WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:21.839 Welcome to Awakening. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:23.199 Great to see you all here. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:32.640 And if you open your Bible to John chapter 10, and you have some notes, if you open there, we're in a series called Jesus Is. 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:37.359 And there's a lot of controversy back when he came and up to today. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:44.399 And so Jesus says, I am, and then defines who he is seven different times in the book of John. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:48.240 And we've looked at Jesus is the light and Jesus is the gate. 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:51.920 And we're going to look today at Jesus is the Good Shepherd. 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:54.719 And notice in your notes, there are two questions. 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:56.320 I want you to really ponder this. 00:00:56.479 --> 00:00:57.679 Look down at them. 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:04.560 Two questions that how you answer them will determine the direction of your life. 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:09.519 And the first question is what comes to your mind when you think about God? 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:14.079 We all have a God consciousness, sort of a view of what God is like. 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:16.959 And how you picture him. 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:27.359 It's a very unconscious thing, but how you picture him will really determine whether you run toward him or run away from him or who you think he is or how do you respond? 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:33.280 And then the other question, equally important, is how do you think God sees you? 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:38.640 As you think about those two questions, let me uh give you a maybe a human illustration. 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:40.159 I'm I'm wrestling with something. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:42.000 Like, don't you guys have some stuff? 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:46.159 You know, I gotta, and uh a lot of it you can figure out on your own. 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:48.879 You pray, you read God's word, this is what God wants you to do. 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:50.799 And sometimes you get stuck. 00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:52.719 And so I've been stuck recently. 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:55.200 And I mean, like for several weeks. 00:01:55.359 --> 00:01:59.599 I just can't get my arms around what to do, how to pull it off. 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:02.480 And Monday I was praying and I thought, you know something? 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:04.640 Uh I'm gonna call a shepherd. 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:07.040 They call him pastors these days. 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:10.159 And he's uh a fellow named Steve that we worked together. 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:15.039 I knew him when he was a football coach back when he was like 28 years old, and so was I. 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:16.879 And it was 40 years ago. 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:22.479 And so I get on the phone, he actually was a pastor here in the area, and I said, Hey Steve. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:23.840 Um actually I texted him. 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:24.879 This is a great picture. 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:29.199 I said, Hey, I'm wrestling with something and I just can't figure it out. 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:31.199 Could I talk to you sometime soon? 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:33.599 30 seconds later, phone rings. 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:36.800 And that's what shepherds do, they care about you. 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:41.120 They want to respond, they they care about what's going on. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:56.319 And we talked for probably 45 minutes, and when I got done, uh, because I've known him for 40 years, uh, we we met in Texas, then we worked together in Santa Cruz, and then he's been a pastor at Westgate and actually was a part of this church getting launched with Ryan and the team. 00:02:56.479 --> 00:03:02.560 And when I got done, he said, Chip, there's one thing missing in your life, and you and Teresa have to figure out how to solve that. 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:05.280 And you're whatever you need to do, you have to do that. 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:10.400 He says, Secondly, it's really clear God made you to do one thing really well. 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:12.319 Whatever you do, bust it. 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:14.240 Don't let anything get in that way. 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:16.080 And it was just clear. 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:18.000 It was just clear. 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:21.199 And he shepherded me. 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:24.400 And what I've loved about Steve, he's an old football coach. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:34.719 So, one, he is compassionate, but he has told me the truth uh more powerfully, more bluntly, than anybody but my wife. 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:37.919 I mean, he's looked me in the eye and said, dude, what are you thinking? 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:41.360 Are you and believe me, I won't go on. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:47.439 But you know, life, life gets sticky, doesn't it? 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:54.879 It gets confusing, it gets uncertain, relationships mess up, futures, you don't know what's gonna go on. 00:03:55.120 --> 00:04:02.879 Then you turn on the news or you scroll, and there's earthquake, then another earthquake, and there's there's COVID, there's political issues. 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:13.599 I mean, the world is a really, really complicated, divided, challenging place that has created unprecedented anxiety and fear and struggle. 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:16.079 So, where do you go? 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:41.920 And see, your view of God will either say, this is a safe, kind, loving, just heavenly father who wants to guide and direct you and put his arm around you and literally walk with you in a very, very uncertain world, or as the neighbor who lives right across my cul-de-sac, we've been loving and caring for them for over 12 years. 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:52.160 Um that when we moved in, people said he's the bad neighbor, critical, angry, you know, your leaves are on my side, the guy who blew grass is on my side. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:05:00.079 I mean, and so we've loved and loved and loved, and after about five years, finally got through, we had a really deep open conversation. 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:06.720 And he looked at me and he said, I want you to know if I walked into a church, people would be in danger. 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:12.639 Fire would come from heaven, and he would consume the place because I know that's how he sees me. 