Problem Solving - Week 5

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Grab your bibles with you. Go to John, chapter ten. The Gospel of John, chapter ten. That's where we're going to be reading from today. I'm excited to be here today with you guys. But John, chapter ten. Here we go. It says this verse one. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in by another way. [00:00:21] Speaker B: That man is a thief and a robber. [00:00:24] Speaker A: But he who enters by the door. [00:00:26] Speaker B: Is the shepherd of the sheep. [00:00:28] Speaker A: To him, the gatekeeper opens and the. [00:00:30] Speaker B: Sheep hear his voice. [00:00:32] Speaker A: And he calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out. And when he has brought out all of his own, he goes before them. [00:00:43] Speaker B: And the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. [00:00:47] Speaker A: A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him. Some of us need to hear that today, for they do not know the voice of strangers. This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what. [00:01:02] Speaker B: He was saying to them. Verse seven. [00:01:03] Speaker A: So Jesus again said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, I am. [00:01:07] Speaker B: The door of the sheep. All who come before me are thieves and robbers. [00:01:12] Speaker A: But the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. [00:01:15] Speaker B: And if anyone enters by me, he will be saved. [00:01:18] Speaker A: And we'll go in and out and find pasture. [00:01:23] Speaker B: Here's our main point of today. Verse ten. The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. But I've come that you may have life and have it abundantly. [00:01:35] Speaker A: I am the good shepherd. And the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is the hired hand is not the shepherd who does not own the sheep sees the wolf coming and. [00:01:45] Speaker B: Leaves, and the sheep flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. [00:01:49] Speaker A: He flees because he is a hired hand that cares nothing for the sheep. But I am the good shepherd and. [00:01:56] Speaker B: I know my own. And my own know me, just as the father knows me. And I know the father. I lay my life down for the sheep. Will you bow your heads with me in prayer? Heavenly father, I thank you. I thank you for your abundant goodness. I thank you for your abundant grace. [00:02:17] Speaker A: And father, today is the day where. [00:02:20] Speaker B: Needs need to be met. [00:02:22] Speaker A: But, Lord, it is only you who. [00:02:24] Speaker B: Can meet the needs that we have in our lives. [00:02:27] Speaker A: And Father, I pray that today that your people would not hear a speaker. [00:02:33] Speaker B: But they would hear the Holy Spirit. [00:02:35] Speaker A: That today they wouldn't hear a man. [00:02:37] Speaker B: But they would hear Jesus Christ speaking through this man. [00:02:42] Speaker A: And so, Father, meet us in this place. You are the place of our need. Speak to us in such a way that, Father, it's something that we need. [00:02:52] Speaker B: More and more of as we walk out of here differently than how we came in. Father, speak to those who need a fresh word from you, who need to. [00:03:02] Speaker A: Encounter you in just a different way. And their faith is they still believe. [00:03:07] Speaker B: In you, but they feel like they're wandering away little by little. [00:03:11] Speaker A: And there are some of you who. [00:03:13] Speaker B: Have not yet heard from you before. And I pray that you speak to that person as well, too. [00:03:19] Speaker A: I pray that you speak to their. [00:03:20] Speaker B: Hearts and you encourage them in such a way to help them to know that you are good. I love you, Lord, and we love you. We pray that the name of Jesus is glorified, is magnified. That above all, we're not here just to be entertained, but we're here to hear from the word of the Lord. [00:03:41] Speaker A: So we love you. We thank you. In Christ's purpose. Name is who we pray. Amen. Amen and amen. Whoo. Good morning, Christ Church. It's so good to see you. Some of you are wondering, who is. [00:03:54] Speaker B: This loudmouth skinny jeans pastor up here? [00:03:57] Speaker A: My name is Joe Vaughn. Those who may not know, I have one of the pastors here on staff at our church, and I am excited to be here with you. Some of you don't know. This is where it all started from me, about 13 years ago. I was watching this pastor with cowboy boots, and he had skinny jeans, too, and I thought I'd get some cowboy boots and