1 00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:06,724 John 10:7-9 2 00:00:08,042 --> 00:00:10,178 So Jesus again said to them, 3 00:00:10,178 --> 00:00:13,581 "truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 4 00:00:14,065 --> 00:00:17,069 All who came before me are thieves and robbers. 5 00:00:17,135 --> 00:00:19,088 But the sheep did not listen to them. 6 00:00:19,088 --> 00:00:20,189 I am the door. 7 00:00:20,189 --> 00:00:22,925 If anyone enters by me, he will be saved 8 00:00:22,925 --> 00:00:25,912 and will go in and out and find pasture." 9 00:00:29,166 --> 00:00:31,952 Welcome to the weekend here at Christ Communion Chapel. 10 00:00:31,952 --> 00:00:32,936 My name is Zach. 11 00:00:32,936 --> 00:00:37,775 I'm one of the pastors here, and we're so glad we get to be part of your weekend. 12 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:43,048 You know, 2026 for us is a church is a year of more life. 13 00:00:43,432 --> 00:00:47,937 We are asking, believing, even expecting more life 14 00:00:47,937 --> 00:00:51,841 and just about every area of our lives that you can think of. More life 15 00:00:52,075 --> 00:00:55,345 in our relationship with God, and our relationship with each other, 16 00:00:55,562 --> 00:01:00,384 and our marriages, and our parenting, and our careers. In all the corners. Now, 17 00:01:00,384 --> 00:01:04,522 now we're believing this and expecting this not because we think 18 00:01:04,522 --> 00:01:08,727 we deserve it or because we've earned it, but rather because Jesus tells us 19 00:01:08,727 --> 00:01:12,631 in the Gospel of John, chapter ten, verse ten, that's why he's come. 20 00:01:13,115 --> 00:01:16,102 He says, I have come so that you would have life and life, 21 00:01:16,502 --> 00:01:19,472 more abundant life and more life. 22 00:01:19,472 --> 00:01:22,475 And so we're saying to Jesus, okay, Jesus, if your mission 23 00:01:22,559 --> 00:01:26,580 is to bring us more life, then that's what we want in 2026. 24 00:01:26,580 --> 00:01:30,117 What we're learning this spring by looking at the Gospel of John 25 00:01:30,117 --> 00:01:34,656 and seven I am statements Jesus makes about himself, 26 00:01:34,656 --> 00:01:35,974 is it the pathway to more 27 00:01:35,974 --> 00:01:40,079 life is not doing more, or trying harder, or being better, 28 00:01:40,345 --> 00:01:42,448 it's relationship with Jesus. 29 00:01:42,448 --> 00:01:45,568 Seven times Jesus tells us something about himself 30 00:01:45,568 --> 00:01:48,838 and invites us in to a relationship with him 31 00:01:49,072 --> 00:01:53,544 that will enable us and empower us to have the life that we want. 32 00:01:53,794 --> 00:01:55,980 We're going to be continuing that this weekend. 33 00:01:55,980 --> 00:01:58,683 So if you have a Bible, you can take it out and open it to John 34 00:01:58,683 --> 00:01:59,884 chapter ten. 35 00:01:59,884 --> 00:02:02,153 We're going to look at verses seven, eight and nine. 36 00:02:02,153 --> 00:02:05,340 Of course, they'll be on the screen behind me if that's how you want to do it. 37 00:02:05,724 --> 00:02:09,595 Or there's a Bible in the pew in front of you or in the back of East Hall. 38 00:02:09,595 --> 00:02:11,881 If you want to use that same Bible I use. 39 00:02:11,881 --> 00:02:15,251 So John ten is on page 854, 40 00:02:15,268 --> 00:02:18,305 when, however, you're going to get to the passage, 41 00:02:18,355 --> 00:02:22,743 let me hold out to you an outline I'm going to use to guide our time together. 42 00:02:22,743 --> 00:02:23,995 Three points. Very simple. 43 00:02:23,995 --> 00:02:26,998 They go like this I want to show you there is a door, 44 00:02:27,599 --> 00:02:30,602 you must use it, and you should wear it out. 45 00:02:30,785 --> 00:02:32,304 Okay, there is a door, 46 00:02:32,304 --> 00:02:35,224 You must use it, and you should wear it out. 47 00:02:35,224 --> 00:02:38,044 All right. Start with the first one, there is a door. 48 00:02:38,044 --> 00:02:41,815 If you look at verse seven of the passage, you'll see our I am statement 49 00:02:41,815 --> 00:02:44,334 for the week. Verse seven says this. 50 00:02:44,334 --> 00:02:47,938 So Jesus again said to them, truly, truly, 51 00:02:47,938 --> 00:02:52,860 I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 52 00:02:52,860 --> 00:02:55,046 I am the door. 53 00:02:55,046 --> 00:02:59,635 Jesus says, Now Jesus, in this passage has been using a metaphor. 54 00:02:59,635 --> 00:03:04,523 It's really been pressing a metaphor, a metaphor about sheep and shepherds. 55 00:03:04,523 --> 00:03:08,511 He tells us that we are like sheep, is like a shepherd. 