Embedded Files
Shout to the Lord
Verse
My Jesus my Saviour
Lord there is none like You
All of my days I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love
My comfort my shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath all that I am
Never cease to worship You
Chorus
Shout to the Lord
All the earth let us sing
Power and majesty
Praise to the King
Mountains bow down
And the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name
I sing for joy
At the work of Your hands
Forever I'll love You
Forever I'll stand
Nothing compares to the promise
I have in You
Verse
My Jesus my Saviour
Lord there is none like You
All of my days I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love
My comfort my shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath all that I am
Never cease to worship You
Chorus
Shout to the Lord
All the earth let us sing
Power and majesty
Praise to the King
Mountains bow down
And the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name
I sing for joy
At the work of Your hands
Forever I'll love You
Forever I'll stand
Nothing compares to the promise
I have in You
We Will Feast in the House of Zion
Chorus
We will feast in the house of Zion
We will sing with our hearts restored
He has done great things we will say together
We will feast and weep no more
We will not be burned by the fire
He is the Lord our God
We are not consumed by the flood
Upheld protected gathered up
We will feast in the house of Zion
We will sing with our hearts restored
He has done great things we will say together
We will feast and weep no more
In the dark of night before the dawn
My soul be not afraid
For the promised morning oh how long
Oh God of Jacob be my strength
We will feast in the house of Zion
We will sing with our hearts restored
He has done great things we will say together
We will feast and weep no more
Every vow we’ve broken and betrayed
You are the faithful one
And from the garden to the grave
Bind us together bring shalom
We will feast in the house of Zion
We will sing with our hearts restored
He has done great things we will say together
We will feast and weep no more
I Need Thee Every Hour
I need Thee every hour
Most gracious Lord
No tender voice like Thine
Can peace afford
I need Thee O I need Thee
Every hour I need Thee
O bless me now my Savior
I come to Thee
I need Thee every hour
In joy or pain
Come quickly and abide
Or life is vain
I need Thee O I need Thee
Every hour I need Thee
O bless me now my Savior
I come to Thee
I need Thee every hour
Most Holy One
O make me Thine indeed
Thou blessed Son
I need Thee O I need Thee
Every hour I need Thee
O bless me now my Savior
I come to Thee
Romans Doxology
Oh, the depth of the riches, the wisdom of God
How unsearchable are His ways.
How profound are his judgments, so high above our thoughts,
And His pathways no man can trace.
For from Him and through Him,
And to Him are all things
To Him be glory forevermore
To Him be glory forever!
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Oh the depths of the riches, the wisdom of God
How immeasurable is His grace!
How unfailing His kindness, so far removed His wrath,
And His mercies are new each day!
For from Him and through Him,
And to Him are all things
To Him be glory forevermore
To Him be glory forever!
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Adam Veenstra
Ebenezer CRC
June 21, 2026
SCRIPTURE READING
SERMON INTRO SLIDE In this morning’s message we are going to reflect on our human relationships as a holy reflection of our relationship with Christ. We are going to be using several passages which are listed in your bulletins, and will also be up on the screen for you.
In Mark 3, Jesus is teaching a crowd of people in a house. Verse 31 tells us:
31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
Then later, at the time of his crucifixion, John 19 says:
25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
And finally, our place in God’s family is described in Romans 8 like this:
14 Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
MESSAGE
Part One
SLIDE 1 If you have kids in your life, you probably know thatToy Story 5 came out this weekend.
SLIDE 2 If you’ve been at all familiar with the franchise over the last thirty years, you know the title of the sermon today is the central theme of the movies: “you’ve got a friend in me.”
According to this theme song, there isn’t anything a friend wouldn’t do for you.
They stick together and they see it through.
This is more than just a kids song. This is a declaration and a promise we make as adults, too.
SLIDE 3 We are called to profess that for one another as part of our mission that we have adopted as Ebenezer - that we will be together in love.
It’s a life together that Christ himself modelled even in his final moments.
