Feed My Sheep (Pastor Greg Hudson, 09/27/25)

So if you've been to Fort Mountain, there is

a stone tower on the top. It was built in the

1930s, which is in the midst of the Great Depression.

And so it was built by the Civilian Conservation

Corps. You may have heard of that organization,

which was started during the Depression to give

people, particularly young men, to give them

the opportunity to work, to have a job. During

the Depression. And they built many state parks

and national parks and roads and different things

like that. And so in the 1930s, they were building

that state park atop Fort Mountain. And there

was a gentleman, a stonemason by the name of

Arnold Bailey. And he was part of that crew.

And they were there on top of the mountain away

from their family. They would be able to send

money back home to their family. And Arnold,

the stonemason, I think he was missing his sweetheart

a little bit. Because he took the opportunity

and he took one stone and he carved it into the

shape of a heart. And if you go to that stone

tower atop Fort Mountain, and if you look just

over one of the windows, you'll still see a heart

-shaped stone. sitting in the side of that building.

And I guess this romantic gesture worked because

he married his sweetheart, Margaret, and they

were married for 59 years. So he did one little

thing to show a little snippet of God's love,

of his love for someone else. What can we do

to show love towards other people? I want to

turn to... Luke chapter 15. Open up your Bibles

Luke 15 · chapter mention

to Luke chapter 15. Today we're going to look

Luke 15 · chapter mention

at a parable that Jesus told, and then we're

going to explore some stories of one disciple

in particular which seemed to live out that parable.

Now in Luke chapter 15, Jesus tells three parables.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

The first one that we're going to look at, and

then he talks about a lost coin. And then he

talks about a son who was lost and returned home.

But the first parable is about a sheep. So we're

going to go to Luke chapter 15, and we're going

Luke 15 · chapter mention

to look at verse 4 or verse 3. So he spoke this

parable to them, saying, What man of you, having

a hundred sheep, this is a familiar story, you

know this story, if he loses one of them, does

not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after

the one which is lost until he finds it. You've

seen the pictures. You've heard this story. You've

imagined a shepherd at the end of the day. The

sheep are coming back into the sheepfold, and

he's counting, you know, 84, 85, 96, 97, 98,

99. Something's missing. What do you think he

did? Do you think he pulled them all back out

and had them go through again and counted them

all one more time? 72, 73, 86, 87, 98, 99. And

it says he left those sheep there and he began

to retrace his steps. And you've imagined this

story or seen the pictures. Maybe he walks beside

the green pastures. He goes by the still waters.

He walks through the valley of the shadow until

eventually he hears something. He hears the little,

anybody got a good sheep cry? All right, very

good. That was really good. He heard that and

saunters over to perhaps a bush or a ditch or

somewhere where this sheep is stuck. And it says

that verse 5, when he has found it, he doesn't

just lead it back, but he lays it on his shoulders

rejoicing. And when he comes home, It's not just

a celebration for himself, but he calls together

his friends and neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice

with me, for I have found my sheep, which was

lost. That's a pretty neat story. We've heard

that many times. And Jesus tells it also in Matthew.

But I like verse 7 that he mentions in Luke.

He says, I say to you that likewise there will

be more joy. Where? In heaven. Over one sinner

who repents than over 99 just persons who need

no repentance. So this is a picture of a sheep

who has escaped, who has wandered off, who is

in the wrong place. And the shepherd, which symbolizes

the Savior, comes. Following after, not letting

that sheep remain apart from where he needs to

be. Jesus goes on a relentless pursuit of every

person who has strayed away from him. And guess

what? That's us. Even though we're all here in

church today, at some point in our life, we have

been that little sheep because the Bible says

that all have sinned and all have fallen short.

Of the glory of God. So that's each one of us.

And at some point in our life, we have allowed

Jesus to come after us, to put us on his shoulders,

to bring us back to where we need to be. And

it says he does that joyfully. That's each one

of us. If that's not you yet, if you haven't

allowed that Savior to carry you back, then...

Maybe today's the day to do that, to say, Jesus,

I want you to be my Savior. Usually we do an

appeal maybe at the end of the sermon, but why

not right here at the beginning? If you haven't

accepted Jesus as your Savior, I challenge you,

pull out one of those little pink cards in front

of you and say, I accept Jesus as my Savior.

Give it to me at the end. I want to be baptized.

