WEBVTT 00:00:16.509 --> 00:00:18.350 Big big welcome to everybody. 00:00:18.429 --> 00:00:20.750 You look absolutely fabulous. 00:00:21.149 --> 00:00:21.869 Very nice. 00:00:22.030 --> 00:00:24.509 Some of the glow-ups are amazing. 00:00:24.829 --> 00:00:25.710 Amazing. 00:00:25.949 --> 00:00:26.509 Whoa. 00:00:26.750 --> 00:00:31.149 I would also like to say welcome to the fourth winter this spring. 00:00:32.429 --> 00:00:36.349 I've lived in we've lived in Ohio here for about 12 years now. 00:00:36.509 --> 00:00:39.310 I don't think I'm ever gonna get used to this kind of a spring. 00:00:39.469 --> 00:00:42.509 Like, how do you plan for literally anything? 00:00:42.829 --> 00:00:43.390 Alright. 00:00:43.549 --> 00:00:44.509 Well, here we are. 00:00:44.750 --> 00:00:48.189 Okay, I read this article this week. 00:00:48.590 --> 00:01:02.989 The the US Surgeon General issued a formal advisory three years ago, back in 2023, uh, not about cancer or obesity, not about fentanyl, but about loneliness. 00:01:03.390 --> 00:01:04.109 Loneliness. 00:01:04.269 --> 00:01:06.510 He called it an epidemic. 00:01:06.670 --> 00:01:08.269 Loneliness as an epidemic. 00:01:08.349 --> 00:01:27.869 He said roughly half of American adults report measurable levels of loneliness and the health risk associated with the loneliness, the physical, actual measurable mortality risk associated with loneliness is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. 00:01:28.189 --> 00:01:33.709 Fifteen cigarettes a day, every day, just from loneliness. 00:01:34.909 --> 00:01:50.909 Another article I read from Gallup, they track human well-being across five categories: purpose, relationship, finances, physical health, and community, and apparently only a third of Americans say they're thriving in all five. 00:01:51.149 --> 00:01:52.589 One in three. 00:01:52.989 --> 00:01:54.909 Which makes you wonder. 00:01:55.149 --> 00:02:07.469 Despite every app, every subscription, every self-help framework, every wellness trend, even the carnivore, two out of three are merely surviving. 00:02:08.110 --> 00:02:12.110 And that is not the life Jesus got for us. 00:02:13.069 --> 00:02:22.990 We are the most entertained, the most connected, the most medicated, the most optimized generation in human history, and apparently we're not doing well. 00:02:24.510 --> 00:02:29.390 Main idea I want to share with you today is this idea we find in John chapter 10. 00:02:29.710 --> 00:02:33.790 But Jesus had a name for what is draining the life out of us. 00:02:34.270 --> 00:02:37.630 And he had an answer for it in just one sentence. 00:02:38.189 --> 00:02:44.350 In a sense, something is taking from you and I what we were made to have, and Jesus came to give it back. 00:02:44.510 --> 00:02:50.510 And so we're going to discover that sentence today, and hopefully, God is going to speak to each one of us through this. 00:02:50.670 --> 00:02:54.350 If you will turn in your Bibles, please to John chapter 10. 00:02:55.550 --> 00:03:04.350 Now we're going to read a few verses out of John chapter 10, but before I get into that, I think it's important to set the stage or the context of these verses. 00:03:04.590 --> 00:03:15.230 The beginning of John chapter 10 is what they call the Good Shepherd discourse, where Jesus is giving some metaphor here for who he is and what he's come to do. 00:03:15.390 --> 00:03:24.750 But it is not a standalone message where he is just trying to paint a beautiful picture, a good pastoral letter, so we can all feel better about ourselves. 00:03:24.909 --> 00:03:32.350 He's actually addressing a situation of what just happened in the previous chapter in John chapter 9. 00:03:32.590 --> 00:03:40.270 So I'm gonna briefly talk you through John chapter 9 so we can set the context and then get into our main sentence for today. 00:03:40.830 --> 00:03:46.030 Jesus had just healed, John chapter 9, he's just healed a man who'd been blind since birth. 00:03:46.350 --> 00:03:49.150 An absolute miracle, incredible. 00:03:49.390 --> 00:03:53.790 But what happens next is the thing that's difficult for us to read. 00:03:54.030 --> 00:04:04.510 The religious leaders, at the time the most spiritual, the most powerful spiritual authorities in Israel, interrogated this man for being healed. 00:04:04.909 --> 00:04:05.710 What happened? 00:04:05.870 --> 00:04:06.670 How did he do it? 00:04:06.830 --> 00:04:07.310 Who did it? 00:04:07.469 --> 00:04:08.189 Did you see him? 00:04:08.270 --> 00:04:09.230 What do you know about him? 00:04:09.310 --> 00:04:14.030 And they're interrogating him and raising a bit of a ruckus. 00:04:14.350 --> 00:04:18.430 Then they brought his parents in and interrogated his parents. 00:04:18.589 --> 00:04:25.709 But his parents were so afraid from being expelled from the community that they, in a sense, threw their son under the bus. 00:04:25.870 --> 00:04:26.350 Look here. 00:04:26.509 --> 00:04:28.189 John chapter 9, verse 22. 