1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,260 We continue, as I said, in the book of John in this series, 2 00:00:04,260 --> 00:00:07,420 What's in a Name, where we're looking at the different titles 3 00:00:07,420 --> 00:00:10,860 and distinctions and distinctives of Jesus. 4 00:00:10,860 --> 00:00:12,580 Today we're looking at one that a lot of us 5 00:00:12,580 --> 00:00:15,580 have heard before, is the Good Shepherd. 6 00:00:15,580 --> 00:00:18,180 And I want to start by asking a question. 7 00:00:18,180 --> 00:00:23,180 Growing up, did your parents, either in their tone of voice 8 00:00:23,420 --> 00:00:26,540 or things that they said, tipped you off 9 00:00:26,540 --> 00:00:28,020 that you were in trouble? 10 00:00:28,020 --> 00:00:30,300 How many parents would change their demeanor 11 00:00:30,300 --> 00:00:32,800 or what they say, or how many of you knew 12 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:36,380 when you were middle named you were in trouble? 13 00:00:36,380 --> 00:00:39,460 Raise it high, it's okay, raise it high, right? 14 00:00:39,460 --> 00:00:42,340 It was, yeah, my mom has never really called me Jim, 15 00:00:42,340 --> 00:00:44,500 it's always been Jimmy or James. 16 00:00:44,500 --> 00:00:47,380 And it was, Jimmy, everything was fine. 17 00:00:47,380 --> 00:00:50,520 James, there was a storm on the horizon. 18 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:53,340 James Christopher, I ran. 19 00:00:53,340 --> 00:00:56,940 And then when it was James Christopher Holland owner, 20 00:00:56,940 --> 00:00:58,980 I just went straight to my room. 21 00:00:58,980 --> 00:01:01,020 Because I knew that's probably where I'd end up. 22 00:01:01,020 --> 00:01:03,520 But it's funny how the tone of voice, 23 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:05,620 and my mom, God bless her, is a single mom, 24 00:01:05,620 --> 00:01:10,620 for a while, it was all about tonality. 25 00:01:11,500 --> 00:01:15,860 And I'm sure you could probably, if I asked you to, 26 00:01:15,860 --> 00:01:18,380 you could go back to a time that you got in trouble 27 00:01:19,860 --> 00:01:22,840 by your parents, and there's just a change in their tone, 28 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:25,860 and you knew something was wrong. 29 00:01:25,860 --> 00:01:28,420 For a lot of us, maybe even in our marriages, 30 00:01:28,420 --> 00:01:29,860 those of us that are married, 31 00:01:29,860 --> 00:01:33,500 there's maybe a change in tone of our spouse. 32 00:01:33,500 --> 00:01:37,740 Or if you're like Carrie, it's a look, 33 00:01:37,740 --> 00:01:40,220 where she says a lot just in a look. 34 00:01:40,220 --> 00:01:42,940 And so I know just to go to my room. 35 00:01:42,940 --> 00:01:45,000 And so it's the same thing. 36 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:49,020 But understand that as a parent, 37 00:01:49,020 --> 00:01:51,300 I'm sure if I asked my boys, I'm not, 38 00:01:51,300 --> 00:01:54,800 but if I was, there's probably a different tone 39 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:56,200 in your parents' voice. 40 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,420 So kids, is there a different tone in your parents' voice 41 00:01:59,420 --> 00:02:01,340 when you know you're in trouble? 42 00:02:01,340 --> 00:02:04,300 For each, okay to raise your hand, right? 43 00:02:04,300 --> 00:02:07,580 Joey, that was too fast for you to raise your hand. 44 00:02:07,580 --> 00:02:11,160 But there's something about the tone of voice 45 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:14,180 of people kind of over you in your life. 46 00:02:14,180 --> 00:02:18,940 Whether a parent or a coach or a teacher, professor, 47 00:02:18,940 --> 00:02:20,980 all of those things. 48 00:02:20,980 --> 00:02:23,540 All of that has to do with today's text. 49 00:02:23,540 --> 00:02:28,260 That today's text is about the shepherd, which is Jesus, 50 00:02:28,260 --> 00:02:32,260 but it's about the relationship between shepherd and sheep. 51 00:02:32,260 --> 00:02:36,860 So I did a little bit of a deep dive on sheep. 52 00:02:36,860 --> 00:02:39,840 And it's fascinating, the Bible, 53 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,340 what the Bible calls about sheep is so true, 54 00:02:42,340 --> 00:02:45,420 but calls us sheep that sheep are not, 55 00:02:46,780 --> 00:02:48,580 this might offend some of you 56 00:02:48,580 --> 00:02:49,900 because of the way I just connected it, 57 00:02:49,900 --> 00:02:51,420 but sheep are not very bright. 58 00:02:51,420 --> 00:02:54,460 Okay, they're not the brightest animal on the food chain. 59 00:02:54,460 --> 00:02:55,500 They're not the brightest animal, 60 00:02:55,500 --> 00:02:58,300 but they are animals of habit. 61 00:02:58,300 --> 00:03:01,000 They are animals of what we call in the psychology world, 62 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,100 classical conditioning. 63 00:03:03,100 --> 00:03:05,480 And so that's one of the things you do to train your, 64 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:06,540 let's say your dog, right? 65 00:03:06,540 --> 00:03:11,540 Classically conditioning a person or a animal 66 00:03:11,860 --> 00:03:13,940 is that you're doing kind of the same things 67 00:03:13,940 --> 00:03:14,980 for the same results, 68 00:03:14,980 --> 00:03:18,060 and they end up doing that on repetition. 69 00:03:18,060 --> 00:03:19,300 It's like life on repeat. 70 00:03:19,300 --> 00:03:23,820 For a sheep's life, life was repetitive every day, right? 71 00:03:23,820 --> 00:03:25,320 You went into the sheep pen, 72 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:26,420 you came out of the sheep pen, 73 00:03:26,420 --> 00:03:29,060 you went and ate, you came back to the sheep pen, 74 00:03:29,060 --> 00:03:30,940 and it was just kind of back and forth, back and forth 75 00:03:30,940 --> 00:03:32,700 to different fields, obviously, 76 00:03:32,700 --> 00:03:33,880 because you didn't want the sheep eating 77 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:35,500 from the same field every day, right? 78 00:03:35,500 --> 00:03:36,720 Because then that field would be wiped out 79 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:38,280 and couldn't rebound. 