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
You know your Childs voice and they know yours
I could walk in a crowded room and say my Childs name and they would recognize my voice - same vice versa
How amazing that is, that out of all of his children, he knows my voice personally - tell me that you are not special
15) Jesus says that the father knows me and I know my father
He puts the sheep before himself
Sacrificing himself for his sheep
First of all, how wonderful that is to know the father the same as the father knows you
Ask yourself this question, do I know God just like God knows me - that one is deep and it is hard
Where are we at with our relationship with our father?
Are we content on the relationship that we have or are we looking at wanting more
I want to be able to say that I know my father as my father knows me
I want to be so close to him, when I get to heaven - it will not be a stranger that I meet
Psalm 139: 1-2 A shepherd doesn’t miss a single detail
Here is a good start to know your father better, study him like you study your spouse
Here is a fun fact, As rotten and awful that we are, he knows that and still hasn’t ran away
How awesome is that? That is the God we serve, that is the God who is worthy of being studied
A good shepherd puts his sheep before himself
I know that is what Jesus does, are we that way?
What can you do to make a change
What do you need in your life before this can take place?
Here is where we start - go to our father -
Ask him to help you to become selfless
It sounds silly but we are born selfish, the only way that we can change is with him, selfless comes from the heart -
Time to go see the heart doctor
16) Jesus is telling us here that he has other sheep outside of this church
They too will recognize his voice because they know him as well
Once he gets us all together, it will be one flock and one shepherd
What a day that will be
There will be no more tears, no more worry, no more pain
No more loss of a loved one, no more heart break
Just all day of being in glory, being surrounded with love and you for eternity
What a day that will be
17-18) This is why God loves him so much
Because he is love
He was not forced to lay is life down for us, he did it on his own free will
He could have walked away
He was Jesus but he was still in the flesh
He slept, he bled, he cried just as we do
But he stayed true, he stayed faithful, he completed his mission
He is the one true Good Shepherd
He is the reason we will live forever - Amen
Everybody and I mean everybody has a choice to make
Do you want to be part of his flock today?
If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your savior today, I invite you to come
You take the first step and he will walk you the rest of the way
If you want to be a better shepherd in your family, I invite you to come
If you want change in your life, this is where it starts
Will you come today?
In closing, we have to truly know our sheep
We have to take responsibility and accountability for our sheep
We have to lead our sheep
We have to lay down our lives for our sheep if necessary
Please don’t take this sermon out of context
I am not comparing us to Jesus
We all serve THE SHEPHERD (Jesus Christ himself)
But I firmly believe that he has placed us men on this earth to be shepherds to our family and pastors to their church
Scripture backs it up
Does change need to occur in your life today?
Will you come
