Embedded Files
“King of Me”
Verse 1
Have you heard the story
About my friend King Dave
Wouldn't let the giant stand in his way
He said hand me my sling 'cause he's not that tall
My God is bigger and I'll watch him fall
Chorus
My God's the king of the giants
My God's the king of the lions
My God's the king of the creatures of the deep
My God's the king of me
Verse 2
Have you heard the one
About this guy called Dan
Yes he was a mighty holy praying man
They said throw him to the den of the scary beasts
But God saved our hero from the lion's teeth
Chorus
My God's the king of the giants
My God's the king of the lions
My God's the king of the creatures of the deep
My God's the king of me
Bridge
This is more than history
He will do the same for me
Like Jonah and the whale at sea
When I'm lost and afraid
all alone in the dark
You're with me Oh You're with me
Chorus
My God's the king of the giants
My God's the king of the lions
My God's the king of the creatures of the deep
My God's the king of me
Chorus
My God's the king of the giants
My God's the king of the lions
My God's the king of the creatures of the deep
My God's the king of me
“Not be Shaken”
Verse 1
I will declare my choice to the nations
And I will shout for joy in the congregation
I will worship God (worship God)
All my days
Verse 2
Those who love the Lord are satisfied
Those who trust in Him are justified
And I will serve my God (serve my God)
All my days
Chorus
MEN - When the nations crumble
WOMEN - The word of the Lord will stand
MEN - Kings may rise and fall
WOMEN - His love will endure
MEN - Though the strong may stumble
WOMEN - Oh the joy of the Lord is strength
Together: To my soul
I will not be shaken
I will not be moved
I will not be shaken
Verse 2
Those who love the Lord are satisfied
Those who trust in Him are justified
And I will serve my God (serve my God)
All my days
Chorus
MEN - When the nations crumble
WOMEN - The word of the Lord will stand
MEN - Kings may rise and fall
WOMEN - His love will endure
MEN - Though the strong may stumble
WOMEN - Oh the joy of the Lord is strength
Together: To my soul
I will not be shaken
I will not be moved
I will not be shaken
“I Will Sing of My Redeemer”
Verse 1
I will sing of my Redeemer
and his wondrous love to me;
on the cruel cross he suffered,
from the curse to set me free.
Verse 2
I will tell the wondrous story
how, my lost estate to save,
in his boundless love and mercy
he the ransom freely gave.
Chorus
Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer,
with his blood he purchased me;
on the cross he sealed my pardon,
paid the debt, and made me free.
Verse 3
I will praise my dear Redeemer,
his triumphant power I'll tell,
how the victory he giveth
over sin and death and hell.
Chorus
Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer,
with his blood he purchased me;
on the cross he sealed my pardon,
paid the debt, and made me free.
Verse 4
I will sing of my Redeemer
and his heavenly love for me;
he from death to life has brought me,
Son of God, with him to be.
Chorus
Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer,
with his blood he purchased me;
on the cross he sealed my pardon,
paid the debt, and made me free.
The Wiseman Built His House upon the Rock
Verse 1
The wise man built his house upon the Rock,
The wise man built his house upon the Rock,
The wise man built his house upon the Rock,
And the rains came tumbling down.
The rains came down and the floods came up,
The rains came down and the floods came up,
The rains came down and the floods came up,
But the house on the Rock stood firm.
The foolish man built his house upon the sand,
The foolish man built his house upon the sand,
The foolish man built his house upon the sand,
And the rains came tumbling down.
The rains came down and the floods came up,
The rains came down and the floods came up,
The rains came down and the floods came up,
And the house on the sand went flat.
So build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ,
So build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ,
So build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ,
And the blessings will come down.
The blessings come down as the prayers go up,
The blessings come down as the prayers go up,
The blessings come down as the prayers go up,
So build your life on the Lord.
“I am Not my Own”
The one who made the heavens made my heart and soul
Before I drew a breath I was loved and known
I am His creation the Maker's masterpiece
And all that He designs will be done in me
My body is a temple of the Living God
I'll worship in this house that His blood has bought
As I bear His image O may I not profane
The holiness I hold in this earthly frame
I belong to the Lord O I am not my own
I belong to the Lord I am not my own
I will honor Him for this I know
I belong to the Lord I am not my own
I am not my own and now my heart is free
O Maker come and make what You will of me
There is nothing broken that You can not repair
So Lord I leave my life in Your loving care
I belong to the Lord O I am not my own
I belong to the Lord I am not my own
I will honor Him for this I know
I belong to the Lord I am not my own
“Whom Shall I Fear/God of Angel Armies”
Verse 1
You hear me when I call
You are my morning song
Though darkness fills the night
It cannot hide the light
Whom shall I fear
You crush the enemy underneath my feet
You are my sword and shield
Though troubles linger still
Whom shall I fear
I know Who goes before me
I know Who stands behind
The God of angel armies is always by my side
The One who reigns forever
He is a friend of mine
The God of angel armies is always by my side
My strength is in Your name
For You alone can save
You will deliver me
Yours is the victory
Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
I know Who goes before me
I know Who stands behind
The God of angel armies is always by my side
The One who reigns forever
He is a friend of mine
The God of angel armies is always by my side
And nothing formed against me shall stand
You hold the whole world in Your hands
I'm holding on to Your promises
You are faithful
You are faithful
And nothing formed against me shall stand
You hold the whole world in Your hands
I'm holding on to Your promises
You are faithful
You are faithful
Chorus
I know Who goes before me
I know Who stands behind
The God of angel armies is always by my side
The One who reigns forever
He is a friend of mine
The God of angel armies is always by my side
EBENEZER CRC – JUNE 15, 2025
Adam Veenstra
SCRIPTURE READING
For our message this morning we are going to be reading from Exodus 3 & 4, as an early example of being called to face our fears. You can find it starting on page on page 90 of the Bibles in front of you.
