An Ebenezer?

During Sunday morning worship a few times a year, we sing Hymn 400, “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” from The United Methodist Hymnal. The first line of verse 2 begins, “Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by Thy help I’ve come.” I have always wondered what this Ebenezer business is, but by the time I got home from worship, I had forgotten about it and have never looked it up.

During one of our weekly staff meetings, when it was my turn to give the devotion, the answer to my questions actually found me. The devotion I shared was entitled, “Here I Raise My Ebenezer”, written by D. T. Knobel in the devotional Strength for Service to God and Country. Knobel writes:

        “...An Ebenezer was a standing stone or stones set up by the Israelite leader,
        Samuel, to commemorate God’s intervention in history to save His fragile
        confederation of tribes from certain annihilation by the powerful army of the
        Philistines [ref 1 Samuel 7:12]....An Ebenezer – not a name and not really
        just a stone – is something much more relevant and precious to each of us.
        It is a concrete reminder of God at work in our lives and in the lives of those
        around us....An Ebenezer may be represented by a place, a person, or an
        event which reminds us that God is not distant, but an active presence in our lives.”

This made me think of our bulletin board in the hallway between the office and the fellowship hall. It has become a visual way we are reminded about the work of God in the life of the church and in the lives of those around us. Through photographs and images we celebrate the great things that God is doing in and through our church on one side of the board. On the other side, we celebrate those people who have come to know God in their own lives and joined the church through the witness of those at Princeton UMC. This has become Princeton’s “Ebenezer Board”, a place where people can be reminded about the work of God at Princeton.

If you have not had the chance to check out the “Ebenezer Board,” you can find it on the Fellowship Hall. Updates are made regularly, so be sure to check back often to see the ways that God is working in the lives of those at Princeton

Ben Wilcox, Children’s Director / Administration

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