80 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:41,880 And so it was interesting that all by the shepherd's voice, 81 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:45,460 because there were, the number of shepherd to sheep 82 00:03:45,460 --> 00:03:46,780 were not the same. 83 00:03:46,780 --> 00:03:48,880 If you had a flock of 1,000 sheep, 84 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:51,820 you may have only had one or two shepherds. 85 00:03:51,820 --> 00:03:55,380 So it was all had to do with the shepherd's voice. 86 00:03:55,380 --> 00:03:56,980 And though the shepherd had a, you know, 87 00:03:56,980 --> 00:03:58,340 the shepherd's crook, right, 88 00:03:58,340 --> 00:04:00,160 was the staff with the curved end, 89 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:02,260 and was there to defend and to guide 90 00:04:02,260 --> 00:04:04,620 or to protect and save the sheep, 91 00:04:04,620 --> 00:04:08,980 everything was done by the shepherd's voice. 92 00:04:08,980 --> 00:04:11,380 That these sheep were classically conditioned, 93 00:04:11,380 --> 00:04:15,440 in that sense, to understand and know the shepherd's voice. 94 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:19,180 So when Jesus is saying these words in John 10, 95 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:22,000 what he's doing and what he's saying 96 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,660 is known by everybody in the town, right? 97 00:04:24,660 --> 00:04:28,140 Everybody where he's at would understand the sheep lingo, 98 00:04:28,140 --> 00:04:31,620 because that was a major occupation 99 00:04:31,620 --> 00:04:33,540 and a major source of income 100 00:04:33,540 --> 00:04:37,740 and a major kind of commerce in biblical times were sheep. 101 00:04:37,740 --> 00:04:41,140 Because you ate sheep, you used the wool to create things, 102 00:04:41,140 --> 00:04:42,940 clothes and all of that, 103 00:04:42,940 --> 00:04:46,580 yet shepherd was a lowly position. 104 00:04:46,580 --> 00:04:48,340 Did not pay very well, 105 00:04:48,340 --> 00:04:50,860 and you pretty much were living outside. 106 00:04:50,860 --> 00:04:52,660 Now we learned last week that the shepherd 107 00:04:52,660 --> 00:04:56,900 had an important job of being the gate for the sheep pen. 108 00:04:56,900 --> 00:04:58,860 That they were there standing guard 109 00:04:58,860 --> 00:05:01,180 or sleeping by that opening, 110 00:05:01,180 --> 00:05:04,340 so nothing could get in and devour the sheep. 111 00:05:04,340 --> 00:05:06,380 And now Jesus is gonna double down 112 00:05:06,380 --> 00:05:09,860 on what it means to be a good shepherd. 113 00:05:09,860 --> 00:05:11,700 The Old Testament often describes God 114 00:05:11,700 --> 00:05:13,660 as a shepherd of his people. 115 00:05:13,660 --> 00:05:18,100 We see that in Psalm 23, a well-known Psalm, Ezekiel 34. 116 00:05:18,100 --> 00:05:19,600 And the leaders of Israel were meant 117 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:22,500 to shepherd the people faithfully. 118 00:05:22,500 --> 00:05:25,820 That was the call of the leaders of the temple, 119 00:05:25,820 --> 00:05:29,860 the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the teachers of the law, 120 00:05:29,860 --> 00:05:31,900 the Lion of Aaron, the Levites. 121 00:05:31,900 --> 00:05:34,260 They were called to shepherd the sheep. 122 00:05:34,260 --> 00:05:38,580 It was a kind of an object lesson from the very beginning. 123 00:05:38,580 --> 00:05:41,740 But as we see in that first century time, 124 00:05:41,740 --> 00:05:44,380 in biblical times, that the church had failed 125 00:05:44,380 --> 00:05:46,940 because they made it about something different. 126 00:05:46,940 --> 00:05:48,380 They didn't make it about protection, 127 00:05:48,380 --> 00:05:52,340 they made it about rules and money, power and authority. 128 00:05:53,540 --> 00:05:56,620 Yet a shepherd understands, much like a pastor, 129 00:05:56,620 --> 00:05:59,940 that I am called to shepherd sheep, 130 00:05:59,940 --> 00:06:04,940 and if my church has no sheep, then I am not a shepherd. 131 00:06:05,420 --> 00:06:07,420 And so understanding that and understanding that 132 00:06:07,420 --> 00:06:11,340 and understanding the words of Jesus are very important 133 00:06:11,340 --> 00:06:15,260 that God's promise to us, Old Testament to now new, 134 00:06:15,260 --> 00:06:17,700 is the true shepherd. 135 00:06:17,700 --> 00:06:21,420 Jesus, who will gather, who will protect, 136 00:06:21,420 --> 00:06:23,780 and as we get through the weeks of Lent, 137 00:06:23,780 --> 00:06:26,420 we will see he will offer his life 138 00:06:26,420 --> 00:06:29,580 as a sacrifice for the sheep. 139 00:06:29,580 --> 00:06:31,780 So let's identify first the good shepherd. 140 00:06:31,780 --> 00:06:34,260 What is Jesus really doing in John 10, 141 00:06:34,260 --> 00:06:39,260 starting with verse 11, where Jesus says, 142 00:06:40,380 --> 00:06:41,860 I am the good shepherd. 143 00:06:41,860 --> 00:06:44,700 The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 144 00:06:44,700 --> 00:06:47,220 He who was a hired hand and not a shepherd, 145 00:06:47,220 --> 00:06:51,300 who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming 146 00:06:51,300 --> 00:06:53,660 and leaves the sheep and flees, 147 00:06:53,660 --> 00:06:57,820 and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 148 00:06:57,820 --> 00:07:00,140 He flees because he is a hired hand 149 00:07:00,140 --> 00:07:02,580 and cares nothing for the sheep. 150 00:07:02,580 --> 00:07:04,980 Claire, if you wanna leave that one up. 151 00:07:04,980 --> 00:07:07,740 I think it's interesting what John is telling us 152 00:07:07,740 --> 00:07:12,740 that Jesus is saying is he snatches them and they scatter. 153 00:07:13,660 --> 00:07:15,900 You see, Satan is not omnipotent. 154 00:07:15,900 --> 00:07:18,340 Satan is not omnipresent. 155 00:07:18,340 --> 00:07:20,860 A lot, it's not God v. Satan. 156 00:07:20,860 --> 00:07:23,260 It's not Jesus v. Satan. 157 00:07:23,260 --> 00:07:27,740 The Godhead is above all, and Satan submits to that. 158 00:07:27,740 --> 00:07:30,620 And again, this is gonna turn into a spiritual warfare 159 00:07:30,620 --> 00:07:33,380 sermon, though it could easily be pulled into one. 160 00:07:33,380 --> 00:07:36,540 The thing I find fascinating here is that when a wolf 161 00:07:36,540 --> 00:07:41,540 comes in to a pen, again, try to think like a wolf. 162 00:07:42,580 --> 00:07:44,300 It's weird, but try to, right? 