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:19.040 I I used to understand this, and this is where my life is, and there is no hope for me. 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:22.720 And it's been like a brick wall, a brick wall. 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:30.480 But I don't think he'll come to a God who he thinks is harsh, angry, unloving, but not patient, and down on him. 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:32.560 And so, can I pause? 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:35.120 How do you see God? 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:39.279 How do you see God, especially when you're struggling? 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:41.680 Do you medicate? 00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:42.959 Do you go to someone else? 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:45.199 Do you try and get distracted? 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:48.160 Or does he shepherd you? 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:56.000 In this series, uh, Ryan last week talked about Jesus as the shepherd, and if you're in John chapter 10, uh please open your Bible. 00:05:56.160 --> 00:05:59.519 Let me give a little overview and we're gonna jump right in. 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:35.120 And uh you can open your phone and you'll see that uh the question that that was on Jesus' mind and heart was exactly the problem we have today, is that if God really loves people and he really is compassionate and he really wants to help them, but instead of having my view of my friend, lots of people, including some of us in this room on some bad days, we think God would never listen to us that we have done and said and thought, or he's too busy, or he's distant, or maybe even not even real. 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:40.160 And so Jesus, when he came, the scripture says he came to explain the Father. 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:48.480 In other words, he came so that when you would see what Jesus said and how he acted, you would know that's how God is, that's how he really is. 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:55.360 And so the dilemma was how does Jesus help us see what God is really like? 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:16.800 And in the passage I put on the front of your notes, it says Jesus had saw this huge multitude, and he said when he saw them, he had compassion on them because they were distressed, you might underline that word, and downcast, underline that word, like sheep without a shepherd. 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:32.639 And so Jesus saw this multitude of humanity, like he would look at eight billion people today, and he would look right in this room at each one of us, and he would see distress, uptight, insecurity, fear, anxiety. 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:37.040 And then he says, they're downcast, and that's a shepherding term. 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:47.199 And when a when a sheep would eat a lot and sometimes get a little distracted, they might roll on their side, but if they rolled too far, maybe there was a little indentation. 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:50.160 If they get upside down, it's called their cast. 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:55.600 A sheep can't get up by themselves, they just will die. 00:07:56.160 --> 00:08:02.079 And if a shepherd doesn't come over and roll the sheep over, it'll literally die right there. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:19.680 And Jesus saw humanity as distressed and disturbed and struggling and downcast, so dependent that if he doesn't come in and help them, they'll die emotionally, physically, and spiritually. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:25.920 And so to explain the compassion and the love of God, because that word is an interesting word. 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:28.720 It literally means to come out of the bowels. 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:42.480 The Hebrews believe that your deepest emotions, like some of you, you've ever seen someone really hurt and struggling and in pain or in such a situation, and just almost like your stomach, it's like, oh man, if I could only help them. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:53.120 This word means to feel so deeply for the needs of another that you're compelled not to feel sorry for them, not even to have sympathy, but to help them. 00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:58.240 And so in an agrarian society, he knew that they understood about sheep. 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:01.919 Those people knew that if you don't have a shepherd, you're in trouble. 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:04.879 They knew that every sheep needs a shepherd. 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:11.120 And so he uses this metaphor of the sheep and the shepherd in order to help them understand who he really is. 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:27.039 And so, with that, notice in your notes, oh, uh, it says that um chapter 10, there's a parable or a metaphor that we looked at last week, verses 1 through 6, about Jesus being the gate. 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:35.120 And then the teaching is verse 7 through 10, and then he makes an offer of eternal life for salvation, and then he gives his purpose. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:39.120 And let me read that context before we dig into the passage for this week. 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:47.279 Verily I say to you, Pharisees, any one who does not enter the sheep by the gate, but climbs up in some other way is a thief and a robber. 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:54.879 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep, and the gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. 00:09:55.039 --> 00:09:57.679 He calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:06.879 And when he's brought them out, all his own, he goes ahead of them, and his sheep follow him, because they know his voice, but they will not follow a stranger. 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:11.360 In fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice. 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:14.240 And then here's the summary that we looked at last week. 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:21.360 Jesus used this metaphor or figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he said. 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:22.879 And so they don't get it. 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:31.600 They don't get the gate, the opening, the access, that if you want to have a relationship with God, you want your life to work, he says, I'm the door, I'm the way, I'm the gate. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:50.480 Therefore, Jesus said, Verily, verily I say to you, now that's not like some weird thing, when we want to say good, we say something is good or it's better or it's best, uh, in Hebrew uh and or Aramaic here, you you would say good, good to give it emphasis, or you might say, good, good, good. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:59.919 So that's why the song that we sang, holy, holy, holy, that's he's saying, this is the absolute, ultimate extreme. 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:02.240 And so when he says that, he's making a point. 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:11.519 Verily, verily I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep, and all who've come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:12.960 And then this is what we heard. 