The Good Shepherd of Our Souls!

In the Movie Miracles from Heaven, a Mom was losing her faith because her child was sick and there was no cure. God healed her child but her friend who had cancer didn't get healed. The young girl who died had a strong faith in Jesus, she was full of joy despite her circumstances, and she would still tell people about saving power of Jesus. In the last scene of the movie, the child’s father, the child who died of cancer, could not fathom why a good, loving God would heal his daughters friend but not his daughter. They explained, she doesn't have cancer anymore because she has a new body as she is with Jesus, where no sickness existed.

Our Social climate has abandoned faith because they need answers to this question. How does the all powerful Jesus allow lifes suffering to take place?

In Today’s text, Jesus’s critics need a similar answer. “If you truly are the Messiah, why are we oppressed by the Romans, sick and poor?”

Every Christian can be confident that Jesus will never let us go!

Jesus will never let you go!

John 10:22–30 NRSV

22 At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; 26 but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”

As we see in John 10, there are 2 Reasons Christians can rest in Jesus, knowing that He will never let us go!

The Good Shepherd Sacrificed His Life for His Flock (Ezekiel 34:7-10)(John 10:11-14)

John 10:11–14 NLT

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,

Ezekiel 34:7–10 NLT

7 “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, you abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. And though you were my shepherds, you didn’t search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve. 9 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. 10 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey.

When I was a cook in the Army, I used to work with a Soldier who would tease me for being a pastor in the civilian world. He would poke fun at the church and say “Pastor, that church stuff ain’t for me.” One day it got real and serious between our interaction. He opened up to me about his journey being an atheist, and his motivation for not following in the faith was because he believed that the church was a house of hypocrites. He said, “My Aunt was tough on me and she would beat me upside the head with the bible. She would always criticize me for fornicating. I was devastated when I found that she was having relations with the Pastor. Church people and the church is traumatic for me. I can not trust that you are not a hypocrite too.”

I WONDER HOW MANY PEOPLE CAME TO CHAPEL TODAY WITH CHURCH HURT.... SOME ONE HERE TODAY WAS HURT BY A SHEPHERD OR A LEADER AND IT IS HARD FOR YOU TO SEE THE GOOD SHEPHERD FOR WHO HE IS.

The Good Shepherd Promised Eternal Life (John 10:28-29)

John 10:28–29 NLT

28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.

When I was in middle school, my family was basically poor. I was a free school lunch student and didn’t get to enjoy the privilege of getting the good stuff every now and then. It was saddening to see the other kids utilizing the vending machines during our breaks, knowing that I could not afford the same things. I just wanted some M&Ms so bad. I asked my dad one morning if he had a couple bucks so that I can go to the vending machine. My Dad worked super hard, and was barely able to get his own lunch. He looked at me and said, “Son, this is my last two dollars to get lunch, but here you go. I love you.” Now, I was bullied growing up, always being spit at and abused on the school bus. My bully was waiting for me at the school but i was nowhere to be found. I was just excited that I was getting M&M’s and was living on top of the world. I wasn’t even paying attention in my classes because all i can think about is enjoying my peanut M&Ms. Here is is, it is break time. I go to the vending machine to get my M&Ms and my bully spots me. I get my M&Ms and started eating them, then my bully grabs me by the collar. He tried to steal my M&Ms but something came over me that day, I started swing and pushing him away this time. I started yelling, “My Father gave them to me. He gave me his last to get them.” By this time the candy was melted in my sweaty hands, but i stil, would not allow the bully to pry them from my hand.

Ezekiel 34:23–31 NLT

23 And I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them and be a shepherd to them. 24 And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among my people. I, the Lord, have spoken! 25 “I will make a covenant of peace with my people and drive away the dangerous animals from the land. Then they will be able to camp safely in the wildest places and sleep in the woods without fear. 26 I will bless my people and their homes around my holy hill. And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers of blessing. 27 The orchards and fields of my people will yield bumper crops, and everyone will live in safety. When I have broken their chains of slavery and rescued them from those who enslaved them, then they will know that I am the Lord. 28 They will no longer be prey for other nations, and wild animals will no longer devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will frighten them. 29 “And I will make their land famous for its crops, so my people will never again suffer from famines or the insults of foreign nations. 30 In this way, they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them. And they will know that they, the people of Israel, are my people, says the Sovereign Lord. 31 You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my people, and I am your God. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”