October Pastoral Letter

Greetings in the Name of the Lord!

It is hard to believe that we are coming upon my family and I’s one-year anniversary of joining you here in Ellisville. It is amazing to see how many ways God has blessed us by your love and fellowship. We look forward to many more years of service and friendship with you as we work together for the Gospel and the Glory and Majesty of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We have also come to the end of our most recent sermon series on the Book of Ruth and I hope our time with Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz has been a blessing to you as it has been to me. It never ceases to amaze me as I read through Holy Scripture the way in which God blessedly orders everyone’s lives for His Glory. You can imagine that when Ruth awoke the morning she was introduced to Mahlon she had no idea what the Lord had in store for her in the next decade of her young life. But what we see in that decade is salvation for Ruth, redemption for Naomi, and the extension of the line of Christ by the mercy of the Kinsman-Redeemer Boaz. One of the things that sets apart the Scriptures is how often the focus of the stories in the Bible are on ordinary folks, living ordinary lives, seeking in their day-to-day life to serve and honor God in everything they do. We see that Boaz’s selfless acts towards Ruth and Naomi were done not for personal gain, but because he loved God and he loved his neighbor first. It is a reminder to us that if we put our trust and faith in the purposes of God and in His Wisdom and Direction then God will bless us in His mercy.

Our next sermon series will see us attend to the relationship between Jesus and His Father. John 17 begins after Jesus had spent the previous couple of chapters preparing His disciples for His departure. Jesus now is preparing Himself for the cross and He does so by going to God the Father in prayer. One of the problems in the Church today is we have lost a real understanding and appreciation for the relationship between the members of the Trinity and what it means to us that God the Father sent God the Son to die upon a cross for His people.

I again want to welcome you to join us for Sunday evening Bible Study at 5:00pm in the Pastor’s Study. We have been enjoying the study and hope that you will consider meeting with us. As always if there is anything I can do for you do not hesitate to give me a ring or stop by the study during the week. There is also some interest in having a weeknight prayer meeting. If you have questions about this or are interested in attending such a meeting please let me know.

In God’s Love,

     Rev. Benjamin P. Glaser, M. Div.

Pastor, Ellisville Presbyterian Church (Independent)

www.ellisvillepres.org

The Virgin of Israel Has Fallen

Sermon preached 2/13/2011 at Ellisville Presbyterian Church.

Download here.

Amos 5

A Lament for Israel

¹ Hear this word which I take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel:
² The virgin of Israel has fallen;
She will rise no more.
She lies forsaken on her land;
There is no one to raise her up.

³ For thus says the Lord GOD:

“ The city that goes out by a thousand
Shall have a hundred left,
And that which goes out by a hundred
Shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”

 

Prepare to Meet Thy God

“Prepare to Meet Thy God” (Audio Available at the Link)

Preached February 6, 2011 at Ellisville Presbyterian Church

Amos 4:1-13

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor,  Who crush the needy,  Who say to your husbands, “Bring wine, let us drink!”.  The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness:

“ Behold, the days shall come upon you when He will take you away with fishhooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. You will go out through broken walls, each one straight ahead of her,
And you will be cast into Harmon,”  Says the LORD.

“ Come to Bethel and transgress, at Gilgal multiply transgression; bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days. Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven,  proclaim and announce the freewill offerings; for this you love, you children of Israel!”
Says the Lord GOD.

“ Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities and lack of bread in all your places; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD. “ I also withheld rain from you, when there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city.
One part was rained upon, and where it did not rain the part withered. So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, but they were not satisfied; yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD.  “ I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased,
your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees, the locust devoured them; yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD.

“ I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt; your young men I killed with a sword,
along with your captive horses;  I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils;
Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD.  “ I overthrew some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning;
yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD. “ Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,

Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!” For behold, He who forms mountains, and creates the wind, who declares to man what his thought is, and makes the morning darkness, who treads the high places of the earth— The LORD God of hosts is His name.