1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,860 Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest 2 00:00:15,860 --> 00:00:21,060 questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search 3 00:00:21,060 --> 00:00:27,300 and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Meador, lead 4 00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:32,440 pastor of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth 5 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:41,040 for the life we're searching for. Well, let's take our Bibles this morning, if you have 6 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:45,200 them, and turn to the book of Psalms, right there in the middle of your whole book, just 7 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:51,400 open it up, the book of Psalms, the 23rd Psalm today. How many of you know this 23rd Psalm 8 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:55,560 by memory? You think you know it by memory, would you raise your hand? I thought I'd get 9 00:00:55,560 --> 00:01:00,000 most of the hands in this room because that is one of the favorite Psalms of all time. 10 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:05,800 Today, we're going to look at Psalm 23 from the perspective of leading well, a deeper 11 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:11,200 view of leading. By the way, this is the last message in our Out of the Shell series that 12 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:17,320 really focused on relationships, and we begin next week in John 14, 15, and 16, where we'll 13 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:22,560 start a ministry called the Holy Spirit, talking about what Jesus introduced the Holy Spirit 14 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:27,120 to be in our lives and how the activity of the Holy Spirit is still relevant and powerful 15 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:33,120 today. So look ahead to next week in that. Please stand with me as we read Psalm 23 together 16 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:39,200 and as we look at what the Bible says about a deeper view of leading. Psalm 23, beginning 17 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:43,560 in verse 1, I'm using the New American Standard Version, which is also under some of your 18 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:50,320 seat box, your seat holders for the Bibles, and here's what it says in Psalms 23. The 19 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:57,400 Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads 20 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:03,600 me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness 21 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:08,180 for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear 22 00:02:08,180 --> 00:02:14,240 no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a 23 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:20,200 table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed my head with oil. My cup 24 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:26,480 overflows. Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life, and 25 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:32,560 I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That's got that amazing, familiar feel, doesn't 26 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:37,360 it? It's got a comforting kind of tone to it as you read the 23rd Psalm. I can't tell 27 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:42,560 you the number of times I've heard this Psalm read. Sometimes it's in church services, 28 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:47,120 sometimes at funerals. I've heard it read in football locker rooms. I mean, just about 29 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:52,600 everywhere the 23rd Psalm is something that speaks to us and resonates with us, and I 30 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:56,840 want us to look at today from the perspective of leadership. Let's pray together. Father, 31 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:02,000 in Jesus' name, show us all we need to know today from the 23rd Psalm. Show us what we 32 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:09,360 need to know about you, our Father, our great Shepherd. Lord, I am so grateful that you 33 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:15,520 are who you say you are. I'm so grateful that the words of Psalm 23 bring great comfort, 34 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:20,440 great encouragement, even in the darkest times of life. You're our great Shepherd leading 35 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:25,840 us through. Father, thank you for affirming that to us. Thank you for being you. We ask 36 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:32,840 this in Jesus' name, and everybody said amen. Please be seated if you would. 37 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:39,240 Well, our series on relationships has been six weeks long. We've looked at different 38 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:44,480 things. Last week it was about serving one another, and I made the statement last week 39 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:50,680 that good leadership, being a servant, is practically synonymous. When we talk about 40 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:55,520 serving and leading, we ought to be talking about it in the same sentence, because every 41 00:03:55,520 --> 00:04:01,440 good leader is a good servant, and everyone that serves well understands leadership really 42 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,480 well. It's important for us to have that picture in front of us. You know, over the 43 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:11,200 years I have been a fan of reading books on leadership. I remember going to seminary way 44 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:15,600 back when, almost 40 years ago now, and coming out with a pretty good understanding of what 45 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:20,240 the Bible said, but when it came to pastoring a church or leading people, I didn't feel 46 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:24,640 like I had all the instruction I needed. I thought there were some things I really needed 47 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:31,260 to learn, and so I bought book after book after book on leadership. I have whole sets 48 00:04:31,260 --> 00:04:36,560 of leadership volumes from John Maxwell and other leaders of various eras. I've read 49 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:42,000 church leadership, I've read corporate leadership, business leadership, family leadership, just 50 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:47,720 about every kind of leadership book that you can imagine I have read at some point, or 51 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:53,360 summarized at some point, or tried to put in my life in some way. But at the end of 52 00:04:53,360 --> 00:05:00,840 it all, there is no perfect model for leadership. There is no perfect plan for how to lead, 53 00:05:00,840 --> 00:05:06,960 but there is a perfect person who exemplifies what leadership is all about, and that is 54 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:11,400 the Lord in Psalms 23, and later on Jesus, the Good Shepherd. 