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Christ Community Chapel is a church in Hudson, OH, that invites people to reimagine life because of Jesus. Learn more about us at ccchapel.com.
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John 1010 through 15.
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The thief comes
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only to steal and kill and destroy.
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I came that they may have life
and have it abundantly.
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I am the good shepherd.
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The good shepherd
lays down his life for the sheep.
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He who is a hired hand
and not a shepherd, who does not own
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the sheep, sees the wolf coming
and leaves the sheep and flees,
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and the wolf snatches them and scatters
them.
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He flees because he is a hired hand
and cares nothing for the sheep.
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I am the good Shepherd.
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I know my own and my own know me.
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Just as the father knows me,
and I know the father.
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And I lay down my life for the sheep.
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Everybody, good morning
and welcome to Christ Community Chapel.
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My name is Joe.
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I'm one of the pastors here.
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And, thanks for coming.
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Listen, we have people
that are still trying to find seats.
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If you could squeeze
in, that would be great.
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If you have a seat next,
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you could raise your hand,
let people know that they can sit there.
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All right.
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It's good. It's
a great. It's a great weekend.
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We are baptizing,
68 people, over this weekend.
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Yeah.
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You can run.
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And we'll get to that in a minute.
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But, we are in the middle of a ten week
series.
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We're actually looking
at what Jesus says about himself.
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This is the second week
where we have been looking
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at the word picture of a shepherd
with sheep.
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It's actually one of Jesus
favorite metaphors.
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In the Gospel of Matthew,
he tells his disciples
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that he has been sent
for the lost sheep of Israel.
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In Luke chapter 15, he tells the story
of a shepherd at 100 sheep,
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and one wandered off, and the shepherd
left the 99 to go after the one.
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And then here in John chapter ten,
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he calls himself the good Shepherd.
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And as soon as he would say that,
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everybody in his original audience
would think of the same thing,
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all their minds
would go to the same place,
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which was the most famous psalm,
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which is Psalm 23.
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The 23rd Psalm is still probably
the most beloved psalm.
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It's the most requested psalm
for funerals.
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And there's a reason for that.
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There's something, soothing, something
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wonderful about Psalm 23.
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It's like a goodness
that settles into the room.
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And because it was in the minds
of the original listeners to Jesus,
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I want it to be in your mind as we talk
about Jesus being the good Shepherd.
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So I'm going to try something.
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I'm going to read Psalm 23.
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But I'd like to ask you
just to close your eyes
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and let the words fall on
you like a gentle rain.
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Listen to Psalm 23.
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The Lord is my shepherd.
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I shall not want.
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He makes me lie down in green pastures.
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He leads me beside still waters.
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He restores my soul.
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He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
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Even though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
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For you are with me.
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Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
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You prepare a table before me
in the presence of mine enemies.
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You anoint
my head with oil, my cup overflows.
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Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life.
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And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
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There's something just wonderful
about that.
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I didn't grow up with sheep.
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You probably didn't either,
but it doesn't really matter,
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because there's something about that song
that strikes a chord that runs
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very, very deep inside of every one of us.
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There's a longing that we have
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for someone to lead us
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and guide us
and bring us to something that is good,
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somebody who will
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walk with us when life gets dark,
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someone who will restore our aching
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and weary hearts.
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And that runs so deep
that if we if we don't find it in Jesus,
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we will spend our entire lives
looking for it.
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And Jesus,
when he's talking to his original hearers,
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he is saying that Shepherd
who you long for
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to lead and love you,
to protect and provide for you.
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I'm the one.
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I am the good shepherd.
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The passage we're looking at in
John chapter ten is only six verses long.
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Let me read it again, and then I'll give
you the three points that I want to cover.
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Sweet Jesus says, the thief comes
only to steal and kill and destroy.
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I came that they might have life
and have it abundantly.
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I am the good shepherd.
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The good shepherd
lays down his life for the sheep.
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He was a hired hand and not a shepherd
who does not own the sheep, sees
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the wolf coming,
leaves the sheep and flees,
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and the wolf snatches them and scatters
them.
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He flees because he's a hired hand
and cares nothing for the sheep.
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I am the good shepherd.
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I know my own and my own know me.
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Just as the father knows
me and I know the father.
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And I lay down my life for the sheep.
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My three points are really three truths
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and the three truths,
if you will affirm these three truths.