Let's begin that process and make that happen

because that's what it's all about. All have

sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,

and our Savior, like a shepherd, chases after

us. Now we have to look at the context of this

story for just a moment. So let's go back to

verse 1, Luke 15 and verse 1. It says, Then all

of the tax collectors and the sinners drew near

to him to hear him. So Jesus is there. There's

this crowd of people, which some might say are

not the most popular people, the sinners and

the tax collectors and the Pharisees and the

scribes. So we've got the religious people now.

They complained, saying, this man receives sinners

and eats with them. How dare he? And it's in

the context of that complaint of that crowd of

religious people complaining about Jesus welcoming

sinners and tax collectors that had made people

uncomfortable. And Jesus told this story of pursuing

the lost sheep and bringing them back. Jesus

didn't care if it made other people uncomfortable.

Jesus was welcoming to those sinners. And those

tax collectors, Jesus chased after them. He spent

time with them. And it says that when one person

repents, there's joy. There's a celebration that

takes place, not just on earth, but a celebration

in heaven. There's joy when one person repents.

And we have that same feeling. If we see one

person accept Jesus, if we see somebody get in

the baptistry and get baptized, we celebrate.

Because we know there's a celebration going on

in heaven when that happens. But then we could

say, okay, we celebrate. But then what? Now,

someone has accepted Jesus. Someone has become

a part of a church family. Then what? Are they

still welcomed a month later? Are they still

a part of who we want to be? Maybe they dress

a little bit differently than we expect them

to. Maybe they eat a little bit differently than

we hope they would. Maybe their background's

not the same as ours. Are we still going to be

as excited that they're here when maybe they

sit in our pew? Have mercy. Don't sit in my seat.

What do we do with that? Let's turn over to John

John 21 · chapter mention

chapter 21. Because there's one of the disciples

of Jesus who heard that parable, because he was

one of the inner three, one of the closest ones,

and he probably didn't imagine it, but it wasn't

too long later that Peter kind of became like

this wandering sheep. Because it was on the night

of the crucifixion, even though Peter had promised

Jesus, even if everybody else forsakes you, I'm

going to be by you. I'm not going to forsake

you. And when that crowd came to Jesus in the

Garden of Gethsemane, Peter was there. He was

swinging that sword. He was chopping ears off.

He followed along at a distance after Jesus was

arrested. He made his way into the court place,

into where the people were. He was standing close

by until somebody asked him about it. Hey, don't

you know this guy? Aren't you one of his followers?

Your accent sounds like you're from, you must

know Jesus. No, I don't know. No, I do not know

him. And about that time, anybody got a rooster

call? Eh, the lamb was better. Okay, that second

one could work. The rooster crowed. And Peter

realized, I promised Jesus that I wasn't going

to leave him, and here I have denied him. And

as Jesus went to the cross and he died for our

sins, he rested in the grave, he was resurrected

on Sunday, and when someone came to the tomb,

they said, go and tell the disciples and Peter

that the tomb is empty. Is he still part of this

group? And then sometime later, we don't know

exactly how long, Peter decides in John 21, in

verse 3, Peter said to them, I am going fishing.

That's what he knew. He was going back to that.

I'm going to go fishing. Probably still wracked

with guilt. Unsure of where he stood in his relationship

with Jesus. I am going fishing. And a group of

them said, okay, we'll go with you. It says that

they spent the night, verse 3, they went out

and immediately got into the boat, and that night

they caught nothing. That seems to have happened

to them a couple of times, so that was also familiar

to them. And as they're coming back towards shore

with their boat empty, with their nets empty,

they see someone on the beach, they don't know

who it is, and a voice calls out, did you catch

any fish? That would probably make them really

upset to have to answer that, no. And then the

voice says, well, throw your net on the other

side of the boat. And that might have annoyed

them a little bit. We know how to fish. We're

fishermen. But they did it. And as soon as the

net entered the water, a miracle happened. Because

those fish came out of nowhere and began to fill

that net. And it was so full that they couldn't

even pull the net in. And the boat was even almost

sinking. And Peter had experienced this before.

And he dove in the water. He said, it's the Lord.

He swims to shore. And it's Jesus. And Jesus

is there, and they dragged the fish up 153. They

counted them, and Jesus had a fish breakfast

for them, and they ate breakfast together. And

after breakfast, Jesus has a conversation with

Peter. And I'm not sure, was the whole group

there? Were they sitting around the campfire?