55 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:17,160 So I want us to look at Psalm 23 today, not just as a comforting Psalm for each of us 56 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:21,800 who count the Lord as our shepherd, and it will be comforting to you, but at the same 57 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:27,920 time I want us to look at that from the perspective of how can we be like the Lord in how we interact 58 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:35,160 with other people around us. Psalm 23 is a picture of perfect leadership in the sense 59 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:40,760 of the Lord Himself is perfect, He's divine. And in every way He meets our needs in ways 60 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:46,720 that we don't even know sometimes. Psalm 23 is a reminder, and one of the reasons we love 61 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:52,240 Psalm 23 is because it reminds us that we really need a shepherd. We really need someone 62 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:56,600 to help us with the things in life. And we need somebody that's not distant, we need 63 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:00,760 somebody that's not insensitive to what we're going through in life, we need someone that's 64 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:07,480 with us and is aware of everything we're going through. We need a shepherd, and we have the 65 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:11,640 Great Shepherd, the Lord is my shepherd is how this begins. 66 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:16,840 And by the way, if you aspire to lead, and we all ought to aspire to lead well, whether 67 00:06:16,840 --> 00:06:20,880 it's leading as a mom or a dad, a brother or a sister, whether it's leading in the church 68 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:25,560 environment, the kingdom environment, the business place, whatever organization you're 69 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:31,800 a part of, we ought to aspire to lead after the pattern of the very best leader ever, 70 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:36,560 and that is the Lord Himself. So I'm going to give you some things out of Psalm 23 today 71 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:42,040 that I hope will be helpful for you. Three very clear, simple points, because Psalm 23 72 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:49,720 is simple, just a few verses, and yet profound in how it can impact us. First of all, I want 73 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:55,520 you to notice the perfect example. It begins in verse one, giving us the perfect example, 74 00:06:55,520 --> 00:07:00,600 David is authoring the Psalm. David was a shepherd later to become a king, and he says 75 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:08,760 this, he says, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Now David begins this by stating 76 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:13,680 the same thing two different ways. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. There's 77 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:18,920 two ways of saying the same thing. He is perfect in his leadership. He leads so well, there's 78 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:23,680 nothing I could possibly want. There's nothing missing from how he leads me. The Lord is 79 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:29,720 my shepherd. I shall not want. Now let me just say this statement because I think it's 80 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:35,680 important. Great leaders ought to hold great examples of leadership in front of them. They 81 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:42,000 ought to hold great examples of leadership in front of them. All of us aspire to be great 82 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:46,280 leaders. None of us should claim that we're great leaders. All of us should have the picture 83 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:51,560 of the perfect leader in front of us, and that would be the Lord. Now last week we were 84 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:56,120 in Mark chapter 10 where Jesus was talking to his disciples about leadership. Remember 85 00:07:56,120 --> 00:08:02,280 what James and John said to Jesus, Lord, let us be on the right hand and left hand of you 86 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:06,640 when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said, well, you have the wrong pattern of 87 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:10,880 leadership in front of you, the wrong example of leadership in front of you. And he said 88 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:17,040 this in Mark 10, 42 and 43. He said, you know that those who are recognized as rulers of 89 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:22,320 the Gentiles lord it over them and their great men exercise authority over them, but it is 90 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:29,640 not this way among you. In other words, don't have the wrong pattern or model of leader 91 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:35,560 in front of you or you'll move in a different direction than you should be. Instead of that, 92 00:08:35,560 --> 00:08:41,040 keep the best leader in front of you, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why 93 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:46,600 Jesus later on in John chapter 10 said to these disciples, I am the good shepherd and 94 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:52,920 the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Can you agree with me today that Jesus 95 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:57,200 is the perfect leader? Say amen if you agree with that. He's the perfect leader. There 96 00:08:57,200 --> 00:09:02,320 is no way that there could be a person possibly improve on the leadership of Jesus Christ. 97 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:09,320 The book of Hebrews calls Jesus the great shepherd of the sheep. And also the Bible, 98 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:15,320 the picture, the very vivid imagery of a shepherd and sheep are brought to us to help us understand 99 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:22,760 something about this great shepherd and his leading of us. You know, when it comes to 100 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:27,440 shepherd and sheep, there's all kinds of analogies that help us, all kinds of stories and pictures 101 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:33,040 that will help us understand how it works, but the truth is that sometimes thinking about 102 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:38,120 leadership as being a shepherd of sheep seems out of touch with modern technology, out of 103 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:44,000 touch with current leadership principles or leadership examples, but the reason that this 104 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:49,280 great model of leadership modeled by the perfect example of Jesus Christ is so relevant is 105 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:55,440 because it touches on human nature that does not change. Ultimately, leadership is about 106 00:09:55,440 --> 00:10:01,080 leading people. Leadership is about helping people and serving people. And of course, 107 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:05,920 Jesus was the master of that. The Lord is my shepherd talks about God himself. Jesus 108 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:11,280 says I am the good shepherd. So this is a powerful picture of what we need to be aware 109 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:18,280 of. By the way, Jesus frequently talked about people as being like sheep. Now, just for 110 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:24,320 those of you that are not too aware of what sheep are, that is not really a compliment 111 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:29,040 that he calls a sheep, right? We're aware that when he calls a sheep, he's talking 112 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:34,720 about animals that everyone knew were prone to really need a shepherd. For example, the 113 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:39,600 parable of the lost sheep, the one running away, hiding, being