00:04:28.350 --> 00:04:40.829 They say this his parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. 00:04:41.069 --> 00:04:42.109 So what do they say? 00:04:42.269 --> 00:04:46.029 They're like, hey, listen, yeah, he was blind when he was born. 00:04:46.269 --> 00:04:48.430 Now he can see how did it happen? 00:04:48.589 --> 00:04:49.069 I don't know. 00:04:49.229 --> 00:04:51.149 He's of age, you go ask him. 00:04:51.549 --> 00:04:52.189 Why? 00:04:52.509 --> 00:04:53.549 Because they feared. 00:04:53.709 --> 00:04:56.029 Scripture tells us why they answered this way. 00:04:56.189 --> 00:05:00.189 They feared the fact that they would be put out of the synagogue. 00:05:00.430 --> 00:05:05.149 The leaders get back to the man who was healed, continuing the interrogation. 00:05:05.310 --> 00:05:09.469 Eventually he gets a little sarcastic with them because he says, You want me to keep repeating myself? 00:05:09.549 --> 00:05:10.430 And he says, What? 00:05:10.509 --> 00:05:12.109 Do you also want to be a disciple? 00:05:12.349 --> 00:05:14.029 So they put him out of the church. 00:05:14.189 --> 00:05:15.389 They they expel him. 00:05:15.870 --> 00:05:21.789 He is uh excommunicated for the crime of being healed on the Sabbath. 00:05:23.629 --> 00:05:25.389 Beautiful part of the story. 00:05:25.709 --> 00:05:27.789 John chapter 9, verse 35. 00:05:28.109 --> 00:05:30.430 Jesus goes out to find the man. 00:05:30.909 --> 00:05:31.870 Look at this verse. 00:05:32.029 --> 00:05:39.310 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him, he said, Do you believe in the Son of Man? 00:05:39.709 --> 00:05:48.189 And essentially, what we would say today, he leads him to salvation, to the road and the path of salvation by putting his faith in the Son of God. 00:05:49.310 --> 00:05:52.109 That's the context for where John chapter 10 starts. 00:05:52.189 --> 00:05:55.629 And then Jesus gives this parable, a story about the good shepherd. 00:05:55.709 --> 00:06:00.509 They don't understand it at first, and then he carries on in verse 7, which is where we're going to read. 00:06:00.669 --> 00:06:05.870 But years four, for the main characters, the man who got expelled is the sheep. 00:06:06.109 --> 00:06:10.509 The leaders who expelled him are the thieves, as we look through the story. 00:06:10.669 --> 00:06:14.430 So let's read from verse 7 in John chapter 10. 00:06:16.189 --> 00:06:23.549 So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 00:06:23.789 --> 00:06:30.430 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 00:06:30.909 --> 00:06:32.109 I am the door. 00:06:32.349 --> 00:06:38.589 If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and find pasture. 00:06:39.709 --> 00:06:43.549 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 00:06:43.870 --> 00:06:47.549 I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 00:06:47.709 --> 00:06:49.149 I am the good shepherd. 00:06:49.310 --> 00:06:52.589 The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 00:06:52.829 --> 00:06:53.949 We'll stop there. 00:06:54.189 --> 00:06:58.029 I'm going to focus us in on verse 10 of chapter 10. 00:06:58.189 --> 00:06:59.709 Let me read it one more time. 00:06:59.949 --> 00:07:03.549 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 00:07:03.709 --> 00:07:07.870 I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 00:07:08.189 --> 00:07:11.389 One sentence, one major impact. 00:07:11.870 --> 00:07:13.709 So let's unpack this a little bit. 00:07:13.870 --> 00:07:16.589 I want to pull out three main ideas from this verse for us. 00:07:16.750 --> 00:07:20.029 The first one is this that the thief is still real. 00:07:20.430 --> 00:07:22.029 The thief is still real. 00:07:22.189 --> 00:07:26.349 And I and I want to start with kind of the uncomfortable part of this verse. 00:07:26.509 --> 00:07:30.349 I know it's Easter, and we should be having a nice, you know, jolly old time. 00:07:30.589 --> 00:07:36.509 But Jesus starts here with a thief, and I just want to go through the idea here with this verse. 00:07:37.069 --> 00:07:40.750 The Greek word for thief is this word kleptis. 00:07:41.310 --> 00:07:44.509 I don't know how to pronounce it properly, but can you say that with me? 00:07:45.949 --> 00:07:46.509 Beautiful. 00:07:46.669 --> 00:07:49.549 You guys are perfectly wrong with me. 00:07:51.870 --> 00:07:56.990 The word uh we can find in kleptomaniac, uh, clept kleptis is where that comes from. 00:07:57.149 --> 00:08:04.349 It doesn't mean robber necessarily like the Greek word, there's a different Greek word for robber, like someone who would break down the door. 00:08:04.430 --> 00:08:06.750 That is a lot more aggressive, a lot more violent. 