Sermon for May 3, 2020

Good morning everyone,,, watching by video.

Hopefully we will be able to have services again soon.

Even if it's from outside it will be better than by video I'm sure.

Before I begin with my sermon,,, I wanted to begin this morning with an opening prayer and lead into the Lord's prayer like we usually begin our worship service. That way if you like,,, you can join me in saying the Lord's prayer.

Invocation and Lord's prayer

Dear Lord, I thank you for your continued presence among us today and every day. I thank you for those that are listening and watching by video. I ask for continued guidance for them and others. So we ask for healing for all of those that are sick this morning,,, we ask for safety and guidance for our healthcare workers and all others that must work during this time. Lord,,, I pray for all of those that are still working on clearing storm damage and helping others. We ask for comfort and rest for each of them.

We ask these things in Jesus's name who taught us to pray, by saying:

Our Father, which 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 who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever.

Amen.

This morning I'll be reading John chapter 10 verses 1 through 10.

I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

John 10:1-10

In these verses Jesus describes Himself as the "Good Shepherd" and the “Good Shepherd” is something that people are seeing that they need more and more. They need Jesus because they have come to realize that they cannot make it on their own anymore. That’s what storms in our life will always do. They make us realize how much we need God,,, if we will just pay attention.

John 10:1–10

1 “I assure you: Anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the door but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The doorkeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. 5 They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t recognize the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus gave them this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them. 7 So Jesus said again, “I assure you: I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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With the governor relaxing the restrictions a little bit this week,,, you may be thinking that it's time to seriously think about returning to worship together again.

But I'm sure a lot of you,,, like me,,, received an email from Bishop Swanson and he wanted us to refrain from getting back together again until after May 31.

That should give us time to get things together and plan for coming back to worship inside again.

Next week we will begin the conversations with everyone to decide what we will do.

We can use the FM transmitter when it comes in and have a parking lot drive up service since it should be in next week,,, or we hope so,,, since we thought that it would be in this week.

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This has been a busy week for me since we agreed to help UMCOR.

We have been helping those that have no internet access or computer to sign up for their required fema paperwork.

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The storms of the last few weeks have proven why we need a Good Shepherd to lead us and keep us safe.

These scriptures are describing the way that Jesus will take care of us if we turn to Him and truly trust Him to provide for us.

For those of us that are Christians,,, this feeling of peace and security,,, because of trusting Jesus,,, is what allows us to get through the trials and hard times that this world throws at us sometimes.

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In this chapter,,, as I told you at the beginning,,, Jesus is describing Himself as the "Good Shepherd".

Comparing people to a shepherd and his sheep was common in the Middle East.

This was something that kings and priests would do.

They called themselves shepherds and their subjects sheep.

The Bible also uses this comparison.

Many of the great men of the Old Testament were shepherds,,, for example,,, Abraham,,, Isaac,,, Jacob,,, Moses,,, David,,, all of these were shepherds.

As national leaders, Moses and David were both “shepherds” over Israel.

They were responsible for leading the Israelite people during their lifetimes.

Some of the most famous passages in the Bible use this comparison,,, like,,, Psalm 23,,, Isaiah 53 verse 6,,, and Luke chapter 15 verses 1–7.

The connection between these verses and the preceding chapter is seen in Jesus’ contrast of the Pharisees with the man born blind. (6:54)

The Pharisees,,, that were spiritually blind,,, even while claiming that they could see,,, were revealed as false shepherds,,, and this is found in John 9:41.

As the True Shepherd, Jesus came to seek and to heal.

His sheep hear and respond to His voice,,, this is described in verses 1 and 2.

Then verses 1 through 5 describe a morning shepherding scene.

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Verses 1 and 2 say: 1 “I assure you: Anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the door but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.2 The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

A shepherd enters through a gate into a walled enclosure which has several flocks in one sheep pen.

The enclosure,,, usually with stone walls,,, is guarded at night by a doorkeeper to prevent thieves and beasts of prey from entering.

Anyone who would climb the wall would do it for no good purpose.

By contrast, the shepherd has a right to enter the sheep pen.

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Verses 3 and 4 say: 3 The doorkeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice

The watchman opens the gate, and the shepherd comes in to call his own sheep by name (out from the other flocks).

Shepherds knew their sheep well and gave them names.

As the sheep hear the sound of their owner’s familiar voice, they go to him,,, even though they are in the pen with all of the other sheep.

The sheep have been cared for their whole life by the shepherd and they know that he will take care of them and protect them from danger.

It's this type of trust that allows them to be led out of the pen,,, and then he gathers them together to form his flock.

Then he goes out toward the fields with the sheep following him.

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Verse 5 says: 5 They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t recognize the voice of strangers.”

If a stranger enters the pen,,, the sheep run away from him because his voice is not familiar.

Jesus is using this as an example because just like sheep will only go to the shepherd that calls them,,, we will only be able to respond to God through Jesus,,, which is,,, or should be,,, our shepherd.