56 00:03:08,645 --> 00:03:10,864 And now in this passage, 57 00:03:10,864 --> 00:03:14,751 he's using that same metaphor in a little bit of a different way. 58 00:03:14,935 --> 00:03:18,873 He's talking about the sheepfold or the sheep pen. 59 00:03:19,173 --> 00:03:22,977 You see, back in this time, you would let the sheep out in the morning 60 00:03:23,194 --> 00:03:24,062 and they would go out 61 00:03:24,062 --> 00:03:27,716 and eat grass and drink water and do the things that sheep do. 62 00:03:27,900 --> 00:03:31,988 And then at night you would bring them into the sheep fold of the sheep pen 63 00:03:32,188 --> 00:03:35,541 to keep them safe, secure, to make sure they were comfortable. 64 00:03:35,725 --> 00:03:38,845 And there was a door, obviously, that would let the sheep in 65 00:03:39,029 --> 00:03:41,281 and then close behind them to keep them in 66 00:03:41,281 --> 00:03:45,236 or in the morning, to let them out, and then close to keep them out. 67 00:03:45,236 --> 00:03:50,158 And Jesus says that God wants a relationship with us that is like that, 68 00:03:50,692 --> 00:03:54,146 a relationship that is safe and secure, a relationship 69 00:03:54,296 --> 00:03:57,533 that leads to our comfort and to our flourishing. 70 00:03:57,633 --> 00:04:01,437 And Jesus is the door into that. 71 00:04:01,471 --> 00:04:05,008 Now, to really understand what he's saying, let me use an illustration. 72 00:04:05,759 --> 00:04:09,863 I am not in really any sense of the word handy. 73 00:04:10,264 --> 00:04:10,614 Okay? 74 00:04:10,614 --> 00:04:12,533 I don't know how to fix anything 75 00:04:12,533 --> 00:04:16,554 at my house, and I'm not just that I really don't know. 76 00:04:16,654 --> 00:04:19,558 Like if this is what happens if I ask someone to come over to my house 77 00:04:19,558 --> 00:04:21,059 to help me fix something? 78 00:04:21,059 --> 00:04:21,810 They will. 79 00:04:21,810 --> 00:04:25,564 And then they always ask me this question that I dread them asking, okay, 80 00:04:25,681 --> 00:04:28,684 they will ask, do you have this tool? 81 00:04:29,002 --> 00:04:29,786 Okay. 82 00:04:29,786 --> 00:04:33,423 And I dread that question because I don't know if I have 83 00:04:33,723 --> 00:04:34,975 that tool and 84 00:04:34,975 --> 00:04:39,063 I have to take them down to my basement where I keep the tools and say, 85 00:04:39,063 --> 00:04:43,585 hey, you can look through this toolbox and you tell me if I have that tool. 86 00:04:43,952 --> 00:04:47,522 And then they give me this very kind but condescending smile. 87 00:04:47,906 --> 00:04:50,309 And I hate that moment because I don't know. 88 00:04:50,309 --> 00:04:51,277 I mean, I don't honestly, 89 00:04:51,277 --> 00:04:54,747 I don't know if I know the difference between a wrench and a pair of pliers. 90 00:04:54,747 --> 00:04:58,017 I for sure don't know why you would use one over the other. 91 00:04:58,017 --> 00:05:00,937 I just never learned that stuff. I don't know anything about it. 92 00:05:00,937 --> 00:05:04,708 I don't know anything about construction, but even in my limited 93 00:05:04,708 --> 00:05:08,045 understanding of tools and construction, I understand this. 94 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:11,933 If you're building a house or a building, a structure of any kind, 95 00:05:12,117 --> 00:05:14,936 there's only one reason you put a door somewhere, 96 00:05:16,505 --> 00:05:19,441 and that is that you want people to go through it. 97 00:05:19,441 --> 00:05:21,727 Doors are indicators 98 00:05:21,727 --> 00:05:25,265 that you can and should walk through this space. 99 00:05:25,265 --> 00:05:27,751 Doors are in some ways invitations. 100 00:05:27,751 --> 00:05:30,504 People go through here. If you don't want people to go 101 00:05:30,504 --> 00:05:33,758 in somewhere, you don't put a door, you put a wall. 102 00:05:34,408 --> 00:05:37,412 Walls keep people out doors. 103 00:05:37,462 --> 00:05:38,213 Let people. 104 00:05:38,213 --> 00:05:41,917 And Jesus is saying something really important here when he says, 105 00:05:41,917 --> 00:05:45,871 I am the door, because Jesus is saying 106 00:05:46,021 --> 00:05:49,025 that between you and God, 107 00:05:49,776 --> 00:05:52,762 God has put a door 108 00:05:52,946 --> 00:05:54,548 between you and God. 109 00:05:54,548 --> 00:05:59,637 God has put a door, and you only put a door where you want people to go. 110 00:05:59,670 --> 00:06:01,172 Now here's what that means. 111 00:06:01,172 --> 00:06:04,826 That means if you came in this weekend and you feel disconnected from God, 112 00:06:05,343 --> 00:06:08,997 separated, isolated you out in the cold, you feel like 113 00:06:08,997 --> 00:06:12,501 you're on the outside looking in like maybe God is doing something. 114 00:06:12,635 --> 00:06:16,806 Maybe he's up to something, but that something doesn't involve you. 115 00:06:16,806 --> 00:06:20,677 If you feel like you are on the outside looking in, 116 00:06:21,628 --> 00:06:24,631 that is not because of God. 117 00:06:25,649 --> 00:06:26,584 Can I say that again? 