Embedded Files
He Loves Us
Verse 1
He is jealous for me loves like a hurricane
I am a tree bending beneath
The weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden I am unaware of
These afflictions eclipsed by glory
I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me
Pre-Chorus
Oh how He loves us so
Oh how He loves us
How He loves us so
Chorus
(Yeah) He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves
(Yeah) He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves
Verse 2
We are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So Heaven meets earth
Like an unforeseen kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way that
Chorus
(Yeah) He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves
(Yeah) He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves
Living Hope
Verse 1
How great the chasm that lay between us
How high the mountain I could not climb
In desperation I turned to heaven
And spoke Your name into the night
Then through the darkness Your loving-kindness
Tore through the shadows of my soul
The work is finished the end is written
Jesus Christ my living hope
Verse 2
Who could imagine so great a mercy
What heart could fathom such boundless grace
The God of ages stepped down from glory
To wear my sin and bear my shame
The cross has spoken I am forgiven
The King of kings calls me His own
Beautiful Savior I’m Yours forever
Jesus Christ my living hope
Chorus
Hallelujah praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ my living hope
Verse 3
Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence the Roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence the Roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Jesus Yours is the victory
Chorus
Hallelujah praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ my living hope
Hallelujah praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ my living hope
Ending
Jesus Christ my living hope
Oh God You are my living hope
I Am Not My Own
Verse 1
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
Verse 2
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
Chorus
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
Verse 3
And if He has redeemed me I am not my own
The measure of my worth is His love alone
He declares my standing and He declares my state
So I will know myself by the name He gave
Chorus
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
Verse 4
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
Chorus
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
Act Justly, Love Mercy
Verse 1
It all comes down to this
What you require of me
Love my neighbor as myself
And You above all things
Chorus
Act justly love mercy walk humbly
With You God
In all things in all ways walk humbly
With You God
Verse 2
It all comes down to this
To be Your hands and feet
Good news to all the world
The truth will set us free
Chorus
Act justly love mercy walk humbly
With You God
In all things in all ways walk humbly
With You God
Bridge
It's beauty for ashes
It's mourning to dancing
It's closer and closer
The Kingdom of heaven
It's beauty for ashes
It's mourning to dancing
It's closer and closer
The Kingdom of heaven
Verse 3
Years from now we'll see
The fruit our hands have sown
Faith just like a seed
The only way it grows
Chorus
Act justly love mercy walk humbly
With You God
In all things in all ways walk humbly
With You God
Act justly love mercy walk humbly
With You God
In all things in all ways walk humbly
With You God
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
Adam Veenstra
Ebenezer CRC
September 13, 2026
SCRIPTURE READING
SERMON INTRO SLIDE I invite you to turn to page 1874 of your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11, which we’re going to read and reflect on together for this morning’s message.
You can follow along with me starting at verse 1:
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
4 By faith Abel brought God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith Abraham, even though he was past age - and Sarah herself was barren - was enabled to bear children because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
MESSAGE
Part One
SLIDE 1 The passage goes on to tell about Jacob and Joseph and Rahab, and then admits it doesn’t have time to tell about so many others who used the shield of faith to overcome the flaming arrows of life.
The chapter begins and ends with all of them being commended for that faith.
SLIDE 2 The entire book of Hebrews was originally written for Jewish Christians around 3-4 decades after Jesus’ death.
The point of the book was to reaffirm his identity and supremacy over creation and over the lives of God’s people.
The passage demonstrates the power of faith in their lives: that it’s a vital piece of armour, and has been necessary for the success of God’s people, throughout history.
SLIDE 3 Their faith has allowed them to persevere and withstand the arrows of the evil one, and they are commended for it.
“Faith” can be such a catch-all term for Christians - we often use it to describe Christianity itself, and in modern conversation to be a “person of faith” usually means that the person is a follower of a religion.
We hear things like “my faith is important to me”, or “that falls in line with my faith.”
But the faith that is talked about here, and this shield of faith, is the tool that enables it.
SLIDE 4 In both Ephesians and Hebrews, the Greek word used is “pistis”.