lost, and the shepherd 114 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:44,600 leaving the 99 to go after the one says that that one was missing it somehow and the good 115 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:50,800 shepherd had to go get him. It's pretty humbling to be called sheep by Jesus. It says we need 116 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:56,640 help. That's what it says. So how many of you were ever raised around sheep? Would you 117 00:10:56,640 --> 00:11:02,040 raise your hand if you were raised around sheep? Nobody in the room was raised around sheep 118 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:05,760 or you were sheepish in letting me know that you were raised around sheep in some way. 119 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:11,320 Let me tell you about shepherds and sheep. Sheep are helpless and cannot survive without 120 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:16,520 a good shepherd. They don't have good eyesight and they don't hear well. They're heavy 121 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:22,480 creatures and they move at a painstakingly slow pace. No one ever says they're as fast 122 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:28,600 as sheep. They're easily frightened and confused. They're dumb. They follow one another into 123 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:34,120 dangerous spots and have been known to follow other sheep off of cliffs. No one ever says 124 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:40,200 they're as smart as sheep. They have no weapons. They have no sharp teeth. They have no camouflage. 125 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:46,880 They have no claws. No sharp hooves. They can't make a tempering sound. Never scared 126 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:52,280 a wolf off. Not once. No sounds that would scare anything off. Now the reason we have 127 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:58,200 this simple picture of sheep and shepherds is that sheep need shepherds. They need someone 128 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:03,320 watching them. Jesus is making this point about us as human being. He's making the 129 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:08,920 point about people. People need shepherds. Now remember David is the psalmist that wrote 130 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:13,840 this and David was an incredible shepherd of sheep. That's how he was working and 131 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:19,620 serving when God selected him to be king of Israel. So he learned the lessons about shepherding 132 00:12:19,620 --> 00:12:26,160 and then took them on to become king of all Israel. The New Testament holds out for us 133 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:32,040 a pattern of leadership based on sheep and shepherds. It says this in 1 Peter chapter 134 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:37,960 5. It says shepherd the flock of God among you and one day the chief shepherd will appear 135 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:42,920 with your reward. So let's just get this in our mind. The perfect model for leadership 136 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:50,400 is the model of Jesus the good shepherd. Keep that in front of you if you will. Everything 137 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:56,680 that we do today needs to be based on how Jesus led. And it's helpful to know that 138 00:12:56,680 --> 00:13:01,440 even though we all aspire, we ought to want to be great leaders, we'll never take the 139 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:07,320 place of Jesus Christ. He is irreplaceable. Earthly leaders are simply people who follow 140 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:11,680 his example and if we do it well we point people to Jesus and we take care of them in 141 00:13:11,680 --> 00:13:17,800 many many ways. However imperfectly we lead, he's got to be our example. So let me just 142 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:23,560 say this. Everybody in the room has the opportunity to follow this great leader, this great example, 143 00:13:23,560 --> 00:13:29,240 Jesus Christ. And the way you father your children, the way you are a mother to your 144 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:34,800 kids, the way you interact with brothers and sisters, not only in your immediate biological 145 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:38,680 family but in the body of Christ. And the way you interact with people if you're a 146 00:13:38,680 --> 00:13:43,480 church leader, if you lead a small group, if you lead a class of some kind. Or whether 147 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:47,760 you're in the corporate world and you pay attention to the needs of those that are in 148 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:52,480 your employ. Whatever it is, however it is, when you have this example of Jesus Christ 149 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:57,400 in front of you, you are in touch with human nature and are able to meet those needs in 150 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:03,000 an amazing way after the example of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. So we have a perfect 151 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:07,400 example in front of us. No matter how many books you read, make sure you read the Bible 152 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:12,600 enough to know, alright, in all these other examples of leadership, here is one that rises 153 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:19,600 above them all. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Secondly, I want you to notice 154 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:26,600 the caring heart. The caring heart. Psalm 23 immediately goes to how caring and how 155 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:34,720 loving and how sensitive this particular shepherd is who is the Lord. You know, most leaders 156 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:38,960 have certain principles of leadership that they kind of prioritize. I mean, I'm sure 157 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:43,760 many in this room will have what I have, vows, maybe summaries of books you've read or points 158 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:48,240 that you've taken that says, you know, here's what I need to do to be a good leader or here's 159 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:53,480 what I need to do to be a good parent. Here's how I can lead my little league sports team 160 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:58,240 or whatever it is we might be doing. We have these certain principles. But when you look 161 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:05,240 at the way of Jesus' life and model that he gives us, then care and kindness are always 162 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:11,020 present. Always present. No matter what he was dealing with, no matter how difficult 163 00:15:11,020 --> 00:15:16,480 the circumstance was, care and kindness were a big part of what Jesus did. It was what 164 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:21,520 he felt, what he said, what he expressed and how he interacted with him. And that picture 165 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:27,760 is what I want to hold before you today. Psalm 23 highlights the big rocks of leadership. 