118 00:06:26,584 --> 00:06:29,520 Because sometimes that's the kind of thing you got to hear twice. 119 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:34,976 What this means is that if God has put a door between you and him, 120 00:06:35,093 --> 00:06:38,130 and you only put a door where you want people to go, 121 00:06:38,280 --> 00:06:41,367 then that means that right here, right now, if you feel as though 122 00:06:41,367 --> 00:06:45,688 you are separated from God, disconnected out in the cold, on the outside 123 00:06:45,805 --> 00:06:48,808 looking in, it is not because that's where God wants you. 124 00:06:49,626 --> 00:06:53,097 Because if that is where God wanted you, he Jesus would say, 125 00:06:53,097 --> 00:06:56,100 I am the wall. 126 00:06:56,817 --> 00:06:58,836 I've come to keep you from getting to God. 127 00:06:58,836 --> 00:06:59,637 But he doesn't say that. 128 00:06:59,637 --> 00:07:02,941 He says, I am the door. 129 00:07:03,141 --> 00:07:03,742 I am the door. 130 00:07:03,742 --> 00:07:07,596 So Jesus is telling us something about his life which he will live 131 00:07:07,596 --> 00:07:10,583 senselessly, his death, which he will become. 132 00:07:10,583 --> 00:07:13,470 The embodiment of our sin of the church. 133 00:07:13,470 --> 00:07:15,121 And he will come up under the anger 134 00:07:15,121 --> 00:07:18,141 and wrath and judgment of God until it's exhausted. 135 00:07:18,275 --> 00:07:22,980 He will die, and three days later he will raise from the dead triumphantly. 136 00:07:22,980 --> 00:07:27,085 And he will say to us, I have come to live and die 137 00:07:27,085 --> 00:07:32,491 and overcome death in order that you might have access to God. 138 00:07:33,959 --> 00:07:35,961 In between you and God 139 00:07:35,961 --> 00:07:39,866 there is a door, and that means God 140 00:07:39,866 --> 00:07:42,869 wants you to come in. 141 00:07:44,638 --> 00:07:47,641 I don't know if you thought that. 142 00:07:48,509 --> 00:07:49,493 Or if maybe you thought 143 00:07:49,493 --> 00:07:53,214 God was keeping you at arm's length, but he built a door. 144 00:07:53,364 --> 00:07:56,451 Now you might say, well, Zach, even if that's true, here's the thing I. 145 00:07:56,451 --> 00:07:58,687 I feel disconnected from God. 146 00:07:58,687 --> 00:08:00,873 Still, I feel isolated. 147 00:08:00,873 --> 00:08:02,908 I feel like I'm out in the cold. 148 00:08:02,908 --> 00:08:05,645 I feel like I'm on the outside looking in. 149 00:08:05,645 --> 00:08:07,463 Well, here's what Jesus is saying. 150 00:08:07,463 --> 00:08:10,951 If those things are true, it isn't because of God. 151 00:08:12,486 --> 00:08:15,472 It's because of you. 152 00:08:15,689 --> 00:08:16,590 Let me show you what I mean. 153 00:08:16,590 --> 00:08:17,792 That's actually my second point. 154 00:08:17,792 --> 00:08:21,095 Not just that there's a door, but second that you must use it. 155 00:08:21,095 --> 00:08:25,050 Look at what Jesus says in John ten verse eight. 156 00:08:25,050 --> 00:08:26,184 This is what he says. 157 00:08:26,184 --> 00:08:30,606 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, 158 00:08:31,257 --> 00:08:34,110 but the sheep did not listen to them. 159 00:08:34,110 --> 00:08:37,614 Now, Jesus, referencing something he says in verse one of chapter ten, 160 00:08:37,614 --> 00:08:38,465 let me read that to you. 161 00:08:38,465 --> 00:08:41,602 Where does this thieves and robbers language comes from? 162 00:08:41,602 --> 00:08:43,704 Here's what he says John ten verse one. 163 00:08:43,704 --> 00:08:45,473 Truly, truly, I say to you, 164 00:08:45,473 --> 00:08:49,260 he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, listen, 165 00:08:49,477 --> 00:08:55,267 but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 166 00:08:55,684 --> 00:08:57,987 Now you might be wondering, what does he mean? 167 00:08:57,987 --> 00:08:59,005 Well, you know what he means, 168 00:08:59,005 --> 00:09:01,324 but let me give you a metaphor, because that is going to help. 169 00:09:01,324 --> 00:09:02,992 But you know what he's saying. 170 00:09:02,992 --> 00:09:06,263 So let me not assume, you know, maybe this is your first weekend. 171 00:09:06,263 --> 00:09:10,134 You don't know any of the names and faces that that kind of go with this church. 172 00:09:10,134 --> 00:09:13,254 But this church has another pastor or pastor Joe. 173 00:09:13,254 --> 00:09:13,821 Okay. 174 00:09:13,821 --> 00:09:16,825 And Pastor Joe's was senior pastor here for a long time. 175 00:09:17,242 --> 00:09:18,927 He's half of our teaching team. 176 00:09:18,927 --> 00:09:20,312 He's going to preach next week. 177 00:09:20,312 --> 00:09:21,713 You should come. It's going to be great. 178 00:09:21,713 --> 00:09:24,266 I mean, not not this great, but it's going to be great. 179 00:09:26,002 --> 00:09:28,104 And he and I are very close. 180 00:09:28,104 --> 00:09:28,972 I mean, we're very close. 