Or maybe Jesus took Peter off a little bit. I'm

not sure how that went down. But it says in verse

15, when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said

to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love

me more than these? He said to him, yes, Lord,

you know that I love you. And so Jesus said to

him, feed my lambs. And then it happened again

a second time. Verse 16, do you love me more

than these? Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

And then the response is similar, but not quite

the same. Tend my sheep. And then verse 17, he

said to him a third time, Simon, son of Jonah,

do you love me? And it says Peter was grieved

because he asked him another time. And he said,

Lord, you know all things. You know that I love

you. And Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. Peter

had denied Jesus three times. And now three times,

Jesus is, in essence, restoring Peter. Now, there's

two different words here that are used for love.

In our English word, we use the word love, and

it covers a lot of emotions and a lot of different

things. But in Greek, there's multiple words.

And if you look at different Bible commentaries,

some will say, yeah, there's two different words

here. Maybe it doesn't matter. Others will say,

maybe it does matter. So when Jesus asked Peter

the first two times, he used the word agape,

which is an unconditional love, a God -like love,

a love that is going to love no matter what.

Do you agape me? And when Peter responded, he

said, well, Lord, you know that I, he used a

different word. He used phileo. Philos, which

would be like Philadelphia, which is the city

of what? Brotherly love. So not an unconditional

love, but a love of friendship, the way you appreciate

your friend or your companion. And so Jesus says,

do you agape me? And Peter says, well, I philos

you. I love you like a brother. Do you love me

unconditionally? I love you like a brother. And

then the third time Jesus asked the question,

He changes the word. He says, do you love me

like a brother? And that grieved Peter, and Peter

said, yes, Lord, you know I love you like a brother.

And so, again, some commentators would say, oh,

you can use those interchangeably. Others would

say, even though Peter in this moment could not

acknowledge that he had a complete and perfect

God -like love, Jesus still gave him a mission.

Jesus still gave him a role to do. He said, feed

my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep. And I

don't think Jesus was saying, Peter, you need

to go start a ranch. You need to go start a farm,

get a flock, get some livestock to care for.

That's not what Jesus is saying. Because you

can look in many places, for instance, like John

John 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10, where Jesus says, I am the good shepherd

and my sheep. Hear my voice. Many sheep I have

who are not of this fold. Jesus is talking about

his people, his followers, those who are accepting

him. Jesus is telling Peter, take care. of those

who are accepting me. Peter, even though you

denied me three times, I'm reclaiming you three

times, and I'm giving you a mission. You've got

to take care of those that are coming after you.

Even though you were the little sheep who was

wandering off, now you have to take care of the

sheep that are going to come after you. Jesus

was the good shepherd, and we, the followers

of Jesus, are the flock, are the sheep. Turn

over just a page or two. We're going to go to

Acts chapter 2 because we're going to see that

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Peter took this to heart. Now, Acts chapter 2

Acts 2 · chapter mention

is not too long after John 21. We don't know

exactly how long, but Acts chapter 2 is on the

Acts 2 · chapter mention

day of Pentecost, which was 50 days after the

resurrection. So 50 days after that crucifixion

story was the day of Pentecost. And in Acts chapter

Acts 2 · chapter mention

2, The apostles had been in the upper room for

10 days. Somewhere before that, they had met

Jesus by the lakeshore. They had gone fishing.

Jesus said, feed my lambs. And so then after

10 days of praying together in the upper room,

on that day of Pentecost, it says the Holy Spirit

fell like tongues of fire. It says the place

was shaken. The building was shaken. The town

was shaken. There was enough to draw people to

see what was going on. And those disciples began

to stand up and teach and to preach. And it says

they preached in different languages. And it

lists off about 15 or so different languages

that people were from. And they said, we all

hear it in our own language. And it records the

sermon of Peter. The one that Jesus had said,

feed my lambs, feed my sheep. And Jesus, if you

were to read Acts chapter 2, he talks about this

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Jesus who had been crucified. This group, you

guys crucified him, is what he tells them. He

talks about grace. He talks about a resurrection.

He talks about salvation. And as Peter is preaching,

he doesn't get to say, and in conclusion, our

final text is, he doesn't get to that point.