166 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:34,760 Let me name the four of them. Feeding, leading, restoring, protecting. Feeding, leading, restoring, 167 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:42,560 protecting. Now already there are probably people in the congregation today that say, 168 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:47,600 well these are kind of out of touch with modern corporate world. And the reality is modern 169 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:52,400 corporate world is out of touch with real principles of leading. Jesus knew the human 170 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:57,360 heart. He knew what helped people and what inspired people, what helped them get to the 171 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:04,360 next level of their life. And these things were part of that feeding, leading, restoring, 172 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:11,120 and protecting. This is really a big picture look at that perfect leader, Jesus Christ. 173 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,520 Now let's look at these lines one at a time because these lines really need to mean something 174 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:18,840 to us when it comes to this caring model that we have, this caring heart. First of all he 175 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:25,840 says, he makes me lie down in green pastures. Now I love this picture and I think most of 176 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:32,600 us have seen the picture of sheep on a hillside and they're lying down. And you see the beautiful 177 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:38,020 green pastoral setting and these sheep are at peace. Normally in such a picture there 178 00:16:38,020 --> 00:16:44,560 should be a shepherd standing nearby because his presence is what these sheep need in order 179 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:51,360 to be comfortable, to be full, and to be safe. So that's an important thing. Sheep don't 180 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:55,760 lay down until they're full. So when they're not standing and leaning over and eating the 181 00:16:55,760 --> 00:17:00,720 grass they've already eaten, they're already full and the picture is that this great shepherd 182 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:06,760 has fed his flock and now they're lying down, they're full, and they're satisfied. The 183 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:12,800 shepherd feeds the flock. It's a picture of contentment, a picture of safety. You can 184 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:18,000 lie down now because I'm in the field with you and you are full, the shepherd says. Now 185 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:23,880 in that analogy the sheep have been physically fed. In human leadership people are taken 186 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:28,920 care of. In family, in church they've been brought to feed on spiritual food. They have 187 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:33,080 all the spiritual nourishment they need. They have all the instruction they need from the 188 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:37,800 Word of God. They have all the security they need to be able to be at peace, to be able 189 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:44,280 to lie down in the so-called field of our lives. He makes me lie down in green pastures. 190 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:51,280 It's about feeding and nourishing those that you lead. Next it says, he leads me beside 191 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:57,960 still water. Now I didn't know this but in my study of sheep and shepherding I learned 192 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:03,400 that sheep will not drink out of water that's rushing. They won't step into a stream that's 193 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:08,840 moving at any speed at all. They'll panic, they'll be afraid, they'll worry about what 194 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:14,560 they're trying to do and so it's really important to lead them beside the still water. So get 195 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:20,600 this picture. These sheep have been physically fed and now this leader is leading them to 196 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:25,320 the place where they are beside still water and he's leading them to that place. He's 197 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:30,560 not driving them that way. The emphasis here is on him leading them to the place where 198 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:36,240 the waters are quiet, where they can drink and be fully nourished in that water as well. 199 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:41,140 Sometimes that meant that the shepherd had to dam up a stream on both sides. On one side 200 00:18:41,140 --> 00:18:45,480 to keep it from rushing in, the other side to keep it in and that still water he created 201 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:50,440 through his hard labor meant that they could actually get that still water right there 202 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:55,560 where it was at one point a rushing stream. Other time the shepherd had just to go as 203 00:18:55,560 --> 00:19:02,040 far as he needed to go to find the quiet water and then lead them to that quiet water. And 204 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:10,040 again the emphasis is the shepherd leads. He must go ahead. Jesus in John chapter 10 205 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:16,100 talked about himself being the great shepherd. In that John 10 passage he talks about how 206 00:19:16,100 --> 00:19:21,720 he led them. In verses 3, 4, and 5 the Bible says, And the sheep hear his voice, and he 207 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:27,320 calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all of his own, he 208 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:32,180 goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they 209 00:19:32,180 --> 00:19:37,880 simply will not follow, but will flee from him because they do not know the voice of 210 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:45,240 strangers. Recently someone sent me a great video of a shepherd over in the hills of Great 211 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:50,040 Britain somewhere. I think it might have been Ireland or Scotland, one of those places. 212 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:54,840 He was actually the shepherd giving a tour of several people who were wanting to see 213 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:59,880 the sheep that he owned on the hillside that they were grazing on. Apparently he allowed 214 00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:04,520 each of them to cry out in order to call those sheep, try to get their attention, try to 215 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:09,200 get them to come. Two or three of them gave it an effort. They would get up at the fence 216 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:13,660 side and they would call out to the sheep. They would do various kinds of calls or whistles 217 00:20:13,660 --> 00:20:18,840 or sing-song kind of approach to get those sheep to look. But not one of those sheep 218 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:23,480 raised its head and looked at them. Much less did any of them move their way. They were 219 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:29,220 probably a hundred yards away or more. Finally after this demonstration, the shepherd himself 220 00:20:29,220 --> 00:20:35,920 got up to the fence and he called to them in this little sing-song kind of voice, and 221 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:40,880 they recognized him. One at a time raised their head and before long one of them began 222 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:44,600 to slowly walk his way. Then another, then another, before long all of them were kind 223 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:50,640 of trotting the way of the shepherd. A perfect illustration of what Jesus says here. Then 224 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:57,160 John chapter 10, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me. It's a picture of knowing 225 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:01,840 the shepherd well enough and the shepherd knowing the sheep well enough. That they're 226 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:08,200 confident that they will listen to him and respond to him. In further reading I learned 227 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:12,680 that sheep and shepherds have this unique relationship. For example, the sheep can all 228 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:17,920 be asleep at night lying on a field and the shepherd can actually walk through the sheep 229 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:23,320 and not frighten them because they know his gate. He does it enough where they are confident. 