Discerning Voices

Call to Hear

What’s up Bethel Community Church?!

Man! I am so grateful to have this opportunity to speak with you this morning. I’ve heard great things from your pastor about what a God-honoring and Christ-focused congregation you all are. Your pastor loves you guys and I love him!

I have the privilege of meeting with him monthly where we get to lean on each other about ministry, marriage, and manhood. And I have been so blessed by his wisdom and transparency.

My wife and kids are here with me today! They are the best parts of my life. My wife, Alicia, and I have been happily married for 11 years and last month we celebrated 13 years of marriage. Of course, I’m joking. I love my wife and I can honestly say that she is a large part of why I am doing what the Lord has called me to. We have 3 incredibly talented, smart and considered boys, Elias (9). He’s the engineer and mechanic of the family. Then there’s Silas (7). Silas is all about the animals and critters. He is our veterinarian. Finally there’s Zeke (4), we’re still trying to figure him out. LOL

I am originally from SW Louisiana. A little town called Eunice. Eunice is about 1 hour NE of Lake Charles. I came to Oklahoma in ‘94. After leaving OK I moved to Kansas for work for a few years and then moved back to Oklahoma in ‘98 and I’ve been here ever since.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Well, today, I just have a few minutes with you and so I want to spend the rest of our time together looking at the Gospel of John 10:1-6. If you have your Bible’s go there.

These six verses don’t tell us the whole story about what Jesus was teaching in this portion of John’s Gospel, but it gives us a glimpse. These verses set the stage for our message which I‘ve titled - Discerning Voices.

Now, let me read those six verses for us this morning and then I’ll unpack it.

John 10:1-6

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

Pray

Transition

A co-worker of mine recently told me a story about her son. Her son is 3 years old and incredibly precious. He’s my little buddy. His name is Asher. Asher and I have fun together. Whenever we see each other at church we usually wrestle and fight. He’ll sneak up on me and punch me in the gut and tag me so that I can chase him. We’ll also talk and he tells me about his cool new toy or some fun thing he did. While his mom was scrolling through her FB page a video announcement from me started to play automatically and Asher immediately recognized who it was. He yells to his mom, “Mom, that’s Pastor Tre. That’s Pastor Tre mommy. Can I see?” He hadn’t seen the video, he only heard my voice and he knew that it was Pastor Tre talking. His 3yo mind could discern that the sound he heard was my voice.

In this passage from John, Jesus tells us about two voices. In verse 2-4 Jesus tells us about the Shepherd’s voice. In verses 1 & 5 He tells us about the voice of the stranger. Before I unpack this too much, let me say this, What I am going to suggest today is that the voice that is oftentimes the strangest or the most difficult to discern is actually the voice of Jesus. Even for the Christian. Regularly, our greatest battle is distinguishing between the voice of our Good Shepherd and the voice of strangers.

As a matter of fact, on Oct. 10, 2019 Jude3Project podcastDr. Neichelle Guidry

The Stranger

To start off I want to spend some time talking about the stranger’s voice and then I'll double back to talk about the voice of the Shepherd.

The way that we read this passage is with a western understanding and that limits our understanding of what the writer is actually trying to emphasize.

For example, I'm willing to bet that when you read the word stranger you envision some one unknown. What do we tell our young kids? Don't talk to strangers. And what we often mean is, don't talk to people we don't know.

Access to you.

Identity theft. Access w/o authority.

Authority over you.

My name is on the credit card.

My wife has authority to use that card however she chooses.

Affection for you.

Because she loves me, she cares fur me, she has affection for me I trust her.

How does the ear work?

What if you can't hear? (Implants)