Because the people say, wait, stop. We like what

you're saying. What must we do to be saved? It

says in verse 37, when they heard this, they

were cut to the heart and they said to Peter

and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren,

what shall we do? Then in verse 38, Peter said

to them, repent. and let every one of you be

baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the

remission of sins, and you shall receive the

gift of the Holy Spirit. What shall we do? Repent

and be baptized. If you haven't been baptized,

I'm going to say it again. Take out one of those

little cards. Write it down. Let's begin to make

that happen. And on this day, the Spirit was

poured out in a powerful way because in verse

41, it says, who gladly received his word, were

baptized, and that day, how many? 3 ,000 people

were baptized on one day. 3 ,000. What an incredible

miracle that was, because they started the day

120 in the upper room, and they ended the day

3 ,120. now coming together. Imagine what would

happen. We've got some visitors here. You may

not know what we're in the midst of, but we've

got some young people, some college -age students

from Southern in the SALT program with It Is

Written in Southern, and they are knocking on

doors, meeting people in our community. And at

the end of October, we're going to have an evangelistic

series. And what if we had 3 ,000 people? They

got baptized. They wouldn't fit in here, for

one. Okay, so maybe that's too big of a dream

here. What about 300? Amen. We could squeeze.

What about 30? Amen. 30. Is that something we

could pray for? 30 people? 30 people that would

say, Jesus, I want to take a stand for you. I've

discovered something new. I want to commit myself

to you. I want to be baptized. And heaven would

rejoice because heaven rejoices when one person

comes. What about 30? But then I'm going to ask

the question, what then? Okay, 30 people, what?

What then? Well, what happened with 3 ,000 here?

120 to 3 ,000. They had to do something with

them. Remember, Peter had been told by Jesus,

feed my lamb, take care of these people. Verse

42 gives us a little hint. It says they continued

steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship,

in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Okay,

there's 3 ,000 people. And we could look down

at verse 46. It says, So continuing daily with

one accord in the temple and breaking bread from

house to house, they ate their food with gladness

and simplicity of heart, praising God and having

favor with all the people. And the Lord added

to the church daily those who were being saved.

So maybe we can learn something here. See how

they cared for the sheep, cared for the flock?

Maybe we could come up with some categories here.

And there's other categories that we could come

up with. But one thing they did, they continued

in the apostles' doctrine. Well, the apostles

wrote the New Testament, basically. So studying

the Bible, studying God's Word, Bible study.

That seems like an important thing. that we need

to help people to do. We have a Bible study that

meets every Saturday morning at 9 .30. We call

it Sabbath School. There's one upstairs in Español.

Also, Feliz Sabado to those who are here with

our Spanish Sabbath School. We have a women's

Bible study that meets on Tuesday morning. We

have a Bible study that meets Wednesday evening.

Next Sabbath, as Cindy mentioned during the announcement

time, do you want to learn how to help study

the Bible with somebody? Stay by after church

next week, and Felicia, one of the salt leaders,

is going to be doing a training session. So that's

something they did. They got people continuing

to study the Bible. And then it says fellowship.

Fellowship. What's that? Well, that's... Spending

time together. That's enjoying each other's company.

That's sitting by somebody new at a potluck.

That's coming to sit by a fire and roast a potato

at a church social and enjoying time with somebody

else, fellowshipping, having fun together. And

then it says breaking bread, eating from house

to house. How many have to eat today? At least

one time. Okay, maybe you're fasting today. You're

going to have to eat in the next few days. It's

something we do. And we can do it together at

a potluck. Maybe invite somebody to your home

and get to know somebody in a different way.

There are few things in life more intimate than

eating with someone else, than eating together,

eating with another person. And then the final

one, it says they continued in prayer. Or if

we look down, they were in the temple. They were

praising God. That's our worship time. That's

our prayer time together. And so this is how

Peter and those other church leaders begun to

envelop, begin to tend and care for the sheep

that were brought into their fold on that day.

Now, there's been studies. that have been shown

that when someone joins a new church or a new

group, whether it's through baptism or maybe

even someone has transferred from another church

in the area. I know some have done that. If you

haven't and would like to, fill out that card.

If you've moved from another place and have decided

to join a church, maybe there's some that need

to do that. Whenever you join a church within

six months, Within a year, statistics show that

you need to have made some connections. You need

to have met some other people besides yourself

and your own family. Anybody have a guess what

a number is? How many connections do people need

to have within the first few months or a year?

There's kind of a number. I see 10 out there.

Five. Any other guesses? It's kind of almost

a biblical number. Seven. Seven is the number

that a lot of studies show, that if you have

seven connections, seven people, seven people

that you could say, hey, how's your day going?