163 00:07:44,300 --> 00:07:48,980 What is a wolf's job when it's attacking a herd of sheep? 164 00:07:50,340 --> 00:07:51,340 Don't overthink it. 165 00:07:53,340 --> 00:07:54,180 What? 166 00:07:55,260 --> 00:07:56,940 Yeah, he wants to kill them. 167 00:07:56,940 --> 00:07:58,220 Yeah, he wants to kill them. 168 00:07:58,220 --> 00:08:01,100 But, and again, I've never been a wolf nor have I ever 169 00:08:01,100 --> 00:08:04,740 been a sheep, but it's not like one bite 170 00:08:04,740 --> 00:08:07,100 and the sheep's dead, right? 171 00:08:07,100 --> 00:08:10,900 Because you gotta get through the wool, which is thick. 172 00:08:10,900 --> 00:08:15,140 And learning this, and it's fascinating when you actually 173 00:08:15,140 --> 00:08:18,060 apply it to a life of faith, what a wolf does, 174 00:08:18,060 --> 00:08:22,860 he will go around and try to injure as many sheep 175 00:08:22,860 --> 00:08:26,860 as he can and then come back to devour them. 176 00:08:26,860 --> 00:08:29,140 You ever think about that? 177 00:08:29,140 --> 00:08:31,540 Of course you didn't, because you're not insane, all right? 178 00:08:31,540 --> 00:08:33,620 And we don't really think about these things, 179 00:08:33,620 --> 00:08:36,580 but as I'm diving into the text, I'm trying to figure 180 00:08:36,580 --> 00:08:40,380 this out, and this is bad in my mind, but welcome to it. 181 00:08:40,380 --> 00:08:41,220 Be careful. 182 00:08:42,260 --> 00:08:45,940 Is if a wolf went into a sheep pen and just spent all 183 00:08:45,940 --> 00:08:50,060 of his time devouring one sheep, or not the pen, 184 00:08:50,060 --> 00:08:51,700 because we learned last week he doesn't go into the pen, 185 00:08:51,700 --> 00:08:55,100 but when they're out in the field and a wolf attacks, 186 00:08:55,100 --> 00:08:57,300 if he just spent all his time on one sheep, 187 00:08:57,300 --> 00:08:58,460 the rest get away. 188 00:08:59,380 --> 00:09:01,900 But the fact that a wolf is gonna go around, 189 00:09:01,900 --> 00:09:04,900 or the pack, or the herd of wolves are gonna go around 190 00:09:04,900 --> 00:09:09,900 and try to injure as many as they can to make them lame, 191 00:09:10,460 --> 00:09:14,060 and then they come back to devour, now translate that 192 00:09:14,060 --> 00:09:18,140 to the church and allow it to blow your mind a little bit. 193 00:09:18,140 --> 00:09:20,780 Is that not what Satan tries to do in the church? 194 00:09:20,780 --> 00:09:25,260 Satan doesn't necessarily just go after one person, 195 00:09:25,260 --> 00:09:28,380 go I'm just gonna try to take that one person out. 196 00:09:28,380 --> 00:09:30,660 I'm not gonna use anybody here as an example, 197 00:09:30,660 --> 00:09:32,660 because you won't sleep for the next week, 198 00:09:32,660 --> 00:09:33,620 and that's on me. 199 00:09:34,500 --> 00:09:38,060 When you think about that, how does Satan attack a church? 200 00:09:39,340 --> 00:09:44,140 Things like abuse of power, things like manipulation, 201 00:09:44,140 --> 00:09:49,140 things like gossip, the rumor mill, 202 00:09:49,140 --> 00:09:50,620 and what happens to gossip? 203 00:09:50,620 --> 00:09:52,740 It can hurt a lot of people along the way. 204 00:09:54,260 --> 00:09:57,380 And it got me, I had to stop this week 205 00:09:57,380 --> 00:10:00,100 and just really look at this text and go, 206 00:10:00,100 --> 00:10:03,660 wow, what Satan can get sheep to do 207 00:10:03,660 --> 00:10:05,460 is actually attack each other. 208 00:10:06,700 --> 00:10:10,300 That is Satan at his worst, 209 00:10:10,300 --> 00:10:12,780 is when he just comes in and allows one little thing 210 00:10:12,780 --> 00:10:14,540 to just expand, expand, expand, 211 00:10:14,540 --> 00:10:17,980 now the entire church is affected, or infected, 212 00:10:17,980 --> 00:10:19,300 depending on what it is. 213 00:10:21,060 --> 00:10:24,580 So it makes Jesus' words here just fascinating to me, 214 00:10:24,580 --> 00:10:28,380 where Jesus declares, I am the good shepherd, right? 215 00:10:28,380 --> 00:10:30,780 The Greek word for good here is callos, 216 00:10:30,780 --> 00:10:32,980 which means not just morally good, 217 00:10:32,980 --> 00:10:36,300 but noble, excellent, and beautiful. 218 00:10:36,300 --> 00:10:38,500 Jesus is not just any shepherd, 219 00:10:38,500 --> 00:10:42,540 he is the perfect true shepherd. 220 00:10:42,540 --> 00:10:46,860 You try to compare him to just a regular shepherd, 221 00:10:46,860 --> 00:10:49,700 and loss is just part of a shepherd's world. 222 00:10:50,980 --> 00:10:55,980 You have 100, and after one day you have 98, fair enough. 223 00:10:56,060 --> 00:10:57,980 You're still batting pretty good average. 224 00:10:59,100 --> 00:11:01,980 But every other day, maybe every week, 225 00:11:01,980 --> 00:11:03,180 all of a sudden a shepherd gets lost, 226 00:11:03,180 --> 00:11:04,620 you have to buy more. 227 00:11:04,620 --> 00:11:07,460 It's a transactional relationship, for Jesus it's not. 228 00:11:07,460 --> 00:11:11,460 For Jesus it's an all in true shepherd understanding. 229 00:11:11,460 --> 00:11:15,540 Why? Because he contrasts himself to the hired hand. 230 00:11:15,540 --> 00:11:16,820 You caught that? 231 00:11:16,820 --> 00:11:21,820 The hired hand who runs away when danger comes. 232 00:11:21,820 --> 00:11:23,420 Because at the end of the day, 233 00:11:23,420 --> 00:11:27,460 I'm sure owners of big fields and big flocks of sheep 234 00:11:27,460 --> 00:11:29,620 kind of put in what their loss was gonna be. 235 00:11:29,620 --> 00:11:31,860 They probably project and had averages of, 236 00:11:31,860 --> 00:11:33,660 okay, I have a thousand sheep in six months, 237 00:11:33,660 --> 00:11:37,100 I'm gonna have 950, we'll just put that in 238 00:11:37,100 --> 00:11:38,300 to the cost of everything. 239 00:11:38,300 --> 00:11:41,220 That the owners of those fields would understand that. 240 00:11:41,220 --> 00:11:44,980 That's why Jesus is comparing himself to the hired hand. 241 00:11:44,980 --> 00:11:47,220 Because the hired hand has no buy in. 242 00:11:47,220 --> 00:11:50,100 The hired hand is gonna get paid regardless. 