Place of Worship: St. Paul’s Church, Formosa Drive, Fazarkerly, Liverpool, L10 7LB. Google Map.
Every Saturday at 4:00 PM. We welcome you to join us is worshipping our LORD and JESUS CHRIST.

Contact details 
Achen
Rev. Varghese Mathew
 
Vice President
Mr. P K Oommen (Joy)
Tel: 01515242720
E-mail: mjoyoommen@aol.com
 
Secretary
Mr. V S Varghese (Manoj)
Tel: 01512833505
E-mail manojvadak@yahoo.co.uk
 
Trustee Finance
Mr. Geevarghese John
Tel: 01512915852
Email: annjes2003@yahoo.com

If you want to have your own e-mail ID with yourname@carmelmarthomachurch.org.uk or if you have queries on this web site please contact the web editor Dr. George Ampat at george@carmelmarthomachurch.org.uk

From Achen's Desk January 2010

EBEN-EZER, THUS FAR THE LORD HAS HELPED US. 1Sam. 7:12
 

Dearly Beloved in Christ,

We are saying goodbye to the year 2009, eagerly welcoming the New Year (2010) with lots of expectations. We are at a transition point, a junction where we have to look backward and
forward.
 

The great Prophet Samuel brought the people of Israel to a junction point, He took a stone and

placed it and said “thus far the lord has helped us “- EBEN-EZER. This is the point where he
took a stop to look back. He could see both the good and bad times of the life from the past to
the present. (read 1 Sam. 7:3-12)
 

In v.3 he points out to the Israelites of their deviation from the true living God. It is not that they

had completely forsaken their God but they in cooperated the idols of Baal in their worship.
 

Why it happened so?

1. Priority for the existence.
The Israelites found it difficult to worship the one and only one God in a polytheistic society. To
be comfortable they had to make some compromises and yield to the social pressures of their
environment. The rich heritage of faith was interpreted according to their conveniences. The
compromises may have made them much more acceptable in that society. Compromises are
not adaptability. In adaptability one need not compromise with the basic faith, value systems
and ethics. We too are victims of compromises in our present situation for the sake of our
existence. Like the Israelites, our existence is more important for us than our Creator.
We too incorporate the Baal idols in our daily life. The idols are the priorities that we set in our
life in relation to God. We are more conscious of keeping our social idols higher in our life, our
job, education, family, children, investments, and social status ...the list will be never ending.
When all these take a place above God, then we find less time for worship, devotion and
fellowship with God and his creation. In other words we become more and more selfish. This is
a new form of Baal worship in our life. In this circumstance what should we do?
 

2. Resetting the priority for existence

v. 5. At the prophecy of Samuel, the Israelites realised how far they had gone away from God
in their life. They repented and fasted. They opened themselves before God personally and as
a group. This helped them to identify the idols in their worship. It helped them to change their
life style, their worship style and their whole being. Thus their whole priorities where reset.
They held fast to their true Redeemer, the living God, the Creator and the Sustainer. They
experienced the Grace of the Lord more powerfully... It is high time for us too, to realise our
distance from God. Let us open our hearts before him. Know what our true self is. Seek his
pardon. Reset our priorities in life. Give first place to God in everything.
 

3. Reaffirming the hand of the lord.

After the victory when Samuel said “Thus far God helped us”, EBEN-EZER, his words had
great meaning.

It was the statement of acknowledgement of the failure (worshiping idols)

A statement of better understanding of self (repentance)
A statement of remembrance of the good and bad days (thanks giving)
The Israelites had both happy days, and the days of pain. They had a deep pain of humiliation,
defeat, loss etc.
 

As we are welcoming the New Year we too have hurt feelings, sorrows, sufferings along with

joy and happiness. Let us look back and identify the idols in our life and repent. Like Samuel,
let us look into the pains and struggles with the eye of faith and see how He has guided us
thus far in our life. All our struggles and pains have strengthened us to be strong and
courageous. It was the pain and struggle that helped us to see the Glory of God and
experience his care and love more meaningfully. It is a source of hope and strength to
welcome the New Year optimistically. It will surely help us to shine in the darkness and face
our life with added strength and confidence. It is the struggle, which helps us to see the hand
of the lord in our life.
 

LET US TOGETHER SAY “THUS FAR THE LORD HAS HELPED US” EBEN-EZER.

Let us grow in fellowship with God and with each other through our worships in the New Year
Wish you all a happy and meaningful New Year.
In the love of Christ,
 

Rev. Varghese Mathew

0161 2208376 ® 07852557598 (M)
 
Outreach services

We are very keen to hold out reach services. If any fellow Marthomites living in remote areas wish to arrange a Holy Communion Service at their convenient locations , please contact Mr. V S Varghese (Manoj) Tel: 01512833505 E-mail manojvadak@yahoo.co.uk or Mr.Saju John sajujohno@talktalk.com 0120-438 9693

Last updated on 12th January 2010

Top

 

 

web analytics

View My Stats