This is the story of Moses and the burning bush, which we have read a couple times together before, and if you’re not familiar with the Bible, you may have seen it depicted in movies, or even just heard that phrase “burning bush”.
Today, we are looking at it from the perspective of Moses’ fear, and how the presence of God overcomes that fear.
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’
“This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.
16 “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
Then skipping down to chapter 4:
Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
2 Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
6 Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous like snow.
7 “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.
8 Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”
10 Moses said to the Lord, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
13 But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”
14 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it.”
MESSAGE
Part One
At this point in the story of Moses’ life, fear makes a lot of sense.
Just as a quick recap of his life: as a baby he was famously sent up the river by his mother to escape a royal decree that all the baby boys of his nationality should be killed.
He was raised in the royal household, and then fled Egypt when he killed an Egyptian for his treatment of one of the Jewish slaves.
Now, after settling down for a quiet life tending sheep, getting married and joining a new family, God steps into his life in a powerful way that is impossible to ignore.
Everything that Moses has worked to build since he left Egypt will now be at risk.
Everything that he fled is coming back to haunt him.
And he expresses major fears that could resonate with any one of us.
Snakes.
Inadequacy. Failure. Risk. Rejection. The unknown.
And, of course, public speaking.
But the stakes are very different than what most of us have likely experienced before.
Because Moses is being called to overcome these fears in order to help liberate an entire people group.
HIS people group.
They are God’s chosen people who have been enslaved for centuries, when the ruling population became threatened by their size and potential strength.
So Moses’ very existence is in defiance of the ruling powers and status quo.
And now he’s being called by God himself to re-enter a place where his history is a hostile one.
Fear makes sense.
This is one of the instances in the Old Testament where we’re given a glimpse at what the character might be truly feeling.
Ancient Hebrew literature is not the same as that of modern North America, and sometimes Bible stories can leave us a bit lacking in terms of a person’s inner monologue.
But here, Moses actions and his words betray what’s happening inside.
He has reverence and awe for who the Lord is, but he also has hesitations.
He has fears.
He’s going to grasp at straws to try and get out of this.
But his first response, “Here I am”, is an important one.
It’s more than just letting God know where he is - it sets the tone for an eventual willingness to follow God’s leading, and put his trust in him, every step of the way.
And God repeatedly assures him that he will not be left alone with his fear.
He will be there to teach him and help him.
Even if some of those fears of rejection were to come true, God will still be with him.
Whatever he has to face will be made easier because God is there.
When God calls Moses to this, when he asks him to do this impossible task, one of the questions he’s asking is “Will you trust me?”
Will you take me hand, and know that where I lead you, I will also be with you?
It is this thing that we would all desire the most, but that fear might still stand in the way of:
to take the hand of our heavenly father and trust that he is leading us.
The Old Testament in particular is filled with stories like this.
Stories that might not be as visually dramatic as a burning bush, but that have ordinary people - whose thoughts and feelings we can sometimes only guess at - being asked to take their father’s hand and overcome their fear.
Our great heroes of the Bible - names like Noah and Ruth and David and Esther - would have been afraid.
David wrote dozens of poems that include fear - what a tough guy, eh?
In 1 Samuel we can read about Hannah, who waited and prayed for a child.
Then when she finally had a son, she sends him to go live in the temple.
What mom would have been even a little afraid?
In Genesis 19, we can read about Lot and his family being called to flee their home city before it’s destroyed.
The language in the passage sounds stiff to our modern sensibilities, and it’s urgent rather than emotional. But who wouldn’t be afraid in a situation like that?
But all of these names ultimately understood something that we all wrestle with, that:
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something is more important than fear.”
Depending on your demographic, that is a quote by Franklin Delanor Roosevelt, Nelson Mandela, or King Philippe Renaldi.
What followers of Jesus understand is what’s more important than fear is faith, and trusting that God is with us in our mission to love him and love others.
What’s more important than fear, and what will help us overcome fear, is knowing that he is leading us.
That he is holding our hand.
Part Two
Depending on how you process your fears and your circumstances, everyone here has probably had a sleepless night or anxious drive to work, or needed that extra cup of coffee or a pep talk from a friend.