243 00:11:52,100 --> 00:11:55,500 And so the hired hand flees when wolves come, 244 00:11:55,500 --> 00:11:57,300 when bad things come. 245 00:11:58,780 --> 00:12:00,220 They were there for personal gain, 246 00:12:00,220 --> 00:12:02,580 but Jesus stays with his sheep, 247 00:12:02,580 --> 00:12:06,500 even at the cost of his life. 248 00:12:06,500 --> 00:12:09,100 Of his life. 249 00:12:10,980 --> 00:12:14,180 The imagery that he uses here is also contrasting. 250 00:12:14,180 --> 00:12:16,980 There's a deeper cut here that Jesus is doing. 251 00:12:16,980 --> 00:12:19,940 Jesus is actually also calling to account 252 00:12:19,940 --> 00:12:22,140 the false shepherds of Israel. 253 00:12:23,380 --> 00:12:27,060 When God rebukes Ezekiel in 34 for feeding themselves 254 00:12:27,060 --> 00:12:28,140 rather than the sheep, 255 00:12:28,140 --> 00:12:32,380 Jesus is fulfilling God's promise in Ezekiel 34. 256 00:12:32,380 --> 00:12:35,900 I will set up over them one shepherd. 257 00:12:35,900 --> 00:12:40,340 My servant David, and he shall feed them. 258 00:12:40,340 --> 00:12:43,220 So not only is he doing practical teaching 259 00:12:43,220 --> 00:12:45,180 of what a shepherd and a sheep are doing 260 00:12:45,180 --> 00:12:48,460 in an actual field, actual shepherd, actual sheep, 261 00:12:48,460 --> 00:12:50,500 he's also calling out the church. 262 00:12:52,060 --> 00:12:53,820 He's calling out pastors. 263 00:12:53,820 --> 00:12:56,380 He's calling out elders and deacons 264 00:12:56,380 --> 00:12:59,500 that are doing this in a transactional way. 265 00:13:00,580 --> 00:13:03,700 That could make decisions that hurt the sheep, 266 00:13:03,700 --> 00:13:04,860 that have sheep leave, 267 00:13:04,860 --> 00:13:07,540 as long as other sheep are coming in, it's fine. 268 00:13:09,060 --> 00:13:11,100 What a terrible way to run a church. 269 00:13:11,100 --> 00:13:13,820 What a terrible way to organize an organization 270 00:13:13,820 --> 00:13:16,900 that is called to care and love on sheep. 271 00:13:17,980 --> 00:13:19,580 Oh, it's okay that that person left. 272 00:13:19,580 --> 00:13:21,220 They didn't give that much anyway. 273 00:13:22,740 --> 00:13:25,380 You think that I'm kidding, but I guarantee you 274 00:13:25,380 --> 00:13:27,660 it's never happened in Munster's Council Room. 275 00:13:27,660 --> 00:13:30,100 I've never heard that and I hope I never will. 276 00:13:30,100 --> 00:13:33,180 I rue the day that ever happens. 277 00:13:33,180 --> 00:13:36,340 There are organizations that look at all of us that way 278 00:13:36,340 --> 00:13:40,340 as transactional pieces to a cog or a machine 279 00:13:40,340 --> 00:13:41,460 or an organization. 280 00:13:41,460 --> 00:13:44,100 Jesus is calling that out, 281 00:13:44,100 --> 00:13:47,420 that we truly need to care one for another 282 00:13:47,420 --> 00:13:50,260 the way Jesus, the true shepherd, cares. 283 00:13:50,260 --> 00:13:53,780 So are you trusting in that shepherd? 284 00:13:53,780 --> 00:13:55,500 Jesus warns against false leaders 285 00:13:55,500 --> 00:13:57,340 who do not truly care for the sheep. 286 00:13:57,340 --> 00:14:02,340 We must follow the voice of the good shepherd alone. 287 00:14:02,340 --> 00:14:04,780 But some of you, maybe newer to the faith, 288 00:14:04,780 --> 00:14:07,620 maybe you're here and you're not in faith right now. 289 00:14:07,620 --> 00:14:09,420 You don't claim any kind of faith 290 00:14:09,420 --> 00:14:11,580 or religious upbringing or identity. 291 00:14:12,940 --> 00:14:14,620 The question here is do you understand 292 00:14:14,620 --> 00:14:17,220 and know the voice of Jesus? 293 00:14:17,220 --> 00:14:20,380 Do you understand that Jesus is the true shepherd 294 00:14:20,380 --> 00:14:23,660 to care for you and he doubles down on it? 295 00:14:23,660 --> 00:14:26,620 He doubles down on it because of the sacrifice 296 00:14:26,620 --> 00:14:28,020 of the good shepherd. 297 00:14:28,020 --> 00:14:31,780 Understanding in John 14 through 15 298 00:14:31,780 --> 00:14:34,940 that there's a sacrifice that Jesus is gonna double down on 299 00:14:34,940 --> 00:14:38,540 to say no, I am the good shepherd because of this. 300 00:14:38,540 --> 00:14:40,940 He's already contrasted the church leaders 301 00:14:40,940 --> 00:14:43,340 and the false shepherds, if you will, 302 00:14:43,340 --> 00:14:47,340 but then he says in verse 14, I am the good shepherd. 303 00:14:47,340 --> 00:14:50,580 I know my own and my own know me. 304 00:14:50,580 --> 00:14:53,860 Just as the father knows me and I know the father 305 00:14:53,860 --> 00:14:58,220 and I lay down my life for the sheep. 306 00:14:58,220 --> 00:15:01,940 All right, Claire, you can leave that one up. 307 00:15:01,940 --> 00:15:03,660 You might look at that first section and go, 308 00:15:03,660 --> 00:15:04,740 I am the good shepherd. 309 00:15:04,740 --> 00:15:05,980 What in the world does that mean? 310 00:15:05,980 --> 00:15:09,620 Understand that what Jesus puts the word good in there, 311 00:15:09,620 --> 00:15:14,620 what he's actually saying is I am the perfect shepherd. 312 00:15:14,740 --> 00:15:15,580 How? 313 00:15:15,580 --> 00:15:18,140 Because of what he does later in this verse, 314 00:15:18,140 --> 00:15:19,700 in this set of verses where he says, 315 00:15:19,700 --> 00:15:22,020 and the father knows me. 316 00:15:22,020 --> 00:15:25,840 He is claiming to be the son of God. 317 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:27,500 We've talked about this twice already 318 00:15:27,500 --> 00:15:30,740 and we'll get to it again in Holy Week, 319 00:15:30,740 --> 00:15:33,900 that one of the biggest issues that the church had on Jesus 320 00:15:33,900 --> 00:15:37,020 is when he said that he was the son of God 321 00:15:37,020 --> 00:15:41,660 or the son of man, fulfilling Daniel's prophecy 322 00:15:41,660 --> 00:15:46,660 of the Messiah to come and speak as God himself, 323 00:15:46,980 --> 00:15:49,640 though in bodily form. 324 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:52,260 That that was the biggest hit on Jesus 325 00:15:52,260 --> 00:15:53,860 from the Pharisees point of view 326 00:15:53,860 --> 00:15:57,540 because he overturned everything they were trying to do, 327 00:15:57,540 --> 00:16:01,660 all the darkness they were trying to put in the pews. 328 00:16:01,660 --> 00:16:03,780 He's saying, no, no, no, no, no, it is about me. 329 00:16:03,780 --> 00:16:06,700 I and the father are one. 330 00:16:06,700 --> 00:16:07,600 We see that. 331 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:10,640 Just as the father knows me and I know the father, 332 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:12,740 I lay down my life for the sheep. 