230 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:29,080 But let one strange person walk among them and they become panicky. They become alert 231 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:34,560 and frightened because they don't recognize that gate. I also read that when sheep come 232 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:39,640 together at a common watering hole, as many as four or five flocks of sheep can gather 233 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:44,640 together, hundreds of sheep there, and never become confused because when one shepherd 234 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:48,760 is ready to lead them in the direction they need to go, he just goes that way and turns 235 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:54,160 back and calls them. And the only sheep that will follow him are his sheep and none of 236 00:21:54,160 --> 00:22:00,260 them will stay for the voice of another shepherd. Look at all that pictures that human nature 237 00:22:00,260 --> 00:22:05,440 give us about this great leadership that Jesus Christ gives us that the Lord God being our 238 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:15,440 shepherd gives us. It says, He knows his sheep and his sheep know them. Enough to be trusted. 239 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:23,440 As fast as I looked at several resources for what it means to be good leaders like Jesus 240 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:28,440 led, one book summarized Jesus' leadership in the four different principles and I love 241 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:33,360 these four principles because they are all connected with this idea of being present 242 00:22:33,360 --> 00:22:39,180 with the sheep as the shepherd is. There's four things that Jesus did in interacting 243 00:22:39,180 --> 00:22:44,360 with everyone that followed him. First of all, he saw potential in them. He saw potential 244 00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:47,960 in them. He didn't see that they were perfect. He didn't care that they were perfect. He 245 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:52,880 saw potential in them because he knew them well. Secondly, he forgave them. Jesus forgave 246 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:59,080 those that did not follow him well, even those that met him to the cross. He forgave them. 247 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:05,280 Forgiveness is a big issue. He served them well. And by serving them, they began to be 248 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:12,560 confident in him. And the last part is he gave grace in every situation. He gave grace. 249 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:17,800 He saw potential. He forgave. He served. He gave grace. And I think about what environment 250 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:22,080 can you do all those things? It's in the environment where you are actually with the 251 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:26,560 sheep and the sheep are with you, where they know you, where they are aware of you and 252 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:32,640 you are aware of them. So leadership is about being present, being fully in tune as much 253 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:37,520 as possible with those that you lead. It's not from a distance. It's not while you're 254 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:43,040 multitasking a number of other things, but it's really being focused on the flock itself. 255 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:50,280 Look at the next line. He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness 256 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:55,960 for his name sake. The word restore has to do with turning back and getting back on the 257 00:23:55,960 --> 00:24:01,200 right path. The shepherd will always be concerned about that. And the parable of a lost sheep 258 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:06,800 is so memorable because one of these sheep got so far away from the flock that the shepherd 259 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:12,440 had to leave in 99 in order to get to all the others. And it's also memorable because 260 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:18,760 it's so easy for us to wander. There's no song we used to sing a lot, prone to wander, 261 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:23,360 Lord. I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. And we might as well say, prone to leave 262 00:24:23,360 --> 00:24:28,240 the shepherd I love. But aren't you glad the shepherd comes after you when you wander? 263 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:32,120 Anybody ever had the shepherd come after you when you wandered? Aren't you glad that he 264 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:40,120 cares enough to convict you, somehow reach out to you, somehow bring you back? He restores 265 00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:46,840 my soul. Good leadership means we do everything we can to restore the relationships, to restore 266 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:52,400 the souls of people around us. And sometimes that's a gentle restoration. And sometimes 267 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:57,560 we have to do it over and over again. Now again, I'm not a guy that was raised around 268 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:02,360 sheep but there's a lot of great videos out there. YouTube is one of my favorite channels, 269 00:25:02,360 --> 00:25:08,280 folks. And I saw one channel on YouTube where a shepherd was going after one particular 270 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:12,200 sheep that fell into a large crevice in the ground. In fact, he had fallen so far into 271 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:17,240 that crevice about the only thing you could see is that sheep's ears, so to speak, and 272 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:22,400 his head. And so this shepherd walked over to that crevice, got everything he could to 273 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:27,440 get that sheep out, put him over on the side so he was safe again, turned for just a moment 274 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:33,040 and when he turned the sheep jumped back into the crevice. That's all that and I thought, 275 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:38,200 man, that's just like me sometimes. God pulls me out of danger and I jump right back in. 276 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:42,200 Man, that's why I need a shepherd so bad. I don't know why you need one but I need a 277 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:51,200 shepherd really badly. I also over the years saw a picture, an artist's rendition of a 278 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:57,440 shepherd who might be portrayed as Jesus or Jesus the shepherd is what the artist is depicting. 