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:15.279 This is this was the great promise. 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:19.759 I am the gate, whoever enters through me is saved. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:21.840 In other words, who'll be forgiven. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:30.639 He's talking about spiritual salvation, to be rescued from your sin, to have a personal relationship with Christ. 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:35.279 And then he says, and after that, they will come and go out and they'll find pasture. 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:37.759 In other words, it's a relationship. 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:39.759 I'm gonna lead and I'm gonna guide. 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:51.919 And you know, back in that day, those people say, Oh wow, so you are gonna do for me as a human being, relationally and spiritually and physically, what a shepherd does for a sheep, the lights would have come on for them. 00:11:52.240 --> 00:12:01.440 And then he goes, The thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:07.200 And here's his purpose statement but I have come that they might have life and have it to the full. 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:12.639 And then that begs the question: how do you get life to the full? 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:14.480 How does it really work? 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:21.440 And so now he's gonna go from one picture of him being the gate or the door, the access. 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:26.399 He's gonna talk about I am the good shepherd. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:30.879 And follow along as I read and look, look for what he's verse 11. 00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:34.559 I am the good shepherd, and listen for what determines. 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:36.799 There's a little phrase about laying down his life. 00:12:36.960 --> 00:12:42.879 See if you can count how many times he talks about laying down his life and what makes him a good shepherd. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:47.360 I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:51.360 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:55.120 So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and he runs away. 00:12:55.360 --> 00:12:58.080 Then the wolf attacks the flock and it scatters. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:02.960 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:07.440 I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep, and my sheep know me. 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:13.519 Just as the father knows me and I know the father, I lay down my life. 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:19.840 And then put a little circle, if you're using your Bible, around the word, I lay my life for the sheep. 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:22.320 I have other sheep that are not of this pen. 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:27.919 I must bring them also, and they too will listen to my voice, and there'll be one flock and one shepherd. 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:34.559 And the reason my father loves me is I lay down my life only to take it up again. 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:38.320 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:42.480 I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:46.639 This command I received from my father. 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:51.840 And so he says, first and foremost, that he offers his life in our place. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:56.480 Greater love has no man than this, that one lay down his life for his friend. 00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:59.519 Those are Jesus' words from John 15. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:26.879 What he wants you to know is that if you were back in that day and you would knew about sheep and you knew about a shepherd, you knew all the things that they need, your mind would start to click and you would realize just like the sheep that I watch, if they roll over, they're absolutely dependent, that they're actually not very smart, that they can't defend themselves, that if they want, they tend to just wander, they tend to be rather hard-headed, and God calls us sheep. 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:41.039 And those people are thinking, if if God sees us as sheep and we have these tendencies, that even though when we know this is the best way, we just there's something like a magnet that wants us to do it the opposite way. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:49.200 And they're hearing Jesus saying, I'll be your shepherd, and let me prove it first and foremost, is I'm going to give my life. 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:52.080 And there's two words in Greek for that little word for. 00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:53.600 One means on behalf of. 00:14:56.399 --> 00:15:00.559 The other means in your place and on your behalf. 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:13.840 In other words, Jesus is saying, and we'll learn later, I'm going to lay down my life and I'm going to pay for your sin when I hang upon the cross. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:19.840 Because I want you to be holy so you can access to a holy God. 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:22.720 And that's impossible in your current state. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:42.799 And so when I die, being perfect and human and fully God, the Father's going to take all of your sins and the sins of all people of all time, and he's going to place it on me, and I will be your substitute, and I will be the sacrifice, the word I'll atone or I'll cover your sin. 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:45.440 And I've done it for the whole world. 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:50.000 And it's an offer where your salvation has been purchased. 00:15:50.240 --> 00:16:06.240 And so whoever would turn willfully from your sin and receive by the empty hands of faith this gift to receive forgiveness forever and have his spirit come in your life and begin to follow him, he says, That's what I want to do for you. 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:14.320 Then notice secondly, he goes on to say, Not only do I offer my life, but I offer it to everyone, not just to this group. 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:17.120 He talks about another flack, it's us Gentiles. 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:19.600 And then finally, he does it voluntarily. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:24.559 I wish in world history some people would have read this verse. 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:28.879 The Romans did not put Jesus to death, and the Jews did not put Jesus to death. 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:34.639 Jesus voluntarily gave his life because you matter. 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:39.440 Who for the joy set before him, the scripture says he endured the cross. 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:52.399 Ordinary people like you and me and all of our stuff, for reasons we don't understand, God created us, he loves us, he wants a relationship with us. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:17:01.919 And so he lays down his life, but then the Good Shepherd reveals his identity not only as the savior of the world, but also that he's God. 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:09.680 And the text continues, and so the response to this amazing offer, are you ready for this? 