The Promise Keeper Part 4 | The Sheep & The Shepherd with Jess Schlotterbeck

Hey guys, this is Tracy. If at any time you'd

like to connect with HTV, go to htv .church forward

slash connect. If you feel called to give, go

to htv .church forward slash give. And if at

any time you feel called to make a change in

your life, text change me to 970 -00. Enjoy the

message. All right, so we're going to close out

our Promise Keeper series, but I'm going to pass

the mic to my beautiful wife, Jess, and she's

going to close our series out today. Welcome

her. All right, what an introduction. What an

introduction. Good morning. How are you doing

this morning? Man, it's so good to see so many

smiling faces. Welcome to HCV. And if you're

joining us from home, thank you for welcoming

us into your space. Or if you're on vacation,

thank you for taking with us on the road. All

right. So I am so grateful to be able to share

with you guys this morning. If my microphone

agrees with me here. I am so proud of our community

of faith. If you've been calling this church

home for a long time, I'm so happy you're here.

If you've been calling it home for just a couple

weeks, I'm happy you're here. And if you're a

new guest, welcome. I was in New York City this

week. I was at a conference in New Jersey right

outside the city, and I was driving into the

city, and my daughters decided to tell the Uber

driver I was a pastor. And so we had a wonderful

conversation with this young man from Turkey,

and I just told him all about it. about our community

of faith and what we do and how we love people

and feed people and welcome people. And he was

just so... amazed at how much love we spread

out. So we truly have an amazing community of

faith. And I am so grateful for you guys and

the love you have for other people. It's just,

it's amazing to be able to be like a parent and

then just go and brag on my kids. So I figure

that you guys are like my kids and I'm just bragging

on you. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And

thank you for coming in today and listening to

this message. So I'm going to pray to get started

and we're just going to invite the Holy Spirit

to come. Holy Spirit, come and fill this room

with your peace and your presence. God, open

our ears to hear clearly all that you want me

to share today, Lord. May we grow more connected

with you and with your spirit every day. In Jesus'

name I pray, amen. So I am so grateful, as my

husband said, to be able to share with you the

last message in our July series, Promise Keeper,

where we have discussed some beautiful promises

we have in Jesus. And so, friends, today I want

to talk about how God is always speaking. God

is always speaking. He is a great communicator.

In the first chapter, we read, Of the Bible we

read, and God said, let there be light. Genesis

1 -3 says, by his spoken word, God brought creation

into existence. We also read that God created

humanity and communed with them. He made us in

his own image. In the Garden of Eden, God communicated

with Adam and with Eve through direct conversation

and his personal presence. Before the fall, they

experienced deep unbroken fellowship with their

creator. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

puts it this way. God created us for one reason,

to know him, to love him, and to have fellowship

with him. And originally, that's what happened.

Adam and Eve loved God and had unbroken fellowship

with him. They not only lived in a perfect world,

but they had perfect fellowship with the creator.

Then came the fall and humanity turned its back

on God. Adam and Eve hid, but guess what? Sin

broke the fellowship, but God did not stop speaking.

He did not abandon his creation. Instead, he

immediately says, where are you? He reached out

to Adam and Eve, calling him in the garden. Soon

afterward, he spoke to their son Cain, warning

him before he sinned. and then confronting him

afterwards. From that point on, the story of

Scripture is a story who God continues to communicate

with his people. God spoke to Noah, giving him

instructions to build the ark and establishing

a covenant with him. God called Abraham to leave

his homeland and promised to make him the father

of many nations. through an everlasting covenant.

God spoke directly through Moses, through the

burning bush, and later on Mount Sinai, revealing

his name, his law, and his heart for his people.

The list continues throughout the Old Testament

again and again. God spoke through judges and

kings and priests and prophets, calling his people

to reopen their repentance, faithfulness, and

hope. The final words recorded in the Old Testament,

Through the prophet Malachi says, God calls his

people back to covenant faithfulness. He warns

the coming day of the Lord and he promises, God

promises that a messenger will come, Elijah will

come and prepare the way. Then 400 years of silence,

no recorded prophetic voices, no new revelation,

yet even in the silence. God was preparing the

world for his greatest message. Then the silence

was broken in John 1, chapter 1, verses 1 through

5. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word

was with God, and the Word was God, and through

him all things were made, and in him was life,

and that life was the light of all mankind. The

light shines in the darkness, and the darkness

has not overcome it. The word became flesh, Jesus

Christ, God's ultimate communication to humanity.