181 00:09:28,972 --> 00:09:30,657 He's a mentor to me. Really? 182 00:09:30,657 --> 00:09:32,893 Kind of like a father figure to me. 183 00:09:32,893 --> 00:09:33,844 We're very, very close. 184 00:09:33,844 --> 00:09:36,964 Which means that if Amy and I were to pull in the driveway, 185 00:09:36,964 --> 00:09:39,300 my wife Amy and I were to pull in the driveway in our car, 186 00:09:39,300 --> 00:09:42,303 and I was to say, hey, is there someone sitting on our porch? 187 00:09:42,637 --> 00:09:45,090 And Amy looked and said, I think that's Joe. 188 00:09:45,090 --> 00:09:46,491 That would be exciting, right? 189 00:09:46,491 --> 00:09:49,611 I would get out of the car and be happy to see him and 190 00:09:49,762 --> 00:09:51,263 and want to know why is there. 191 00:09:51,263 --> 00:09:52,581 I mean, I would maybe 192 00:09:52,581 --> 00:09:55,685 hold my breath for a minute just to make sure nothing bad happened. 193 00:09:55,685 --> 00:09:59,723 But but, you know, even if Joe was there to say something hard to me, like, 194 00:09:59,723 --> 00:10:01,775 even if Joe was there because I had messed up 195 00:10:01,775 --> 00:10:04,862 and he needs to tell me that I would still be happy to see him, because 196 00:10:04,862 --> 00:10:08,666 actually, I've grown a lot in my life with Joe telling me things like that. 197 00:10:08,666 --> 00:10:14,189 I love Joe, I'd be eager to see him, but if Amy and I drove home 198 00:10:14,189 --> 00:10:18,327 one day and I looked and said, is there someone climbing in our window? 199 00:10:19,495 --> 00:10:21,414 And Amy looked and said, 200 00:10:21,414 --> 00:10:24,417 I think that's Joe. 201 00:10:25,585 --> 00:10:27,638 Totally different story. 202 00:10:27,638 --> 00:10:31,108 Or if I went in the house up to like the second floor to the window 203 00:10:31,108 --> 00:10:35,096 where he's half in and half out, his feet kicking and dangling out the end, 204 00:10:35,096 --> 00:10:36,180 and I said, Joe. 205 00:10:36,180 --> 00:10:39,568 And he goes, oh, hey, Zach, no matter what 206 00:10:39,568 --> 00:10:42,905 he said next, we would have a problem, right? 207 00:10:42,905 --> 00:10:46,826 Even if he said something benign like, hey, we're out of sugar. 208 00:10:47,243 --> 00:10:49,562 Do you guys have any sugar? 209 00:10:49,562 --> 00:10:53,467 I would still say, Joe, why are you climbing through my window? 210 00:10:54,034 --> 00:10:55,502 Because here's what you know. 211 00:10:55,502 --> 00:10:59,373 And here's what I know about thieves and robbers and windows, if you want. 212 00:10:59,373 --> 00:11:02,994 If you want me, you go to the door. 213 00:11:04,112 --> 00:11:07,349 If you go to the window, it's because you're avoiding me, right? 214 00:11:07,349 --> 00:11:10,235 If you go to the window, it's because you don't want me. 215 00:11:11,487 --> 00:11:14,490 You want my stuff. 216 00:11:18,394 --> 00:11:21,381 How often do we go to God in just that way? 217 00:11:23,884 --> 00:11:25,886 How often are my prayers really 218 00:11:25,886 --> 00:11:29,373 just a laundry list of the stuff that God has that I want? 219 00:11:31,109 --> 00:11:34,980 How often do I dominate the conversation with God? 220 00:11:34,980 --> 00:11:38,183 We go through the list of things that that I wanted to talk about. 221 00:11:38,183 --> 00:11:41,904 I do all the talking and none of the listening. 222 00:11:42,955 --> 00:11:45,508 How often Jesus is saying, 223 00:11:45,508 --> 00:11:48,512 do we want God stuff but not God? 224 00:11:48,812 --> 00:11:52,116 So Jesus saying something really powerful about human religion and human 225 00:11:52,266 --> 00:11:55,286 spirituality, he's saying that that most of it 226 00:11:55,319 --> 00:11:59,641 is an attempt to get the blessings of God, the things of God, 227 00:11:59,641 --> 00:12:03,695 the provision of God without actually getting God himself. 228 00:12:03,862 --> 00:12:06,899 Because if we go to the window, 229 00:12:06,899 --> 00:12:09,986 we might get the stuff without ever running into God. 230 00:12:09,986 --> 00:12:12,121 But if we go to the door, we've got to deal with God, 231 00:12:14,074 --> 00:12:17,077 a God who might contradict us, 232 00:12:18,512 --> 00:12:21,515 the God who might challenge us, 233 00:12:21,632 --> 00:12:25,019 a God who might want to talk about things that we don't want to talk about. 234 00:12:25,019 --> 00:12:28,139 See, we want to go to God and say, God, I'm up for promotion at work. 235 00:12:28,156 --> 00:12:31,376 And, and and it would really be a blessing if you would give it to me. 236 00:12:31,376 --> 00:12:34,597 But we don't knock on the door because he might want to talk about our anger. 