333 00:16:12,740 --> 00:16:15,100 So therefore, if Jesus knows the father 334 00:16:15,100 --> 00:16:18,820 and the father knows Jesus, if we are in Christ, 335 00:16:18,820 --> 00:16:22,060 then the father knows you. 336 00:16:22,060 --> 00:16:25,740 The father has relationship with you 337 00:16:25,740 --> 00:16:29,700 and because of the sacrifice of the shepherd, 338 00:16:29,700 --> 00:16:32,300 we will be with him in glory. 339 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:37,100 There's so much going on in what Jesus is stating. 340 00:16:37,100 --> 00:16:40,700 Jesus states, I know my own and my own know me. 341 00:16:40,700 --> 00:16:44,560 This knowledge is not just intellectual, but it's intimate, 342 00:16:45,700 --> 00:16:48,980 much like a relationship between a father and a son 343 00:16:48,980 --> 00:16:52,180 and I wanna pause there for a minute. 344 00:16:52,180 --> 00:16:56,700 For some of you, that might not be a healthy relationship. 345 00:16:56,700 --> 00:16:57,620 When I talk about the relationship 346 00:16:57,620 --> 00:16:58,780 between a father and a son, 347 00:16:58,780 --> 00:17:03,380 that might not be a positive thing in your life 348 00:17:03,380 --> 00:17:05,260 and for that, I wanna say I'm sorry 349 00:17:05,260 --> 00:17:07,660 that that might be your road. 350 00:17:07,660 --> 00:17:10,980 But understand that earthly fathers come and go, 351 00:17:10,980 --> 00:17:14,400 God as father is one that you can trust in 352 00:17:15,660 --> 00:17:18,740 and put your trust in that God loves you. 353 00:17:18,740 --> 00:17:21,540 He loves you and wants that relationship with you. 354 00:17:21,540 --> 00:17:23,200 He wants to know you. 355 00:17:24,260 --> 00:17:28,100 I should say he knows you and he wants you to know him. 356 00:17:28,100 --> 00:17:31,260 It's not just intellectual, it's intimate 357 00:17:31,260 --> 00:17:33,740 and I think that that's a beautiful understanding 358 00:17:33,740 --> 00:17:36,180 of kind of not only the Godhead, the Trinity, 359 00:17:36,180 --> 00:17:40,100 and how that works, but what Jesus wants in your life. 360 00:17:40,100 --> 00:17:44,140 Jesus wants you to have an intimate relationship with him 361 00:17:44,140 --> 00:17:45,900 and intimacy, again, your mind may go 362 00:17:45,900 --> 00:17:47,980 to all sorts of things, 363 00:17:47,980 --> 00:17:52,380 but to me, there's a vulnerability in intimacy. 364 00:17:52,380 --> 00:17:56,380 When I stood on the altar of Peace Memorial Church 365 00:17:56,380 --> 00:18:00,100 on May 25th, 2008 and declared my love for Carrie 366 00:18:00,100 --> 00:18:03,420 and she declared her love for me and we were married, 367 00:18:03,420 --> 00:18:05,340 there was a vulnerability there. 368 00:18:05,340 --> 00:18:07,620 There was an acknowledgement of I want Carrie 369 00:18:07,620 --> 00:18:10,580 to know all of me and me to her. 370 00:18:10,580 --> 00:18:12,420 That's the covenant of marriage. 371 00:18:12,420 --> 00:18:15,820 It's even more so with our relationship with Jesus 372 00:18:15,820 --> 00:18:17,580 and here's the rub, right? 373 00:18:17,580 --> 00:18:18,900 Here's the tension. 374 00:18:19,820 --> 00:18:22,100 We try to hide stuff from Jesus all the time. 375 00:18:23,100 --> 00:18:24,300 If you're here and you're like, what? 376 00:18:24,300 --> 00:18:26,360 I hide stuff from my spouse all the time. 377 00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:28,020 I'm telling you, that's not okay 378 00:18:28,020 --> 00:18:30,100 and that's something that probably needs to be brought up 379 00:18:30,100 --> 00:18:32,500 and have a conversation and I have office hours open 380 00:18:32,500 --> 00:18:33,460 this week and next week. 381 00:18:33,460 --> 00:18:34,420 We could talk about that 382 00:18:34,420 --> 00:18:36,380 because that's not a healthy marriage. 383 00:18:37,740 --> 00:18:40,680 When we hide stuff from people that we love, 384 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:42,420 it means two things. 385 00:18:42,420 --> 00:18:44,940 It means I don't trust you 386 00:18:44,940 --> 00:18:49,020 and I don't think you will protect me 387 00:18:50,980 --> 00:18:52,860 and that goes back to that trust. 388 00:18:52,860 --> 00:18:56,820 This goes back to trusting the shepherd. 389 00:18:56,820 --> 00:18:58,060 Go back to the beginning. 390 00:18:59,540 --> 00:19:03,700 Did sheep, a fairly dumb animal, trust their shepherd? 391 00:19:03,700 --> 00:19:05,560 Absolutely they did. 392 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:10,300 To the point where the inflection of a shepherd's voice 393 00:19:10,300 --> 00:19:13,300 turned sheep right or left. 394 00:19:13,300 --> 00:19:15,060 The way a shepherd said something 395 00:19:15,060 --> 00:19:17,300 would bring them back to the pen, 396 00:19:17,300 --> 00:19:19,260 would bring them back to the sheepfold 397 00:19:19,260 --> 00:19:21,260 if they went too far astray 398 00:19:22,780 --> 00:19:24,220 and we talk about that, right? 399 00:19:24,220 --> 00:19:26,140 There's songs that are sung about that, 400 00:19:26,140 --> 00:19:29,460 that the one leaves and God goes gets the one 401 00:19:30,500 --> 00:19:33,300 and usually it's because the sheep's been tangled up 402 00:19:33,300 --> 00:19:34,780 in something. 403 00:19:34,780 --> 00:19:38,380 Sheep knew inherently, classical condition, 404 00:19:38,380 --> 00:19:41,180 all of those things to go back to the shepherd 405 00:19:41,180 --> 00:19:43,380 because they trust the shepherd. 406 00:19:43,380 --> 00:19:46,820 They trust that the shepherd has their wellbeing in mind, 407 00:19:46,820 --> 00:19:49,860 that the shepherd has their safety in mind, 408 00:19:49,860 --> 00:19:52,520 that the shepherd loves the sheep. 409 00:19:53,660 --> 00:19:56,260 Now that's a weird thing to say about shepherd to sheep. 