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If you wake up tomorrow morning
and you affirm
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and live by these three truths,
your life will get better.
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All right.
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Here's the first truth.
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I'm a sheep.
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That's it. That's person. I'm a sheep.
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Second truth Jesus is the good shepherd.
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And the third truth is I am Jesus sheep.
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I first.
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I'm a sheep.
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You have probably been in a group
where somebody has asked the question.
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Listen, if you could be any animal
in the world, what would you be?
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I have asked that question to my kids
when they were little.
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I ask it to my grandkids. Now,
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and let me tell you something.
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No one wants to be a sheep
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like nobody.
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They want to be all kinds of other things.
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But let me give you
my first little insight.
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The reason that no one wants to be a sheep
is the same reason
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Jesus chooses it as a metaphor
to describe you
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and me.
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It's the same reason.
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Let me tell you a little bit about sheep,
because I did some research.
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One of the reasons
that people don't want to be a sheep
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is because sheep don't do
well in the wild.
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There are no wild sheep.
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They are dependent.
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They need someone to care for them.
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Like, I, look out in my backyard.
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I have a lot of wildlife
that go through my backyard.
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I've seen deer.
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I see deer pretty often.
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I've seen, raccoons.
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I've seen a wolf.
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Oh, no, not a wolf.
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I have seen a coyote. I've seen fox.
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If I looked out
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in my backyard and I saw a sheep,
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I would be going, that guy's in trouble.
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Because sheep just don't do
well in the wild.
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That.
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The other thing is
that sheep tend to wander
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and they don't
have a good sense of direction.
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So they can't ever find their way back.
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That was the point of, Luke chapter 15.
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The shepherd had 100 sheep.
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The one wandered off,
you know, one coming back.
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So he left the 99 to go find the one.
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Other animals find their way back.
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You know, you've you've probably
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all read stories about people
who've taken their dogs on vacation.
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And for some reason,
they forget their dog.
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And their dog finds its way back home.
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A thousand miles finds its way back home.
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Now a sheep.
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Sheep rounding the corner.
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It's gone and it's not coming back.
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Also, sheep have,
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no discretion over
what's good for them and bad for them.
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A sheep will eat poisonous plants
unless a shepherd leaves them.
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Which is why the psalmist says
he makes me lie down
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in green pastures.
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And then this is something that was funny.
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I read this, that when it rains, and sheep
have not been shorn in a while.
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Their wool gets,
you know, really saturated with water.
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And when it thunders,
the sheep gets scared
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and they will stick their noses
into the wool of another sheep,
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and they can actually drown like that
unless the shepherd
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goes and separates them.
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Nobody wants to be a sheep.
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Nobody wants to be compared
to a sheep, compared to, a creature
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that wanders, that tends to not know how
to get back to what is good.
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A a creature that
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doesn't know necessarily
what's good for them or bad for them.
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A creature that does really stupid things
every once in a while.
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And even though
we have all those similarities with sheep,
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most of us
we don't want to be compared to sheep.
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We want to think of ourselves as being,
you know, pretty good decision makers.
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And and when we do that, even those of us
who are Christians, we tend to treat
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Jesus like he's a consultant,
like he's on retainer.
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So if we ever, you know, we pretty much
are in control of our lives.
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And then every once while,
we might make a decision
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that we know is so important,
we need his help
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or we've made a bad decision,
we need a way to get back.
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We don't know how to get back,
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but this is what's true.
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You will never, ever know
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Jesus as your good Shepherd
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until you're willing to embrace the truth
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that you're just the sheep.
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You're a sheep
that is prone to wander, a sheep
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that needs a shepherd, and the listen,
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you have to embrace the idea
that you're not even an exceptional sheep.
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I think we tend to what you like.
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You want to feel better, like you're
a better sheep than the sheep that you're
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sitting around right?
00:10:06:48 - 00:10:09:24
Tomorrow morning, when you wake up,
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this is the first truth
I want you to just tell God.
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I want you to just admit to God.
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Listen, I'm a sheep.
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I know I'm very, very similar to a sheep.
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I know that I need a shepherd.
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That's the first truth.
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The second
truth is Jesus is the good shepherd.
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He starts this passage out
talking about other
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shepherds, that there are shepherds
that are hired, shepherds
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that aren't necessarily
good for the sheep.