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:15.279 They say, um, they think that he's demon-possessed. 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:21.279 The Jews who were again divided, and many of them said, he's demon-possessed, he's a raving madman. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:22.640 Why should we listen to him? 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:25.279 He's claiming to be the shepherd, the shepherd of Israel. 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:26.160 Give us a break. 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:30.160 But others said, these are not the sayings of a madman possessed by a demon. 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:32.160 Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:35.279 In other words, shortly before this, there was a blind man. 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:38.400 And earlier he spoke, and the little girl came back to life. 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:39.119 And you know what? 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:41.359 There were 5,000 people and there were a few loaves. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:46.160 He had done miracle after miracle after miracle to prove or demonstrate. 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:48.000 And so they go on. 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:49.519 And so then Jesus came. 00:17:49.680 --> 00:18:01.359 There was a festival of the dedication, and it was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts and walking in Solomon's colonnade, and the Jews who were there gathered around him, and he says, Okay, okay, you're making all these statements. 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:05.039 You're saying the light, you're saying, you know, you're the gate, you're saying the shepherd. 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:06.720 Come on, get straight, get real. 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:08.480 Are you the Messiah or not? 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:10.400 Are you the awaited one or not? 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:12.240 Notice Jesus' response. 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:14.480 I did tell you, but you don't believe me. 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:22.000 The works that I do, the miracles in my Father's name testify about me, but you don't believe, because you're not my sheep. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:26.079 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they know me. 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:29.440 I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:30.559 What a promise. 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:33.119 No one can snatch them out of my hand. 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:39.440 My father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of my father's hand. 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:42.400 I and the Father are one. 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:46.480 And so notice his promise is eternal life. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:49.279 And by the way, just for some of us, I didn't grow up in the church. 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:53.759 And when I heard the word eternal life, that sounds like something that happens that you get after you die. 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:55.599 That's not what the Bible teaches. 00:18:55.839 --> 00:19:09.119 The Bible teaches the moment that you turn from, the biblical word is repent, turn from your way and say, God, I need your help, and I receive Christ as my substitute. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:15.440 It says the life of Jesus is deposited in your human body by the person of the Holy Spirit. 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:19.200 You are born spiritually, and he says you have new life. 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:24.000 And so eternal life begins the moment you trust Christ and then it goes on forever. 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:31.839 And so when your physical body dies, what happens is the quality of your eternal life just gets better and better and better. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:46.240 And there's a new heaven and there's a new earth, and all the things that God longed to see happen in the first couple chapters in this perfect environment before sin entered the world, we will experience on what I would call spiritual steroids. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:55.599 On a world where the lion lays down with the lamb, in a world where there's no sickness, no sorrow, no pain, no tears. 00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:08.160 We have unity with one another in a world where you continue to think and to grow, and there's culture and roles and even jobs, but they're done in a perfect environment to the glory of God. 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:11.440 And it is an amazing promise he makes. 00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:14.640 And these are the things he's promising to these people. 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:16.480 And then he makes the this statement. 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:18.720 He says, The Father and I are one. 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:27.279 In other words, he came to reveal who God is, and now he's gonna say, We are of one essence, not the Father and I are one person. 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:29.440 Uh, some of you are in English, right? 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:36.400 So you know that different cases in different languages, you it's in some can be in the feminine case, some in the masculine case. 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:38.079 In Greek, you have three cases. 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:42.960 One is neuter, in other words, it's a it's it's one it's neither masculine nor feminine. 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:49.599 When Jesus says the Father and I are one, he's saying we're one essence. 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:54.079 He would later say, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:21:03.759 And what he wants you to know is that all the resources of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, he has promised. 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:08.240 And then finally, we see two very different responses. 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:18.799 Again, his opponents picking it up at verse 31, they pick up stones to kill him, and he says to them, Now, which of my miracles or good works did I do that you're going to kill me for? 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:21.519 And they go on and say, It's not your good works we're gonna kill you. 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:26.720 We're gonna kill you because you, being a man, are blaspheming and you're claiming to be God. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:39.680 As you skip down to verse 39, they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp, and then he went back across the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing in the early days, and there he stayed. 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:41.200 And here's the other response. 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:56.559 And many people came to him, and they said, Though John, speaking of John the Baptist, never performed a sign or miracle, all that he said about this man was true, and in that place many believed in Jesus. 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:03.119 And so he comes and says, You don't What God's like, but you know a lot about shepherding, and this is your world. 