some skinny jeans, and I said, oh, my gosh, I feel God calling me. I feel God speaking to me in a certain way. This is the place where I heard. [00:04:29] Speaker B: From God for the very first time. [00:04:31] Speaker A: And I'm excited to be back with you guys. I'm your distant cousin from another mother that's, from another mother that's got a different melanin. But, you know, that's. That's all right. That's all right. We'll take care of that. Hey, give it up for our worship team one more time. It's throwback Sunday, all the odys. I was excited to hear that we were going to do that, and I. [00:04:55] Speaker B: Am excited to continue into worship with each and every one of you guys. [00:05:00] Speaker A: Before we jump into the passage that I have chosen for today, the one thing that I can say as a parent, that it pains me to watch. [00:05:09] Speaker B: My kids get older and older, it pains me, right? [00:05:14] Speaker A: It pains me because they're difficult, number one, but it pains me because they were once this little tiny baby in your hand and you were kissing it. And waking up at 03:00 a.m. And 05:00 a.m. And 07:00 a.m. And again at 09:00 a.m. I don't miss those days, but I. [00:05:30] Speaker B: Do miss how little they were. My oldest, I have two boys. My oldest, we're training up to be the next Steph Curry, so just pray for that. But my oldest, he is now four years old. [00:05:44] Speaker A: Crazy to think, man, four years have gone by, and I've noticed that the older he gets, the more questions that he has. I mean, every other day it's always, daddy, daddy, daddy. No, don't get me wrong. [00:05:57] Speaker B: I love hearing daddy, but I don't love hearing it 3000 times in a minute. [00:06:01] Speaker A: I mean, he has the capacity to. [00:06:03] Speaker B: Do that, all right? [00:06:05] Speaker A: And he always asking me questions. And his questions are always just like random stuff, right? So we'll be driving in the car, be driving. He'd be like, daddy, what's that like, bro? I can't look back. [00:06:16] Speaker B: Like, I got to keep my eyes forward. [00:06:17] Speaker A: But no, you got to see this. Like, I'm pretty sure it's gone by now. I'm doing 40. I'm not going to look back and get us into an accident. And then 5 minutes goes by, he says, daddy, look at this. And I'm like, listen, but I can't do that, right? And then the other day, he was climbing up on me, playing with my face, and, you know, this little dude. [00:06:38] Speaker B: Had the nerve to say, he says, daddy, what's that white thing on your face? I said, what are you talking about? He said, it looks like a hair. I said, you know what, son? There's an adoption agency that's right across the street from us, right? [00:06:59] Speaker A: What's that? [00:07:00] Speaker B: Did he ask me, my wife's here. [00:07:01] Speaker A: Did he ask me, does mommy have some? [00:07:03] Speaker B: I'm like, she does. [00:07:07] Speaker A: I love you, babe. Right? Asking all these questions now, sooner or later, these questions that he has now are going to begin to mature. He's going to have different questions at different stages of his life, right? And he's going to seek, and he's got a certain curiosity about himself. But there's one question. There's one question that he's going to need to seek more into his life, and there's one answer that he's going to have to find on his own. There's that one thing that he's going. [00:07:38] Speaker B: To have to seek more and more, and that is the question of who is Jesus? [00:07:45] Speaker A: It's an important question, right? It's a question that's been lingering around for thousands and thousands of years. Right? It's a question we all try to understand and try to know. Maybe some of you in this room today, or maybe those who are watching online. Hello, online team. How you doing? Maybe some of you today are trying to figure out who is this Jesus guy and why are so many people in the room gathering? Why are they worshiping and lifting up their hands? I mean, who is this Jesus guy. [00:08:16] Speaker B: That we talk about so much and the way that we answer it? Friends, listen to me. This is very important. The way we answer this question determines the course of our lives. I need you to understand that the. [00:08:28] Speaker A: Greatest question is not what school you should go to, young people, all right, which you shouldn't go to school. But the greatest question isn't who you should marry. [00:08:37] Speaker B: But the greatest question is, is Jesus who he says that he is? The greatest question you're going to have to ask yourself. [00:08:45] Speaker A: And today all I want to do