237 00:12:39,035 --> 00:12:40,920 See, Jesus is saying that 238 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:44,691 if you and I feel disconnected from God, if we feel isolated, 239 00:12:44,691 --> 00:12:49,447 if we feel out in the cold, on the outside looking in, it isn't because of God. 240 00:12:49,530 --> 00:12:51,215 God put a door. 241 00:12:51,215 --> 00:12:54,202 It's because of us. 242 00:12:54,869 --> 00:12:56,071 And listen, I want you to hear me. 243 00:12:56,071 --> 00:12:59,007 I don't say that to challenge you or condemn you. 244 00:12:59,007 --> 00:13:01,477 Actually say it for two reasons. Here's the first one. 245 00:13:01,477 --> 00:13:03,996 If that's true, if it's true that between you and God 246 00:13:03,996 --> 00:13:06,983 there's a door and you only put a door where you want people to come in, 247 00:13:07,083 --> 00:13:10,887 then that means if you feel like you're on the outside looking in right now, 248 00:13:10,988 --> 00:13:12,606 you don't have to be for another second. 249 00:13:18,463 --> 00:13:21,366 That's why I put a door there. 250 00:13:21,366 --> 00:13:24,419 You can right now say to God, I don't. 251 00:13:24,419 --> 00:13:26,004 I don't want to be on the outside. 252 00:13:26,004 --> 00:13:27,122 I want to come in. 253 00:13:27,122 --> 00:13:28,741 I want to come in. 254 00:13:28,741 --> 00:13:31,110 I see in Jesus a life lived. 255 00:13:31,110 --> 00:13:35,215 If righteousness, I see it as death, a sacrificial payment for my sin. 256 00:13:35,215 --> 00:13:36,900 I seen his resurrection proof 257 00:13:36,900 --> 00:13:40,738 that he is who he said he is, that he can do what he said he can do. 258 00:13:40,771 --> 00:13:42,506 God, I don't want to be outside anymore. 259 00:13:42,506 --> 00:13:45,443 I want to come in. Do you? 260 00:13:45,443 --> 00:13:49,197 You know, next weekend we're baptizing 52 people. 261 00:13:49,614 --> 00:13:50,732 It's going to be an incredible weekend. 262 00:13:50,732 --> 00:13:53,736 Let me just tell you, better get here early to get a parking spot. 263 00:13:54,036 --> 00:13:54,219 Okay? 264 00:13:54,219 --> 00:13:57,223 You better get early. 265 00:13:58,791 --> 00:14:00,276 But I'd love to baptize 53. 266 00:14:03,063 --> 00:14:03,630 Because where 267 00:14:03,630 --> 00:14:06,633 you thought there was a wall, there is a door. 268 00:14:06,633 --> 00:14:08,819 And his name is Jesus. 269 00:14:08,819 --> 00:14:11,489 Why would you spend another second out in the cold? 270 00:14:11,489 --> 00:14:12,323 But here's the second thing. 271 00:14:12,323 --> 00:14:14,943 Even if you're not ready for that, here's the second thing. 272 00:14:14,943 --> 00:14:18,480 Just realizing that being outside 273 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:21,834 is a choice changes the way you understand God. 274 00:14:22,685 --> 00:14:25,955 Because you see, if you're outside because he wants you out there, 275 00:14:26,155 --> 00:14:29,225 then you have to perceive him as a God who may not love you, 276 00:14:29,275 --> 00:14:32,813 who may not be able to forgive you, who may not be able to welcome you. 277 00:14:32,813 --> 00:14:35,249 But if you are outside because you want to be, 278 00:14:35,249 --> 00:14:38,669 that means that all that stands between you and a God 279 00:14:38,669 --> 00:14:42,807 who loves you and forgives you and will accept you is a door 280 00:14:43,942 --> 00:14:46,945 that you can go through any time. 281 00:14:47,196 --> 00:14:51,484 See, so great was God's love and mercy and kindness to you, that he sent His Son 282 00:14:51,717 --> 00:14:54,721 so that you might have a door, 283 00:14:56,156 --> 00:14:59,159 but you have to use it. 284 00:15:00,060 --> 00:15:03,330 Now you might be saying, well, was that I'm a follower of Jesus, I'm a Christian. 285 00:15:03,330 --> 00:15:04,715 I went through that door a long time ago. 286 00:15:04,715 --> 00:15:07,251 What does this passage have for me? Great question. 287 00:15:07,251 --> 00:15:08,887 That's my third point, actually. 288 00:15:08,887 --> 00:15:10,505 Not just that there is a door. 289 00:15:10,505 --> 00:15:13,492 Not just that you must use it, but you should wear it out. 290 00:15:14,343 --> 00:15:16,478 And here's what I mean by that. 291 00:15:16,478 --> 00:15:16,795 Do do. 292 00:15:16,795 --> 00:15:17,646 Well, let me read the first two, 293 00:15:17,646 --> 00:15:20,667 verse nine, John chapter ten, verse nine, Jesus, this beautiful verse, 294 00:15:21,301 --> 00:15:22,469 he says, I am the door. 295 00:15:23,937 --> 00:15:27,274 If anyone enters by me, he will be saved. 296 00:15:28,942 --> 00:15:31,495 Let me just I mean, I know I just I said I was done talking to people 297 00:15:31,495 --> 00:15:34,582 that are seeking, but can you just see that I am the door? 298 00:15:34,582 --> 00:15:37,585 Anyone who enters by me will be saved. 299 00:15:38,703 --> 00:15:40,505 Then he says this and will go in 300 00:15:40,505 --> 00:15:43,826 and out and find pasture in and out. 301 00:15:43,826 --> 00:15:45,177 Do you see that language? 