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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.
John 10:7-9
So Jesus again said to them,
"truly, truly, I say to you,
I am the door of the sheep.
All who came before
me are thieves and robbers.
But the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the door.
If anyone enters by me, he will be saved
and will go in and out and find pasture."
Welcome to the weekend here at Christ
Communion Chapel.
My name is Zach.
I'm one of the pastors here, and we're
so glad we get to be part of your weekend.
You know, 2026 for us is a church
is a year of more life.
We are asking, believing,
even expecting more life
and just about every area of our lives
that you can think of. More life
in our relationship with God,
and our relationship with each other,
and our marriages, and our parenting,
and our careers. In all the corners. Now,
now we're believing this
and expecting this not because we think
we deserve it or because we've earned it,
but rather because Jesus tells us
in the Gospel of John, chapter ten, verse
ten, that's why he's come.
He says, I have come
so that you would have life and life,
more abundant life and more life.
And so we're saying to Jesus, okay, Jesus,
if your mission
is to bring us more life,
then that's what we want in 2026.
What we're learning this spring
by looking at the Gospel of John
and seven I am statements
Jesus makes about himself,
is it the pathway to more
life is not doing more,
or trying harder, or being better,
it's relationship with Jesus.
Seven times
Jesus tells us something about himself
and invites us in
to a relationship with him
that will enable us and empower us
to have the life that we want.
We're going to be continuing that
this weekend.
So if you have a Bible,
you can take it out and open it to John
chapter ten.
We're going to look at verses seven,
eight and nine.
Of course, they'll be on the screen
behind me if that's how you want to do it.
Or there's a Bible in the pew in
front of you or in the back of East Hall.
If you want to use that same Bible I use.
So John ten is on page 854,
when, however,
you're going to get to the passage,
let me hold out to you an outline I'm
going to use to guide our time together.
Three points. Very simple.
They go like this
I want to show you there is a door,
you must use it,
and you should wear it out.
Okay, there is a door,
You must use it,
and you should wear it out.
All right. Start with the first one,
there is a door.
If you look at verse seven of the passage,
you'll see our I am statement
for the week. Verse seven says this.
So Jesus again said to them, truly, truly,
I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
I am the door.
Jesus says, Now Jesus, in this passage
has been using a metaphor.
It's really been pressing a metaphor,
a metaphor about sheep and shepherds.
He tells us that we are like
sheep, is like a shepherd.
And now in this passage,
he's using that same metaphor
in a little bit of a different way.
He's talking about the sheepfold
or the sheep pen.
You see, back in this time,
you would let the sheep out in the morning
and they would go out
and eat grass and drink water
and do the things that sheep do.
And then at night you would bring them
into the sheep fold of the sheep pen
to keep them safe, secure,
to make sure they were comfortable.
And there was a door, obviously,
that would let the sheep in
and then close behind them to keep them in
or in the morning, to let them out,
and then close to keep them out.
And Jesus says that God wants
a relationship with us that is like that,
a relationship
that is safe and secure, a relationship
that leads to our comfort
and to our flourishing.
And Jesus is the door into that.
Now, to really understand what he's
saying, let me use an illustration.
I am not in really any sense
of the word handy.
Okay?
I don't know how to fix anything
at my house,
and I'm not just that I really don't know.
Like if this is what happens
if I ask someone to come over to my house
to help me fix something?
They will.
And then they always ask me this question
that I dread them asking, okay,
they will ask, do you have this tool?
Okay.
And I dread that question
because I don't know if I have
that tool and
I have to take them down to my basement
where I keep the tools and say,
hey, you can look through this toolbox
and you tell me if I have that tool.
And then they give me this very kind
but condescending smile.
And I hate that moment
because I don't know.
I mean, I don't honestly,
I don't know if I know the difference
between a wrench and a pair of pliers.
I for sure don't know why
you would use one over the other.
I just never learned that stuff.
I don't know anything about it.
I don't know anything about construction,
but even in my limited
understanding of tools and construction,
I understand this.
If you're building a house or a building,
a structure of any kind,
there's
only one reason you put a door somewhere,
and that
is that you want people to go through it.
Doors are indicators
that you can
and should walk through this space.
Doors are in some ways invitations.
People go through here.
If you don't want people to go
in somewhere,
you don't put a door, you put a wall.
Walls keep people out doors.
Let people.
And Jesus is saying something
really important here when he says,
I am the door, because Jesus is saying
that between you and God,
God has put a door
between you and God.
God has put a door, and you only put
a door where you want people to go.
Now here's what that means.
That means if you came in this weekend
and you feel disconnected from God,
separated, isolated you out in the cold,
you feel like
you're on the outside looking in
like maybe God is doing something.
Maybe he's up to something,
but that something doesn't involve you.
If you feel like you are
on the outside looking in,
that is not because of God.