410 00:19:56,260 --> 00:19:59,820 I get it but let's transfer that to Jesus, to us. 411 00:19:59,820 --> 00:20:03,100 Do you trust Jesus that he loves you? 412 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,160 Let that question hang there for a minute. 413 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:14,160 Do you trust that Jesus the shepherd loves you? 414 00:20:16,380 --> 00:20:17,540 Because if you're here this morning 415 00:20:17,540 --> 00:20:19,780 and you don't trust that, 416 00:20:19,780 --> 00:20:23,240 then this road doesn't mean anything to you. 417 00:20:26,540 --> 00:20:29,580 Because understanding this candle right here, 418 00:20:30,620 --> 00:20:32,660 the death and resurrection of Jesus 419 00:20:32,660 --> 00:20:35,740 that we will celebrate middle of April 420 00:20:35,740 --> 00:20:39,540 is done out of love for you and me. 421 00:20:39,540 --> 00:20:43,220 That Jesus doubles down his shepherdness 422 00:20:43,220 --> 00:20:45,660 to lay his life down for the sheep. 423 00:20:45,660 --> 00:20:47,500 There's a distinctive here. 424 00:20:47,500 --> 00:20:51,780 I lay down my life for the sheep anticipates the cross. 425 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:56,500 Jesus' death is not accidental but intentional. 426 00:20:56,500 --> 00:21:00,520 He willingly sacrifices himself for his people. 427 00:21:02,020 --> 00:21:03,980 One of our confessions, the Canons of Dort, 428 00:21:03,980 --> 00:21:05,580 which is a great understanding of grace 429 00:21:05,580 --> 00:21:07,860 in head two, article eight, 430 00:21:07,860 --> 00:21:11,860 says this about Jesus laying down his life for the sheep. 431 00:21:11,860 --> 00:21:14,860 This death of the son of God is a single 432 00:21:14,860 --> 00:21:19,580 and most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for sins 433 00:21:19,580 --> 00:21:21,820 of infinite value and worth, 434 00:21:21,820 --> 00:21:26,820 abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins 435 00:21:27,820 --> 00:21:31,200 of the whole world. 436 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:35,440 Even the ones you want to hide from him, 437 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:39,800 even from the ones you think nobody sees, 438 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:45,480 the most perfect sacrifice. 439 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:49,960 But you have to be the one to trust it. 440 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:52,960 You have to be the one that is gonna double down 441 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:55,860 your efforts to follow the shepherd 442 00:21:55,860 --> 00:22:00,800 and not be lured away by another voice, 443 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,600 by another shepherd, the shepherd of money 444 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:07,840 or power or authority or adultery or whatever it is. 445 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:10,880 Friends, there are gonna be false shepherds 446 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:12,020 all over your life. 447 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:15,440 Who are you going to follow? 448 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,800 Pastors can be seen as false shepherds. 449 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:24,140 Churches can be seen as false sheep pens. 450 00:22:24,140 --> 00:22:29,140 Our confessions remind us to keep it about God's word always, 451 00:22:31,860 --> 00:22:34,660 as the perfect sacrifice for sin 452 00:22:34,660 --> 00:22:38,020 was Jesus' atoning work on the cross. 453 00:22:38,020 --> 00:22:40,460 He does not merely make salvation possible, 454 00:22:40,460 --> 00:22:44,460 but actually secures salvation for the sheep. 455 00:22:44,460 --> 00:22:47,880 For God so loved the world, he gave his one and only son 456 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:52,880 that whoever believes in him will have everlasting life. 457 00:22:55,060 --> 00:22:57,740 Friend, you can take that to the bank if you want 458 00:22:57,740 --> 00:23:01,060 because it will always hold true. 459 00:23:01,060 --> 00:23:04,380 Do you believe that you are fully secured 460 00:23:04,380 --> 00:23:06,220 by Christ's sacrifice? 461 00:23:06,220 --> 00:23:10,940 The good shepherd has already paid that price. 462 00:23:10,940 --> 00:23:13,480 He's already laid down his life. 463 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:17,480 So this should come as good news that we are safe 464 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:20,600 in the hands of the shepherd. 465 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:24,000 But Jim, my life is hard right now. 466 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:25,720 It's chaotic. 467 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:28,480 There are so many apple carts overturned in my life. 468 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:32,640 How can I trust the shepherd is at work? 469 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,000 Because he never has stopped working. 470 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:39,960 People always say I don't feel like God is near and dear 471 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,720 to me and they wanna blame it on God. 472 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:44,800 Friend, we know that that's not the case. 473 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:48,360 We know that we're the one that is doing the straying. 474 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:50,440 That the shepherd is always calling. 475 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:53,040 He is always calling you back into repentance. 476 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:54,920 Why we do it every Sunday. 477 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:57,040 That in that congregational prayer, 478 00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,040 we wanna offer that we are sinners, 479 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:01,320 that we've messed up in this last week. 480 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:04,540 We have not loved him with our whole heart. 