is to simply talk about from our text that I just read out of John chapter ten, simply, all I want to do is just answer the question for you. Now, I'm not going to be able to give you a whole expose of Jesus. He's God, right? It's hard to define God. We have to define him by what he has revealed to us. But the Bible says that his ways are insuarchable. All right, but I am going to give you a snapshot that I believe the Jesus that we can connect to. [00:09:15] Speaker B: A little bit more today. [00:09:16] Speaker A: Are you interested in that? That don't sound like it. Are you interested in that? I bet you if I put on a helmet and some browns jersey, you'll be really interested. So the Jesus that I want to. [00:09:28] Speaker B: Talk about and the Jesus that John's gospel and how he writes about Jesus is that Jesus is the good life. Jesus, he is the good life. [00:09:40] Speaker A: Or another way to say this, if. [00:09:41] Speaker B: You take it down notes, remember, those who take down notes go to heaven. But relax. Relax. No, you're thinking, that's blasphemy. Whatever. You can email Sarah. She doesn't look at her emails anyway. Or another way we can say this is that Jesus is the foundation for the good life. [00:10:05] Speaker A: That Jesus is the foundation for a good life. Now, when you hear the word good life, what's the first thing you think about? Can I just tell you what's going on in my mind when I hear the word good life? You know, when I hear the word good life, I think about Clearwater, Florida, yes, Clearwater, Florida. My wife's up here. The amen in me. She's probably like, yes, thank you, Jesus. [00:10:23] Speaker B: Clearwater, Florida. [00:10:24] Speaker A: That's the good life. The sand, the sun, the beach, the warm weather, you name it, I want all of that. Or maybe you think the good life. [00:10:34] Speaker B: Or again, I'm just saying what I'm thinking. [00:10:36] Speaker A: Maybe you think the good life is when people listen to you, right? Because here's the thing. I'm so smart. You didn't know that, right? I'm very smart. [00:10:48] Speaker B: I've been around the block a little while. [00:10:49] Speaker A: I got a little experience. Everybody else is dumb, but I'm the smart one, right? Especially, I wish my kids would listen to me. Can I get an amen from all the parents? Can I get a parental amen? I want my kid. Right. What is your definition of the good life? Because at the end of the day, deep down in each and every one of our souls, we are all in pursuit of the good life, which is why we do what we do, which is why we connect to who we connect to, which is why we go to school, which is why we connect to groups, which is why we do all of this. Because deep down inside, if you peel back the layers and you looked at the core, you would find and you would see that you and I are chasing the good life. And what is our definition of the good life? [00:11:29] Speaker B: A life of satisfaction and joy. You and I want to be satisfied. You and I want to have a life of satisfaction and joy. [00:11:40] Speaker A: And John ten is going to present to us the things we most desire, Christ desires to fulfill. That's what John's going to do. Let me say that one more time. The things that you and I most desire, no matter where you're at in this room today, no matter if you're younger, older, male, female, married, single, that the things that we most desire, Christ. [00:12:02] Speaker B: Desires to fulfill for us. And here's Christ's desire for your life. And listen to me. [00:12:07] Speaker A: The good life Christ wants to offer. [00:12:09] Speaker B: To you today is a life of flourishing. It's a life of flourishing. It's a life of elevating. It's a life of increasing joy. It's a life of increasing blessings. This is the good life Jesus wants to offer us today. [00:12:30] Speaker A: Now, when I say the good life. [00:12:32] Speaker B: I don't mean I know what you're thinking already. I know what you're thinking. [00:12:34] Speaker A: I know what you're thinking. You're probably thinking, well, if Jesus want me to have the good life, why is my life the way that it is now, friends, I don't mean that the good life Jesus came to offer, that he stepped here on this earth, that he came to give. I don't mean that you're going to have a life where you are pain free. I don't mean that you're going to have a life where you're never going to face struggles. Can we just clear the air real quick? Let me help you out real quick. Even as the followers of Jesus, you're going to struggle, right? [00:13:09] Speaker B: But in Christ, the good life, you're not defined by the struggles. That's the life that