302 00:15:45,177 --> 00:15:46,445 You see? You see, don't you? 303 00:15:46,445 --> 00:15:49,432 Don't keep sheep in the sheep pen, right? 304 00:15:49,682 --> 00:15:51,568 They go out and they do sheep things. 305 00:15:51,568 --> 00:15:53,403 They eat grass, they drink water, they get fat 306 00:15:53,403 --> 00:15:54,621 so you can wear them or eat them. 307 00:15:54,621 --> 00:15:57,625 That's what cheaper for, right? 308 00:15:58,592 --> 00:16:01,829 Jesus says this door was designed for you to go in and out. 309 00:16:01,829 --> 00:16:03,448 He's saying when he says that, he's saying 310 00:16:03,448 --> 00:16:05,550 two really powerful things about the Christian life. 311 00:16:05,550 --> 00:16:07,319 Okay, here's the first one. 312 00:16:07,319 --> 00:16:08,453 I'm going to give you a metaphor. 313 00:16:08,453 --> 00:16:11,874 So, this past weekend, my wife Amy was out of town, 314 00:16:12,241 --> 00:16:15,194 and I'm in the kitchen cooking, which I'm also not great at. 315 00:16:15,194 --> 00:16:16,262 And if you're starting to think, 316 00:16:16,262 --> 00:16:19,049 are you good at anything besides talking in front of people? No, 317 00:16:20,701 --> 00:16:21,985 no, I'm really not. 318 00:16:21,985 --> 00:16:23,454 That's why I do this for a living. 319 00:16:23,454 --> 00:16:25,556 So I'm in the kitchen. I'm trying to figure out how to cook dinner. 320 00:16:25,556 --> 00:16:27,892 I have no idea what I'm doing. That's its own adventure. 321 00:16:27,892 --> 00:16:32,430 And I and I open a drawer to get something out, and the drawer falls out. 322 00:16:33,215 --> 00:16:34,866 It's broken. 323 00:16:34,866 --> 00:16:37,436 And I don't know what to do with it because I can't fix things. 324 00:16:37,436 --> 00:16:38,871 So I'm holding it. 325 00:16:38,871 --> 00:16:40,673 I grab a cabinet, open a cabinet. 326 00:16:40,673 --> 00:16:42,508 The door falls off. 327 00:16:42,508 --> 00:16:45,712 I'm standing in my kitchen holding a drawer and a cabinet door, 328 00:16:46,379 --> 00:16:47,764 and because I don't know how to fix anything, 329 00:16:47,764 --> 00:16:50,134 I just found a corner in the kitchen to set them down 330 00:16:50,134 --> 00:16:52,253 for when Amy gets back, she'll know what to do with them. 331 00:16:52,253 --> 00:16:53,070 You know? 332 00:16:53,070 --> 00:16:57,659 And and I'm I'm thinking of my house was built in 1981, which means the bill is. 333 00:16:57,659 --> 00:17:00,395 Do you know, it's like everything is breaking. 334 00:17:00,395 --> 00:17:02,815 And once you start to notice things breaking in your house, 335 00:17:02,815 --> 00:17:05,484 I know if you had this experience, you start to notice that there's breaking. 336 00:17:05,484 --> 00:17:06,719 Things are breaking all over. 337 00:17:06,719 --> 00:17:07,854 I mean, like at one point I'm sitting there going, 338 00:17:07,854 --> 00:17:09,772 I sort of burn this down and collect the insurance money. 339 00:17:10,824 --> 00:17:12,125 We're in real trouble. 340 00:17:12,125 --> 00:17:16,530 And, you know, because I can't I can't fix things, but I can do math. 341 00:17:16,530 --> 00:17:19,316 So I'm like, adding up how much everything's going to cost me. 342 00:17:19,316 --> 00:17:21,185 And I have a son who's going to college this fall. 343 00:17:21,185 --> 00:17:23,338 I'm starting to hyperventilate in my kitchen. 344 00:17:23,338 --> 00:17:25,056 You know, I don't know how I'm going to pay for everything. 345 00:17:25,056 --> 00:17:27,743 And then I got to be honest, I start to get a little mad 346 00:17:27,743 --> 00:17:30,295 because the reason I live in a house full of broken things 347 00:17:30,295 --> 00:17:33,299 is because I live with my wonderful wife, Amy, and five monsters, 348 00:17:34,433 --> 00:17:36,302 and they don't care about your stuff. 349 00:17:36,302 --> 00:17:41,842 They don't, you know, they have no respect for property or or money or they slam 350 00:17:41,842 --> 00:17:45,546 drawers and cabinets and break things and, you know, they don't care. 351 00:17:45,546 --> 00:17:47,999 And I'm starting to get mad, like, oh, they're so ungrateful and, 352 00:17:47,999 --> 00:17:48,749 and, you know, blah, blah. 353 00:17:48,749 --> 00:17:50,401 And then it hits me, this hits me 354 00:17:50,401 --> 00:17:52,771 that 20 years from now, my house is going to be perfect. 355 00:17:56,842 --> 00:17:59,011 There's nothing's going to be broken. 356 00:17:59,011 --> 00:18:01,147 And I bet 20 years from now I would give anything 357 00:18:01,147 --> 00:18:04,384 that I have to go back to broken cabinet doors and broken drawers, 358 00:18:05,101 --> 00:18:08,104 because really, those things are signs of life. 359 00:18:08,905 --> 00:18:11,008 So Jesus says, God put a door between you and him. 360 00:18:11,008 --> 00:18:12,092 You ready for this? 361 00:18:12,092 --> 00:18:15,179 God put a door between you and him, and he wants it to go in and out, in and out. 362 00:18:15,179 --> 00:18:16,914 And here's what here's what you're saying is 363 00:18:16,914 --> 00:18:19,918 God wants you to use the door of access to him 364 00:18:20,785 --> 00:18:23,789 so much that it doesn't sit right on the hinges anymore. 