279 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:02,440 And he had a lamb around his shoulders and he was holding the back legs with his hand, 280 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:06,240 the front legs with his hand and there was some sort of a little wrapping around the 281 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:11,120 back leg of the sheep and showed a picture of the shepherd that loved the sheep so much 282 00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:15,680 that if the sheep was so rebellious he would break the leg of the sheep actually and then 283 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:22,200 carry him until it was healed just to teach the sheep to stick close to the shepherd. 284 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:26,160 And I at times have felt like that sheep as well where the Lord had to kind of break my 285 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:30,400 leg and slow me down and then walk with me more carefully. Now what does that say to 286 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:36,220 you if it doesn't say that he loves you so much that he restores your soul? He restores 287 00:26:36,220 --> 00:26:42,200 your soul, restores back to fellowship with him, back to fellowship with other people. 288 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:51,880 Now obviously when it comes to human leadership it's not quite as simple as sheep and shepherds 289 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:56,800 but the action of a shepherd is what we always keep in mind. No matter how complicated life 290 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:02,040 is, how complicated family is, how complicated organizations are, it's so important for 291 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:08,280 us to have the heart of a shepherd, the heart of care. We will never replace the great shepherd 292 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:14,320 but we can emulate the great shepherd in all that we do. Jesus cared for the flock so much. 293 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:20,040 I continue to care for the flock that he equips us to be good shepherds of one another in 294 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:27,680 the body of Christ and we are all called to mimic Jesus in this idea of being a good shepherd. 295 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:31,640 Can you rise to that call? Can you look around and care and love people around you enough 296 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:39,080 to say I want to mimic the good shepherd Jesus Christ? Now here's the third thing that Psalm 297 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:46,960 chapter 23 brings me and that is the enduring dedication. I love this part of Psalm 23. 298 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:52,640 You know when you read verses 1 through 3 everything's pastoral, it's green, it's 299 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:58,080 watery, it's wonderful, the sheep are lying down, it's just really really calming but 300 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:04,760 when you read verses 4, 5, and 6 the rest of it is pretty gritty. You've got words 301 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:12,360 like death, evil, enemies. I mean it moves from being a really easy Saturday afternoon 302 00:28:12,360 --> 00:28:17,920 to a really really rough Saturday night. It moves from being a time of tranquility to 303 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:25,440 a time of difficulty. And when you read the last three verses, verses 4, 5, and 6 of Psalm 304 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:30,800 chapter 23 you have to come to the conclusion that not only is He there for us during good 305 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:37,920 times, He's there to help protect us during difficult times because life is difficult, 306 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:43,120 right? Is your life ever difficult? Do you ever need the good shepherd not just to be 307 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:47,120 one that comforts you but one that actually rescues you and helps you in ways you can't 308 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:53,360 even imagine until that kind of thing happens to you? The Lord is there for us, David says. 309 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:58,040 Look at the lines. Verse 4 says, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of 310 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:04,200 death and that emphasis there is so big, the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. 311 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:10,920 Why? For you are with me. I hate to break this to you but I think most of you know by 312 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:16,160 now it's not a secret. You're not going to have an easy life all the time. Does that 313 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:20,760 surprise anybody in the room? I didn't think it did. You're not going to have an easy life 314 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:25,960 365. It's just not like that. Life's not like that. And you live in a world, that world won't 315 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:31,480 let it be like that, right? There are all kinds of people that look to prey on you just like 316 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:38,000 a wolf seeks to prey on a sheep. That's just the way it is. By the cause of that reality, 317 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:43,880 we desperately need a shepherd who has an enduring dedication to us in good times and 318 00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:50,880 bad times. The valley of the shadow of death is an alarming picture of danger. David was 319 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:58,640 a warrior king. First he was a shepherd, then anointed to be king, but then a warrior king. 320 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:03,840 Always at battle. It's not hard for a guy that's at war all the time to use the phrase 321 00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:08,240 the valley of the shadow of death. It doesn't mean he's died but what it does mean is he 322 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:15,240 sees death all around him. And day after day David saw death all around him. And yet he 323 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:20,800 said in the midst of all that, I won't be afraid though I walk through the valley of 324 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:26,240 the shadow of death I'll fear no evil. Why? Because you are with me. My shepherd is there 325 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:31,960 with me every step of the way. And I love this part of Psalm because basically the good 326 00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:38,040 shepherd promises that he won't leave us during the difficult times. And all through the New 327 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:42,280 Testament Jesus is saying this, he's reminding us of this all the time, I'm with you even 328 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:48,080 to the end of the age. He says in Matthew chapter 28 as he sends his disciples out. 329 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:52,800 He says in Romans chapter 15, I'm not leaving you as orphans. He said that in John 14 as 330 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:57,120 well, I'm leaving the Holy Spirit with you. I'm going to be your father, I'm going to 331 00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:01,960 be there. He says I'm going to be with you and even that, beyond that I'm going to be 332 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:06,760 in you in the form of the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 13, 5 is one of those great verses where it 333 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:14,760 says five times, I