Christ came to offer to each and every one of us. And I want you to know this. [00:13:18] Speaker A: Take it down. [00:13:18] Speaker B: Notes. Write this down. The good life is the blessed life. The good life is the blessed life. And what is the blessed life? You ready, friends? Knowing Jesus. Knowing Jesus, we're all. Listen, at the end of the day, the deepest pursuit of our hearts is the transcendent God himself. [00:13:41] Speaker A: The deepest pursuit of your heart and my heart and whoever it else it may be is Jesus himself. And if you're a christian, you have the blessed life. Yes, you dirty, you inconsistent. You the one who keeps going backwards when they should be going forwards, the one who has broken relationships, the one who's got a broken family in Christ, you have the blessed life. You have the true riches. You have reached a mountaintop. You have attained and achieved what the world is desperately seeking. And that's the life full of blessings. Now, how do I know this? [00:14:19] Speaker B: Well, I know this because at the end of the day, as a follower of Jesus, I'm redeemed. I'm forgiven. Listen, there's a lot of things that I'm not. I can give you a whole list, right? I can give you a whole Bible full of things that. [00:14:35] Speaker A: I'm not a handy work. I'm not a handyman. [00:14:38] Speaker B: The other day, my neighbor came on over and said, can you help me fix the alternator? And I said, you lost me at fix. That's what you lost me. [00:14:47] Speaker A: My mind just went the other way. [00:14:49] Speaker B: You lost me at fix, right? [00:14:51] Speaker A: There's a lot of things that I'm not. I'm not a very tall man. [00:14:56] Speaker B: That wasn't meant for you to laugh. [00:14:57] Speaker A: What are you talking. [00:14:58] Speaker B: Thank you. I appreciate you. My former neighbor over here, that's why I love you, boy. [00:15:02] Speaker A: So there's a lot of things that I'm not. But in Christ, I have the full riches of blessings that I'm redeemed. And I'm known that I'm seed that I'm cared for, that I'm forgiven, that I'm free. I have a life of courage. I can have a life of hope. I can have a life of identity, true identity. But see, for so long, I used to think that following Jesus meant that. [00:15:25] Speaker B: I have to get it right every single time. [00:15:27] Speaker A: And maybe you thought that maybe following Jesus is just a set of rules, that my job is to get God to like me. [00:15:34] Speaker B: And if I just do enough, God will like me. [00:15:37] Speaker A: And if God likes me, he will bless me. [00:15:41] Speaker B: But I love this quote by John Piper. He says this, he says this about the good life. Just so you know that I'm not making it up myself. Anything that comes from John Piper has to be true. It says this, God has not made mankind to be miserable. How many of us need to hear that today? [00:15:56] Speaker A: God has not made mankind to be miserable. [00:15:58] Speaker B: Being a Christian does not mean the absence of pleasure. [00:16:02] Speaker A: Much is the contrary. God had made mankind to experience. Listen to this unending delight and joy in him. This is to be happier and happier as the knowledge of God increases, all of which flow together to constitute what friends. [00:16:24] Speaker B: The good life. The good life, friends, is not when you're pain free. The good life, friends, is not when you get everybody to like you. The good life, friends. It's not when everything is handy dandy and you're paying off all your bills and your tax return comes in a little bit early. [00:16:46] Speaker A: And I love that. [00:16:46] Speaker B: I'm hoping for that right now. But the good life is a life of unending joy because of a savior named Jesus Christ. Because knowing Jesus makes my life better. Knowing Jesus makes my life better. [00:17:06] Speaker A: And this is the Jesus John wants to present to each and every one today. So let's break down just for a little bit for the next. [00:17:13] Speaker B: I got about 20 minutes. I'm going to try to cut that. [00:17:16] Speaker A: Down in 15 minutes, get you guys. [00:17:17] Speaker B: Out of here so you can go to cracker barrel. [00:17:19] Speaker A: So here we go. [00:17:21] Speaker B: Is there a cracker barrel around here? Where's the nearest one? I don't know. [00:17:25] Speaker A: Fairlong. [00:17:26] Speaker B: I'm not going out there. I'll go to Bob Evans for that one. So here's how we can attain a good life. The good life is found in the good shepherd. The good life is found in the good shepherd. John is presenting to us a Jesus. And really John's gospel, his idea, his thought process, his