SLIDE 5 It can also be a persuasion, a conviction and a fidelity.
So that faith is not just another word for religion, but the tool, the piece of armour, the school supply, that allows us to have religion.
It’s the supply that assures us that the other supplies are…supplied!
SLIDE 6 One of our statements of what we believe in the Reformed tradition, the Heidelberg Catechism, says that true faith is “not only a knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in his Word is true; it is also a deep-rooted assurance created in me by the Holy Spirit through the gospel, that, out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I too, have had my sins forgiven, and have been made forever right with God.”
In ancient Greek culture there was a minor goddess named Pistis who was the spirit of trust, confidence, and reliability.
That’s how the ancient world understood faith.
SLIDE 7 That is the shield we are given.
The faith being commended here in Scripture is one that endures: it’s not just a static emotion or belief, but an active conviction that is exercised and stretched, and ultimately grows.
Believing that God exists, but also believing that his son Jesus Christ has made us forever right with him, and that, as we sang earlier, we are not our own, but belong to him.
The reality of our world has always been that there is so much confusion, so much fear, so much hurt - so many arrows that come our way, that a commendable faith will be one that’s exercised.
SLIDE 8 It’s impossible not to be, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against a spirit of darkness that manifests in so many harmful ways.
SLIDE 9 And these examples in Hebrews 11 span the eras.
I sometimes fall into the trap of thinking of Bible characters all living in a condensed, homogenous society. I think in part because a lot of Bible storybooks show Abraham and Jesus dressed exactly the same, despite living centuries apart - I’m no historian, but I’ve seen how some of you have changed how you look over the last few picture directories…
The stories of Scripture span generations!
And while clothing and culture changed, a shield of faith was passed on.
SLIDE 10 So that even when they are gone, and have not seen the things that they hoped would happen, they still had faith, until the end - still fervently believed in what God has done, and will do.
No matter what challenges and arrows might come along the way.
These were not individuals who spent their time engaging in apologetics.
They were not debating issues of theology.
They were living it.
We read that in our passage, and verses 33 to 35 reference stories of conquered kingdoms and powerful battles, imprisonment, jeers, flogging, persecution, homelessness and wandering, torture and death.
The arrows coming at them were real life problems and tragedies.
So their faith was not simply a religion, but a surety that was tested in incredible ways, and that needed to be exercised and worked out.
A surety that someday God’s people would see his supremacy in all of its glory.
Someday things would be made forever right.
SLIDE 11 To have a shield of faith was not to ward off any intellectual opposition about who God is, but the trials of the world that all of God’s people have continued to face.
Part Two
This fall we’ll be running at least a couple groups of people who are preparing to do profession of faith here at Ebenezer.
And in ten years of running groups like this off and on both here and at my last church, there’s always someone who thinks that maybe they’re not ready, because there’s still a lot they don’t know.
But admitting you don’t know the answers takes great faith!
Because it shows you are willing to be a follower of Jesus, to join God’s mission for your life and your community, even if you can’t perfectly articulate predestination or unconditional election, or give an exact scientific answer how Jonah escaped from a whale or how Jesus’ mother was a virgin.
Or explain how sin works - why bad things happen, why arrows are still coming our way.
SLIDE 12 The shield of faith gives you the support and protection to work out your salvation - work out being made forever right - with fear and trembling. With respect and awe for God’s immense power.
Faith isn’t about having answers. Having all the answers would nullify faith!
Instead, God’s people are called to trust in his revelation - trust in his providence and care based on the knowledge that we do have.
SLIDE 13 All of the people listed here in Hebrews acted on faith, not knowing what was coming next.
Last week we reflected on Adam and Eve, and the parallel to kids going to school for the first time.
They couldn’t know what was to come!
They couldn’t know that everything would eventually be fine; they had to have faith that it would be.
All they could know was that God would be with them.
SLIDE 14 There’s a line from another 90s family movie that seeing isn’t believing, believing is seeing.
There’s an element of the unbelievable about our faith - our religion.
Because we believe that a man gets swallowed by a big fish for 3 days and survives; we believe that a virgin manages to give birth; we believe that baby grows up to do all kinds of unbelievable miracles.