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One of the things, you know,
when I say that Psalm
00:10:38:38 - 00:10:42:24
23 hits a chord
that runs really deep inside of us,
00:10:43:04 - 00:10:48:04
what I mean is that every human being
has this longing for someone
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who will protect and provide for him,
who will love them, lead them.
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And that longing, if it's not met by
Jesus, you'll look for it somewhere else.
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It's why the world is full of shepherds.
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How about this?
00:11:00:46 - 00:11:05:13
In 2010, The New York Times
came up with a word to describe people
00:11:05:13 - 00:11:08:23
who fill social media content with
00:11:08:23 - 00:11:11:46
content
that actually impacts people's behavior.
00:11:12:15 - 00:11:15:15
They called them influencers.
00:11:15:22 - 00:11:16:27
That was 2010.
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A social media influencer is a shepherd
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and their followers are sheep.
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They will tell you what to eat.
00:11:27:21 - 00:11:28:37
Sometimes literally.
00:11:28:37 - 00:11:34:10
They'll tell you where to go, what to do
in order to get what you really want.
00:11:34:11 - 00:11:35:23
They're shepherds.
00:11:35:23 - 00:11:39:41
Have you ever wondered
where like, fashion trends come from?
00:11:40:40 - 00:11:44:14
I was thinking, you know, I lived through
the 70s, went to high school in the 70s.
00:11:44:14 - 00:11:48:22
One of the things I was thinking
of what I used to wear, and I remember
00:11:48:22 - 00:11:52:14
wearing a silk shirt with clocks on it,
and I have no idea why.
00:11:54:02 - 00:11:55:05
Like, now I wear these.
00:11:55:05 - 00:11:56:01
I have these shoes.
00:11:56:01 - 00:11:58:55
These are my cool shoes.
00:11:58:55 - 00:12:00:48
I don't know why they're cool,
00:12:00:48 - 00:12:03:48
but they're cooler than the shoes
I used to wear.
00:12:05:02 - 00:12:06:10
Why do I think that
00:12:07:42 - 00:12:08:59
I'm being influenced?
00:12:08:59 - 00:12:10:13
You are being influenced.
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All the time.
00:12:10:47 - 00:12:13:47
I watched a documentary
called The Social Dilemma,
00:12:14:39 - 00:12:19:18
and it's about the the power of Instagram
and Twitter and Facebook.
00:12:19:18 - 00:12:22:18
And I know those are older platforms,
00:12:22:48 - 00:12:24:31
but the scariest quote
00:12:24:31 - 00:12:27:30
in that whole documentary was this
00:12:27:30 - 00:12:30:02
if the product is free,
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then you're the product.
00:12:32:33 - 00:12:34:49
And what I was saying is
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the world is full of shepherds
gathering sheep.
00:12:38:12 - 00:12:41:23
I just read this
that one out of eight people
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turn to AI to help them as life coaches.
00:12:48:58 - 00:12:51:38
People looking for a shepherd.
00:12:51:38 - 00:12:54:16
Jesus says the world is full of shepherds.
00:12:54:16 - 00:12:57:00
There are hired hands.
There are two kinds of shepherds.
00:12:57:00 - 00:12:58:30
What he says is a hired hand.
00:12:58:30 - 00:13:01:48
And then the owner of the sheep
and the original audience
00:13:01:48 - 00:13:04:08
that Jesus was speaking
to would know the difference right away.
00:13:04:08 - 00:13:07:08
They would understand
exactly what Jesus was saying.
00:13:07:09 - 00:13:11:01
The reason that Jesus said
that a hired hand would run away
00:13:11:25 - 00:13:14:14
if there was danger to the sheep,
because the hired hand doesn't really care
00:13:14:14 - 00:13:17:14
about the sheep,
the hired hand is just trying to.
00:13:17:15 - 00:13:20:06
They're making a living off the sheep.
00:13:21:09 - 00:13:23:44
But the owners different.
00:13:23:44 - 00:13:25:07
An owner of the sheep.
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His entire wealth was represented
by the sheep.
00:13:28:14 - 00:13:30:07
The sheep were his.
00:13:30:07 - 00:13:32:18
Where his pride and joy,
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his glory and his treasure.
00:13:35:20 - 00:13:38:34
And Jesus says, I am the good Shepherd
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who lays down his life for the sheep.
00:13:41:36 - 00:13:46:09
This whole series we are heading
toward Easter, where we celebrate
00:13:46:09 - 00:13:51:11
the fact that Jesus lived in our place,
died in our place, and resurrected.