He is the perfect revelation of the Father's

heart. He came so that we might know how deeply

God loves us and how much he desires to be with

his people. That's what I told the Uber driver.

I said, no, Jesus came because God loved us so

much. He wanted to show us God's love and Jesus

loved God so much they were in complete relationship

that he said, I love people and I am willing

to go and be the great communicator of your love.

So point one this morning is Jesus is the gate.

Long before Jesus declared, I am the gate. In

John 10, 9, God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel

about spiritual leaders who had failed to care

for their people. Ezekiel 34, 2 through 6. How

many of you have had a leader that has failed

to care for you? Maybe not in the church, but

maybe in life, right? Well, God's telling the

people in Ezekiel this is what happens. What

sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourself

instead of your flocks? Shouldn't shepherds feed

the sheep? You drink their milk, wear the wool,

and butcher the best animals, but you let your

flock starve. You have not taken care of the

weak. You have not tended the sick, bound up

the injured. You have not gone looking for those

who have wandered away and are lost. Instead,

you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty.

So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd.

They are easy prey for wild animals. They have

wandered through the mountains and the hills

and across the face of the earth, yet no one.

has gone to search for them. But God did not

leave his people without hope. As the gate, Jesus

is the only entrance into God's flock. Through

him we find salvation, security, fellowship with

the Father. He is the way into the sheepfold.

He is the open gate, and all who enter will be

saved. How do we know this? Jesus tells us. John

10 is our main passage for today. So if you go

home, reread John 10. So John 10, 6 through 10

says, those who heard Jesus use this illustration

did not understand what he meant. So he explained

it to them. I tell you the truth. I am the gate

for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves

and robbers, but I am the true shepherd. Do not

listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who

come in through me will be saved. They will come

and go freely and find good pastures. The thief's

purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy. My purpose

is to give them a rich and satisfying life. How

many of you know the thief is the most deceptive

person in the room? If you've ever watched like

Oceans 11, right? Oceans 12, the thief is always

the person who's kind of deceptive. They hide,

they form a relationship with somebody that they

want to steal from, right? They're crafty, they're

cunning, right? So we have an enemy who is like

that. But Jesus is not like that. Jesus is not

even like the security at the airport. He doesn't

say, you can't bring your liquids, take off your

shoes, take off your belt, stand before the body

scanner. Make sure you don't have any weapons.

Your bag's too big. No, Jesus is a gate that

leads to life. And he says, come. Come with your

baggage. Come with your weapons. Come with your

anger, your resentment. Come with all the pain

and the sorrow. And come in and find good pastors.

Jesus is the gate. And he invites everybody,

young, old, male, female, black, white, rich,

poor. He wants all people. to come into a relationship

with God. That's why he came. That's why he died.

That's why. So he can communicate God's love

to us. Point two this morning, Jesus is the good

shepherd. Let's go back to Ezekiel and understand

why Jesus chose to use these particular words.

In Ezekiel 34, remember, God rebukes the false

shepherds. Israel for neglecting his people.

Then he makes an astonishing promise. Ezekiel

34, 11 through 16 reads, for this is what the

sovereign Lord says, I myself will search for

my sheep and look after them. He says, I will

rescue them. He says, I will bring them back.

I will feed them. I myself will tend to the sheep.

And have them lie down. I will search for the

lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up

the injured and strengthen the weak. Notice who's

speaking here. God doesn't say, I will send somebody

else. He doesn't say, maybe I can redeem another

leader. No, he says, I myself will search for

my sheep. God had a plan from the beginning.

Hundreds of years later, Jesus stands before

the people and makes two remarkable declarations

of being the good shepherd. In John 10, 11, he

says, I am the good shepherd. They're asking

him, who should we believe? Why should we believe

you? Jesus says, 10, verse 14, I am the good

shepherd. This is no ordinary statement. Jesus

is identifying himself as the fulfillment of

God's promise in Ezekiel. The good shepherd God

promised to send is standing before them, and

they don't even see it. How many times is Jesus

standing before us saying, drink, eat, relax,

I'm here with you, and we don't even see it,

people. He is also the shepherd David wrote about

in Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall

not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores

my soul. Even though I walk through the darkest

valleys, I will fear no evil, for you are with

me. The shepherd of Psalm 23, the promised shepherd

of Ezekiel 34, and the good shepherd of John

10 are all the same. Jesus is the good shepherd.