00:08:06.909 --> 00:08:17.310 This word kleptus means someone who takes by stealth or by deception, gradually, in a sense, without you uh noticing until it's already gone. 00:08:17.629 --> 00:08:29.629 See, in a sense that he's saying here that it's not like the thief overpowers you, but he he deceives you, and his program is found in these three verbs to kill, to steal, and to destroy. 00:08:29.870 --> 00:08:33.230 To kill, steal, and destroy, and that's not random. 00:08:33.549 --> 00:08:41.389 He steals our identity in a sense, who you are, whose you are, and what you're worth. 00:08:41.629 --> 00:08:44.190 Maybe you're experiencing some of this. 00:08:44.750 --> 00:08:54.990 He kills our sense of meaning, why any of this matters, why you matter, and when we stop asking that question, we find ourselves in lonely land. 00:08:56.669 --> 00:09:04.350 And it destroys our belonging, the connections, the community, the sense that actually anyone knows you. 00:09:04.590 --> 00:09:06.189 Does anyone know you? 00:09:06.829 --> 00:09:16.509 Now we can look at the loneliness data again and the well-being numbers, and we realize it's not some random cultural drift that we've just kind of ambled into. 00:09:16.909 --> 00:09:18.189 This there's logic to this. 00:09:18.350 --> 00:09:26.590 Something has been systematically and quietly over time draining our purpose and our connection and our identity. 00:09:27.549 --> 00:09:31.470 It's been drained out of this generation, and it's working. 00:09:31.629 --> 00:09:33.549 The numbers are showing us. 00:09:34.110 --> 00:09:40.110 Now, there's a connection here in this verse to a prophet 600 years before named Ezekiel. 00:09:40.350 --> 00:09:52.669 And in Ezekiel chapter 34, we find a situation where God is giving a scathing verdict on the priests of the day who have been stealing from the people of God. 00:09:52.909 --> 00:10:02.350 And I paraphrase a little bit from chapter 34, but it's he says something like, You were supposed to be shepherds, but instead you fed yourselves. 00:10:02.509 --> 00:10:10.990 You didn't strengthen the weak, he says, you didn't heal the sick, you didn't go after the ones who wandered off, you scattered my flock and exploited them. 00:10:11.629 --> 00:10:21.389 Escathing rebuke on the religious leaders that were supposed to be taking care of God's people 600 years before Jesus. 00:10:33.309 --> 00:10:34.509 Corrupt leadership. 00:10:34.669 --> 00:10:45.309 We see it today all over the world, the knock-on impact of corrupt leadership that it has the biggest impact on the people they're supposed to be leading and taking care of and protecting. 00:10:45.710 --> 00:11:00.829 I grew up in South Africa, I was back there again a month or two ago, and just to see that country I love so much, and to see a country so rich with natural resources and beauty and the most incredible people. 00:11:01.629 --> 00:11:06.669 But it is being decimated by the corruption of the leadership in that country. 00:11:06.990 --> 00:11:07.949 Decimated. 00:11:08.990 --> 00:11:17.870 The power grid is failing, the water grid is failing, the future of millions of people who've come in is in a really difficult situation. 00:11:18.110 --> 00:11:26.350 Not because there's not enough, but because of corrupt leadership has a major impact on the people they're supposed to lead. 00:11:27.470 --> 00:11:36.590 Back to our story: the Pharisees who interrogated that blind man who weaponized community, weaponized it. 00:11:36.909 --> 00:11:41.149 If you say this thing about Jesus, that's it, we'll take you out of the community. 00:11:41.870 --> 00:11:45.710 Corrupt leadership, that is not what God had in mind. 00:11:45.949 --> 00:11:48.429 Unfortunately, these guys were not the outliers. 00:11:48.669 --> 00:11:53.629 They seem to be the pattern, and Jesus points this out directly. 00:11:54.429 --> 00:12:01.149 So let me ask you a question just to sit on this for a little bit as we are pondering where we are. 00:12:02.189 --> 00:12:12.189 What is currently draining out the life from you so slowly that perhaps you've stopped calling it theft, but you're just calling it life. 00:12:12.429 --> 00:12:14.029 You're calling it normal. 00:12:15.470 --> 00:12:16.829 Just existing. 00:12:17.149 --> 00:12:18.909 Just going through the motions. 