00:22:03.359 --> 00:22:11.519 So just like the Old Testament talks about, you know, Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, Yahweh is my shepherd. 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:15.599 He comes and saying, I'm your shepherd. 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:20.400 I want to guide you, I want to protect you, I want to love you, I want to forgive you. 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:22.880 I see you as cast. 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:25.680 I see you as trying to work out your own life. 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:33.440 You're distressed, you're anxious, you're insecure, you distract yourself, you're self-medicating, you're addicted to stuff. 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:36.000 There's there's no reference point that doesn't change. 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:43.519 You're up one day and down the other, and this over here, you're looking for it in people here, you're looking for it in success or fame or money. 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:45.920 And he goes, Stop it. 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:48.000 Stop it. 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:50.400 Cease striving. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:52.720 Know that I'm God. 00:22:53.920 --> 00:23:00.720 Let me let me cause my compassion. 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:03.279 I'm not down on you. 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:05.119 I want to help you. 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:08.319 But you gotta stop so I can help you. 00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:13.279 You gotta quit looking to everything and everyone else for help. 00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:15.200 Please, please. 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:20.480 And and and he had two things that um that he didn't have a baseball bat, by the way. 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:24.160 Uh, but this is this is my old college days, my old baseball bat. 00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:30.640 Mickey Manual 34, Louisville slugger, but uh you can just take that one out of the tape. 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:39.839 But uh a rod would be uh about six or eight inches shorter, and it would have a ball on the end, and it has I keep this in my house for an intruder. 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:42.160 I don't want to shoot anybody. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:48.160 I don't think I could do it anyway, but I think I could whack them if they tried to mess with my wife or someone in my house. 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:56.240 And and I just I brought this because uh the when it talks about his rod, it would be a ball and often would have some nails stuck in it. 00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:59.039 This is how you take care of bears and lions. 00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:01.119 And that's what shepherds did. 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:03.119 I mean, it's hand to hand. 00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:09.039 And so when he says, I'm your his rod, and then the other thing he had was they had a staff. 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:12.319 And sometimes you see them where they have a crook, but often they wouldn't. 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:13.920 And it was one just about like this. 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:20.799 And this is when a shepherd, when a sheep are just so much like us, or we're so much like them, they just tend to wander. 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:29.759 I I mean, if there's some grass, they just keep nibbling and nibbling, and and they get, and by the way, and if they get lost, if they get behind, that's when the wolves get them. 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:35.119 And so he would use this to comfort them, to just a small tap, to know, okay, over this way, over this way. 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:38.559 Or if they got in a ditch or something with a little hook, he could pull them out. 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:45.920 And so David would would say, you know, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:50.400 Because God wants you to know he wants to protect you. 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:59.519 He wants you to protect you from bad relationships and bad business deals and bad philosophy and bad decisions and bad things. 00:24:59.680 --> 00:25:02.240 And he also then wants to provide for you. 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:07.599 He wants you to get the very best of everything because you're the object of his affection. 00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:18.720 And so, what I thought I would do with the rest of our time was um to talk about what's it look like for Jesus to be your good shepherd? 00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:20.960 I mean, what would that look like? 00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:30.079 And since I'm sure this was on the very frontal lobe of Jesus' mind when he was speaking to them, I want to take you to Psalm 23. 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:39.359 I'll put it in your notes, and if you have a pen, I'm gonna ask you to fill in a few things because after you do, in fact, I want you to print them in bold, don't do script. 00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:43.680 I want you to, I want you to print them in all capital letters. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:51.039 Because when we get done, I want you to go through and say, what would happen if I believed this? 00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:58.240 Well, what in the world would happen to my life if I actually believed that Jesus wants to be my shepherd? 00:25:58.319 --> 00:26:00.079 So let me show you what this looks like. 00:26:00.319 --> 00:26:04.000 As your shepherd, he wants to meet your deepest needs, right? 00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:08.720 So you have a need for significance, security, purpose, and acceptance. 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:09.759 We all do. 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:21.440 To be a somebody, for your life to work, to get up to say, I matter, I'm loved, I'm accepted just the way I am, I'm safe, I have purpose. 00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:29.359 And so it says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, or literally, I will not be in need. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:36.880 It says your real needs, I want to meet your physical needs, your spiritual needs, your relational needs, so that you won't have want. 00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:38.400 You won't have to look outwardly. 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:46.960 Now, I may use outward things to meet some of those needs, but what I want you to know is I'm gonna deliver that because you're my sheep and I'm your shepherd. 00:26:47.759 --> 00:27:00.240 And what I've found in my life and the life of others is often I chase work and success and money and fame and sex and power and looks to meet my needs. 00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:03.039 I'm sure none of you have ever done any of those. 00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:13.680 You know, at one point I thought if I just had the right girlfriend, or if I scored so many points, or someday if I get a scholarship, and then I got a scholarship, and then after that, could I do this? 