Can I say that again?
Because sometimes that's the kind of thing
you got to hear twice.
What this means is that
if God has put a door between you and him,
and you only put a door
where you want people to go,
then that means that right here,
right now, if you feel as though
you are separated from God, disconnected
out in the cold, on the outside
looking in, it is not
because that's where God wants you.
Because if that is where God wanted you,
he Jesus would say,
I am the wall.
I've come to keep you from getting to God.
But he doesn't say that.
He says, I am the door.
I am the door.
So Jesus is telling us something
about his life which he will live
senselessly, his death,
which he will become.
The embodiment of our sin of the church.
And he will come up under the anger
and wrath and judgment of God
until it's exhausted.
He will die, and three days later
he will raise from the dead triumphantly.
And he will say to us,
I have come to live and die
and overcome death in order
that you might have access to God.
In between you and God
there is a door, and that means God
wants you to come in.
I don't know if you thought that.
Or if maybe you thought
God was keeping you at arm's length,
but he built a door.
Now you might say, well, Zach,
even if that's true, here's the thing I.
I feel disconnected from God.
Still, I feel isolated.
I feel like I'm out in the cold.
I feel like I'm on the outside looking in.
Well, here's what Jesus is saying.
If those things are true,
it isn't because of God.
It's because of you.
Let me show you what I mean.
That's actually my second point.
Not just that there's a door,
but second that you must use it.
Look at what
Jesus says in John ten verse eight.
This is what he says.
All who came before
me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not listen to them.
Now, Jesus, referencing something
he says in verse one of chapter ten,
let me read that to you.
Where does this thieves and robbers
language comes from?
Here's what he says John ten verse one.
Truly, truly, I say to you,
he who does not enter the sheepfold
by the door, listen,
but climbs in by another way,
that man is a thief and a robber.
Now you might be wondering,
what does he mean?
Well, you know what he means,
but let me give you a metaphor,
because that is going to help.
But you know what he's saying.
So let me not assume, you know,
maybe this is your first weekend.
You don't know any of the names and faces
that that kind of go with this church.
But this church has another pastor
or pastor Joe.
Okay.
And Pastor Joe's was senior pastor here
for a long time.
He's half of our teaching team.
He's going to preach next week.
You should come. It's going to be great.
I mean, not not this great,
but it's going to be great.
And he and I are very close.
I mean, we're very close.
He's a mentor to me. Really?
Kind of like a father figure to me.
We're very, very close.
Which means that
if Amy and I were to pull in the driveway,
my wife Amy and I were to pull
in the driveway in our car,
and I was to say, hey,
is there someone sitting on our porch?
And Amy looked and said,
I think that's Joe.
That would be exciting, right?
I would get out of the car
and be happy to see him and
and want to know why is there.
I mean, I would maybe
hold my breath for a minute
just to make sure nothing bad happened.
But but, you know, even if Joe was there
to say something hard to me, like,
even if Joe was there
because I had messed up
and he needs to tell me that
I would still be happy to see him, because
actually, I've grown a lot in my life
with Joe telling me things like that.
I love Joe, I'd be eager to see him,
but if Amy and I drove home
one day and I looked and said,
is there someone climbing in our window?
And Amy looked and said,
I think that's Joe.
Totally different story.
Or if I went in the house up
to like the second floor to the window
where he's half in and half out, his feet
kicking and dangling out the end,
and I said, Joe.
And he goes, oh, hey, Zach, no matter what
he said next,
we would have a problem, right?
Even if he said something benign like,
hey, we're out of sugar.
Do you guys have any sugar?
I would still say, Joe,
why are you climbing through my window?
Because here's what you know.
And here's what I know about thieves
and robbers and windows, if you want.
If you want me, you go to the door.
If you go to the window, it's
because you're avoiding me, right?
If you go to the window,
it's because you don't want me.
You want my stuff.
How often do we go to God
in just that way?
How often are my prayers really
just a laundry list of the stuff
that God has that I want?
How often do I dominate the conversation
with God?
We go through the list of things
that that I wanted to talk about.
I do all the talking
and none of the listening.
How often Jesus is saying,
do we want God stuff but not God?
So Jesus saying something really powerful
about human religion and human
spirituality,
he's saying that that most of it
is an attempt to get the blessings of God,
the things of God,
the provision of God
without actually getting God himself.
Because if we go to the window,
we might get the stuff
without ever running into God.
But if we go to the door,
we've got to deal with God,
a God who might contradict us,
the God who might challenge us,
a God who might want to talk about things
that we don't want to talk about.
See, we want to go to God and say,
God, I'm up for promotion at work.
And, and and it would really be a blessing
if you would give it to me.
But we don't knock on the door because
he might want to talk about our anger.
See, Jesus is saying that
if you and I feel disconnected from God,
if we feel isolated,
if we feel out in the cold, on the outside
looking in, it isn't because of God.