00:12:19.870 --> 00:12:20.909 What is it? 00:12:21.949 --> 00:12:27.710 Can you take a minute and think through what are the what's draining the life in you? 00:12:30.429 --> 00:12:32.189 Could it be your screen time? 00:12:33.710 --> 00:12:37.629 This is so practical, but let me tell you, just go check your screen time. 00:12:38.669 --> 00:12:46.829 See whether the five to ten hours we're spending on a screen is bringing us joy or bringing us life? 00:12:49.389 --> 00:12:52.269 Is it a resentment that you're holding on to? 00:12:52.590 --> 00:12:54.269 How's that feeding you? 00:12:55.629 --> 00:13:00.829 Is it the performance you put in at work and then you bring that performance mentality at home? 00:13:01.069 --> 00:13:11.789 Is it a slow drift from people who actually know you towards this highly curated real life that we are putting forward as my life? 00:13:12.110 --> 00:13:14.189 Where no one actually knows you? 00:13:15.389 --> 00:13:20.110 Is it a religious guilt that tells you God is always disappointed in you? 00:13:24.110 --> 00:13:30.590 Or is it a voice in your head that sounds like the Pharisees demanding an explanation for why you never measure up? 00:13:30.990 --> 00:13:33.230 Why can't you follow all the rules? 00:13:35.710 --> 00:13:38.429 I suggest we begin to name it, or we try. 00:13:38.669 --> 00:13:41.149 Because it's hard to address something that you won't name. 00:13:45.789 --> 00:13:46.429 Amen. 00:13:47.069 --> 00:13:48.029 I love you. 00:13:48.990 --> 00:13:49.789 I love you. 00:13:50.590 --> 00:13:51.549 This is important. 00:13:52.350 --> 00:13:53.309 This is important. 00:13:54.189 --> 00:13:55.710 We don't take out the thorn. 00:13:55.949 --> 00:13:57.789 We're gonna just keep getting hurt. 00:14:00.189 --> 00:14:05.230 Second point I wanted to look at in this verse is the kind of life that Jesus offers. 00:14:05.389 --> 00:14:08.750 What is the kind of life that Jesus offers in this verse? 00:14:08.829 --> 00:14:15.309 And this is where we're gonna slow down just a little bit because we can read it with just our English understanding of this word. 00:14:16.029 --> 00:14:20.590 The word life here is much deeper than what we think at first glance. 00:14:21.069 --> 00:14:29.629 When Jesus says, I came that they may have life, he doesn't use the word for life, the Greek word for life called bios. 00:14:29.870 --> 00:14:35.549 That's a more uh biological, metabolical type of function, your heart beating, your lungs working. 00:14:35.710 --> 00:14:40.110 It didn't come to your existence, your physical necessarily on its own. 00:14:40.269 --> 00:14:43.629 Jesus promises, does not promise us to upgrade your BIOS. 00:14:44.110 --> 00:14:47.389 What he offers us is this word called Zoe. 00:14:47.870 --> 00:14:49.309 Could you say that with me? 00:14:49.629 --> 00:14:50.110 Zoe. 00:14:50.990 --> 00:14:58.750 In John's gospel, Zoe is a very specific and much used verse word all over the gospel. 00:14:58.909 --> 00:15:07.949 It means, in a sense, if I try to bring it down, it means like the life of the age to come breaking here into the present. 00:15:08.429 --> 00:15:15.949 The kingdom of God that is painted in the picture we see here now in the life that you and I are able to live. 00:15:16.110 --> 00:15:20.029 It's relational, it's participatory, it's eternal. 00:15:20.189 --> 00:15:26.750 It's not just about a duration, though, but equality of life that the Lord offers to us. 00:15:26.990 --> 00:15:30.269 It's a life that feels like you're actually living. 00:15:31.149 --> 00:15:32.429 That is Zoe. 00:15:33.230 --> 00:15:44.829 John wrote in his gospel a little bit later on, he defines Zoe himself in John chapter 17, verse 3, and he says, This is eternal life, that they know you. 00:15:45.470 --> 00:15:53.710 This is eternal Zoe, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 00:15:55.710 --> 00:15:58.269 This is eternal life that they know you. 00:15:58.429 --> 00:16:12.110 Now, you may be hearing this, and if your relationship with Jesus or your knowledge of Jesus is just surface level, you may be like, ah, I mean, okay, that's nice, you know. 00:16:12.909 --> 00:16:27.629 But it's kind of like saying you stand at the edge of the ocean and you kind of just tiptoe into the water, and you're about ankle deep, and you say, Oh, I know the beach, I know the water. 00:16:28.909 --> 00:16:31.149 And that's about as far as you go. 00:16:31.789 --> 00:16:34.829 The way to truly know the ocean. 00:16:34.990 --> 00:16:35.949 It's my favorite place. 00:16:36.110 --> 00:16:37.069 This is my illustration. 00:16:37.230 --> 00:16:38.029 My favorite place. 00:16:38.189 --> 00:16:50.590 The way to fully know the power of the water, the way to fully know the majesty of the ocean is getting in it, getting it, getting immersed, completely immersed into it. 00:16:50.829 --> 00:16:54.590 Now you have an appreciation for the power of the ocean. 00:16:54.750 --> 00:16:57.949 Now you have an appreciation for the life in the ocean. 00:16:58.110 --> 00:17:00.189 Oh, there's a lot of water right there. 00:17:00.750 --> 00:17:09.390 Now you have an appreciation for the life that can be found in the ocean because you're not just dabbling right here at the edge of the beach. 00:17:10.829 --> 00:17:14.590 So now when we begin to understand that, put that verse up one more time, please. 