Maybe somebody that you could say, hey, I need

you to pray for this situation. Maybe somebody

that you could say, hey, could you come and water

my plants? I'm going out of town for a few days.

Maybe somebody that if you miss church, somebody

would notice. And they would call you up and

say, hey, we missed you. Oh, I was sick. Well,

what can we do for you? If people need seven

connections, guess what? of those connections.

And so that's an opportunity that each one of

us have to help people continue in the teaching,

to fellowship, to break bread together, to be

in prayer. That's what a church is, a gathering

together and making sure that we can keep a connection

so that as people come, they're going to stay.

They're not going to come and go. We don't really

have a back door. I think maybe we do over here.

out the back door, but they're going to stay

and be part of the church. I want to look at

one more passage here, still with Peter, but

we're going to go to 1 Peter, way back almost

to the end of the Bible, the book of 1 Peter.

We're going to look at chapter 5. Peter is now

writing to believers who are scattered throughout

the land, and he's writing to a group of them

in 1 Peter chapter 5. And he says, the elders

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

who are among you I exhort. I am a fellow elder

and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and

also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed.

Yes, we acknowledge and we know that elder is

a specific role in the church, a leadership role.

But I think that Peter could also be talking

to those who have been believers longer. than

somebody else. They're elder believers compared

to a new believer, compared to one of these little

lambs. Because notice verse 2. Just like Jesus

told Peter, Peter said, Shepherd the flock of

God which was among you, serving as overseers,

not by compulsion, but willingly, not for dishonest

gain, but eagerly, not as being lords or masters,

over those entrusted to you, but by being examples

to the flock. That's what we're supposed to be.

As we're making a connection with somebody, we're

supposed to be an example to them, an example

of how to study the Word, an example of how to

fellowship with other believers, an example of

how to pray, how to enjoy each other's company.

And then notice verse 4. It says, That's not

us. That's Jesus. When the chief shepherd appears,

you will receive the crown of glory that does

not fade away. And isn't that what we want? That

eternal life with Jesus to receive. It's not

about a crown, but it's about spending eternity

with Jesus. But as a part of that, we can receive

this crown of Christ's glory that will not fade

away. Let's make sure that we are taking part

in being a connection with somebody else. There's

an old story, you probably have heard it in some

other sermon, of a church service that was going

on and suddenly the back door opens. And what's

the natural response when you hear the back door

open? Everybody turns to look. The service is

midway done and the door opens and in walks somebody.

And man, he is not... Dressed very nice. His

jeans are torn. He's a little dirty. He may even

smell if you get too close to him. And he begins

to walk down the aisle. And he's looking for

a place to sit. And thankfully, like here, there's

not too many seats along the aisle. So he gets

closer and closer. And maybe there's a seat there

next to Paul. But Paul, you know, he leans over

just a little bit. Because he's not sure about

that. No, the other way, the other way. And this

young man doesn't really have a place to sit.

And he comes all the way down. And finally he

just plops down right in the middle of the aisle

and sits down. And about that time, another noise,

another sound, because someone stands up in the

back. And this is the elder of the church. And

he begins to make his way down. And everybody's

eyes are now riveted on him because they know

that, okay, he's going to help them find a seat,

maybe somewhere else, maybe in the mother's room.

Maybe he'll give them some food, you know, from

the pot. He's going to move him out of there,

surely. And so all eyes are watching, and as

he gets closer, breath is held. There's a confrontation

that's about to take place. And the old elder

comes, and he puts his hand on the shoulder of

the young man, and he... uses the shoulder to

support him as he sits down beside him. And they

watch the rest of the service together because

he said, you know, in his mind, this is someone

who needs to hear about Jesus. And I want to

help him hear about Jesus. Let's make sure that

in all we do, we are doing something to help

other people hear about Jesus. Let's bow our

heads for prayer. Dear God, What an awesome privilege

it is that you chase after us. Even though we're

that little lamb that has run away, you are the

good shepherd who pursues after us and loves

us. And Lord, you've invited us to take care

of your flock, to feed your sheep. And Lord,

we're imperfect. We make mistakes. We stray.

We continue to be distracted. But Lord, help

us to serve you. Help us to look for ways that

we can meet someone new, that we can learn a

name, that we can notice when somebody isn't

here, that we can invite somebody to join us

for a Bible study, that we can invite someone

to sit next to us at a fellowship dinner. Because

those little things can make a huge impact as

we help others to learn about you. In your name

we pray, amen.