meaning behind his writing, is to present a Jesus that you and I need to connect to. [00:17:55] Speaker A: And this portion of his writing, of. [00:17:57] Speaker B: His particular book, he wants to present a Jesus that is a shepherd like image. [00:18:04] Speaker A: Now, if you're in the audience who Jesus is speaking to at this time, you clearly understand when he talks about shepherd and sheep and all of that, you're clearly going to connect to this analogy. Us westerners in the 21st century, it's a little bit hard to connect to this idea. But what Jesus wants to do, he wants to take a certain common analogy and to create a greater reality of. [00:18:32] Speaker B: Who he is and who we are. [00:18:34] Speaker A: Because, friends, you find out who you. [00:18:36] Speaker B: Are when you know who he is. [00:18:38] Speaker A: The greater you know Christ, the greater. [00:18:40] Speaker B: You understand this life, the greater you. [00:18:43] Speaker A: Have connection to the reality of who. [00:18:45] Speaker B: Jesus is, the greater connection you can have with who you are. [00:18:50] Speaker A: Jesus starts off by saying, I am the shepherd and there are sheep. What's the job of the shepherd? And even if you have heard this. [00:18:58] Speaker B: Analogy before for the last several years. [00:19:00] Speaker A: Of coming to church, try to approach. [00:19:01] Speaker B: This in a fresh way. [00:19:02] Speaker A: Okay, so the shepherd's idea or the shepherd's job, which is a hard job. [00:19:07] Speaker B: Which is a tasking job. [00:19:08] Speaker A: Listen, shepherding is not for the week. Shepherding, you didn't clock in nine to five. [00:19:12] Speaker B: Shepherding was a 24/7 job. [00:19:17] Speaker A: Your job was to, of course, be with the sheep. It could be 20 sheep, 30 sheep, 40 sheep, whatever it may be. But Jesus wants to use these particular. [00:19:30] Speaker B: Connection points to make a greater point by reminding us and telling us what he does in our lives and who he is to us. Did you notice? Let's go to verse three. Go to verse three. It says this. So, I'm sorry, go to verse two. Verse two. Verse two. [00:19:48] Speaker A: It says this, but he who enters. [00:19:50] Speaker B: By the door, Jesus is given this analogy. Here we are starting off talking about thieves and robbers. We'll talk about that later on. [00:19:56] Speaker A: But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him, the gatekeeper opens the sheep. Listen to this. [00:20:02] Speaker B: Listen to this. Listen to this. Hear his voice. [00:20:08] Speaker A: He calls his own sheep. [00:20:12] Speaker B: Listen to this. This is so cool by name. And he leads them out to give you a little bit of context, shepherd, in order for them to truly keep. [00:20:22] Speaker A: The sheep and keep them in order. [00:20:24] Speaker B: And keep them to the destination that maybe they're trying to get them to, or keep them where they need to be, the shepherd has to have such. [00:20:33] Speaker A: An intimacy and closeness and nearness to the sheep. He has to know them in a particular way. He has to know them by the uniqueness. He has to know them by whatever it may be. There's a sense that the shepherd has knowledge of the sheep. [00:20:52] Speaker B: And I love number one. The good life begins with the good shepherd. And a good shepherd has possession of the sheep. Did you notice where it said his sheep? Do you notice that? And not only did he say his, he says he knows them by name. The good life is a life where you are shaped and that you live knowing you are radically accepted by God. That's the good life. The good life is knowing that there is a shepherd who sees you. And I need you to really connect to this today. But not only does he sees you, he knows you. [00:21:40] Speaker A: But not only does he knows you. [00:21:42] Speaker B: He'S the one leading your life. Listen, I want to speak to a couple of people. Listen to the single mom out there struggling. He sees you to the parents that feel like this raising kids thing is hard and difficult. You don't know what you're doing. You feel inadequate. He sees you to the teenager, to the own person in his room, the young adult who struggles mentally every single day. Every day is the battle against something. He sees you to the one who is in their later years, and they're figuring out what's their purpose and what are they called to do, and they feel like they're just stuck. Here's what I want you to know. The shepherd sees you, but not only does he see you, he knows you by name and he leads your life. Here's the one thing I need you to understand. For those who need to hear