Here I Raise Mine Ebenezer

“Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shenand called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” (1 Samuel 7:12)

Dear Beloved,

It is important to remember what God has done for his people. God’s past faithfulness will ground us in his future faithfulness. After great miracles and victories, the nation of Israel would set up a monument to remember God’s deliverance.

After the return of the Ark, Samuel set up a stone and called it Ebenezer for the Lord had helped his people. The stone would serve as visual illustration of how God helps His people. So as children would walk by that stone, a father or grandfather would be able to pull them aside and tell them about the great victory God gave over their enemy. Monuments are instruments of remembrance.

Like Israel, we should take time to remember all that God has done for us. This Sunday, we celebrate our 106th year of the Park Baptist Church. God has been very gracious and kind to the people of Park. He has used this church to bring many people to Christ and to strengthen their walks with the Lord Jesus. In an effort to raise our remembrance of God’s faithfulness to us, we stop once a year to remember what God has done in and through us. As the great hymn of the faith, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, says,

Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by they help I’m come; and I hope by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home. Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God; he, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood.

We can rejoice in what God has done through Park for ultimately it is a work of His hand. Think about how many Jesus has sought when they were strangers, wandering from the fold of God through our 106 year history? Think about how many Jesus has rescued from danger by interposing his precious blood in the last century? Oh beloved, let us use this coming Sunday as a special day to rejoice in God’s faithfulness to the Park Baptist Church. We hope by His good pleasure that we will labor for his glory until we safely arrive at home.

In Christ,

Pastor Dave