Who's Your Shepherd? Series

Title: Who’s Your Shepherd?

Text: John 10:1-6

MP: Your shepherd is whomever you follow. Choose the Good one

SERMON NOTES: WHO’S YOUR SHEPHERD?

Real question: How do you recognize your shepherd?

1. He has a legitimate claim

a. Why is God slow?

b. How does the Tempter enter?

2. He knows your name

Why did Jesus wait so long to heal?

3. He leads you where you need to go

a. Experiences not for entertainment but action

b. Devil nothing but the Pied Piper

c. Jesus takes you not where you want to go, but where you need to go – and he’s already there

Outline:

1. Intro

a. Maddie knows who her Master is

b. Axiomatic – sheep hear my voice.

c. Question isn’t if but how

d. Romans 6.16 – you are the slave of whomever you present yourself to

In other words - who you listen to is your Master. People who have sold out to the Devil have no problem listening to him. You’ll hear a voice. The question isn’t “If?” I’ll hear his voice, but “Whose?” In John 10:1 – 6, I want to suggest that instead of focusing on the sheep, we focus on the shepherd. We recognize our Shepherd

2. He has the legitimate claim

a. Entry of the Master (He literally owns the place) vs. the Theif

b. Very few people accuse God of acting too fast…

i. He’s patent (2Pet 3.9) / deliberate / Even his anger is slow

ii. He Created / fashioned / bought / He knows we’re slow

c. Context – Pharisees missed him / No one more blind than the one who will not look / But do we recognize Jesus claim / Do we see CFR on our hearts?

3. He has a gentle persistent call

a. Makes the sounds of the sound of the sheep’s name / he knows you

b. Who healed you? – This thing I know / We recognize his healing

c. Pharisees try parents / books – just to avoid the actual experience of him

d. The experience of being blind made this guy open to seeing Jesus at work

4. He leads where you need to go

a. Do you want to become his disciple to? Knows experience not for entertainment but action

b. Jesus takes us through difficult times b/c we know where he’s going (prepared heavenly mansions for us)

c. Devil – Pied Piper enticing away / nibbling away / Angel of Light

d. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death

e. Maddie

f. Good Shepherd lays down his life – You need to go there with him

Your Shepherd is there. He’s opened the gate, he’s already called you. He’s going to take you where you need to go. The only question is, will you listen to his voice? Will you respond to the sound of your own name? Can you – Will you follow him? Will you let him be your shepherd?

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There’s little doubt who my Labrador retriever thinks her Master is.

Susan & I adopted Maddie from the Hillary’s animal shelter over in Marshall six years ago now, and we‘ve done the things a responsible dog owner is supposed to do. We have all her shots and licenses; we’ve taken her to obedience classes; we’ve spent time just playing with her; we feed her, give her water – we even spent entire days working on an electric fence to keep her from visiting the neighbors’ vineyard, although I fear, Debbie, that you & Perry have not seen the last of the black dog. I apologize up front for that.

But three years ago, Susan & I also got a great neighbor – Barbara – who lives in that wing of our house off to the side, and who loves our dog. Barbara feeds Maddie too. She loves feeding the wildlife around our house, and Maddie definitely thinks she’s wildlife. What’s more, every time she comes home, Maddie just goes nuts wagging her tail, because she knows Barbara is going to give her way too many treats and she’s going to play tug of war.

I haven’t actually done this, but Susan & I have often wondered what would if Barbara were to call Maddie in one direction and Susan & I in the other direction. Based on how hard it can be to get her in at night and yet how quickly she runs to Barbara’s car whenever she pulls in, I think we know who Maddie thinks her Master is.

In our text this morning, Jesus presents that truth pretty clearly. My guess is that if you’ve ever wrestled with the question of how to hear God, someone’s already told you about this morning’s text. “My sheep hear my voice,” is the clear tenor of what Jesus is saying. It’s almost axiomatic. If you are my sheep, you will hear my voice.