Song Sheets & Sermon

How Great Thou Art 

Verse 1

O Lord my God when I in awesome wonder

Consider all the works Thy hand hath made

I see the stars I hear the mighty thunder

Thy pow'r throughout the universe displayed

Chorus

Then sings my soul my Saviour God to Thee

How great Thou art how great Thou art

Then sings my soul my Saviour God to Thee

How great Thou art how great Thou art

Verse 2

When through the woods and forest glades I wander

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees

When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur

And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze

Chorus

Then sings my soul my Saviour God to Thee

How great Thou art how great Thou art

Then sings my soul my Saviour God to Thee

How great Thou art how great Thou art

Verse 4

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation

And take me home what joy shall fill my heart

Then shall I bow in humble adoration

And there proclaim my God how great Thou art

Chorus

Then sings my soul my Saviour God to Thee

How great Thou art how great Thou art

Then sings my soul my Saviour God to Thee

How great Thou art how great Thou art

Goodness of God 

Verse 1

I love You Lord

Oh Your mercy never fails me

All my days

I've been held in Your hands

From the moment that I wake up

Until I lay my head

I will sing of the goodness of God

Chorus

All my life You have been faithful

All my life You have been so so good

With every breath that I am able

I will sing of the goodness of God

Verse 2

I love Your voice

You have led me through the fire

In darkest night

You are close like no other

I've known You as a father

I've known You as a friend

I have lived in the goodness of God

Chorus

All my life You have been faithful

All my life You have been so so good

With every breath that I am able

I will sing of the goodness of God

Bridge

Your goodness is running after

It’s running after me

Your goodness is running after

It’s running after me

With my life laid down

I’m surrendered now

I give You everything

Your goodness is running after

It's running after me

Chorus

All my life You have been faithful

All my life You have been so so good

With every breath that I am able

I will sing of the goodness of God

Jesus Strong and Kind

Verse 1

Jesus said

That if I thirst

I should come to him

No one else can satisfy

I should come to him

Verse 2

Jesus said

If I am weak

I should come to him

No one else can be my strength

I should come to him

Chorus

For the Lord is good and faithful

He will keep us day and night

We can always run to Jesus

Jesus strong and kind

Verse 3

Jesus said

That if I fear

I should come to him

No one else can be my shield

I should come to him

Chorus

For the Lord is good and faithful

He will keep us day and night

We can always run to Jesus

Jesus strong and kind

Verse 4

Jesus said

If I am lost

He will come to me

And he showed me on that cross

He will come to me

Chorus

For the Lord is good and faithful

He will keep us day and night

We can always run to Jesus

Jesus strong and kind

This is My Father’s World

Verse 1

This is my Father's world

And to my list'ning ears

All nature sings and 'round me rings

Music of the spheres

Chorus 1

This is my Father's world

I rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees of skies and seas

His hand the wonders wrought

Verse 2

This is my Father's world

The birds their carols raise

The morning light the lily white

Declare their Maker's praise

Chorus 2

This is my Father's world

He shines in all that's fair

In the rust'ling grass I hear Him pass

He speaks to me ev'rywhere

Verse 3

This is my Father's world

O let me ne'er forget

And though the wrong seems oft so strong

God is the Ruler yet

And though the wrong seems oft so strong

God is the Ruler yet

Chorus 3

This is my Father's world

Why should my heart be sad

The Lord is King let the heavens ring

God reigns let the earth be glad

The Lord is King let the heavens ring

God reigns let the earth be glad

Adam Veenstra

Ebenezer CRC
June 14, 2026

SCRIPTURE READING

Our first Scripture reading for this morning comes from Isaiah 53, which are words of prophecy about Jesus, and his role in our lives and in our world:

Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem…

7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth…

11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

And then, after he had lived and died, the book of Luke wrote this about him in chapter 2:

40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him…

52 Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and people.

MESSAGE

Since it’s our first day back together, and since we’re outside in the hot sun, I thought instead of jumping into a new sermon series, let’s instead just spend some time talking about Jesus: who he is, who he is for us, and what of that we’re meant to embody.

Because almost everyone here has some impression of him - they have some sense of who Jesus is, however limited.

But as even just these verses demonstrate, and as we have already sung together this morning, he is incredibly complex, and his nature sometimes stands in seeming tension with itself.

But it is a powerful message that we have a Saviour who is both strong and kind.

The keyword being and: not or, not then, but strong and kind.

We often like to pit these natures of Jesus against one another.