this today, under the sound of my voice, God is still leading your life. He has not done leading. You feel stuck? You feel unappreciated? Anybody feel unappreciated at times? This means yes. This means no. Y'all need to do yes. Anybody seem a little overlooked of the hard work that you're putting in? Things that you're doing at the home, the way you're trying to care for your family? You don't feel appreciated? Here's the one thing I want you to know. The shepherd sees you and he calls you mine. He says, you're mine. [00:23:14] Speaker A: That's the good life. The good life is knowing that you are always forever accepted, but always led. Here's the second point Jesus wants us to connect to. Talks about the possession of the sheep. The shepherd's possession of the sheep. Now we're going to talk about the shepherd's provision to the sheep. Let's go back to verse three. Look what it says to him. The gatekeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice. Connect to that point. Hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out. And when he has brought out all of his own verse four, he goes before them and the sheep follow him. [00:23:51] Speaker B: For they know his voice. My wife likes to say that I'm not a good listener. Can you believe that? [00:24:02] Speaker A: No. We're praying for her. [00:24:04] Speaker B: Katie Brown and I are going to pray for her after service. Get out the baptismal. Just in the name of Jesus, get it out of her. [00:24:14] Speaker A: She likes to say that I'm not going to listen, which I can understand partially, kind of, certainly, but I can understand. There's been times where she's like, hey, you need to call. So and so. They send another email. [00:24:28] Speaker B: And I'm like, whatever. [00:24:29] Speaker A: Hey, you need to do this and you need to do that. In my mind, I'm just hearing. I'm not trying to hear all that, lady. I got this. I'm worried about my own life. Don't you know who I am? I got it all together. I'm Mr. [00:24:45] Speaker B: Organized. [00:24:46] Speaker A: It's my spiritual gift. Okay, Mr. Organized, can I get an amen? I appreciate it. See? Yeah. Look at you. Tricked you. And then one time, not too long ago, the thing that she had been warning me about actually ended up happening. So here I am walking to my wife like this. [00:25:08] Speaker B: Hey, babe. [00:25:09] Speaker A: What's up, buddy? How are you doing? Yeah, I'm just folding laundry. [00:25:12] Speaker B: Yeah, I called about that thing and, yeah, this happened. [00:25:17] Speaker A: And I said, oh, it happened. Who said that that was going to happen? Who told you? [00:25:25] Speaker B: Jesus told me. I don't know who you're talking about. Jesus is my shepherd, lady. Right? Haven't we faced the consequences when we don't listen? Right? The baby agrees with me. Haven't we seen what it's like when someone tries to tell us one thing, but we like to do our own thing? [00:25:48] Speaker A: See, what I love about this imagery. [00:25:49] Speaker B: Jesus uses in John ten that he. [00:25:52] Speaker A: Says that the sheep, they have a recognition of the shepherd's voice. They're so close to the shepherd that whoever else comes around, they don't give attention to them. Right. Now, here's one thing I need you to understand. Sheep, they have bad eyesight. They really have bad eyesight. They're near blind. [00:26:13] Speaker B: Like near blind. [00:26:15] Speaker A: So they really can't see a certain distance. Up close is cool, but far distance, they really can't see. But the one thing that they are good at, they're all good at listening, right? They're like, once this, but they can hear really well. And when they don't hear their shepherd, they flee. When the voice that is calling maybe them or talking to them. [00:26:37] Speaker B: When they hear it, they flee and they run away. Here's what I've noticed, friends. Here's what I've noticed. I've noticed my life looks radically different when I'm listening to God more in my life. I've noticed that sometimes I can allow the voice of insecurity, the voice of fear, the voice of resentment, anybody ever had a resentment in their heart, the voice of jealousy, to be louder than the voice of God? Am I the only one? You all acting dead today? [00:27:11] Speaker A: Is everybody going to wake up? [00:27:12] Speaker B: I'm going to talk over here. You all not listening. [00:27:16] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:27:19] Speaker B: I can count on one. Has anybody noticed that you're a radically different person than when there's one voice leading you versus the many voices that are pulling you? [00:27:36] Speaker A: