The Good Shepherd

Sermon

The Good Shepherd

John 10:9–14

U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris, Jr.

Taegu, Korea

I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: John 10:9-14

OTHER REFERENCES: Isaiah 40: 11 (Comfort for God’s People): He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart. Ezekiel 34: 23(Shepherds and sheep): I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend to them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. Hebrews 13: 20 (Resurrection of the Shepherd): May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep. 1 Peter 5: 4 (The Chief Shepherd): And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away; Psalm 23 (The Lord is my Shepherd).

II. READ THE PERICOPE: John 10: 9 - 14

III. READ THE TEXT: John 10: 11 – 13 (…11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.

IV. PURPOSE: To motivate the hearers to become dependent upon Jesus (as their Lord and Savior) to be their Good Shepherd.

V. SERMONIC THEME: “The Good Shepherd”

*********TAKE 5 BEATS*********

MOVE 1: Can we say together, “I thank the Lord for letting me live. After being alive…for I am born again.” Now if that’s not your testimony, please know that it can be your testimony before you leave this place on today. Is that alright?

a. Turn to someone and say, “Neighbor…The Good Shepherd.” The Good Shepherd…

b. The book of Psalms 23 is one of the most powerful poignant Psalms that we could ever read. Theologically speaking…it is a book that identifies folk like us.

c. It identifies folk who are hurting in their hearts sometimes.

d. It identifies folk that don’t quite understand why things happen the way they do.

e. It identifies folk that sometimes find themselves in turmoil.

f. You don’t really understand why you’re there. All you know is one morning you woke up and you were feeling good and it was sunny outside. Then the next morning, you were running for your spiritual life.

********TAKE 5 BEATS********

MOVE 2: When I read the book of Psalms 23, it does something to me. When I was reading it last night and early this morning, tears broke through my eyes and I just couldn’t help it.

a. For don’t you remember David. In 2 Samuel Chapter 15 , David, with all his wisdom, had done some things WRONG in his life. Sometimes wrong things happened without trying. I wish I had a witness in here.

b. Sometimes we can do wrong things by mistake and not even know it. By omitting to do the right thing, we can do a wrong thing.

c. Turn to someone and say, “Neighbor…by omitting to do the right thing, you can do a wrong thing.”

d. For … you may recall that In 2 Samuel, David’s daughter Tamar was raped by David’s son Amnon and David did nothing about it. By David doing nothing, he did something.

e. It caused another one of his sons, by the name of Absalom, to get indignant. Absalom was so angry at the fact that his brother had raped his sister that he killed his brother Amnon.

f. Still, Absalom was angry with his dad for not doing anything. As result, he devised a plan to dethrone his dad and to become king of Judah.

g. So what he decided to stand with his horsemen. And as folk would come up to Judah to receive righteousness judgment and advice from the king, Absalom would tell them that there is no one that could give them better council than himself.

h. In fact, I can imagine him grabbing their hannds and almost kissing them to deception.

i. Turn to someone and say, “Wickedness can cause divisiveness”

j. Wickedness can cause division.

k. Wickedness can cause folks to devise something to cause division.

l. He promised them a FEEL GOOD decision AND SUGGESTED THAT THEY TELL OTHERS OF THEIR POSITIVE EXPERIENCE WITH HIM.

********TAKE 5 BEATS*******

MOVE 3: My brothers and sisters … Absalom did this for forty years. That’s a long time. That’s a long time to be doing something when you know that you are doing the wrong thing.

a. Eventually … David would receive a word from a messenger that told him that Absalom was trying to dethrone him Now … at that moment … my brothers and sisters, somehow David knew that it was time to run. The Bible tells us that David left ten of his concubines back at the palace to keep the palace up. But he told everyone else, “We got to get out of here!” For you see … my brothers and my sisters, David knew that Absalom would kill because he had already proven to kill. It tract record was deadly.