365 00:18:25,674 --> 00:18:28,978 He wants you to use it so much that it kind of sits crooked, you know? 366 00:18:29,011 --> 00:18:30,263 You know what I mean? 367 00:18:30,263 --> 00:18:32,816 Like the paint is wearing off 368 00:18:32,816 --> 00:18:35,068 the corner is caved in. 369 00:18:35,068 --> 00:18:38,405 God put the door there to open and close. 370 00:18:38,405 --> 00:18:40,858 Open and close, open and close. 371 00:18:40,858 --> 00:18:45,063 So great is his desire for you to come in and out, free of access. 372 00:18:45,063 --> 00:18:48,600 By the way, did you know this is why Christians pray in Jesus name? 373 00:18:49,351 --> 00:18:51,353 If you've always wondered that, right? 374 00:18:51,353 --> 00:18:53,572 If you know when a Christian prays, we pray in Jesus name. 375 00:18:53,572 --> 00:18:54,473 Do you know why we do that? 376 00:18:54,473 --> 00:18:55,408 Because what we're saying to God 377 00:18:55,408 --> 00:18:56,993 is there's no reason you should listen to my prayer 378 00:18:58,645 --> 00:18:59,646 except for this. 379 00:18:59,646 --> 00:19:01,615 You built a door 380 00:19:01,615 --> 00:19:03,717 and I've come through that door 381 00:19:03,717 --> 00:19:05,335 again and again and again. 382 00:19:05,335 --> 00:19:08,906 730 on Thursday nights we do a Q&A after the service. 383 00:19:09,006 --> 00:19:11,542 Awesome. People say, can I get video of that? 384 00:19:11,542 --> 00:19:14,062 No, you cannot. You got to come on Thursday night at 730. 385 00:19:14,062 --> 00:19:16,882 You see what we did there? It's motivation. 386 00:19:16,882 --> 00:19:18,567 But I will share this with you Thursday night. 387 00:19:18,567 --> 00:19:22,521 One of the questions in the Q&A, someone asked, I hate Pastor Zach. 388 00:19:22,521 --> 00:19:24,157 I've just become a new Christian. 389 00:19:24,157 --> 00:19:27,143 What can I learn from Christians about prayer? 390 00:19:27,143 --> 00:19:28,044 Do you know what I said? No. 391 00:19:28,044 --> 00:19:31,048 My answer was nothing. 392 00:19:31,265 --> 00:19:33,684 Don't learn anything from them. 393 00:19:33,684 --> 00:19:36,570 Here's why we formalize prayer. 394 00:19:36,570 --> 00:19:38,189 Do we not? 395 00:19:38,189 --> 00:19:39,324 It's time to pray. 396 00:19:39,324 --> 00:19:41,393 Have you prayed? Have you had your prayer time? 397 00:19:41,393 --> 00:19:43,011 We turned it into performance. 398 00:19:43,011 --> 00:19:46,949 But what Jesus is describing here is a running dialog. 399 00:19:48,083 --> 00:19:50,036 Hey God, I'm going into the meeting with my boss. 400 00:19:50,036 --> 00:19:51,204 I'm kind of freaking out. 401 00:19:51,204 --> 00:19:52,071 I'm kind of anxious. 402 00:19:52,071 --> 00:19:54,891 You know, the things, the stupid things I say and do when I'm anxious. 403 00:19:54,891 --> 00:19:57,844 Would you be with me? Hey, God, I'm in the room with my boss. 404 00:19:57,844 --> 00:19:59,696 Would you give me patience and humility? 405 00:19:59,696 --> 00:20:02,032 Sounds like he's got some hard things to say to me. 406 00:20:02,032 --> 00:20:04,402 Sounds like she's got some ways I'm not measuring up. 407 00:20:04,402 --> 00:20:06,270 Would you help me to respond in kindness? 408 00:20:06,270 --> 00:20:08,873 Hey, God, who just left the room with my boss? 409 00:20:08,873 --> 00:20:12,961 Would you work in her heart and mind, in his heart and mind to help us 410 00:20:12,961 --> 00:20:14,997 both think well about this? Hey, God. 411 00:20:14,997 --> 00:20:17,817 You know, I'm still struggling with my rebellious teenager. 412 00:20:17,817 --> 00:20:19,235 I can't figure out how to get through. 413 00:20:19,235 --> 00:20:21,187 Can you work in their heart today at school? 414 00:20:21,187 --> 00:20:22,322 Can you work in mine? 415 00:20:22,322 --> 00:20:22,806 Can you help us? 416 00:20:22,806 --> 00:20:25,492 Hey, God, I gotta have that conversation with my spouse. 417 00:20:25,492 --> 00:20:27,861 Would you be here? We've both come to talk to you. 418 00:20:27,861 --> 00:20:30,114 Would you help us both understand? You see what I mean? 419 00:20:30,114 --> 00:20:31,132 In and out. 420 00:20:31,132 --> 00:20:34,018 In and out. In and out where? 421 00:20:34,018 --> 00:20:35,103 The door. 422 00:20:35,103 --> 00:20:37,773 Out in 2026. 423 00:20:37,773 --> 00:20:41,844 If it's going to be a year of more life, it is going to be a year of more trips 424 00:20:41,844 --> 00:20:46,566 into the room where God is, because God, listen to me, church. 