Anybody been there before? Right? And I love Jesus. [00:27:41] Speaker B: His connection point that he's trying to make, his connection point is the good life is listening to the true voice that gives good to you. That's Jesus's connecting point. [00:27:55] Speaker A: His connecting point is to help you to understand. Friends, for you and I to thrive, for you and I to flourish, we need to be connected to the voice of our shepherd more and more. And if it's not our shepherd, it's not something we're going to follow and define in our lives. If it doesn't come from our savior, if it doesn't come from him, if it's not him speaking and leading, then, friends, we're fleeing, we're running. We're running from those things we are deeply connected and rooted in. Friends, I want you to understand this. The quality of your life is dependent upon the quality of your relationship with Christ, because your connection to Christ determines the flow of your life. And the voice of Jesus not only directs you, but it impacts your inner world. Listen, if you were to tear this thing open, I mean, like, not the shirt, like the skin, if you were to look deep down inside, you would see there's a lot of ugly. I mean, ugly. Right before I got up here, I'm saying to myself, I don't know if I got what it takes. I've done this hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times, but, man, I don't know if I got what it takes. But then I open up the scripture and a voice tells me, you are my servant. You are gifted, you are redeemed. I have set this time for you to do the good work that I've called you to do, not go out and do this good work. So therefore, the only way I made it up here is when his was in here. Does that make sense? We need a greater voice to be. [00:29:34] Speaker B: Leading our broken hearts. The most important voice in your life, friends. Write this down. It won't be on the screen for you. I forgot to give it to the tech team. The most important voice in your life is the voice of God. It's the most important voice right there. [00:29:52] Speaker A: You can get that right? [00:29:53] Speaker B: You get a lot of life right, right? [00:29:56] Speaker A: You get that right? [00:29:57] Speaker B: You get a lot of life right. Now talk about this last point. Now, you know when preachers say last point, there's like 30 minutes left. [00:30:04] Speaker A: Amen. [00:30:08] Speaker B: Point number three. The shepherd protects the sheep. Notice we use the three languages. The possession of the shepherd, the provision of the shepherd. Now, the protection of the shepherd. Now, the protection of the shepherd. Did you notice the language that Jesus used? And actually, if you keep reading this whole entire portion, Jesus uses a lot. Thief, robber, stranger, wolf, whatever it may be. He uses this language. And there's a reason why he uses this. [00:30:39] Speaker A: See, you got to remember that sheep were vulnerable, right? The sheep were vulnerable. And there would be people, thieves and robbers that would jump over the gate to take the sheep and to steal the sheep, because sheep had great profit. [00:30:55] Speaker B: And maybe there's take sheep for food. [00:30:58] Speaker A: Whatever it may be. And maybe when the shepherd is leading the sheep on a journey, and as they're leading on this journey, there comes predators that would come from the north, the south, the east and the west, and they would try to attack the sheep. They would try to come after the sheep and devour them. Devour them, to kill them, to take them, whatever it may be. [00:31:26] Speaker B: But I love this imagery. You remember psalm 23? Remember psalm 23. [00:31:31] Speaker A: Just to let you know, John Ten. [00:31:32] Speaker B: Is the fulfillment of psalm 23. [00:31:34] Speaker A: By the way, do you remember that. [00:31:35] Speaker B: Portion in verse four where it says, even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. [00:31:44] Speaker A: Do you remember this part? [00:31:45] Speaker B: For your rod and your staff, they comfort me. [00:31:48] Speaker A: You remember that? [00:31:50] Speaker B: You ever wonder, what does that mean? [00:31:53] Speaker A: What does that mean? [00:31:53] Speaker B: Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. See, the shepherd, what they would do is along their journey with the sheep, they would be equipped with certain tools, right? Two of those tools would be a rod and a staff. [00:32:05] Speaker A: Now, both of the tools had different purposes. One was to keep the sheep from falling away. [00:32:14] Speaker B: How many of us are thankful that God kept us from falling away in our lives? That