He’s described in Scripture as a lion and a lamb, and those two images are used to represent the two seemingly contradictory aspects of who he is.

Because lions are known for their fierceness, not their tenderness. So that’s why we need the lamb imagery, too.

But do we have any millennials here? Think back about thirty years to when The Lion King first came out. I’m going to trigger that entire generation by mentioning “Mufasa”.

If you remember, Mufasa was fiercely protective of his family and his pride.

But he was also gentle, humble, playful, and got scared. All in one individual.

The lion was strong and kind.

That was the leader most needed.

That was the leader who would be followed.

As Scripture’s “lion king”, Jesus wasn’t afraid to punch up.

He rebelled against authority, he turned tables and scolded religious leaders and those with positions of power and authority.

That’s the kind of leader everyone would expect.

But to everyone else - to kids and those who were sick or in need or victims of sin - he was incredibly tender and kind.

That is the leader we need.

That is the leader we follow.

I have this picture saved on my computer that I might have shown you before, just because it’s so ridiculous.

It’s of Jesus on the cross, but he’s huge - the artist has basically drawn him as this bodybuilder.

And he’s got these massive biceps that are literally tearing the horizontal beam of the cross apart.

Instantly relatable, I know.

The image is trying to portray the immense power of Christ, who we know defeats sin and death.

So the message is not too far off, but in a world that so values aggression, physical strength, and wealth, it makes sense that we’ve concocted that image.

That’s the kind of leader we think we want, and that a lot of people in our world would be willing to follow.

But that’s not the theological truth of who Jesus was.

A more accurate picture would draw on Isaiah 53: a picture of a bloody, gaunt, scarred, homeless man of colour with broken limbs.

And despite how we dress it up or sing about it, he didn’t pull himself off the cross.

He ended his life as he began it: soiled, crying, and helpless in the arms of others.

But that is actually more powerful than anything.

A hero who is able to humble himself.

A hero who understands what it means to be vulnerable.

Because Scripture also tells us that the first will be last and the last will be first.

Like so many other assumptions about power and strength, Jesus will turn that on its head.

He is always showing us a new way to be, the ideal way to be.

If he is an object of our worship then he should be the object of our full worship, which means that we strive to emulate him, strive to be like him, in every way possible.

He was a real human in real situations that his own heart and character dealt with, that we now can as well.

Scripture says that out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks: from what’s in our hearts we speak and think and do.

Well Jesus is meant to be in our hearts. His strength and kindness is meant to be the thrust of all that we do.

We pull him out of our Nativity scenes and off our crucifixes and put him into our real lives.

We heard this morning that nothing in his appearance would draw us to him.

And yet we still are.

Because despite how it might seem, yes he is truly strong, and yes he is truly kind.

And.

A few years ago there was this actor who was getting a national recognition award, and the ceremony included had one of those video packages with friends and colleagues talking about his character and accomplishments.

He’s internationally famous and acclaimed, and has done everything from Shakespeare to sci-fi.

And at one point in the video, a meek-voiced, balding little man comes onscreen and says “he may not like me saying this, but he’s gentle”.

That’s not something that our world often values.

We live our lives as if the fruit of the spirit is power, money, business acumen, BMI, assets, and even lineage.

We inadvertently worship a Jesus whose biceps are tearing the cross apart.

But that’s not the kind of leader we follow, not the kind of the Saviour we need.

And the real fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Nowhere is power and strength mentioned, because real power and strength is found in those attributes.

Just before I went on sabbatical, the Artemis II was in the news. Remember that?

And one of the big stories was that a crater was being named after the late wife of one of the astronauts, and when it was announced you saw these two men tearfully hugging each other up in space.

You could say that astronauts are some of the strongest people out there because of what they need to be prepared for.

But also clearly some of the kindest.

Because that right there shows the kind of strength we really need, and if we’re honest, probably really want.

Because in the dark nights of the soul that we all experience, that is the kind of strength we need.

And it takes real strength to be kind in a world that doesn’t often value it, or display enough of it.

And that gives us a unique position in our community and in our world!
We get to offering it this beautiful tension of strength and kindness that it might not be used to, but is exactly what it needs.

And hopefully this hour together on Sundays continues to be an opportunity to equip and support one another as we strive to do that.

So as we go to reach out to one another over corn hole and lunch, and then as we go to reach out to our community during the week, we go with the blessing and encouragement of our God from Philippians 2. Will you please rise, however you are able and comfortable, to receive it:

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.