00:17:14.910 --> 00:17:18.590 This is eternal life, that they know you. 00:17:18.990 --> 00:17:30.910 The deeper he is inviting us to come into a knowledge of him, the more you know him that way, the more we begin to experience the abundant life that he has on offer for us. 00:17:31.230 --> 00:17:31.789 Amen? 00:17:33.150 --> 00:17:34.509 That's the definition. 00:17:34.990 --> 00:17:42.990 Abundant life is not circumstance, it's a relationship and a very deep relationship. 00:17:43.789 --> 00:17:53.230 Now, if this is the meaning of this word, it should blow up our meet our thinking of this being a kind of like a prosperity gospel reading of this verse. 00:17:53.549 --> 00:18:02.670 See, because Jesus isn't promising you a promotion or a house that finally feels big enough, or kids who finally get the right kind of playing time you're hoping they get. 00:18:04.190 --> 00:18:12.670 He's offering you, he's not offering a better bios, he's offering Zoe, and the abundance of Zoe, it's the abundance of knowing God. 00:18:13.629 --> 00:18:14.190 C.S. 00:18:14.349 --> 00:18:18.430 Lewis uh had a way of putting this that it's hard to forget. 00:18:18.910 --> 00:18:26.349 He says, our problem isn't that our desires are too strong, it's that they're too weak. 00:18:26.990 --> 00:18:41.629 He says we're like a child who lives in a slum and is perfectly content making mud pies because he cannot even begin to imagine what it means to spend a vacation at the sea. 00:18:42.029 --> 00:18:50.109 We settle for so little, not because we want too much, but because we can't yet conceive of what's actually on offer. 00:18:54.190 --> 00:18:59.950 Man, do we know the Zoe life that Jesus has for us? 00:19:00.109 --> 00:19:04.029 Do we know the fullness and the abundance of life that he has for us? 00:19:04.190 --> 00:19:09.549 That word abundance, well, last Greek word for the day is this word called perizon. 00:19:11.069 --> 00:19:20.430 Perison is abundance, it means to overflow, a surplus, almost like what's left over after every need is met. 00:19:21.470 --> 00:19:33.069 Paul uses this ver word in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 20, when he says that God is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think. 00:19:33.950 --> 00:19:41.150 God is able to do far more parason abundantly than all we ask or think. 00:19:43.950 --> 00:19:47.069 This is the life that he has on offer for us. 00:19:48.670 --> 00:19:58.589 There's one more thing in this word abundance that I think is important in this life that he has for us, that I think is important for us to look at. 00:19:59.230 --> 00:20:10.910 Too often I've heard this verse preached or read about this verse, and I think what is missing in that is that in John chapter 10, the word sheep is always plural. 00:20:11.629 --> 00:20:13.069 It's always plural. 00:20:13.389 --> 00:20:21.950 See, in the ancient Near East, a single sheep separated from the flock was not a free sheep, it was a dead sheep. 00:20:24.990 --> 00:20:27.549 I grew up watching wildlife documentaries. 00:20:27.789 --> 00:20:28.910 Anyone else? 00:20:30.269 --> 00:20:32.990 Instagram is so fun because it knows me. 00:20:33.150 --> 00:20:36.349 So I get all these hunts on my fur all the time. 00:20:36.589 --> 00:20:39.309 Uh maybe I should have played a video here. 00:20:39.629 --> 00:20:42.990 Danny wasn't sure it was the best idea, but but picture this. 00:20:43.230 --> 00:20:55.710 Picture this lions on a hunt, usually the lionesses going on a hunt, and there's a herd of buffalo or impala or whatever that they're they're going after. 00:20:57.230 --> 00:21:08.829 They start like stalking this herd, and there's enough fear inherent in those animals when they smell a lion, they know there's trouble and they start moving away in a direction. 00:21:09.150 --> 00:21:15.470 But staying in a herd, they're strong enough to with withhold, withstand the lions. 00:21:15.950 --> 00:21:22.430 So what the lions do is they start chasing them and start threatening them enough for the herd to start moving fast enough. 00:21:22.589 --> 00:21:26.990 And what the lionesses are looking for is for the isolated animal. 00:21:27.230 --> 00:21:31.629 And it's usually the older one or the younger one or the injured one. 00:21:31.869 --> 00:21:36.589 And when they can isolate that animal from the herd, it's incredible. 00:21:36.750 --> 00:21:38.829 Like you watch these videos. 00:21:39.309 --> 00:21:52.349 You watch it, it's almost like you can see in their eye, like they're chasing the whole pack until they see the one, and like all five of them suddenly just whoa, there it is, and they just go after the one and they attack the one. 00:21:52.509 --> 00:21:57.069 It's the most vulnerable animal in the herd, is the isolated one. 00:21:57.869 --> 00:22:00.910 That's a really important thing for us to think about. 