He cares for his sheep. He cares for you. He

cares for me. He hasn't left us abandoned. And

he's trying to explain. He's trying to say, this

is who I am. But people can't see it. And what

is the character of a good shepherd? Let's continue

in John 10. He protects you. John 10, 11 through

13. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd

sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand

would run when he sees a wolf coming. He will

abandon the sheep because they don't belong to

him. He isn't their shepherd. And so the wolf

attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired

hand runs away because he's only working for

money and doesn't really care about his sheep.

Jesus is the shepherd who searches for the lost.

Jesus is the shepherd who gathers the scattered.

He feeds his flock. He binds up the broken. He

strengthens the weak. And unlike the hired hand

who runs away when danger comes, the good shepherd

lays down his life for his sheep. How do I know

this? Romans 5, 8 says, but God demonstrates

his own love for us. While we were still sinners,

Christ died for us. He died for me. He died for

Gary. He died for Ronnie. He died for Rick. He

died for Sean. He died for each one of you. And

he doesn't just simply point us in the right

direction. He isn't a shepherd that says, okay,

here you go, go in the pen. He doesn't just point

us. He leads us personally. B, another part of

his character is he leads you. Further in our

passage, John 10, 24, they continue to ask Jesus

if he's the Messiah, right? They're like, they

still don't understand. And Jesus answers in

verse 25, I have already told you, and you don't

believe me. The proof is in the work I do in

the Father's name. What work did he do? He bind

up the brokenhearted. He heals the sick. He gathers

the scattered. He causes people home. He loves

the lost. He engages with women and children

and lepers and different cultures. And he says

in verse 30, the Father and I are one. That same

Uber driver said, did Jesus really say he was

God's son? And I said, yes. Right here he says,

I am the good shepherd. The Father and I are

one. Jesus leads because he has divine authority

and power. He's not merely a wise teacher or

a good example. He is the Son of God. the one

the Father sent. And as the good shepherd, he

alone can lead us to eternal life. Throughout

Scripture, God has always led his people on the

path of life. I don't know about you, but every

time, ever since I've said, yes, God, I'm in,

and I've followed my good shepherd, he has led

me along the path of life. He has given me rest

for my soul. He has given me strength when I'm

weak. He has given me comfort when I cry. He

has cried my tears and dried my eyes. He is a

good shepherd who leads me, and I follow him

along the paths of life. He led Israel through

the wilderness with a cloud and fire. He led

David as his shepherd king, and today he continues

to lead his people through the word and by the

Holy Spirit. Thank you, God, for the Holy Spirit.

The good shepherd never leads his sheep into

harm. He leads us into life. Who is the person

that leads us into harm? Ourselves. There you

go. Ourselves. Thank you, Dad. Right? All the

things I've done in my life that have led me

to harm, guess what? That's when I wanted to

be the shepherd. I wanted to be in control. I

don't want to be a stupid sheep. The world tells

us, you don't want to be a sheep. You don't want

to follow. Why would I not want to follow a good

shepherd? Right? Why would I not want to go the

path of life? Why would I not want to have rest

for my soul? Why would I not want to be protected

when I'm scared? God has given us clear boundaries

in his words. These commandments are not meant

to restrict our joy, but to protect us, to help

us flourish like fences around a shepherd's pasture.

God's boundaries provide safety, freedom, and

abundance. It's good to have healthy boundaries

around your life, not to keep people out, but

to know what it is to be healthy, right? We have

a fence around our yard. I don't love my fence

in the backyard. It's a chain link fence, but

I got it for free. Amen. Yes. Amen. So I used

to not have, I had like three quarters of my

yard fenced in. And so my kids always, when they

were little, I was like, they're good. We got

it. And it always like, I think Lily, when I

was running my learning center, she decided to

like exit the yard one day through the side yard,

up the neighbor's house and decided to wave to

people in the front, in the front street. Right.

She's raving to people in the front seat. Of

course, God, the Holy Spirit guided me, and she's

still alive today, and everything is good. But,

you know, now I have a fence around my yard.

We got some poodles, so I had to protect the

poodles. Obviously, I guess the poodles are more

important than the kids. I don't know. But Chris

is the one that did it. Anyway, so I have poodles.

And so we have a fence around our yard, so our

poodles don't get out, right? They love to look

at the bunnies in the other yard. They're like.