will never, never, never, never, never forsake you ever. All through 334 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:18,840 the Bible he promises us that even though you walk through the valley of the shadow 335 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:23,000 of death you don't have anything to be afraid of because your great shepherd is there with 336 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:30,960 you at every step of the way. I love the encouragement of this. I love it. I'm glad I don't have 337 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:38,960 to go through that alone. The leader that follows that example is there and not absent 338 00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:44,160 during tough times in the lives of those around him. There's another line here, you prepare 339 00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:51,000 a table before me in the presence of my enemies. And I also love that because it gives me the 340 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:55,660 reminder that even when surrounded by enemies the good shepherd feeds us and nourishes us 341 00:31:55,660 --> 00:32:00,080 even in the hardest of times. Even when we can't even think about taking care of ourselves, 342 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:04,880 he's taking care of us because he's bringing us through those tough times and not leaving 343 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:11,640 us in those tough times. Remember when the children of Israel wandered through the wilderness 344 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:17,440 and God prepared a table for them every day by letting manna fall down from heaven. He 345 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:23,300 fed them in the middle of the wilderness surrounded by enemies. He gave them water to drink out 346 00:32:23,300 --> 00:32:28,880 of a rock in the middle of their wilderness wanderings. It's just amazing how God has 347 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:34,680 provided for us in every way no matter how difficult the moments. And this is the equivalent 348 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:39,800 of saying my God shall apply every need that you have according to his riches and glory 349 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:45,160 in Christ Jesus. No matter what's going on your shepherd sees and knows and will take 350 00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:52,840 care of you. When I read the psalm I was reminded of some of the times when I felt closest to 351 00:32:52,840 --> 00:33:00,840 the Lord. Where I felt his presence with me maybe more than at easy times or normal times. 352 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:04,920 And then there in those times when I felt like I was in the presence of my enemies. 353 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:10,920 When I felt like I was at the tip of the spear and felt like things were going badly. And 354 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:15,920 when I look back at those times I realize man God was at work. He was calming me. He 355 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:21,920 was reassuring me. He was leading me. And then as I look back on all those times I realize 356 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:27,880 he was acting on my behalf in ways I did not see at that moment. Let me just impress upon 357 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:33,480 you. The work of the Good Shepherd means that he doesn't always tell you what he's doing 358 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:38,120 to protect you but he's always protecting you. He doesn't always hold the wolf up so 359 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:42,400 you can see the wolf because that might frighten you even more but when he holds the wolf up 360 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:47,400 it means he's taking care of the wolf and you don't have to deal with it. Now that's 361 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:52,280 why David was able to say, back in his life, even though I walk through the valley of the 362 00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:57,800 shadow of death I won't be afraid because he is with me and even in the presence of 363 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:01,880 my enemies he has prepared a table before me. He's going to take care of me in good 364 00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:07,720 times and bad times. He won't leave me. He won't run from me. I'll never be alone with 365 00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:14,960 this Shepherd. He will take care of me. I think we ought to pause long enough at least 366 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:23,720 just to think. A thought of gratitude for the God that really lifts us out of near life. 367 00:34:23,720 --> 00:34:28,240 These are not just poetic words. These are accurate descriptions of the God who loves 368 00:34:28,240 --> 00:34:35,200 us. The God who is there. The God who will never ever leave us and will never forsake 369 00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:40,240 us. Look at what else it says in verse 6. It says, 370 00:34:40,240 --> 00:34:45,240 But surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. David is saying 371 00:34:45,240 --> 00:34:49,480 this, ride him up to the place of eternity, his goodness of character, his mercy that 372 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:55,200 he's shown me, he'll continue to show me because it's who he is. I love those lines 373 00:34:55,200 --> 00:35:00,760 because those lines remind me that God's character is always good. His mercy is always turned 374 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:04,760 on. He's always going to show mercy, always going to show me his goodness of character. 375 00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:09,880 He's always going to live out his character in my life. He's not unpredictable. He's 376 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:15,800 not one that we can't trust, I can't know. He shows us who he is and says, follow me, 377 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:21,640 I'm with you the whole way. How's God going to respond to me 10 years from now? With his 378 00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:27,320 goodness and mercy. How's he going to respond to me after I fall in some way, sin in some 379 00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:31,920 way? With his goodness and mercy. How's he going to respond when enemies come against 380 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:36,440 me when I'm stabbed with a spear of some kind? With his goodness and mercy because that's 381 00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:43,440 who God is. His goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell 382 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:52,160 on the house of the Lord forever. That's how this ends. I love the fact that this comes 383 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:59,160 all the way to eternity. So David, who should have known a lot less about eternity than 384 00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:03,880 we know today because we have had Christ tell us about eternity, we have the New Testament 385 00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:08,840 with all the revelations of fall and eternity and the book of Revelation and all the things 386 00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:14,640 in the end. We know so much, but here's David way back in that day saying, and I will dwell 387 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:19,560 in the house of the Lord forever. David as a human being was saying, I will live forever 388 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:26,560 with this God because this God is going to take care of me in eternity. Now David can 389 