God put a door.
It's because of us.
And listen, I want you to hear me.
I don't say that to challenge you
or condemn you.
Actually say it for two reasons.
Here's the first one.
If that's true,
if it's true that between you and God
there's a door and you only put a door
where you want people to come in,
then that means if you feel like you're
on the outside looking in right now,
you don't have to be for another second.
That's why I put a door there.
You can right now say to God, I don't.
I don't want to be on the outside.
I want to come in.
I want to come in.
I see in Jesus a life lived.
If righteousness, I see it as death,
a sacrificial payment for my sin.
I seen his resurrection proof
that he is who he said he is, that
he can do what he said he can do.
God, I don't want to be outside anymore.
I want to come in. Do you?
You know, next weekend
we're baptizing 52 people.
It's going to be an incredible weekend.
Let me just tell you, better get here
early to get a parking spot.
Okay?
You better get early.
But I'd love to baptize 53.
Because where
you thought there was a wall,
there is a door.
And his name is Jesus.
Why would you spend
another second out in the cold?
But here's the second thing.
Even if you're not ready for that, here's
the second thing.
Just realizing that being outside
is a choice changes
the way you understand God.
Because you see, if you're outside
because he wants you out there,
then you have to perceive him
as a God who may not love you,
who may not be able to forgive you,
who may not be able to welcome you.
But if you are outside
because you want to be,
that means that all that stands
between you and a God
who loves you and forgives
you and will accept you is a door
that you can go through any time.
See, so great was God's love and mercy
and kindness to you, that he sent His Son
so that you might have a door,
but you have to use it.
Now you might be saying, well, was that
I'm a follower of Jesus, I'm a Christian.
I went through that door a long time ago.
What does this passage have for me?
Great question.
That's my third point, actually.
Not just that there is a door.
Not just that you must use it,
but you should wear it out.
And here's what I mean by that.
Do do.
Well, let me read the first two,
verse nine, John chapter ten, verse nine,
Jesus, this beautiful verse,
he says, I am the door.
If anyone enters by me, he will be saved.
Let me just I mean, I know I just
I said I was done talking to people
that are seeking,
but can you just see that I am the door?
Anyone who enters by me will be saved.
Then he says this and will go in
and out and find pasture in and out.
Do you see that language?
You see? You see, don't you?
Don't keep sheep in the sheep pen, right?
They go out and they do sheep things.
They eat grass, they drink water,
they get fat
so you can wear them or eat them.
That's what cheaper for, right?
Jesus says this door was designed
for you to go in and out.
He's saying when he says that, he's saying
two really powerful things
about the Christian life.
Okay, here's the first one.
I'm going to give you a metaphor.
So, this past weekend,
my wife Amy was out of town,
and I'm in the kitchen cooking,
which I'm also not great at.
And if you're starting to think,
are you good at anything
besides talking in front of people? No,
no, I'm really not.
That's why I do this for a living.
So I'm in the kitchen. I'm
trying to figure out how to cook dinner.
I have no idea what I'm doing.
That's its own adventure.
And I and I open a drawer to get
something out, and the drawer falls out.
It's broken.
And I don't know what to do with it
because I can't fix things.
So I'm holding it.
I grab a cabinet, open a cabinet.
The door falls off.
I'm standing in my kitchen
holding a drawer and a cabinet door,
and because I don't know how to fix
anything,
I just found a corner in the kitchen
to set them down
for when Amy gets back,
she'll know what to do with them.
You know?
And and I'm I'm thinking of my house was
built in 1981, which means the bill is.
Do you know,
it's like everything is breaking.
And once you start to notice things
breaking in your house,
I know if you had this experience,
you start to notice that there's breaking.
Things are breaking all over.
I mean, like at one point
I'm sitting there going,
I sort of burn this down
and collect the insurance money.
We're in real trouble.
And, you know, because I can't
I can't fix things, but I can do math.
So I'm like, adding up
how much everything's going to cost me.
And I have a son who's going to college
this fall.
I'm starting to hyperventilate
in my kitchen.
You know, I don't know how
I'm going to pay for everything.
And then I got to be honest,
I start to get a little mad
because the reason I live in a house
full of broken things
is because I live with my wonderful wife,
Amy, and five monsters,
and they don't care about your stuff.
They don't, you know, they have no respect
for property or or money or they slam
drawers and cabinets and break things and,
you know, they don't care.
And I'm starting to get mad, like,
oh, they're so ungrateful and,
and, you know, blah, blah.
And then it hits me, this hits me
that 20 years from now,
my house is going to be perfect.
There's nothing's going to be broken.
And I bet 20 years from now
I would give anything
that I have to go back to broken
cabinet doors and broken drawers,
because really,
those things are signs of life.
So Jesus says,
God put a door between you and him.