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:15.759 And after that, and you know there's no end. 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:26.160 And you know, if I could just get a job with so-and-so, and then if I could start my own little company, and then around here, if I could ever go public, and how many patents do I have, or if I could just find that right person, have I hit enough of them? 00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:31.599 If I could just ever own a home, if we could just remodel a kitchen. 00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:44.720 And then I have friends that own their homes and they're really nice homes, and then it's like, you know, if we just had a little place on the beach, if we just had a little place in the mountains, if I only had one more week of vacation, I got news for you. 00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:52.240 You can add a zero or two to your income, you can have a couple surgeries and improve your looks. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:28:07.279 You can get everything as squared away as you want, and unless there's something in the heart of heart that gives you great contentment and peace that money and fame and sex and work will never deliver. 00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:13.039 You will just be the little hamster running faster and faster and faster. 00:28:13.359 --> 00:28:16.000 And Jesus says, I love you too much for that. 00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:21.839 I may give you a number of really good things, but you'll know it's from me. 00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:24.880 Second, he wants to restore your soul. 00:28:25.039 --> 00:28:28.240 And the premise is there is our our soul gets warped. 00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:34.240 That word for soul, we get our word psyche or psychology, the real you. 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:36.240 And how does he say that he does that? 00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:42.160 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. 00:28:42.319 --> 00:28:45.759 Underline the verbs, makes me, leads me, restores. 00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:53.039 Uh, when a uh a shepherd would have, sometimes there would be a little lamb, especially, that just would not get with the program. 00:28:53.279 --> 00:28:58.799 And if a sheep that straggles, I mean, they're they're gonna get eaten, but lambs are super vulnerable. 00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:07.359 Behind our house, we have a bunch of greenery, and there's um deer all the time, and we get to see the baby deers, and then there's coyotes. 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:15.839 We'll see three or four coyotes surround them, and and we'll look out and we'll go, oh brother, that baby deer got lost or something. 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:17.359 And we'll see three coyotes. 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:24.880 And at one point, the little graphic here, I remember watching a coyote come across the back of our fence with the leg of a deer in its mouth. 00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:40.880 And so, and so something that shepherds would do if it was really radical and it was really hard-headed, is they would take often a little like that, and they would actually break the leg of the lamb, and then they would set it, and then they would take the lamb and put it on its shoulders, and it would be called a bell sheep. 00:29:41.200 --> 00:29:42.400 And so, you know, what's it take? 00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:48.160 Four to six weeks for a bone to heal, at least from all the broken bones in my family and casts I've worn. 00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:49.039 I think it's about that. 00:29:49.119 --> 00:29:52.880 And so, four to six weeks, everywhere he went, this little lamb would be on its shoulders. 00:29:53.039 --> 00:29:58.880 Well, it out of that pain and out of that proximity created incredible intimacy. 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:02.400 And he heard the shepherd's voice. 00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:11.440 And so when he when he was healed, they would put a little bell around that sheep, and that sheep would never leave the shepherd's side. 00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:16.799 And so all the other sheep started to know, hey, wherever the bell goes, that's where the shepherd is. 00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:19.839 And so, are you ready for this? 00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:34.240 Some of you are very confused and probably even angry at God, or at least anxious or fearful or upset, and you have thought or said things to a friend like, if God really loves me, how could he let this happen? 00:30:34.559 --> 00:30:40.720 Well, God is not the author of evil, but he will use evil that is allowed in your life in the fallen world. 00:30:41.440 --> 00:31:02.000 And sometimes his greatest gift is to allow your relationship world to get broken, or your financial world to get broken, or your ego world to get broken, so that you will go to him like never before, and he'll put you on his shoulders and he'll build some intimacy so that you can know. 00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:03.599 He are you ready? 00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:05.599 He makes you lie down. 00:31:06.640 --> 00:31:08.720 We're a lot like sheep, we're stupid. 00:31:09.680 --> 00:31:30.720 When life gets hard, we run faster or we get paralyzed and we scroll, or we binge on Netflix or we eat, or we open up on login to websites that give us a pizzazz for a few moments and guilt for many more. 00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:34.400 He goes, I'm gonna restore your soul. 00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:41.359 I want you to have peace instead of fear and uncertainty and striving and hurry and insecurity. 00:31:41.519 --> 00:31:42.960 And then he says it gets better. 00:31:43.119 --> 00:31:44.799 I'm gonna guide your life. 00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:52.319 How would you like someone that knows the future, who's all powerful, and you're the object of his affection and says, Here's the invitation. 00:31:52.480 --> 00:32:01.440 I know what's gonna happen tomorrow, next year, next month, next century, next millennium, and you're the object of my attention. 00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:02.960 I will guide you. 00:32:03.039 --> 00:32:06.000 I'll actually, I've sort of documented it. 00:32:06.319 --> 00:32:14.079 I'll speak to you through my word, I'll speak to you through my family, and I'll speak through you to the Holy Spirit that dwells within you. 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:18.319 He says, He guides me, but where? 00:32:18.559 --> 00:32:22.799 In paths of righteousness and why, for his name's sake. 00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:26.480 Paths of righteousness. 00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:33.279 I remember um had a really deep relationship in college with a girl that I assumed I'd marry. 00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:34.319 You know, we did the whole deal. 00:32:34.400 --> 00:32:38.000 I visited her family, she visited my family, we're very much in love. 00:32:38.319 --> 00:32:41.599 She was very beautiful and she was a Christian, and things looked great. 00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:46.960 Except she was an only child, and her parents were very elderly, even when they had her. 00:32:47.119 --> 00:32:56.400 And so the vision for her life was she's going to live in the small town in Ohio across the street from her parents that has a white picket fence. 