Maybe there’s times when you need all of the above.
I doubt that anyone can truly say that they have no fear or worry or anxiety about anything.
If you say that you don’t, then you’re either very emotionally evolved OR very emotionally unevolved. I’ll try not to cast judgement on which.
From the time that we’re little kids, we try to cope with that fear.
And most of us have been raised in an age where we’re taught to cope on our own.
We’re taught to be strong, and independent.
We shouldn’t need to ask for help, but just deal with whatever it is.
I don’t often lean into gender stereotypes, but I think this is especially true for men.
It’s bad enough if you have to ask for help with something around the house that you don’t know how to do.
But even worse if it’s a life decision, or something to do with your feelings. Or something you’re afraid of.
For some reason, we’ve made that off limits.
We’ve all heard that the only thing to fear is fear itself.
But fear itself, admitting that we are afraid of something, may actually be our biggest fear.
When actually what we are all supposed to do - every age and every gender - is reach up and grab the hand of our Father, and let him lead us, let him help us.
And reach out to the people he has put in our lives, and let him help us through them.
Has anyone here ever done one of those trust exercises, where you close your eyes and fall backwards into someone’s arms?
Personally, I sometimes think they’re kind of pointless, because I might trust you in a hundred different ways, but your arms are just too skinny to hold me up.
Or actually, because I’m slow to trust - I want to know you really well before I fall into your arms!
Earlier this year I told you about the first time I ever went skiing.
Well this year I actually decided to take real lessons, from a real instructor this time.
In the fourth session he took me down a black run for the first time, which is a very un-Adam Veenstra thing to do.
And I fell partway down.
And my instructor was right there, saying “lean on me - put your weight on me - and I can help you up.”
I kept trying, and he kept saying “you have to put your weight on me to get up!”
And I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t get up, because I thought I was leaning on him.
But I wasn’t, not really, and I don’t know why.
Maybe I didn’t want him to feel how heavy and clumsy I was, maybe I didn’t feel like I knew him well enough yet, or maybe I was just so determined to do it myself.
But even as it was happening I remember thinking “I can use this!!”
Because when we’re afraid, when we fall, we cannot get back up unless we put our weight on someone else.
Moses’ life was filled with fear and falling.
But it was the assurance of God with him - 8 or 9 different times in our passage alone - that enabled him to move forward in faith.
That enabled him to put his weight on God, take his hand, and get back up.
It’s been said that “the more imminent the danger is, the more wonderful and more welcome the deliverance.”
The more frightened Moses was about this calling, the ore relieved he would have been for God’s faithfulness.
The more relieved any of us are when we get back up, look around and know that even if we’re still afraid, we’re not alone.
Our specific calling will likely be very different than liberating an entire people group.
But the mission is the same as Moses’: it is to love God and love others.
We have all been asked asked to trust God with everything, and dedicate our entire lives to him.
As a church family we do that all the time, when we baptize one another, when we profess our faith, when we install deacons, or when we make decisions in our committees and on council.
Each time we do we make a promise of dedication to God’s mission.
Each time we do, we step out in faith.
And that can be scary.
Because what if we make the wrong decision?
What if we fail? What if we’re rejected?
What if it requires public speaking??
It can be easy to use those questions as a roadblock to our mission.
It can be easy to let fear win.
Because we’re trying to cope! We’re looking for some kind of safeguard!
But we see in this passage and all throughout Scripture that our true safeguard is in the hand of God.
Our Heavenly Father who has fulfilled his promise to be with us, to care for and equip us, and to do all things for our salvation, and for our good.
Writer Sloan Wilson once said that the “hardest part of raising a child is teaching them to ride a bicycle. A shaky child on a bicycle for the first time needs both support and freedom. The realization that this is what the child will always need can hit hard.”
No matter how old we get, we always need support.
So maybe this quote resonates with some of you here today because you taught your child to ride their bike.
Or maybe it resonates because you remember when someone taught you, and you had to lean on them for both support and freedom.
Either way, hopefully that experience, or one like it, taught you about God and his relationship to you.
So that you can trust him to teach you, to lead you, and to take care of you like that person did, or like you try to do as a parent.
Sometimes sin can make it seem like fear is winning.
Sometimes when we fall we won’t want to get back up, or it feels like we have to get back up on our own.
But his hand is always there for us.
Sometimes it’s firmly on the seat and the handlebars, sometimes he’s on the sidelines clapping and cheering us on.
But he is always holding on to us somehow.
And so as we hear the words of our closing blessing today, I invite you to open up your hands in front of you, reaching to your Heavenly Father whose own hands are always reaching to you.
Our closing blessing for this morning are words that we usually hear only in December, but are a powerful declaration that should always resonate deep inside of us.
So I invite you to rise, however you are able and comfortable, in body or in spirit, and hear these words from Luke 2:
As the angel said to the shepherds: “Fear not, for I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all people. A Saviour has been born to you: he is Christ the Lord - he is God with us.”
And as God himself said to Moses: “I will help you, I will teach you, I will be with you.”
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