1997 Thanksgiving Stones
Jonathan Seet
Pastor, PLMC
A line in an old Christian song goes like this: Remember. I’m human and humans forget so remind me, remind me dear Lord.
I believe that it is because of our propensity to forget God that God through His prophets require His people to set up memorials to His goodness.
In 1 Samuel 7:12, the prophet Samuel set up the Ebenezer stone (meaning stone of help) to remind the people of how the Lord had helped them defeat the Philistines.
Joshua chapter 3 & 4 tells us how God stopped the flow of the River Jordan to enable the people of Israel to cross it to enter the Promised Land. Joshua then instructed the people to retrieve stones from the river and set them up as a memorial to God.
The Bible records that “These stones will remind the people of what the Lord has done. In the future, when your children ask what these stones mean to you, you will tell them that the water of the River Jordan stopped flowing. Tell them the Lord your God dried up the water of the Jordan for you until you had crossed, just as He dried up the Red Sea for us. Because of this everyone on earth will know how great the Lord’s power is and you will honour the Lord forever.” Joshua 4: 6-7, 23-24. These are some instances when people used stones as memorials unto God.
In our new church building, we are setting aside the space between the Covenant Centre and the Church Sanctuary to be our Thanksgiving Plaza. We are giving people the opportunity to set up their own thanksgiving stones. Each stone is to be set up as a memorial of God’s goodness and help.
We believe that this is the first time that such an opportunity has ever been given. This chance to lay a thanksgiving stone may never come again once all the stones in the Plaza have been taken up. The stones are not only for the worshippers of Paya Lebar Methodist church, we are inviting Christians everywhere to come and join us in making this Plaza a Thanksgiving unto God. Anyone can set up one stone or more. We will allow the request for stones from more than one person to be placed side by side each other’s. However, the location of stones or sets of stones in the Plaza will no on a random basis and not on personal choice.
We would like each stone to be accompanied by a testimony and these testimonies will be compiled into a book for public reading.
So come, let’s remember the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness and let us set up
STONES WHICH WILL CRY OUT
IN PRAISE!
IN THANKSGIVING!
IN REMEMBRANCE!
Great of Thy faithfulness Lord unto me.