We know from scripture that we come to God because He calls us.

For example in verse 16 and verse 27 in this chapter,,, also Romans 8:28 and verse 30,,, these are all examples talking about God calling us.

And of course,,, the proper response to His call,,, is to follow Him,,, some examples found in John 1:43,,, 8:12,,, 12:26,,, 21:19,,, 22.

But this spiritual lesson was missed by those who heard Jesus,,, even though they certainly understood the local shepherd/sheep relationship.

In their blindness,,, they could not see Jesus as the Lord who is the Shepherd.

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That's why in verses 6 and 7 Jesus says: 6 Jesus gave them this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them. 7 So Jesus said again, “I assure you: I am the door of the sheep.

Since they didn't seem to understand Jesus' illustration,,, Jesus then showed them the "shepherd/sheep" figure of speech in another way.

After a shepherd’s flock has been separated from the other sheep, he takes them to pasture.

Near the pasture is an enclosure for the sheep.

The shepherd takes his place in the doorway or entrance and functions as a door or gate.

The sheep can go out to the pasture in front of the enclosure, or if afraid, they can retreat into the security of the enclosure.

The spiritual meaning is that Jesus is the only Gate by which people can enter into God’s presence.

And since Jesus is taking care of us,,, nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Romans 8:38-39 says: 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We will always have the love of God!

There is nothing that can take that away!

And Jesus is the only entrance to that love!

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Verses 8 and 9 say: 8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.

When Jesus said,,, "All who came before Me are thieves and robbers",,, He referred to those leaders of the nation who did not take care of the spiritual soul of the people.

They only cared about themselves,,, or thought about themselves.

Jesus the Shepherd provides security for His flock by protecting them from enemies,,, because He says that,,, whoever enters through Me will be saved, or “kept safe”.

He also provides for their daily needs,,, since the sheep can come in and go out,,, and find pasture so that they can eat.

The sheep can find nourishment through the shepherd.

Just like we,,, as Christians,,, can find nourishment for our souls,,, through Jesus Christ,,, our "Shepherd"!

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Verse 10 says: 10 A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

The thief,,, that is,,, a false shepherd,,, cares only about feeding himself,,, not building up the flock.

He steals sheep in order to kill them,,, thus destroying part of the flock.

But Jesus has come to benefit the sheep.

He gives life which is not constricted,,, but overflowing.

The thief takes life,,, Jesus Christ gives it,,, in abundance.

(14:06)

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So we can see from these verses that the "Good Shepherd is what we need all the time.

Storms and hard times make us realize how true this is because if we don't have God with us during these times then we try to seek Him out as we recover.

That's when we realize that we can't make it on our own and we are more attuned to hear God's voice when He calls.

That doesn't mean that He has abandoned us before our struggles but what I mean is that we are more likely to listen when He speaks because we realize our mistakes and we are ready to listen.

God is always with us,,, if you aren't hearing God's voice,,, then you need to search yourself and see what has changed because God hasn't,,, nor will He ever,,, change.

And the most wonderful thing about God,,, is that no matter how bad we have been or how bad we have messed up,,, He is always ready and willing to forgive us!

He is just waiting on us to let Him know and He will give us the peace that we need to be able to survive everything while here on earth.

God doesn't take the troubles away but He allows us to rest in the peace that He gives because we know that no matter what we are going through,,, we know that He is already working to make something good come out of it for those of us that are Christians.

And that doesn't matter if it's a storm,,, a fire,,, sickness,,, unemployment,,, ,,, it doesn't matter what it is,,, some how,,, some way,,, God will get us through!

And that's why we need Jesus,,, all the time,,, not just during the storms in our life.

But,,, it sure does make the storms in our life easier to go through if we do have Jesus in our life.

So as I end this morning,,, I want to urge you with all of my heart,,, if you don't have Jesus as your personal Savior,,,

Admit that you are a sinner and that you need God's help.

Be willing to change your mind and turn from your sin (repent).

Believe that Jesus Christ died for you, was buried, and rose from the dead.

Through prayer, invite Jesus into your heart to become your personal Lord and Savior.

Then live your life in obedience to Him.

This is something that is too important to put off until tomorrow,,, because we aren't promised tomorrow.

But if you have questions you can always call me or come by,,, I'm usually around somewhere close,,, just be sure that you don't wait.

And if you are a Christian already,,, then continue with your Bible reading,,, prayer time,,, remembering to stop and listen as you pray,,, so that when God speaks,,, you will be able to hear Him,,, all of the things that you have done to keep your relationship going.

It's that personal relationship with God that allows us to go through so many tough times today.

And God doesn't want us to go through them on our own,,, but it's our decision to make,,, and God is waiting on yours today!

That's why we have these verses to study today.

Jesus helps us to see why we need the "Good Shepherd" in our life.

God wants what is best for us and He tries to show us every day.

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