A Good Shepherd

A Good Shepherd (John 10:11-18)

We are going to talk about the qualities of a good shepherd

Every human heart desires to be known, loved, chosen and led

I know as a man, the Bible commands us to be head of the household, but this is a man’s desire as well Ephesians 5:23

We all crave security, guidance and to belong

October is pastor appreciation month

Daryl is a good shepherd to our church, to his family

I am fortunate to sit under him

We need to get behind him and support him

We are going to talk about a few things that make a good shepherd

My challenge is for the men today

Are you a good shepherd to your family?

What direction are you leading them?

My challenge today is to the women

I told you, every message is created for everyone

The question is, will you take something from the message

I don’t know about you but I can change a few things, tweak a little here and there

I am grateful that we have the great shepherd (Jesus Christ) to show us and teach us how to do that

What an awesome God we serve, the faithfulness,

11) Jesus makes a bold statement

He says I am THE GOOD SHEPHERD

The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep

Jesus says check - he has proven that

Sad part is, we look at him sometimes and say that’s not enough - what else will you do for me

A good shepherd will put the sheep before himself

Are we doing that today with our family

He doesn’t just give us instructions, he personally leads us to still waters and green pastures ( every single day)

12 - 13) He isn’t like the hired hands who flee when danger comes ( he has never forsaken us) - never quit us

Here is the thing, danger is coming and will always be coming

The hireling will always run b/c he doesn’t care about the sheep, he is only there for the money

When danger comes your way and it will

You will do one or two things - fight or flight

Which way will you go?

I stand before you, I have made a lot of mistakes in my life, I have a lot of failures and shortcomings

But one thing I am not scared to do is stand and fight

To fat to run and to old to hide

I will protect my sheep, but I need to improve oh boy do I need to improve

I need to lead better

I need to keep this bible near me and Jesus even nearer

B/C he is the only one who can teach me how to do it

There is always room for improvement, there is always corrections to be made

I am thankful that we have a teacher who corrects us

Does it out of love

He is not that teacher who stands on the sidelines and criticizes and tells you what you are doing wrong

No sir, he jumps in the fox hole with you and says this is how we are going to get out of here

Follow me and lets go

Don’t be that flight person I was talking about

Gear up and lets go

We literally have the greatest teacher in the whole world

We honestly have the greatest advantage and don’t even see it half of the time. We are truly on the winning side

He loves me, you, you - man he is rooting for us - be the shepherd he wants you to be, the one he created you to be

Marriage is hard, kids are hard, life is hard, being a good shepherd is hard

Don’t be that hireling - be a good shepherd like God created you to be

14) Jesus says I am the Good Shepherd, I know my my sheep and my sheep know me

Not only do you know his name, he knows your name

He has never forgotten your name and never will

Isaiah 43:1

I have called thee by thy name and thou art mine

You are not some number, a face in the crowd

No sir - he knows you by name and calls you by your name

My kids know that I am their father

I know they are my children, I have forgotten a lot of things but I have never forgotten my children’s names and never will

This is how important and special we are to him

John 10: 3-4

Do we know his voice? There are a lot of voices talking to us

I’m not crazy. God is talking and Satan is talking, do you know the difference

Our flock will follow us b/c they know our voice