At Ebenezer, one of the things we say a lot to express that part of our mission is that you are not alone.
In John 19 specifically, when Jesus is on the cross, we see him making sure of that for two people.
SLIDE 4 By what he says to his mother Mary and his disciple, he’s ensuring that their presence in one another’s lives will be a reminder of God’s continued presence with them.
It’s notable that Jesus didn’t start his ministry until he was around thirty years-old, which is a late start in that context.
It means that for more than a decade previously, he likely had a career in the trades, taking after his father.
Why that’s important for us today is that depending on when (and if) his father Joseph died, as Mary’s oldest son he was likely also the one meant to be looking after her.
And after all that she has witnessed and experienced, this is now where her life has brought her: watching her firstborn son, her miracle child, and the one who has likely supported her emotionally and financially, being beaten and humiliated and crucified.
It’s difficult to imagine all the horror and brutality of a crucifixion; it’s unimaginable to watch it happen to one of the people you love most in the world.
And then, in the midst of all that horror, that person still takes the time to care for you.
SLIDE 5 Jesus calls Mary “dear woman” as a sign of deep affection and respect, matching his words to his actions as a demonstration of his care.
SLIDE 6 He makes sure that she will not be alone, but taken care of through someone else that he loves and trusts.
It’s generally agreed by scholars that the disciple whom Jesus loved is referring to John.
SLIDE 7 And the wording of taking her into his home means that he has assumed full financial and relational responsibility for Mary - he will be her son, she will be his mother.
SLIDE 8 She will always have a friend in him.
This is a powerful example of the importance of relationships and community, and the holy promise found in the theme song of a kids movie.
The culture of that time put far less emphasis on the self, and individual wants and desires, than we do today.
Instead, there was higher importance placed on community, communal living, and family ties.
John taking Mary into his home and assuming full familial responsibility for her wouldn’t have been too inconsistent with the culture they lived in.
It’s still a big deal for him to do, but perhaps a little less jarring than it would be for us today.
Even in that context, Jesus himself was continually setting aside blood relationships, or expected relationships, in order to create a much wider definition of family.
An adoption, so that by him his people can cry “Abba, Father”, and know that they are God’s children, and they are not alone: they belong to his family.
This is a pattern throughout Scripture, as we continually see God creating a wider, more unexpected family.
SLIDE 9 In the book of Ruth, Ruth vows to her dead husband’s mother, a woman that she no longer has any cultural responsibilities to, that they will create a home together, and that they will die in the same land.
SLIDE 10 Later in 1 Samuel, David forges a deep, intimate relationship with Jonathan, the son of the king who ultimately tries to kill him. Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.
SLIDE 11 And we already read in Mark 3 that Jesus looks at the people around him and declares that they’re his family now, too.
Throughout our entire history as children of God, we have been told the same words that Mary was: we have been given a family to join and be a beloved part of.
We are promised a deep, deep friendship.
SLIDE 12 This is made clear for us in Romans 8, which declares that we have been made heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ. There is no question of our being family: it’s a done deal.
And Christ made the ultimate sacrifice to cement that: sacrificing his life so that we would always know that we are connected to God.
SLIDE 13 It’s like he gestures to all of us and looks up to God saying “here is your son, here is your daughter, here is your child.”
His words and deeds on the cross put us together as family, as children of our heavenly father. So that none of us ever have to be alone.
I was at a wedding a number of years ago that was being co-officiated by two pastors, one who had mentored the other.
Afterwards I was talking with a professor, who said that it struck him as a modern example of the SLIDE 14 ancient practice of apprenticing kids, even if they weren’t officially family.
He pointed towards one and said “this is the father” and then pointed at the other and said “and this is the son”, because one had taught the other his trade.
We don’t hear much in Scripture about Jesus being taught his trade, or much at all about his extended family except for the passage we read today.
SLIDE 15 But because of his age, we can safely assume that he probably had nieces and nephews - little kids who looked up to him as fun Uncle Jesus who travels around and then maybe comes home and brings them presents. (It’s a good gig.)