481 00:24:04,540 --> 00:24:06,920 We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. 482 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:10,480 For the sake of your son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. 483 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,120 Forgive us, renew us, lead us. 484 00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:17,760 Like a shepherd leads us. 485 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:19,160 That's what it's about. 486 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:22,600 Who are you being led by? 487 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:25,920 And for some of us today, we're leading ourselves. 488 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:27,840 And we're leading ourselves straight 489 00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:29,760 into the arms of the wolves. 490 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:32,680 Straight into the teeth of whatever those sins are 491 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,420 that we are procuring in our life. 492 00:24:35,420 --> 00:24:38,120 That's why the mission of the good shepherd 493 00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:42,720 is so important in verse 16 through 19. 494 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:49,920 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. 495 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:53,200 I must bring them also and they will listen to my voice. 496 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,000 So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 497 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:58,000 For this reason, the Father loves me 498 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:02,880 because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 499 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:07,220 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. 500 00:25:07,220 --> 00:25:09,120 I have authority to lay it down. 501 00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:11,200 I have authority to take it up again. 502 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:13,760 This charge I received from my Father, 503 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:16,040 there was again a division amongst the Jews 504 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:18,740 because of these words. 505 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:22,920 That's the mission of the shepherd. 506 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:26,620 He lays down his life. 507 00:25:26,620 --> 00:25:28,680 One of the things I love about the Gospel of John, 508 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:31,620 which is different than any other of the three Gospels, 509 00:25:32,700 --> 00:25:34,320 everything in the Gospel of John, 510 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:35,840 if you wanna start studying it now, do it. 511 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:38,640 Make that a mission for yourself. 512 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:43,640 Everything done, every action done, Jesus allows. 513 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:46,000 What John wants to get across to us 514 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:50,280 is that Jesus willingly, knowingly laid down his life 515 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:53,680 for you and for me, for the sins of the world 516 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,360 because we know that we know that we know 517 00:25:56,360 --> 00:25:59,240 that if it was us, we would not do it. 518 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:03,480 But he willingly lays it down. 519 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:07,640 He does it out of submission to the Father, 520 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:09,960 but out of the love, the Godhead's love 521 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:11,920 for you and for me. 522 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:16,900 I have other sheep that are not of this fold. 523 00:26:16,900 --> 00:26:18,140 I must bring them also. 524 00:26:18,140 --> 00:26:19,960 This refers to the Gentiles, 525 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:21,760 fulfilling God's promise that salvation 526 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:24,160 extends beyond Israel. 527 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:25,900 We see that in Isaiah 49. 528 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:31,680 That though I wanna make this personal for you this morning, 529 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:33,720 that Jesus loves you and died for you 530 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:38,280 to give you new life, Jesus' mission is global. 531 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:40,600 He gathers his flock from every nation, 532 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:42,320 every tribe, every tongue. 533 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:43,160 How do we know? 534 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:46,180 Because they will all be there in Revelation 535 00:26:46,180 --> 00:26:47,860 chapter seven, verse nine. 536 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,040 The Belgian Confession helps us here in Article 27 537 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:54,800 where it says, we believe and profess 538 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:57,240 one Catholic and universal church, 539 00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:59,920 a holy congregation and gathering 540 00:26:59,920 --> 00:27:01,840 of true Christian believers. 541 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:05,320 Notice small c, not big C, not denomination Catholic, 542 00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:06,920 not St. Thomas More Catholic. 543 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:10,040 This is little c, church universal. 