00:32:56.640 --> 00:33:04.079 And as I was growing in Christ, I was absolutely convinced that there was a big world out there that God wanted me to do something in. 00:33:04.400 --> 00:33:13.200 Didn't have to be famous, didn't, but but it it couldn't be living in a small town in Ohio for the next 50 years across the street from her parents. 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:14.480 But I loved her. 00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:16.000 She loved me. 00:33:17.279 --> 00:33:21.759 And God wanted me to walk in a path of righteousness for his name's sake. 00:33:21.839 --> 00:33:36.400 So I had to ask, now, is my world and my focus and my agenda going to be what I want that would honor God, or it would be what she wants that would honor her. 00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:43.200 And we um, you know, we just we broke up and I prayed that God would change your heart. 00:33:43.279 --> 00:33:53.599 I remember I'd sit out on this hill, I knew her dorm room, and I knew, you know, like fourth floor, third window over, and I would cry, no, and just cry and just pray God would change your heart. 00:33:53.839 --> 00:33:55.599 And he didn't. 00:33:55.839 --> 00:33:57.359 And I'm glad. 00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:00.880 Because there wouldn't be Orion for sure. 00:34:02.240 --> 00:34:07.920 Because there's a special DNA and a woman that I never dreamed that I would get to marry. 00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:12.880 My first choice, my choice was good, God's choice was great. 00:34:13.199 --> 00:34:17.119 Are you willing to let him lead you in a path of righteousness? 00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:18.639 Isn't it isn't it hard? 00:34:18.800 --> 00:34:30.880 This relationship isn't quite right, this person doesn't really walk with God, these friends are kind of dragging me down, this really isn't the right environment and the right company, but all the security and what about, and what if I miss out, and what if there's no one out that's better? 00:34:31.199 --> 00:34:33.039 Do you trust the shepherd? 00:34:35.199 --> 00:34:37.199 See, he wants to guide you. 00:34:37.519 --> 00:34:41.920 But a lot of us, and oh, I've got a list that's way too long. 00:34:42.079 --> 00:34:45.039 A lot of us say, no, no, I think I know better. 00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:50.239 With my finite mind and all this experience, some of you have, gosh, you've lived what, 28 years? 00:34:50.480 --> 00:34:51.119 33? 00:34:51.440 --> 00:34:52.239 41? 00:34:52.719 --> 00:34:54.880 There's a few gray hairs out there. 00:34:55.280 --> 00:34:57.599 Oh, a few without any hair out there. 00:34:58.400 --> 00:35:00.639 I don't care how long you've lived. 00:35:01.039 --> 00:35:02.880 You know, here's the logic. 00:35:03.840 --> 00:35:14.000 You're gonna make all the decisions based on what you know, or based on someone who's laid down his life for you and wants to guide you because you're the object of his attention. 00:35:14.719 --> 00:35:20.320 So he will meet your need to restore your soul, he'll guide and direct your life, and then he'll protect you from evil. 00:35:20.480 --> 00:35:25.920 It says, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, by the way, that's not when a person dies. 00:35:26.159 --> 00:35:36.400 If I was a shepherd and I heard this, the valley of the shadow of death is okay, it's it's summertime and there's lots of green grass, et cetera, the the weather and things are changing. 00:35:36.559 --> 00:35:38.079 I've got to take them to higher ground. 00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:44.559 And when I take them through higher ground, there would be all these narrow places where there's rocks and they'd have to be go one by one. 00:35:44.719 --> 00:35:51.599 And as I'm getting them one by one, all the shadows, it would be dark, and that's where the wolves and and the people would come and get. 00:35:52.159 --> 00:35:59.519 So it's in that the shadow of death are windows of time that are dark and scary, and you're vulnerable. 00:36:01.199 --> 00:36:06.159 And he says, even in those times, notice the choice I choose. 00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:07.840 I will fear no evil. 00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:08.320 Why? 00:36:08.559 --> 00:36:09.599 You're with me. 00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:12.000 You're with me. 00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:22.639 Now, he is always with you whether you read the scriptures or not, he's with you whether you're in a group or not, he's with you whether you come to church or not, if you're a follower of Jesus. 00:36:22.960 --> 00:36:30.639 But your experience of him being with you will be astronomically different when he's speaking to you on a regular basis. 00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:45.039 When the Jesus and other people, when you're sitting around a circle or a coffee table or in a coffee shop and you're sharing your heart and praying with one another, you'll really experience his with you and his guidance and his direction. 00:36:45.199 --> 00:36:47.199 And he wants to protect you. 00:36:47.440 --> 00:36:48.320 How does he do it? 00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:50.800 Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 00:36:51.039 --> 00:36:53.519 Your rod knocks out the bad guys. 00:36:53.840 --> 00:36:59.679 And your staff, when I start drifting or when I find myself in the ditch, you pull me out. 00:37:00.079 --> 00:37:02.000 You love me, you're for me. 00:37:02.159 --> 00:37:03.280 I can trust you. 00:37:03.599 --> 00:37:15.360 My friends Steve and I, um, you know, we all have a handful of experiences where we've seen God protect us, not just in relational things, like, you know, marrying the right person in my case. 00:37:15.519 --> 00:37:23.760 But Steve and I were coming out to the California uh to, there was a church here that was really helpful, and we were coming out to visit and learn some things. 00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:26.960 And in Texas, I mean it it gets like 100 degrees. 00:37:27.119 --> 00:37:29.840 At one point I was in Texas, it was 100 degrees for 100 days. 00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:31.039 It was crazy. 00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:34.320 And so, and then the asphalt, what happens when it gets that hot? 00:37:34.559 --> 00:37:40.400 The very first rain, it's when it starts to sprinkle, the oil comes up, and they call it black ice. 00:37:40.639 --> 00:37:54.800 So, this is my friend Steve of many, many years ago, and and so he came on staff at our little church, and we're driving, and and I I look out ahead at about 300 yards out, and cars are spinning and knocking into one another. 00:37:54.960 --> 00:38:00.079 There's like 15, 20 cars all over the road, and they're spinning and there's crashing. 00:38:00.159 --> 00:38:04.639 And so I do, you know, what a Ohio person would do, I slam on the brakes. 00:38:04.719 --> 00:38:12.480 And as I slam on the brakes, all I can tell you is we started going faster and faster and faster, and I still remember as vividly the windshield. 00:38:12.559 --> 00:38:17.039 My windshield, the whole windshield was full of F O R D. 00:38:17.840 --> 00:38:19.360 It's the back of a truck. 00:38:19.599 --> 00:38:24.480 And I've only had this happen twice, but but it was like, it was a weird thought. 00:38:24.639 --> 00:38:26.800 I never thought this is how I would die. 00:38:27.440 --> 00:38:31.039 I I mean, I mean, there's cars spinning, I'm done. 00:38:31.360 --> 00:38:42.480 And and so Steve, good football coach, get off the brake! I mean, he screams at me like that, and he screams so loud, I got off the brake, but I did this with my hands. 00:38:43.599 --> 00:38:45.360 And I looked over at him and him and me. 00:38:45.440 --> 00:38:46.800 I thought we were gonna hit literally. 