And we believe that because of the miracle of that baby’s resurrection, all our sins are forgiven, all the sins of the world are wiped away, and we will live forever with his father. Our father.
SLIDE 15 The shield of faith makes it okay to wonder about those things: about the intellectual inconsistencies that we might find in Christianity, but also about whether or not we’ll be okay.
The shield protects us as we wonder and doubt and ask questions, and maybe not come up with answers.
This isn’t an excuse for ignorance, or for a lack of preparation!
God still gives us revelation and the wisdom of Scripture to study and and explore and gleen wisdom from alongside its context.
But the greatest scholars in the world don’t have all the answers. The greatest prophets in the world can’t tell you what’s going to happen tomorrow.
What Scripture also equips us with beyond any wisdom, what God supplies us with, is faith.
A faith that is sure of what we hope for, and certain of even what we do not see.
The leaders that we have commissioned today aren’t leaders because they are exceptionally knowledgeable or have special foresight.
Some of them may have done these roles before (or in some cases have done them for decades!).
BUt this is a new year. With new people and new circumstances.
We have no idea what challenges will come - what flaming arrows might get shot our way!
But these leaders have been commissioned because they know that. They’re prepared for that. They have felt led and called to these positions, have a heart for the ministry they’re involved in.
They have faith, given by God himself.
None of us sitting here today, in any of our current situations, could anticipate what has come next in our lives.
If your life has gone exactly how you planned it, every single step of the way, then congratulations: you just lied in church!
Because of course it hasn’t!
Even if the broad strokes of your plans have turned out, there have always been hiccoughs along the way, there have always been flaming arrows.
That’s just how life goes.
That’s how life went for every person listed in our passage.
Their faith was their persistence through it all: not knowing what the future held, but knowing who held the future.
Which is cheesy as all get out, but it’s true!
If Abraham or Sarah or Joseph or Rahab had predicted what was next, they might have worked hard to counter it.
Some of God’s people often did that!
But they worked it out with fear and trembling, trusting in his presence.
By faith Abraham obeyed and went.
By faith Sarah was enabled to have a child.
By faith Joseph gave instructions about his own death.
By faith Rahab welcomed spies and had her life spared.
Millennia later, by faith immigrants left the Netherlands and came to the Quinte region.
By faith they started Ebenezer CRC.
By faith they planted other local CRCs.
By faith they followed God’s mission for their church family in this particular community.
And by faith they sometimes failed!
For every triumph in Hebrews 11 there are a whole lot of other attempts.
Holding the shield in front of you doesn’t mean you never fail.
The shield means that failure doesn’t become who you are.
Because faith persists. Faith means that even in failure, there is the trust to move on.
To keep going.
To follow God’s will for our lives - our whole lives.
Our faith is our belief that someday all that is wrong will be made right, for good. Forever.
Our faith is the assurance of what we hope for, and the certainty of ever what we can’t say.
Conclusion
That faith and trust is a powerful thing.
SLIDE 16 I’m guessing that everyone here knows the story of Peter Pan, and the idea that if you want to fly, you need faith and trust (and pixie dust, but if you leave the dust out of it, it’s a great metaphor!)
Before it was a movie or a book it was a stage play, and near the end the character of Tinker Bell started dying because not enough children believed in fairies anymore.
So the productions would have people in the audience clap if they believed, and her little light would shine again!
SLIDE 17 Without trust, without faith, the spark goes out.
We’d never move forward, we’d never fly.
You’d never go to school, you’d never do anything, if you or someone in your life didn’t believe it would be good for you, if you didn’t have the assurance of what you’re hoping for, but maybe just can’t see yet.
That faith is a vital part of the armour of God, and of our success - our ability to face what life brings our way.
So that when we look back on our lives, we can see that God has been faithful in what he gives, and that he has been good.
He’s like a parent who runs down the driveway after a little kid who forget their lunch: he is always with us, always pursuing us, to supply us with all that we stand in need of.
That is what we are going to profess together as we close today: profess the goodness of our God, and his faithful presence in our lives.
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