00:22:01.150 --> 00:22:07.789 The abundant life is not a private subscription, friends, it's life in a flock. 00:22:09.629 --> 00:22:16.029 The Surgeon General isn't just describing a mental health crisis, he's describing what happens to. 00:22:16.430 --> 00:22:18.269 Sheep who live without a fold. 00:22:22.509 --> 00:22:25.309 The abundant life has a table. 00:22:25.710 --> 00:22:27.150 And there are people at it. 00:22:30.109 --> 00:22:32.990 People who know your name, not your highlight reel. 00:22:33.869 --> 00:22:35.789 People who can tell you the truth. 00:22:37.869 --> 00:22:41.869 You cannot have the life that Jesus is describing in isolation. 00:22:42.109 --> 00:22:44.430 It was never meant to be found alone. 00:22:47.789 --> 00:22:52.109 Now we know we all know, this isn't take a genius to know. 00:22:52.349 --> 00:22:58.990 The longer you and I are gonna stare at a screen, the harder it's gonna be to build actual human interactions. 00:23:00.269 --> 00:23:06.190 The longer we look at a I'm not joking, you're probably there's not I'm not judging either. 00:23:06.430 --> 00:23:12.829 You're probably spending four to six to eight hours on a screen minimum per day. 00:23:13.549 --> 00:23:16.430 And this is a very new phenomenon, by the way. 00:23:17.069 --> 00:23:22.190 We're unable to build connections, and we're wondering why we're feeling so lonely. 00:23:22.430 --> 00:23:35.389 And I know a lot of the studies are talking about Gen Z, and it seems particularly bad in Gen Z, but I know men my age, and I know too many men my age who don't have a group, a pack. 00:23:35.629 --> 00:23:43.069 They don't have three or four people who they can be 100% totally honest with and can call the BS in what you're saying. 00:23:44.509 --> 00:23:46.269 Sorry, I didn't swear. 00:23:50.269 --> 00:23:50.990 Focus. 00:23:53.869 --> 00:24:05.549 This is a problem for all of us, friends, and we live in isolation, and we've built beautiful walls in our homes and beautiful fences and beautiful cars, and we've got everything, and we're very comfortable, but we're lonely. 00:24:06.029 --> 00:24:06.910 We're lonely. 00:24:07.150 --> 00:24:12.349 If these stats are true, half of us are experiencing this, at least. 00:24:12.829 --> 00:24:24.269 Unless you found your people, unless you found your crew, unless you found your group, and you're doing this life together, and we begin to fight what the thief is trying to steal from us. 00:24:25.629 --> 00:24:36.109 So here's another question as you're mulling over where you are, if if you were to describe your current spiritual life as a room in a house, which room is it? 00:24:37.069 --> 00:24:41.069 Is it a private office where you go to feel better about yourself? 00:24:41.470 --> 00:24:46.269 Or is it around a dinner table where people actually know you? 00:24:48.190 --> 00:24:49.789 I think that's the test. 00:24:51.869 --> 00:24:57.869 Last point I want to make from this verse is this point that the shepherd's door is always open. 00:24:58.190 --> 00:25:00.269 The shepherd's door is actually open. 00:25:00.430 --> 00:25:03.230 It's a very significant idea in this in this verse. 00:25:03.389 --> 00:25:11.950 If we put on John 10 10 one more time, the thief comes to steal, the thief comes to steal and destroy, I came. 00:25:12.190 --> 00:25:15.710 The thief comes is a present, continuous tense. 00:25:16.029 --> 00:25:23.389 I came is a definite once-in-a-time event where he had accomplished what he purposed to do. 00:25:23.789 --> 00:25:30.349 When Jesus describes the thief this way, it's in a sense a recurring, faceless, ongoing threat. 00:25:30.750 --> 00:25:38.750 But when he said, I came, a singular, decisive event, God showed up on one specific place. 00:25:38.910 --> 00:25:45.629 We go back to Ezekiel 34 that I talked about earlier, when he gave the scathing remark on what the priests were doing. 00:25:45.869 --> 00:25:47.549 He then says this in verse 15. 00:25:47.710 --> 00:25:48.829 We have to read it together. 00:25:49.069 --> 00:25:51.470 Ezekiel 34, verse 15. 00:25:52.269 --> 00:25:56.269 He said, I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. 00:25:56.589 --> 00:26:00.589 And I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. 00:26:00.829 --> 00:26:08.670 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak. 00:26:09.069 --> 00:26:11.869 That is God Himself speaking. 00:26:13.549 --> 00:26:20.190 The I came in John 10, 10 is the fulfillment of the announcement he made 600 years before. 00:26:20.430 --> 00:26:24.269 Therefore, when we look at Jesus coming, it's not just not a religion. 00:26:24.349 --> 00:26:28.910 He's keeping a promise he made 600 years before, at least. 00:26:29.309 --> 00:26:32.910 He will be their shepherd, he will be our shepherd. 00:26:33.869 --> 00:26:36.829 In John chapter 10, verse 9, he says he's the door. 00:26:36.990 --> 00:26:39.069 In verse 11, he says he's the shepherd. 