And even though Jesus is Mary’s oldest son, it’s entirely possible that Joseph had children from a previous marriage, and Jesus might have even had older siblings!
No matter what Mary and Joseph’s family tree looked like, I bet Jesus was just the coolest uncle, and the best brother.
I bet his hugs are out of this world.
I think that’s one of the reasons why people have gravitated towards The Chosen TV show.
It’s one of the rare effective depictions of the humanity of Jesus and those around him: these are real, flesh-and-blood people with real camaraderie!
Because we don’t actually get to experience that. Not quite.
We’ve said before that the resurrected and ascended Jesus is hard to hang out with.
We can’t hug him yet.
SLIDE 16 So in the meantime, he gives us the promise of friendship in one another.
To be together in love, as a reflection of his holy love.
Part Two
This kind of community - and family - are not easy.
It’s a lot more complicated than lines from a song in a kids movie.
To say that you’ve really got a friend in me, to say that we are truly together in love, means navigating layers of expectations and trauma and personality quirks and differences.
But as the song says: you’ve got troubles, I’ve got ‘em too, and there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you. We stick together and we see it through.
We can’t do this life on our own.
When the road looks rough ahead and we’re miles and miles from our nice warm bed, and we just remember what our old pal (Jesus!) said: you’ve got a friend in me!
SLIDE 17 We have referenced the early church in the book of Acts many times as an example of what this can look like.
The Greek word for it is “koinonia”: fellowship and joint participation.
We’re told that they had everything in common, and helped anyone who had a need; they broke bread and worshipped together, often right in their own homes.
SLIDE 18 There is an intimacy that develops when part of your spiritual routine takes place in your home, in the place where you can be truly at rest and truly yourself.
That’s part of the reason why we call this sanctuary our Ebenezer living room, and call this congregation a church family.
Because that language signifies that we are truly together in love, truly at rest and able to be our true selves.
That language professes that we’ve got friends in each other, that we are together in love.
SLIDE 19 One of the few stories of Jesus’ life between the ages of 3 and 30 is when he gets left behind (or runs away) from a community pilgrimage.
But the only reason he was able to pull that off was because his parents rightly assumed that he was being looked after by the others in the crowd.
Like the church in Acts that his followers would eventually establish in his name, Jesus was raised among people who had everything in common. Including childcare.
They knew it takes a village. It takes relying on people that you know and love and trust.
It takes a wider definition of family.
A definition God wants all of us to live by. That God himself lived by in the person of Jesus Christ.
Depending on your definition of family, and your family situation, today is not necessarily an easy day for everyone.
Not everyone here has or had a good Dad.
SLIDE 20 But if God truly sets the lonely in families, then he has set you here, in the Ebenezer family.
I’m not saying that a good church family will heal all of your parental and relational wounds.
But it does provide some surrogacy.
And it does mean you might not feel so alone.
Gone are the days of generational pews, where you can look up and down and see grandparents, parents, kids, and then look in front or behind you and see aunts and uncles and first cousins all from the same family.
Yes, here at Ebenezer there are still a lot of family connections.
But very few of us have a full pew of our family members anymore.
And a lot of people who’ve come to Ebenezer will say “Oh, I’m not connected to anybody.”
But hopefully that doesn’t last long.
Hopefully after a time you can look up and down the pew and see a new kind of family connection.
Hopefully after a time the words from Luke and Mark resonate with you, and you can feel Jesus saying “here are your brothers and sisters”. Here is your family.
He might not be able to hug you, but he has given people who can.
When Jesus says to Mary, “here is your son”, this is not going to solve the grief over watching her own son die.
But at least she might not feel so alone.
Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving…any given Sunday might be hard days for you. But hopefully today you can look around and feel that you are not alone.
Know that you have a room full of potential surrogate family members.
SLIDE 21 Because when the road looks rough ahead and you’re miles and miles from your nice warm bed, you’re gonna need each other to see it through.
“Here are my brothers and sisters.”