00:38:46.960 --> 00:38:47.840 Are you ready for this? 00:38:48.000 --> 00:39:03.119 With nobody on the steering wheel, the car goes 90 degrees this way, 90 degrees that way, shoots through all the different cars, and we come out the other end, and I we look in the rear view mirror, we turn around, and I mean they're just all piled up. 00:39:07.280 --> 00:39:08.639 Guess what he did? 00:39:09.119 --> 00:39:10.639 He pulled out this rod. 00:39:11.199 --> 00:39:14.480 He said, You know, Chip, nobody's fault. 00:39:15.280 --> 00:39:20.960 But I got I got some plans for you and Steve, and you dying right now is not part of the game plan. 00:39:22.480 --> 00:39:24.880 That's why they're called ministering angels. 00:39:25.440 --> 00:39:27.519 They can drive a little bit better than you can. 00:39:27.760 --> 00:39:34.480 If you would have kept your feet on the brake and your hands on the wheel, you and Steve would both be dead. 00:39:35.760 --> 00:39:37.760 Can you trust a shepherd like that? 00:39:39.199 --> 00:39:42.400 He says he'll fill your life with joy. 00:39:43.199 --> 00:39:45.840 He says, You prepare a table for me, where? 00:39:46.800 --> 00:39:48.800 It's a banquet, is the picture. 00:39:49.039 --> 00:39:50.800 Someday, some way in heaven. 00:39:51.119 --> 00:39:52.639 Well, of course. 00:39:52.800 --> 00:39:55.039 But no, this is in the presence of my enemies. 00:39:55.199 --> 00:40:04.320 In a fallen world with struggles and pain and anxiety and people that betray you, and losing jobs and hurt and struggle and all the things we go through. 00:40:04.400 --> 00:40:09.280 In the midst of all that, he says, I'm gonna prepare a table, then I'm gonna anoint your head with oil. 00:40:09.360 --> 00:40:17.519 It's a picture of someone going into a lavish banquet, and so it's basically you get showered up, you put a little perfume, a little clone on, got your best stuff on. 00:40:17.679 --> 00:40:26.239 And in the presence of your enemies, he says, I'm going to give you the oil of joy and gladness. 00:40:26.400 --> 00:40:29.199 And then he says, and your cup's going to run over. 00:40:29.360 --> 00:40:35.840 That would be like, you know, they're serving the very, very best wine that you could ever get anywhere in all the world or all of heaven. 00:40:35.920 --> 00:40:39.039 And he says, You know, you can fill up as many times as you want. 00:40:39.840 --> 00:40:42.239 This is a heavenly buffet. 00:40:42.320 --> 00:40:42.719 You know what? 00:40:42.800 --> 00:40:43.519 You want to go back? 00:40:43.679 --> 00:40:44.559 It's lavish. 00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:46.719 That's what this word means. 00:40:47.039 --> 00:40:52.400 So much so, he says, Surely goodness and loving kindness, loyal love will follow me. 00:40:52.559 --> 00:40:56.159 Circle to follow me, because you're gonna sing about it in just a minute. 00:40:56.320 --> 00:40:58.639 The word literally is pursue me. 00:40:59.599 --> 00:41:02.320 God's goodness is pursuing you. 00:41:02.719 --> 00:41:11.280 As hard as it is to let go a bad relationship, as hard as to trust him for the right job, as hard as it is to struggle with an addiction, he goes, let go of that. 00:41:11.440 --> 00:41:12.400 I'm pursuing you. 00:41:12.480 --> 00:41:13.679 I want to do good. 00:41:14.719 --> 00:41:18.159 And loving kindness is sort of a sounds like a little bit of a flaky word. 00:41:18.320 --> 00:41:21.519 The word in Hebrew means a steadfast, loyal love. 00:41:21.840 --> 00:41:26.400 It's I got your back, I won't let you down, I'm gonna be with you forever. 00:41:26.639 --> 00:41:29.039 Let's team up together. 00:41:29.679 --> 00:41:33.199 You hang on, and you'll never be disappointed. 00:41:34.800 --> 00:41:42.480 And so there's no fear of the future because he promises ultimately to give you eternal life. 00:41:42.960 --> 00:41:46.239 And he says, I will dwell in the house of the Lord. 00:41:46.559 --> 00:41:49.039 You might underline the word forever. 00:41:50.400 --> 00:41:52.159 I don't know where you're at in your life. 00:41:52.320 --> 00:41:56.159 All I know is I went to church. 00:41:56.559 --> 00:42:13.840 I believed semi-intellectually in God, but I had no idea that there's a personal God named Jesus who explains the Father, who has compassion for what I'm going through, and offered me eternal life. 00:42:14.320 --> 00:42:18.320 In 1972, I understood that for the first time. 00:42:20.239 --> 00:42:24.159 And I remember praying a prayer that was not all that theological. 00:42:24.800 --> 00:42:28.880 But I heard a passage from scripture that said, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. 00:42:29.440 --> 00:42:39.199 If any man, any woman, any student, if you hear my voice, if you'll open the door, I'll come in and live with you. 00:42:39.840 --> 00:42:41.280 And the word is, I'll eat with you. 00:42:41.360 --> 00:42:46.239 It's a it's a Middle Eastern term of what happens when you become very close friends and you bond. 00:42:47.360 --> 00:42:54.480 As many as receive Jesus to them, he says, I give the authority and the power to become children of God. 00:42:54.960 --> 00:42:57.199 If you've never done that, today's your day. 00:43:00.960 --> 00:43:10.880 And if you are uh like me and so many others, having done this shepherding thing for gosh, almost I'm not old, but I'm older. 00:43:11.760 --> 00:43:22.480 I've done this shepherding thing for 40 years, and I've just seen, I don't care how much you love God, we are all gonna find ourselves at times where we start to drift. 00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:26.559 We're just not kind of where we really need to be. 00:43:26.800 --> 00:43:32.480 And today, this is the Holy Spirit using the staff to say, hey, hey, hey, right? 00:43:33.360 --> 00:43:40.639 Let's get realigned, let's get back in the Word, let's get connected to a group, let's start using your gifts again. 00:43:42.079 --> 00:43:46.079 Because my plans are too good for you to just go off and wander and do your stuff. 00:43:47.360 --> 00:43:57.039 So if you are here today and don't know with absolute certainty that you have a personal relationship with Jesus, that he's guiding and directing your life. 00:43:57.920 --> 00:44:16.159 And if by chance uh you would be in a car like I was, and angels didn't redirect it, and you would die today, and you just don't know where you would be or what would happen, could I invite you right now to receive Jesus as your shepherd, your savior, and your Lord? 00:44:19.760 --> 00:44:24.559 You say how just quietly in your heart say, Lord, I need you. 00:44:26.880 --> 00:44:29.599 I am really I'm sorry. 00:44:29.679 --> 00:44:36.559 I know I've done things that have hurt people, but disappointed you're certainly not perfect. 00:44:38.719 --> 00:44:45.280 And so I want to ask you right now to forgive all of my sins to come into my life. 00:44:46.480 --> 00:44:53.119 I believe you laid down your life for me and that you rose from the dead to prove it truth. 00:44:54.480 --> 00:44:58.400 I don't know what it all means, but save me, Lord Jesus. 00:44:59.440 --> 00:45:01.119 And now help me to follow you. 00:45:02.639 --> 00:45:10.800 And if you're a follower and even as I've been talking, the Holy Spirit has kind of whispered where the wanderings have been. 00:45:11.920 --> 00:45:14.559 Why don't you have a private conversation with God? 00:45:15.679 --> 00:45:25.039 And then make sure you tell someone, you know, the Lord spoke to me, and I'm going to respond in obedience by and tell that friend. 00:45:27.119 --> 00:45:29.199 Because his goodness is pursuing you. 00:45:34.719 --> 00:45:35.440 But it's good. 00:45:37.039 --> 00:45:38.239 Let's sing together. 00:45:40.320 --> 00:45:42.639 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:45:42.800 --> 00:45:47.280 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:45:47.440 --> 00:45:49.519 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:45:49.679 --> 00:45:55.599 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com/slash card.