425 00:20:46,566 --> 00:20:49,319 God doesn't want perfect. He wants signs of life. 426 00:20:52,806 --> 00:20:55,793 Where that door out. 427 00:20:57,328 --> 00:21:00,031 Turn that five minute drive to the grocery store 428 00:21:00,031 --> 00:21:03,184 into an opportunity to come into the presence of God. 429 00:21:04,319 --> 00:21:07,322 Stop your family before you eat and say, we don't do this. 430 00:21:07,439 --> 00:21:11,193 For as a formality, let's go into the presence of God 431 00:21:11,193 --> 00:21:16,383 for 30s before we eat, let's wear this door out. 432 00:21:16,833 --> 00:21:19,353 But here's the second thing he's saying about the Christian life. 433 00:21:19,353 --> 00:21:22,172 Second thing is sheep go out. 434 00:21:22,172 --> 00:21:23,274 They are on a mission. 435 00:21:23,274 --> 00:21:26,010 They have a it's kind of a lousy mission, but it's the mission of a sheep. 436 00:21:26,010 --> 00:21:29,214 Eat grass, drink water, get fat right, get worn, get eat. 437 00:21:29,247 --> 00:21:30,715 And that's their mission, right? 438 00:21:30,715 --> 00:21:32,250 They go out to do that work. 439 00:21:32,250 --> 00:21:33,869 They come in to rest. 440 00:21:33,869 --> 00:21:35,938 Jesus saying, that's how the Christian life works. 441 00:21:35,938 --> 00:21:38,407 You go out on mission, you come in to rest. 442 00:21:39,358 --> 00:21:40,259 Do you know that's what we do? 443 00:21:40,259 --> 00:21:43,413 Every week you are returning from the mission field. 444 00:21:43,530 --> 00:21:46,616 Jesus says, you're the salt and light you are. 445 00:21:46,667 --> 00:21:49,586 Listen, Christ Community Chapel is not a dude holding a microphone. 446 00:21:49,586 --> 00:21:52,223 It's not even an awesome worship team and an incredible choir. 447 00:21:52,223 --> 00:21:54,475 You are Christ Community Chapel. 448 00:21:54,475 --> 00:21:58,747 You go out into the places where you work and where you live, and you do life, 449 00:21:58,830 --> 00:22:03,152 and you tell people between them and God there is a door, not a wall. 450 00:22:03,152 --> 00:22:06,505 And you act redemptive in the fields in which you work. 451 00:22:06,522 --> 00:22:09,776 You love God, you love your neighbor, you're peacemakers. 452 00:22:09,776 --> 00:22:13,080 But that work is hard and it's tiring and it's exhausting. 453 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:16,083 You come back in here and what do we do? 454 00:22:16,083 --> 00:22:17,368 We talking about the God who loves you. 455 00:22:17,368 --> 00:22:19,170 We sing songs about the God who loves us. 456 00:22:19,170 --> 00:22:20,705 We preach sermons about the God. 457 00:22:20,705 --> 00:22:23,458 We fire you up. You get safety, security, rest. 458 00:22:23,458 --> 00:22:26,077 We send you right back out in the mission field. 459 00:22:26,077 --> 00:22:30,232 In and out, in and out, in and out. 460 00:22:30,299 --> 00:22:31,584 If 2026 is going to be 461 00:22:31,584 --> 00:22:35,605 a year of more life, it is not going to be because of what happens from the stage. 462 00:22:38,008 --> 00:22:41,395 It is going to be rested and rejuvenated. 463 00:22:41,395 --> 00:22:42,996 Sheep 464 00:22:42,996 --> 00:22:45,983 going out on mission. 465 00:22:46,867 --> 00:22:48,936 If sheep stay in the pasture 466 00:22:48,936 --> 00:22:51,923 and never come in, they die. 467 00:22:52,807 --> 00:22:55,944 But if sheep stay in the pen and never go out, 468 00:22:56,962 --> 00:22:59,966 they die. 469 00:23:01,167 --> 00:23:02,185 Jesus says, 470 00:23:02,185 --> 00:23:05,972 between you and God there is a door. 471 00:23:06,656 --> 00:23:09,960 Why do you build a door? 472 00:23:11,645 --> 00:23:15,416 Because you want people to come in. 473 00:23:15,983 --> 00:23:16,618 Let me pray. 474 00:23:16,618 --> 00:23:19,104 Father God, thank you so much for Jesus. 475 00:23:19,104 --> 00:23:20,872 The door. 476 00:23:20,872 --> 00:23:23,041 If there was a wall between you and me, God, 477 00:23:23,041 --> 00:23:24,893 it would not be a wall that you built. 478 00:23:24,893 --> 00:23:27,747 It would be a wall that I built 479 00:23:27,747 --> 00:23:30,266 every brick, a testimony to my sinfulness 480 00:23:30,266 --> 00:23:33,270 and my rebellion. 481 00:23:33,270 --> 00:23:36,323 But you cut a hole in that wall 482 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,844 through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, 483 00:23:40,344 --> 00:23:44,132 and you put a door there, and you invited me to come in. 484 00:23:44,132 --> 00:23:47,636 God, give us courage and trust enough to walk through that door, 485 00:23:47,636 --> 00:23:50,856 either for the first time, responding in faith to Jesus 486 00:23:52,141 --> 00:23:54,427 or yet again 487 00:23:54,427 --> 00:23:57,413 believing that if we have access to you through him, 488 00:23:57,447 --> 00:24:00,517 why wouldn't we wear that door out 489 00:24:01,535 --> 00:24:03,770 in Jesus name? We pray. Amen.