“You’ve got a friend in me.”
“Together in love.”
So I think that over this next season of ministry I’m going to be increasingly old school about church attendance.
There are a lot of valid reasons to not be in this church building for this hour on Sunday, including health and mobility.
But, if you ask me, there are some less valid reasons.
And I get it: especially as the weather gets nicer, it’s really easy to spend Sundays at the cottage or at the beach or on the golf course. Maybe you’re involved in sports or work shifts.
But (and I say this with some hesitation, knowing not everyone will be happy hearing this!), the beach will still be there this afternoon.
And maybe you don’t need to play multiple sports.
Maybe you can ask to switch shifts sometimes.
I’m not saying this to be dismissive of your pastimes or your commitments.
And I’m not saying this just because going to church on Sunday is just the right thing to do.
This is not about discipline or the right kind of Christian behaviour.
I’m saying this because church attendance is not just about you.
It’s not even just about you and God: you can worship and connect with him anywhere, anytime.
I’m saying this because church attendance is about everyone else in the church family, too.
Church attendance is about the people with whom you have promised to be together in love.
And this hour on Sunday is the only hour in the whole week that we can all be together.
If you choose to go camping or play golf most Sundays, or stay home on days like Father’s Day and Christmas in order to spend time with your IMMEDIATE family, you are depriving US, the rest of your GOD-GIVEN family, of your presence.
Especially those who may be relying on your presence this hour for those family connections, who may not have a family to otherwise spend the day with.
They need you here. They want you here.
“God sets the lonely in families.”
So members of that family need to show up!
It takes a village, and so it requires that we be villagers.
And yes, there are ways to show up for one another as a village the other six days of the week, I am not discounting that.
But again, this is the only hour that all of us, from every demographic, are all together.
And it’s just not as good without you.
A few weeks before my sabbatical, we had reps from our kids ministries come up front and talk about the importance of all of this: of being together in love, of telling our kids, “hey: you’ve got a friend in me!”
They talked about the importance of showing up, even when there’s other things you could be doing.
The wider world doesn’t always understand that a group of people with so little else in common could be so important to each other, and give up their time for one another.
And maybe it doesn’t make sense: we’re all different ages, and are from increasingly different backgrounds. We differ in occupation, in economic situations, in family makeup, in politics, even in points of theology.
But we’re a family.
We’re together in love.
The Holy Spirit put us together, and I think it’s ok that the Holy Spirit doesn’t always make sense to us.
“Here are my brothers and sisters.”
Conclusion
About once a week when I’m scrolling through Instagram, this one particular reel pops up.
It’s of this guy laying in the back of an ambulance, because he’s had too much to drink.
And he admits that he has a drinking problem, so the paramedic asks him why he does this to himself.
So he shares that it’s because his daughter died in Hurricane Katrina when she was only three years-old, and he was deployed by the military when it happened.
This day in the ambulance would have been her twelfth birthday.
So he’s crying, I’m crying, and when I hit that reel I know it’s time to put the phone down and go to sleep, because things will probably only spiral from there.
But genuinely, through my tears I always yell at that paramedic to hold his hand!
(She never does.)
Because it’s so obvious that he is desperate for connection.
I once read in a book about this guy who was struggling and someone put a hand on his shoulder, and the line was that the hand felt “so big, and so godlike.”
When we are there for people, holding their hands together in love, when we are truly connecting, that is a reflection of God himself, and an outpouring of his love and his spirit.
SLIDE 22 In Toy Story, the two main toys have the name of their kid written on the bottom of their feet.
It’s a visible reminder that they belong to him.
Isn’t that just what we all want?
A friend, connection, a hand on our shoulder?
To know that we belong to something or someone?
So as we go today, please, hear this: you belong here, in this living room.
You belong to God, and you belong to his family.
“Here are your brothers and sisters.”
Even if God’s name isn’t written on your heart yet, know that yours is written on his.
“By him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’”
It’s written on ours too, and we’re so glad that it is.
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