Jesus the Door

Today we are looking at what Jesus meant when he said “I am the door”

CALL TO WORSHIP

                    Father we are here to worship You today,

We praise You for Your goodness

Jesus, we Honour You for who you are,

And for all that You have done for us,

Holy Spirit we welcome Your ministry amongst us, Come and fill us afresh with Your love that we might bring You glory. Amen.

HYMN

MY LIGHTHOUSE

COME, NOW IS THE TIME TO WORSHIP

WARM UP

The importance of doors.

We walk through each day

Can anyone tell me whose house this is the front door to?  (Show picture of Buckingham

Palace front door)

That’s right….it is the front door of Buckingham Palace where the King Charles lives.

Imagine if you arrived at the front door and after you rang the bell it was opened to you.

You would have access to one of the most famous people in the world.

Can anyone tell me what this front door leads to?  (Show picture of Legoland)

That’s right….it is the front door of Legoland in Windsor.

Imagine if you arrived at the front door and as you arrived it was opened just for you.

You would have access to having a really fun day out in an amazing theme park.

Can anyone tell me what building this is the front door to?  (Show picture of No.10

Downing Street)

That’s right, it is the front door of No.10 Downing Street where the Prime Minister lives and works.

Imagine if you arrived at the front door and as you arrived it was open to you.

You would have access to the leader of our government. I think some grownups would like this and as they say “Have a Word”

Open doors can give us access to some really good things like new relationships, great experiences and different opportunities.

Memory Verse:

Jesus said something very interesting about himself.  

We are going to look at that today by opening up 3 doors.

Let’s say the memory verse together a couple of times, “I am the door. The person who enters through me will be saved” John 10:9

I wonder what Jesus meant when He said that He was the door?

It is an odd thing to call yourself, isn’t it?

When Jesus said that He was the door. He was talking to people about sheep and their shepherds.

In Jesus’ day the shepherds would normally keep their sheep in two different types of pens.  

When they were near a city, they would leave their flocks in a big pen in the city that was guarded at night by a gatekeeper.

However, when the sheep were in the countryside and it was good weather, the shepherd would keep his sheep in a small sheepfold at night.

Like this>>>

Picture of OT sheepfold.

This sheepfold would have been made of piles of rocks….it didn’t have a roof and was circular. (Show picture of a sheepfold)

There was no door or gate to the sheepfold, just an opening for the sheep to enter through.

Once the shepherd had got his sheep safely into the sheepfold, he would lie across the opening of the sheepfold.

By doing this the shepherd would keep his sheep safe from thieves and robbers and wild animals.

By lying across the opening of the sheepfold the shepherd literally became the door for the sheep.

So, let’s build a sheepfold together ……I will need a few helpers to do that. (Build a simple circular or square sheepfold using hassocks or chairs.  Leave an opening at the front for people to be able to enter the sheepfold and certainly big enough for a large cross.)

Reading:

The Bible reading is John 10:7-10

PLAY…

HYMN

God so loved that He gave His Son

Who O Lord could save themselves?

SERMON 1

Jesus said in our memory verse today: “I am the door. The person who enters through me will be saved” John chapter 10, verse 9

As we have just seen and heard, in Jesus’ day the shepherd was the door for the sheep into the sheepfold.

By being the door, the shepherd kept the sheep safe and secure. (Project these words)

Jesus is saying that we are like sheep, and He is the “door” through whom we can come in and be saved.

He means that He is the One through whom we have access to salvation …..or to put it in another way, eternal safety. (Project these words)

Let’s unpack that a little.

In the beginning when Father God created us, He created us to be His children, to know His wonderful love, to be with Him with full access to His presence.

His door, if you like, was always open to us.  (Project picture of open door)

Sadly however, the first people that He made and everyone who has been born since has turned their back on Father God and lived life their own way, which is called sin.

As a result of that, because Father God is holy, it is like the door into His presence is now shut (Project picture of shut door) 

and so we no longer have access to Him.

Jesus came to be the door through whom we can once again have access to our Heavenly Father and become members of His family.

He did this by living a perfect life, 

dying on a cross to pay for our sins, and then rising from the dead three days later.

Through Jesus there is now an open door into heaven for us. (Project picture of open

door)  

So how do we enter through this open door you might ask?

We simply need to turn away from our sins and turn to Jesus, putting our lives into His hands.

If we do that, we are welcomed into Father God’s family.

Difficult things will still happen while we are living on earth, but we are safe for all eternity. (Project these words)

Will you choose to turn away from your sins, turn to Jesus the door, and put your life into His hands so that you are safe for all eternity?

Let’s take a moment of quiet.  PAUSE.

If you agree with this prayer in your heart, please say Amen at the end of it.

Lord Jesus, we come to You.

Thank you that You died for our sins.

We now turn away from living our lives just doing what we want, and we choose to follow You.

Thank you that through You we are safe for all eternity. Amen.

As a way of saying that you are choosing to put your trust in Jesus, can I invite you to come and write your name on the open “door” during our next song.

HYMN

My lips shall praise you

Now some people will tell you that there are lots of different ways or doors into God’s presence, but Jesus didn’t say, “I am A door”……He said “I am THE door.”

Weighing up to Jesus.

Requires 4 books of different sizes, one very heavy if possible.

4 kids to hold each book (the thickest to the last)

Couple to hold up signs one GOOD and one BAD

One more with Jesus on the chest.

Something to stand on to act as scales.

First person comes up saying, “I’ve done some good things and bad so it must level out”

Hands the book over

 (Hold up Bad) move to one side)

Second person saying “I spend my week looking after people and volunteer at weekend to help the homeless, I’m sure I will be excepted”

(Hold up Bad) move to one side)

Hands the book over

Third person says “I go to Church every Sunday, well it is just an hour a week”

(Hold up Bad) move to one side)

Hands the book over

The Fourth person who comes forward doesn’t speak looking down.

Jesus appears puts his arm around the person,

The call to step onto the scales the fourth person moves forward.

Is told to step back and Jesus is asked to move on the scales.

(Hold up Good) fourth person goes of with Jesus.

HYMN

Blessed be your Name

PRAYERS

Memory verse:

Repeat the memory verse John 10:9a a couple of times from memory!

Prayers:

Prayers could be led by the service leader or by a family or by a Sunday school group etc.   You could lead the prayers in the following way:

1) We thank you Jesus that through you we have the greatest gift, access to salvation, that it’s through your sacrifice for us.

You are the door.  Thank you that through You we receive salvation.

2) We pray for those who don’t yet know Jesus’ goodness, that they too can find the door to salvation.

You are the door.  Help them to find Your salvation.

3) Jesus, we thank that through you we have access to the good gifts of being loved, of belonging, of being valuable and being secure.

You are the door.  Thank you that through You we receive good gifts.

4) We pray that we may share the good gifts that we have received with others 

You are the door.  Help us to share Your good gifts with others.

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name,

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done.

On earth as it is in heaven,

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those that trespass against us,

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,

Forever and ever Amen.

Summary:

Summarize the teaching points of the service ie:

Open doors can give us access to “good things.”  Jesus is “the door.”

Through Him we have access to salvation…..eternally we are safe.

Through Him we have access to the “good grass” that we are loved by God, God is good, we belong to God’s family and we have peace with God as well as many, many other blessings.

HYMN

Great is thy Faithfulness

BLESSING

Jesus, You are the door.

Through You we are kept safe eternally and receive many blessings,

And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be among you and remain with you always.  Amen.