544 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:12,360 The church is not defined by ethnicity 545 00:27:12,360 --> 00:27:14,200 or nationality or background, 546 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:18,460 but it is one flock under the perfect shepherd. 547 00:27:22,120 --> 00:27:24,440 So those of us that understand that, 548 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:26,920 those of us that have professed that, 549 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:29,300 that are still, again, we make a muck of it, 550 00:27:29,300 --> 00:27:32,160 that's part of life, and there's grace. 551 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:34,460 But understand, for those of us that profess it, 552 00:27:34,460 --> 00:27:37,440 do we understand the mission of the shepherd? 553 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:40,200 Because the mission of the shepherd in Matthew 28, 554 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:42,380 he then gives the sheep and says, 555 00:27:42,380 --> 00:27:44,760 all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, 556 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:45,960 you go. 557 00:27:47,020 --> 00:27:50,200 Holy Spirit's coming to help, but you go. 558 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:53,520 Do we have the heart for the mission of the shepherd? 559 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:55,640 The good shepherd is still gathering his sheep 560 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:57,960 through the preaching of the gospel, 561 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:01,200 through the ministering of the word and the sacrament, 562 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:02,880 through the church. 563 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:06,800 So something I want you to ponder this week, 564 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:09,500 what's the sheep pen like at 214 Ridge Road? 565 00:28:11,660 --> 00:28:15,260 This has been a sheep pen for 154 years. 566 00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:20,140 Burned down a couple times, but they built it back up. 567 00:28:20,140 --> 00:28:22,120 Again, it's never been about the brick and mortar, 568 00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:23,740 but it's been about the sheep pen. 569 00:28:23,740 --> 00:28:25,800 When sheep come to the sheep pen, 570 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,160 are they receiving care and love? 571 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:31,240 Are they being guided and discipled? 572 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:34,440 Yeah, there are some areas that we can still grow in that. 573 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:38,920 Adult Sunday schools, Bible studies, teaching, right? 574 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:40,780 Catechism, all of the things. 575 00:28:40,780 --> 00:28:42,680 We're doing that really well for our kids, 576 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:44,520 but our adults, it seems to fall off. 577 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:48,520 How are we doing with the adult sheeps of faith? 578 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:53,060 Where can you be a part of that vision and that mission? 579 00:28:53,060 --> 00:28:55,860 Our missions committee giving us new opportunities 580 00:28:55,860 --> 00:28:58,640 to serve a world around us. 581 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:01,740 And it's not so they can all become members here. 582 00:29:01,740 --> 00:29:04,040 If that happens, fantastic. 583 00:29:05,020 --> 00:29:07,980 But if not, the name of the good shepherd gets proclaimed 584 00:29:07,980 --> 00:29:10,100 and sheep find a home. 585 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:15,040 Are we participating in the mission? 586 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:19,040 Or are we just being bad sheep? 587 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:20,960 Are we just being dumb, deaf sheep 588 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:25,880 that's willing to baa to whatever the world has to offer? 589 00:29:26,860 --> 00:29:28,140 So where do we go from here? 590 00:29:28,140 --> 00:29:31,800 First, for the head, know the shepherd. 591 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:33,720 Study Jesus' role as the good shepherd. 592 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:38,260 Read Ezekiel 34, Psalm 23, Hebrews 13. 593 00:29:38,260 --> 00:29:41,860 And reflect this week, how does knowing Jesus' shepherd 594 00:29:41,860 --> 00:29:44,540 deepen your understanding of his care 595 00:29:44,540 --> 00:29:46,700 and his leadership in your life? 596 00:29:46,700 --> 00:29:49,100 For the heart, trust the shepherd. 597 00:29:49,100 --> 00:29:53,140 Rest in the assurance that Jesus laid down his life for you. 598 00:29:53,140 --> 00:29:56,380 Find peace in his protection and his provision. 599 00:29:58,380 --> 00:30:01,540 Reflect, are you trusting in Christ's sacrifice? 600 00:30:01,540 --> 00:30:06,540 Are you still striving to earn God's favor? 601 00:30:06,580 --> 00:30:08,980 And then for our hands, where do we take it today? 602 00:30:08,980 --> 00:30:10,760 Follow the shepherd. 603 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:12,780 Join in the mission of the good shepherd. 604 00:30:12,780 --> 00:30:15,660 Pray for the lost and share the gospel with those 605 00:30:15,660 --> 00:30:18,640 who have not yet heard his voice. 606 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,580 So my challenge, identify this week. 607 00:30:21,580 --> 00:30:24,300 Maybe make this your Lenten mission. 608 00:30:24,300 --> 00:30:26,420 Identify one person in your life 609 00:30:26,420 --> 00:30:28,620 who needs to hear about the good shepherd. 610 00:30:28,620 --> 00:30:31,820 How can you reach out to them about this this week? 611 00:30:31,820 --> 00:30:36,820 And over the next 36, 35 days of Lent. 612 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:38,080 Let's pray. 613 00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:47,080 Father, we thank you.