You ready for this?
God put a door between you and him, and
he wants it to go in and out, in and out.
And here's
what here's what you're saying is
God wants you
to use the door of access to him
so much that it doesn't sit
right on the hinges anymore.
He wants you to use it so much
that it kind of sits crooked, you know?
You know what I mean?
Like the paint is wearing off
the corner is caved in.
God put the door there to open and close.
Open and close, open and close.
So great is his desire for you to come in
and out, free of access.
By the way, did you know
this is why Christians pray in Jesus name?
If you've always wondered that, right?
If you know when a Christian prays,
we pray in Jesus name.
Do you know why we do that?
Because what we're saying to God
is there's no reason
you should listen to my prayer
except for this.
You built a door
and I've come through that door
again and again and again.
730 on Thursday nights
we do a Q&A after the service.
Awesome. People say,
can I get video of that?
No, you cannot.
You got to come on Thursday night at 730.
You see what we did
there? It's motivation.
But I will share this with you
Thursday night.
One of the questions in the Q&A,
someone asked, I hate Pastor Zach.
I've just become a new Christian.
What can I learn from
Christians about prayer?
Do you know what I said? No.
My answer was nothing.
Don't learn anything from them.
Here's why we formalize prayer.
Do we not?
It's time to pray.
Have you prayed?
Have you had your prayer time?
We turned it into performance.
But what Jesus is describing
here is a running dialog.
Hey God, I'm going into the meeting
with my boss.
I'm kind of freaking out.
I'm kind of anxious.
You know, the things, the stupid things
I say and do when I'm anxious.
Would you be with me?
Hey, God, I'm in the room with my boss.
Would you give me patience and humility?
Sounds like he's
got some hard things to say to me.
Sounds like she's got some ways
I'm not measuring up.
Would you help me to respond in kindness?
Hey, God,
who just left the room with my boss?
Would you work in her heart and mind,
in his heart and mind to help us
both think well about this? Hey, God.
You know, I'm still struggling
with my rebellious teenager.
I can't figure out how to get through.
Can you work in their heart today
at school?
Can you work in mine?
Can you help us?
Hey, God, I gotta have that conversation
with my spouse.
Would you be here?
We've both come to talk to you.
Would you help us both understand?
You see what I mean?
In and out.
In and out. In and out where?
The door.
Out in 2026.
If it's going to be a year of more life,
it is going to be a year of more trips
into the room where God is,
because God, listen to me, church.
God doesn't want perfect.
He wants signs of life.
Where that door out.
Turn that five minute
drive to the grocery store
into an opportunity
to come into the presence of God.
Stop your family before you eat and say,
we don't do this.
For as a formality,
let's go into the presence of God
for 30s
before we eat, let's wear this door out.
But here's the second thing he's
saying about the Christian life.
Second thing is sheep go out.
They are on a mission.
They have a it's kind of a lousy mission,
but it's the mission of a sheep.
Eat grass, drink water,
get fat right, get worn, get eat.
And that's their mission, right?
They go out to do that work.
They come in to rest.
Jesus saying,
that's how the Christian life works.
You go out on
mission, you come in to rest.
Do you know that's what we do?
Every week
you are returning from the mission field.
Jesus says,
you're the salt and light you are.
Listen, Christ Community
Chapel is not a dude holding a microphone.
It's not even an awesome worship team
and an incredible choir.
You are Christ Community Chapel.
You go out into the places where you work
and where you live, and you do life,
and you tell people between them and God
there is a door, not a wall.
And you act redemptive in the fields
in which you work.
You love God, you love your neighbor,
you're peacemakers.
But that work is hard
and it's tiring and it's exhausting.
You come back in here and what do we do?
We talking about the God who loves you.
We sing songs about the God who loves us.
We preach sermons about the God.
We fire you up.
You get safety, security, rest.
We send you right back out in the mission
field.
In and out, in and out, in and out.
If 2026 is going to be
a year of more life, it is not going to be
because of what happens from the stage.
It is going to be rested and rejuvenated.
Sheep
going out on mission.
If sheep stay in the pasture
and never come in, they die.
But if sheep stay in the pen
and never go out,
they die.
Jesus says,
between you and God there is a door.
Why do you build a door?
Because you want people to come in.
Let me pray.
Father God, thank you so much for Jesus.
The door.
If there was a wall
between you and me, God,
it would not be a wall that you built.
It would be a wall that I built
every brick, a testimony to my sinfulness
and my rebellion.
But you cut a hole in that wall
through the life, death,
and resurrection of Jesus,
and you put a door there,
and you invited me to come in.
God, give us courage and trust enough
to walk through that door,
either for the first time,
responding in faith to Jesus
or yet again
believing
that if we have access to you through him,
why wouldn't we wear that door out
in Jesus name? We pray. Amen.