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:32,480 have that kind of confidence. And if that confidence helped him through the tough times 390 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:39,480 of his life, why does the promise of eternity not help us during the tough times of our 391 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:44,720 lives? I mean, if you're a believer in Jesus, you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever 392 00:36:44,720 --> 00:36:51,400 as well, won't you? So here's this amazing promise about eternity that this great shepherd 393 00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:58,080 not only takes care of us in good times and bad times, meal times and other times, but 394 00:36:58,080 --> 00:37:03,120 we'll see his goodness all the days of our lives and will dwell with him in the house 395 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:10,120 of the Lord forever. If you go back to John 10 towards the end of John 10 where Jesus 396 00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:17,120 has said, I'm the good shepherd, he talks about eternity and in verse 27 to 29 he says 397 00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:22,440 this about eternity, some of the best verses in the scripture about eternal life and some 398 00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:29,280 of the most reassuring doctrinal verses about eternal life as well. Here's what it says, 399 00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:36,280 my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give eternal life to 400 00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:43,440 them and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hands. My Father 401 00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:49,760 who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my 402 00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:56,760 Father's hands. Man I absolutely love that text because that text tells me that my shepherd 403 00:37:57,400 --> 00:38:04,400 once I answer his call holds me and helps me all the way to the end and through the 404 00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:11,440 end to the other side and no one can take me away from this good shepherd. No wolf, 405 00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:17,240 no false teacher, no failure on the part of myself as a sheep will never remove me from 406 00:38:17,240 --> 00:38:23,040 the hands of this good shepherd. Man if that doesn't reassure you I don't know what will. 407 00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:28,240 If that doesn't help you know that God is for you and has plans for you then I don't 408 00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:33,200 know what I can say to help you know your life is secured by the hands and the heart 409 00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:39,960 of this good shepherd exemplified in the Lord Jesus Christ mimicked and mirrored by human 410 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:45,720 beings who want to lead like him and we should mimic and follow his example but all we're 411 00:38:45,720 --> 00:38:52,120 doing is pointing to the great great leader who loves you with a whole heart as your great 412 00:38:52,120 --> 00:38:59,120 shepherd. I don't know how many of you today have answered the call of that good shepherd 413 00:39:02,600 --> 00:39:09,600 but I want to end this message today by encouraging you to answer the call of this great shepherd. 414 00:39:09,720 --> 00:39:14,800 Before I give that invitation I just want to make a kind of a statement, a remark. You 415 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:18,480 know I can get all the way to the bottom of this message and say you know you didn't 416 00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:24,480 really talk much pastor about all the different things a person can do to be a leader and 417 00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:27,680 no you're not going to walk away with ten leadership principles today and I hope you 418 00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:34,280 don't but I hope you walk away with one outstanding example of what a leader really looks like 419 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:41,280 and that is your leader the Lord is my shepherd. Have you answered the call that the shepherd 420 00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:48,280 gives you? The call to eternal life? The call that says come to me and I'll give you forgiveness 421 00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:54,080 of sin and I'll give you the gift of eternal life and I will be your good shepherd? If 422 00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:58,440 you've never made that decision I need you to know today you don't become a sheep in 423 00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:05,280 the flock of the great shepherd until you answer his call. My sheep hear my voice and 424 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:12,120 they follow me. Have you heard his voice? Do you want to follow him? Are you listening 425 00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:17,280 to what he says? I want to give you three invitations today. The first one is at the 426 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:21,920 end of our service, just a moment after prayer, there are two decision stations that are at 427 00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:26,200 the back. They're very conveniently located. Those standing behind the tables there would 428 00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:31,560 love to answer any questions about what it means to hear the voice of the shepherd and 429 00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:36,360 follow him. They want to help you make that decision to put your trust, your life, your 430 00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:39,760 faith in Jesus Christ. I want to encourage you to make that decision today. The second 431 00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:43,440 decision is I want to invite you to come to our guest reception room or out to see the 432 00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:48,480 center exit doors and right across the hallway there's a glass room there. I would love to 433 00:40:48,480 --> 00:40:52,560 meet with you and talk to you about what it means to be a part of Cross City Church to 434 00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:57,180 give you some details about that. Third invitation is come back next week as we kick off the 435 00:40:57,180 --> 00:41:01,720 series called The Holy Spirit. And if you want to do a little homework before then, 436 00:41:01,720 --> 00:41:08,680 read John 14, 15, and 16 where Jesus is preparing his disciples with the most important teaching 437 00:41:08,680 --> 00:41:13,520 about understanding the work of the Holy Spirit. Hope to see you next week. Let's stand together 438 00:41:13,520 --> 00:41:18,760 as we pray. Father, my prayer today is that we will walk out of here knowing that we are 439 00:41:18,760 --> 00:41:25,040 well shepherded by you, the chief shepherd. Father, I want to thank you so much for that 440 00:41:25,040 --> 00:41:30,920 picture, that image. Because Lord, when I am inadequate, insufficient, I know that you 441 00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:35,880 are able and that's true of all of us. Father, I pray today that there will be those that 442 00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:42,000 hear the call of the shepherd on their lives and respond to you. Father, I pray today that 443 00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:47,520 you will use this imagery in our minds all week long, this psalm resonating in our spirit. 444 00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:54,200 Lord, restore our soul. Help us know you're there. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. 445 00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:55,640 God bless. Have a wonderful Lord's Day.