00:13:51:52 - 00:13:57:02
And we celebrate that because Jesus was
and is our good Shepherd.
00:13:57:02 - 00:13:59:54
Which means that
if you went to the foot of the cross
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and you looked up at Jesus
and you said, Shepherd,
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good Shepherd,
00:14:05:32 - 00:14:08:32
why are you dying on the cross?
00:14:08:34 - 00:14:11:34
Why is the father forsaking you right now?
00:14:12:24 - 00:14:15:06
Jesus would say,
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I'm doing this for the sheep.
00:14:17:35 - 00:14:21:07
I'm laying my life down for my sheep.
00:14:22:05 - 00:14:23:44
And if you were to say to Jesus.
00:14:23:44 - 00:14:28:33
But that doesn't make any sense,
why would you give your life
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for witless, dumb, prone
to wander, silly sheep?
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And Jesus would say,
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because they're my treasure.
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They're my treasure.
00:14:42:19 - 00:14:44:28
That's what Jesus feels
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when he looks at you.
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Listen, that first truth.
00:14:48:11 - 00:14:52:12
You know, I woke up this morning
and I said to God, I'm a sheep.
00:14:52:57 - 00:14:54:29
Not even an exceptional sheep.
00:14:54:29 - 00:14:55:46
I'm just a sheep.
00:14:55:46 - 00:14:58:33
That's a hard thing to really grab on to.
00:14:58:33 - 00:15:00:21
That's a tough truth.
00:15:00:21 - 00:15:03:18
But this second truth,
Jesus is the good Shepherd,
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is the most wonderful truth
anyone has ever heard.
00:15:07:00 - 00:15:07:44
And that's the truth.
00:15:07:44 - 00:15:09:32
I tell you.
00:15:09:32 - 00:15:11:39
And that brings me to a third point,
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which is you are Jesus sheep.
00:15:14:59 - 00:15:16:45
I'm Jesus sheep.
00:15:16:45 - 00:15:20:21
You know, every Christmas,
Christmas morning I pick up my Bible.
00:15:20:21 - 00:15:22:01
I do the same thing.
I've done it for years.
00:15:22:01 - 00:15:25:01
I read the same passage
for my to my family.
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It's from Luke chapter two.
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It's very familiar.
00:15:28:23 - 00:15:29:15
It starts like this.
00:15:29:15 - 00:15:30:57
And there were in the same region,
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shepherds abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night.
00:15:35:13 - 00:15:37:02
And lo,
an angel of the Lord appeared to them.
00:15:37:02 - 00:15:39:46
Glory of the Lord shone round about them.
00:15:39:46 - 00:15:41:30
And then you know the rest of the story.
00:15:41:30 - 00:15:43:36
They end up
going to the manger, finding Jesus.
00:15:44:50 - 00:15:46:11
But that story starts
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with shepherds
in the middle of the night, out
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with their sheep, because shepherds
would never leave their sheep.
00:15:56:46 - 00:16:00:16
Listen, the Bible gives us a lot of titles
for Jesus.
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He's a Savior.
00:16:02:28 - 00:16:05:14
He's our Redeemer, he's our King.
00:16:05:14 - 00:16:07:08
He's even our friend.
00:16:07:08 - 00:16:10:08
But there may be no more
comprehensive title
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than the title of Shepherd,
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because the shepherd
is intimately involved
00:16:15:13 - 00:16:18:13
in every aspect of a sheep's life.
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Get this.
00:16:19:27 - 00:16:25:12
Let me just note this is the the key
to having your life actually be changed.
00:16:25:32 - 00:16:29:29
You can wake up tomorrow morning
and you can believe that you're a sheep.
00:16:30:05 - 00:16:33:05
You can believe that
Jesus is the good Shepherd.
00:16:33:09 - 00:16:37:08
But until Jesus is the shepherd
in every area of your life,
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you will not have the life
00:16:39:19 - 00:16:41:10
that you really want.
00:16:41:10 - 00:16:44:44
You will not have the more
the abundant life
00:16:45:17 - 00:16:47:57
that Jesus is talking about
00:16:47:57 - 00:16:50:33
and in any area of your life
where you know that
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Jesus wants you to go one way
and you're saying, well, I'm
00:16:53:49 - 00:16:56:53
going to go this way, you need to know
you are following a different shepherd
00:16:57:56 - 00:17:00:55
and it won't take you
where you really want to go.
