Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this first day of October. It is going to be very blessed weekend, for our Lord has ordained it. This evening there will be a great gathering for celebration and thanksgiving at Davis College. Governor Mike Huckabee will be the keynote Speaker.
Those who live in the area join us for our weekly TV outreach on Time Warner Cable Channel 4 at 7 PM. Some of our people will be involved in the luncheon ministry tomorrow at noon at the First United Methodist Church, Endicott. We will meet for coffee and fellowship at 6 PM and for worship at 6 PM at the First UMC Endicott. Pastor Terry Steenburg will be preaching. Dave Berry and the team will be involved in the music ministry. There will be special ministry for the children and the youth. On Sunday we will meet for worship at 8:30 and 11:00 at Union Center UMC and at 9:30AM at the Wesley UMC.
Our granddaughter Micah loves to sing Hymns and praise songs. One of the hymns she sings is "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". This hymn has some very big words. The first verse reads, “Come thou fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount--I’m fixed upon it--Mount of thy redeeming love." It continues (though Micah doesn't know these words yet), "Here I raise mine Ebenezer; Hither by thy help I’m come. And I hope by thy good pleasure Safely to arrive at home.”
That line from the hymn, the name Ebenezer, comes from a single Old Testament verse. I hope that after today, whenever you are overwhelmed by life or tempted to give up in discouragement, you will repeat this strange word to yourself—Ebenezer! People may think you are crazy, but I guarantee if you can say Ebenezer with meaning you will never be the same. To mark the occasion of the great military victory and the day of their great return to faith, Samuel raised a memorial marker. From that day on, whoever saw the marker would be reminded of the great events of the day. Samuel gave the marker a name. He called it Ebenezer, a term that meant “the help of the Lord.” “Thus far has the LORD helped us,” he said.
Memory is an amazing thing. Psychologists tell us that we never really forget anything. Every experience, both good and bad, is filed securely in our mental memory banks. Sometimes we forget where we put it, but it is still there. The memories of the hard times remain. So can the memory of God’s faithfulness. That was Samuel’s challenge. He wanted his people to not only remember what they had been through, but he also wanted them to never forget the Lord who had seen them through it.
God has helped us. He was helping us in the good times. He was with us in the hard times. He will continue to come alongside and help us in all the times of our lives if we remember Him.
Robert Louis Stevenson, in one of his stories, tells of a passenger ship crossing the Atlantic. It encountered a harsh storm that threatened to overwhelm the ship. The captain ordered the passengers below while the crew battled the storm above. At one point, the passengers grew impatient. They hadn’t heard a word from the bridge in the longest time. Finally, a volunteer ventured out to see how things were going. A short time later, the man returned to the huddled passengers. “Did you see the captain? What did he say? Are we going to make it?” The messenger responded, ‘I didn’t talk to the captain. But I saw him. He looked at me and smiled. All is well!” And that was enough!
In the midst of our heartache and loss, the God of heaven smiled. The storm still raged, but our Captain smiled. All is well. Here we raise our Ebenezer. Thus far, the Lord has helped us.
One of the Old Testament Psalms sang of this help. “I will lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you—the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” (Psalm 121)
Here we raise our Ebenezer. Thus far, the Lord has helped us!
In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG5ZhFN1DXk
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