00:26:39.150 --> 00:26:43.230 That means he's the entry point and he's the leader inside. 00:26:45.150 --> 00:26:52.430 So the question isn't whether the door is open, because it is, he is the door, it's whether we're willing to walk through it. 00:26:56.269 --> 00:26:59.629 The invitation, the invitation to come into the fold. 00:26:59.789 --> 00:27:04.029 Now, perhaps you're thinking, hold up, David. 00:27:04.589 --> 00:27:09.150 John chapter 9, that was about a church, quote unquote. 00:27:09.389 --> 00:27:10.589 That was the synagogue. 00:27:10.670 --> 00:27:13.150 It was the leaders who did all this stuff. 00:27:13.309 --> 00:27:15.710 And now you're telling us to go back into that. 00:27:16.029 --> 00:27:21.549 Telling us to come back into the fold in a sense, and if that is your question, it's good. 00:27:21.710 --> 00:27:24.190 It's a good, fair, and honest question. 00:27:24.430 --> 00:27:27.069 And Jesus takes it really seriously. 00:27:27.789 --> 00:27:31.869 He doesn't wash over the corruption of these leaders in any way. 00:27:32.750 --> 00:27:34.029 He names it. 00:27:34.589 --> 00:27:41.710 But the answer to the corrupt fold isn't no fold, it's the good shepherd. 00:27:42.910 --> 00:27:44.430 That's the answer. 00:27:44.670 --> 00:27:46.109 That's the difference. 00:27:46.589 --> 00:27:48.589 He is our shepherd. 00:27:48.990 --> 00:27:52.190 He came that we could have life. 00:27:52.509 --> 00:27:55.549 He came to be the head of the church. 00:27:55.869 --> 00:28:01.150 He came so we could have life and have abundant Zoe life. 00:28:01.549 --> 00:28:02.750 This is him. 00:28:06.509 --> 00:28:08.829 Let me try to bring this all together. 00:28:10.190 --> 00:28:13.950 Like the thief's program is to steal, kill, and destroy. 00:28:14.190 --> 00:28:20.990 Jesus doesn't counter this with another program, he counters it with a person, with himself. 00:28:21.309 --> 00:28:23.950 As I said, he's the door, he's the shepherd. 00:28:24.029 --> 00:28:32.589 And on the very first Easter, which we're celebrating here today, death tried to destroy the shepherd and failed. 00:28:33.309 --> 00:28:39.549 The tomb is empty, which means the thief's lost and most powerful weapon has been disarmed. 00:28:39.710 --> 00:28:42.269 You and I have nothing to fear. 00:28:42.829 --> 00:28:45.789 Paul writes, Death, where is your thing? 00:28:46.269 --> 00:28:47.230 It's gone. 00:28:47.549 --> 00:28:49.549 The power of it has been taken. 00:28:55.230 --> 00:28:58.910 John at the very end of the Bible describes what this means to the full. 00:28:58.990 --> 00:29:02.829 And I want to read for you Revelation chapter 7, verse 17. 00:29:03.069 --> 00:29:16.910 He says, For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. 00:29:17.789 --> 00:29:18.990 Did you see that? 00:29:19.309 --> 00:29:21.069 I will be their shepherd. 00:29:21.389 --> 00:29:23.869 God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. 00:29:24.029 --> 00:29:36.750 You see what he promised in those words in John 10, 10, he now guarantees forever in Revelation 7, 17, that abundant life is not a feeling you have to sustain. 00:29:38.190 --> 00:29:41.629 It's a destination he's leading you towards. 00:29:42.269 --> 00:29:44.109 Right now, today. 00:29:47.789 --> 00:29:52.910 So before I close this out, I want to have one concrete application for you and I. 00:29:54.750 --> 00:29:59.309 Last thing I want is to just have a nice Easter message and we like feel good about this. 00:29:59.389 --> 00:30:00.430 What is next year? 00:30:00.589 --> 00:30:01.869 What is is next? 00:30:02.029 --> 00:30:07.869 Obviously, and I'm going to talk in a minute about receiving Jesus Himself, receiving the Good Shepherd. 00:30:07.950 --> 00:30:14.829 But practically speaking, it's going to sound like I'm entering into infomercial, but just bear with me for a second. 00:30:15.069 --> 00:30:16.750 Join a life group. 00:30:17.389 --> 00:30:18.829 Join a life group. 00:30:19.710 --> 00:30:26.589 We have over 50, I think 58 life groups in our combined three sites right now. 00:30:27.230 --> 00:30:31.549 Groups for men, for women, students, for for everything. 00:30:31.950 --> 00:30:34.029 There's all sorts of groups, all sorts of times. 00:30:34.190 --> 00:30:35.470 This is not an infomercial. 00:30:35.710 --> 00:30:39.389 This is, we put life groups in place because of this. 00:30:39.710 --> 00:30:48.670 We put life groups in place because we are not just a church about a Sunday morning attendance and thinking, great, this is what being a disciple means. 00:30:49.230 --> 00:31:00.269 Disciple is following Jesus, walking with him, knowing what he says, learning to live it out, and doing it as a band, as a community, as a family together. 00:31:02.029 --> 00:31:03.069 You're very lucky. 00:31:03.150 --> 00:31:05.789 Today is the kickoff of our new life group block. 