00:17:02:15 - 00:17:05:13
This is what I would suggest
you do take your life.
00:17:05:13 - 00:17:09:21
And just in every category,
look at your social life,
00:17:09:21 - 00:17:13:18
your sexual life, your financial life,
your professional life, your family life,
00:17:13:18 - 00:17:16:18
your recreational life,
all those different places.
00:17:17:10 - 00:17:20:10
And go to God and say, I'm a sheep.
00:17:20:58 - 00:17:22:38
Jesus is the good shepherd.
00:17:22:38 - 00:17:25:38
If I'm going to be Jesus sheep,
just show me
00:17:25:39 - 00:17:27:43
how you want me to live in this area.
00:17:27:43 - 00:17:29:33
What you want me to do in this area?
00:17:29:33 - 00:17:32:27
If you show me, I will follow you.
00:17:33:53 - 00:17:34:35
You know, because
00:17:34:35 - 00:17:38:39
I've been preparing for this message
every morning I have been reciting
00:17:39:05 - 00:17:42:04
the 23rd Psalm to myself.
00:17:42:08 - 00:17:45:31
And there was something that hit me
as strange I hadn't seen before.
00:17:45:46 - 00:17:47:51
At the very end of that song.
00:17:47:51 - 00:17:50:51
The psalmist says,
surely goodness and mercy
00:17:50:53 - 00:17:53:53
shall follow me all the days of my life.
00:17:54:52 - 00:17:57:18
And I was thinking,
that's the reason that struck me.
00:17:57:18 - 00:18:01:37
As strange as goodness is something
that I feel like I'm that I chase.
00:18:02:18 - 00:18:04:24
That's what social influencers will say.
00:18:04:24 - 00:18:05:59
Listen, if you do this, you will.
00:18:05:59 - 00:18:08:00
You will end up finding goodness.
00:18:08:00 - 00:18:08:59
You will find mercy.
00:18:08:59 - 00:18:11:34
That's not what the psalmist says.
00:18:11:34 - 00:18:14:32
The psalmist says, I follow Jesus
00:18:14:32 - 00:18:17:44
and goodness and mercy chase after me.
00:18:18:45 - 00:18:22:00
I don't know about you, but
I would love to live my life in such a way
00:18:22:00 - 00:18:26:35
that when I slow up or stop, it's goodness
and mercy that hit me in the back.
00:18:28:12 - 00:18:31:12
Listen, tomorrow morning when you wake up,
00:18:31:40 - 00:18:34:06
affirm three truths.
00:18:34:06 - 00:18:36:55
Say I'm a sheep.
00:18:36:55 - 00:18:38:27
Not even an exceptional sheep.
00:18:38:27 - 00:18:41:16
I'm just a sheep and I need a shepherd.
00:18:41:16 - 00:18:44:16
Jesus is the good shepherd
00:18:45:49 - 00:18:47:44
and I am Jesus.
00:18:47:44 - 00:18:49:11
Sheep.
00:18:49:11 - 00:18:53:53
And wherever he wants me to follow,
I will follow and let goodness and mercy
00:18:54:34 - 00:18:57:34
chase you all the days of your life.
00:18:58:21 - 00:19:00:54
You pray with me,
00:19:00:54 - 00:19:04:20
Lord Jesus, we come to you and,
I am grateful.
00:19:04:39 - 00:19:06:26
I'm grateful that you tell us
00:19:06:26 - 00:19:09:30
the truth about ourselves,
that we really are like sheep.
00:19:10:31 - 00:19:12:46
And I am grateful
you don't just leave us there.
00:19:12:46 - 00:19:16:16
But you have come and said that
you are the good Shepherd, the one who
00:19:16:16 - 00:19:20:55
we long for, who can provide and protect,
who can love and lead,
00:19:20:55 - 00:19:26:46
who will walk with us in the darkness,
who restore our aching and weary hearts.
00:19:27:57 - 00:19:29:26
I pray for every person here.
00:19:29:26 - 00:19:32:24
I pray that we will be your sheep.
00:19:32:24 - 00:19:36:41
We will declare that truth
and we will follow you wherever you lead.
00:19:37:20 - 00:19:40:20
And let goodness and mercy chase us.
00:19:40:38 - 00:19:43:34
Thank you. We pray this in your name.
00:19:43:34 - 00:19:44:02
Amen.