the staff was used to comfort, right? [00:32:23] Speaker A: The sheep would begin to, because they have bad eyesight, they're stubborn, they're unpredictable. [00:32:29] Speaker B: Describes us. [00:32:29] Speaker A: You know what I'm saying? Right? And the sheep will go off the. [00:32:32] Speaker B: Next, you know, the shepherd's like, no, come on, come on, come on back. Say the line, say the line. [00:32:36] Speaker A: Thank God that he did that in. [00:32:37] Speaker B: My Life and he continues to do. [00:32:38] Speaker A: That in my Life Today. [00:32:40] Speaker B: But then he's equipped with a rod. Oh, the rod's a cool place right there. [00:32:47] Speaker A: You got the staff. The staff was meant to comfort. [00:32:49] Speaker B: The rod was meant to conquer. [00:32:52] Speaker A: See, what happens is the rod, what happened is that there'd be wolves and there would be different animals that would come after them. And what would the shepherd do? When the shepherd would see that the sheep are about to be under attack, he'll pull out another piece, and that's the rod. And he will strike whatever comes after his sheep, because he is dedicated to the sheep. He is dedicated to their well being. He is dedicated to keep the things that are trying to attack them away from them. Jesus, yes, he is my shepherd, he is my comforter. But he also was a mighty warrior who fights for me every single day. That when I need strength, that when I need a little bit of help, when the things of life are trying to rob my joy. Because there's a lot of things that rob your joy. It's called people. But anyway, let me move on, right? There's a lot of things that try to kill your mind, poison your soul. But the shepherd says, not only am I the one standing with you, but I'm the one fighting for you. By yourself, you're not enough. [00:33:58] Speaker B: But with the shepherd, you have all that you need, protecting you with the rod, whatever's trying to kill you, whatever's trying to steal life from you. But there's a cost to this. The shepherd must lay down his life to offer you the abundant life and the good life must lay down his life. He must first go out. [00:34:32] Speaker A: And not. [00:34:33] Speaker B: Defeat the things that are killing you. Necessary with the rod, through his Death, the giving of himself. He says, I am the good shepherd. Notice he says good, which means there are bad shepherds out there, by the way. Right? There's some bad shepherds. You think it's good for you, but it's really not good for you. He says, I am the good shephErd. And the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. He lays down his life. JesuS gives up his life so that you may be raised to new life. He gives himself up so that the sheep, his people, may be raised up. This is how the good life is given to us. I want to give you an opportunity today to respond to this. Some of us, the idea of Christ's sacrifice has become so dull. And Poe, to us, church has just kind of become just the norm. And hearing this has just become usual. And we're like, yeah, Jesus died, but I want this to stir up a heart of faith and gratitude, but also to spark up a new sense of purpose for those who are in this room or maybe watching online. You have yet to respond to the voice of the shepherd. Believe me, he's speaking to you right now. Believe me, he is calling you by your name. You weren't calling him, but guess what? He is calling you. He's trying to get you to understand. I am the good that you're looking for. I am the truth that you're looking for. I am the joy that you're looking for. I am the satisfaction that you're looking for. I am what you are striving for it. That's the good life. Let's pray. Dear Father, we thank you. We thank you for your abundant goodness and your abundant grace. We thank you that above all, you are good, wonderful, and kind. We love you for all that you are and all that you're doing so. Lord, I speak under the sound of my voice about the power of your holy spirit. I pray that your grace and mercy would penetrate the hearts of those today. Lord, even if it's just one person, Father, even if it's just a young man, young woman, older, younger, whatever it may be, that you would speak to them and they would respond, that this wouldn't be a message that we hear, but it's a message that we do. That this wouldn't be a message that's just for our ears, but it's a message that penetrates to our hearts and that we would walk in the truth, that we would speak the truth and we would know the truth and live the truth and be shaped by it as well, too. Bless us. Help us. It's in your son's perfect name is who we pray. Amen.