The Next Step Podcast
Season 2: Ponder Anew
Episode 10: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Date: 12 August 2020
Guest: Matt Hein, Senior Pastor,
NewLife Community Lutheran Church, Flint, Michigan
Also available on: iTunes
Season 2 of the Next Step Podcast focuses on the resource, Ponder Anew: A Hymn Journal of Trust and Confidence, brought to you by Next Step Press.
“Come, Though Fount of Every Blessing” is the hymn focus of Episode 10, especially the verse: “Here I raise my Ebenezer…” Eben-Ezer is Hebrew for Stone of Help and comes from the story of the Old Testament prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel 7.
That Stone of Help caused us to seek out a rock expert: Pastor Matt Hein, Senior Pastor at NewLife Community Lutheran Church near Flint, has an advanced degree in geoscience as well as theology.
After a brief intro, you’ll hear author Justin Rossow pray, and Pastor Hein will read the 1 Samuel 7 verses found on page 97 of the hymn journal. The two friends will discuss those verses before Justin turns the page to read the devotion “Here I Raise My Ebenezer.”
In the course of the conversation that follows, you will hear Matt and Justin talk through some other significant “rock” passages in Scripture and wonder about the connection between rocks, creation, and remembering. They will touch on Joshua 4, 1 Kings 18, and Ephesians 2 as well as the passage from 1 Samuel 7.
You are a living stone; you have God’s Word on your heart and on your lips. Your life is a place where the transcendent God touches creation. Your God is present with you, and our lives become memorial stones: you get to tell the story of God’s work in your life.
Because we follow Jesus better when we follow Him together, you also get to ask people to tell their stories. The stories of Jesus’ faithfulness in the past become the springboard for joining Him in His mission for the future.
This recording was made possible in part by the generous support of Next Step Patrons. Today we recognize two sisters, Judy and Joan, for their ongoing support of our mission and ministry. Thank you, Joan and Judy, for helping us equip others for their next step following Jesus!
If now is the right time for you to make a commitment to the mission of resourcing next step discipleship, please consider becoming a Next Step Patron today. To see different options for support, visit https://www.patreon.com/findmynextstep.
You can see the Stone of Help faith experiment lived out in this video post: Rock of Help Video Tutorial. We invite you to join The Ponder Anew Facebook Group and share with us a story of how Jesus showed up in your life. Big or small, those stories help us look for Jesus at work in our lives, as well. We’d love to hear from you at Next Step Press.
The intro and outro music for Season 2: Ponder Anew was arranged and performed by Brendan Knorp. All rights reserved.
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