00:31:05.950 --> 00:31:10.750 We do blocks of like eight, uh, nine or ten groups consecutively at a time. 00:31:10.910 --> 00:31:16.029 This week starts our second block of the year, and I'm inviting you to find a group. 00:31:16.190 --> 00:31:20.109 Go to our app, go to speak to someone in the lobby, find a place. 00:31:20.269 --> 00:31:24.109 If you've been in a group and you didn't like it, try something else. 00:31:24.349 --> 00:31:27.710 Your life group leaders are not going to be mad or offended. 00:31:28.509 --> 00:31:32.910 Life group leaders, don't be mad or offended if someone tries it up. 00:31:33.069 --> 00:31:38.829 It is more important that someone finds their people than whether they make you feel better about how you are. 00:31:39.470 --> 00:31:40.670 Is that okay? 00:31:41.629 --> 00:31:47.549 I we want to see 100% of our church in life groups where someone knows your name. 00:31:49.389 --> 00:31:50.029 Do it. 00:31:50.349 --> 00:31:51.309 Do it today. 00:31:51.470 --> 00:31:52.990 Can I have a witness? 00:31:54.269 --> 00:31:54.589 Okay. 00:31:54.990 --> 00:31:55.789 A little bit more. 00:31:55.869 --> 00:31:56.670 Come on. 00:31:56.990 --> 00:31:58.029 All right, good. 00:31:59.869 --> 00:32:01.869 I need to finish with the gospel. 00:32:02.029 --> 00:32:05.389 And it's been weaved through all of what I've been saying here today. 00:32:05.470 --> 00:32:08.990 But John chapter 3, 16, perhaps you've heard this verse before. 00:32:09.069 --> 00:32:21.629 It says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal Zoe. 00:32:22.430 --> 00:32:25.629 Have eternal Zoe life. 00:32:26.430 --> 00:32:44.190 For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that you would just survive, just get by, be content with just making it through, or that you and I may have Zoe life. 00:32:44.589 --> 00:32:46.589 This is what's on offer. 00:32:47.710 --> 00:32:50.910 I want to speak to a few different types of people here today. 00:32:51.150 --> 00:33:01.950 Some of you have been following Jesus for years, but somewhere along the way, the river of life just seems to have slowed down to a trickle. 00:33:02.349 --> 00:33:10.430 And you're going through the motions, you know the language, you know the songs, but the Zoe has gone quiet. 00:33:10.910 --> 00:33:13.789 I believe today is for you as well. 00:33:16.269 --> 00:33:19.549 Some of you are here because someone invited you to church today. 00:33:19.629 --> 00:33:22.190 And as I said, I'm so glad you're here. 00:33:22.750 --> 00:33:29.629 You're a family member or a friend, and maybe you're still figuring out what all this is about, and you're not sure. 00:33:29.789 --> 00:33:30.670 And that's okay. 00:33:30.750 --> 00:33:40.670 I'm glad you're here, but something in this room today is pulling on you, it's tugging at you, and I want to ask you, don't dismiss it, engage with that. 00:33:43.789 --> 00:33:47.869 And I feel like some of you came in today carrying something very heavy. 00:33:48.509 --> 00:33:51.069 You've been pushed outside the fold. 00:33:51.470 --> 00:33:58.029 Maybe you were pushed up, maybe you walked up, maybe you've just been along for such a long time, alone for such a long time. 00:33:58.829 --> 00:34:04.750 And I want you to know that the shepherd walked out the gate to go and find the man who was excommunicated. 00:34:05.389 --> 00:34:08.190 He leaves the 99 to go find you. 00:34:09.230 --> 00:34:13.789 And this feeling you're feeling on the inside is him knocking on your door. 00:34:14.030 --> 00:34:15.309 Will you open? 00:34:15.710 --> 00:34:17.070 Will you open? 00:34:19.230 --> 00:34:24.750 If you want to let the thief stop running your life, I want you to walk through that door today. 00:34:24.909 --> 00:34:26.110 This is the moment. 00:34:26.829 --> 00:34:29.949 So would you close your eyes with me for a second? 00:34:31.469 --> 00:34:39.630 If you want to say yes to the shepherd for the first time or come back to after, come back to him after such a long time away. 00:34:40.429 --> 00:34:49.389 I want to invite you to pray this prayer with me, to to engage in an honest conversation with God in the next few moments. 00:34:50.429 --> 00:34:51.789 Every eyes feel closed. 00:34:52.509 --> 00:34:55.230 I'm asking you, do you know Jesus? 00:34:55.469 --> 00:34:56.670 Do you want to know him? 00:34:56.909 --> 00:34:58.349 Do you want to grow in a knowledge? 00:34:58.429 --> 00:34:59.469 Do you want to walk with him? 00:34:59.710 --> 00:35:02.829 And this has got nothing to do with do you go to church? 00:35:03.070 --> 00:35:05.150 Did you grow up in a Christian family? 00:35:05.389 --> 00:35:07.710 Did you go through uh confirmation? 00:35:07.869 --> 00:35:08.590 Did you go? 00:35:08.829 --> 00:35:10.509 I'm not asking you what you've done. 00:35:10.750 --> 00:35:12.269