this important verse: "For God so loved the world." The guest interview features Chris Hensley, a Hospice Chaplain, who discusses the importance of the love of God in his ministry and for his patients.