Let me get the bunnies, right? I'm like, what

are they barking about? But we don't let them

go out and run after the bunnies because guess

what? They're going to get on the front road.

So we have a fence around our yard. And when

we take them out, we put them on a leash and

they pull us down the road, but we hold them

back because we don't want them to get hit by

the cars. Sometimes I feel like the poodles are

walking us. We're not walking the poodles, but

at least we have them on the leash, right? Sometimes

we like that with our relationship with God.

We feel like we're pulling God along. Come on,

God. Come this way. I want to go here. Come on.

People always laugh at us when we're walking

down the road. They're like, who's walking who?

So my poodles tend to walk me or tend to walk

Chris. But then we have them on the leash, and

then we get them to a big field that has a fence,

and we let them go, and they run, right? And

that's what God does. He says, you know what?

These are some safe boundaries I want in your

life. And so you can run, you can do whatever,

but if you stay within these boundaries, you're

going to be safe, you're going to be protected,

you're going to be loved, you're going to be

cared for, and you'll have life. And what do

we do? We try to hop the fence. We try to look

for an opening. Like my phoenix, we try to escape.

He knows how to open the fence, right? He doesn't

want to stay in the backyard. But Jesus is a

good shepherd. I was doing some reading last

night. Actually, I got on Facebook, and I came

across this story. At the July 21st public business

meeting, the Washington County Board of Education

voted unanimously to rename Salem Avenue Elementary

School to the Thomas J. Garner Elementary School.

The school is named after the former principal,

Mr. Tom Garner, who faithfully served in his

role for 20 years. He passed away unexpectedly

in October of 2025. School staff, families, and

community members launched a campaign to rename

the building in his memory, collecting signatures,

petitions, and following the established processes

to rename the school after their principal. And

I'm sure those people didn't rename their school

after that principal because he wasn't a good

shepherd. I'm sure he not only led them, but

he cared about them. One of the most beautiful

truths about our good shepherd is he doesn't

just simply care for us. He doesn't just lead

us. He knows us personally. See, he knows you.

And how do I know that? Jesus says it with his

own words. In John 10, 14, he says, I am the

good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know

me. The good shepherd knows you by name. He knows

your joys, your sorrows. He knows your strengths.

He knows your weaknesses. He knows your past.

He knows your present. He knows your future.

Nothing from you is hidden from him. Author and

pastor Tim Keller once wrote, to be loved but

not known is comforting but superficial. To be

known and not loved is our greatest fear. But

to be fully known and truly loved is, well, A

lot like being loved by God. He knows you and

he loves you completely. In Psalms 116, 1 through

2, it says, I love the Lord because he hears

my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he

bends down to listen. Could you imagine the psalmist

there just saying, He knows my voice, and he

bends down to listen. He doesn't just stay up

here. He's not a God that's up here. He's a God

that's here, right? He gets down with us, and

he says, how are you today, Jessica? Man, that

was a rough day. I know. He knows every tear

we cry. He knows every heartbreak we experience.

And he doesn't demand, he's not demanding or

rude. He knows us and he loves us. He's a good

father. It's just like this week I called home,

or I didn't call home actually. Chris called

me and I was like, oh, my husband's calling me.

Well, I answered the phone, it was my son. It

was Phoenix. And when I heard his voice, my heart

raced and I was like, oh, Phoenix, I miss your

cuddles. And he said, well, mom. I woke up this

morning and I got up really early and I missed

your cuddles too. And so I just listened to him

as he just poured up to me and how he got up

early and all the things he had done, the 20

things he had done before it had hit eight o

'clock in the morning. And then I was like, okay,

well, I missed you. I'll see you. And he's, I'm

like, are you done talking? He's like, yep, I'm

good. See you later. Where are you at? What are

you doing? What are you doing? Can I see a picture?

Can I FaceTime you? So, yeah. But that's like

God. He loves it when we talk to him. Right?

So how do I hear the voice of the Good Shepherd?

This is all well and good, Jessica. Jesus came,

he did this, but how do I personally hear his

voice? And so we're going to go through six points

that I think are helpful in hearing God's voice

today. The first point is open the door. Just

like Chris talked about last week, it says in

Revelation 3 .20, and I love this in the Living

Bible, it says, look. I've been standing at the

door knocking. I am constantly knocking. Could

you picture God constantly knocking? If anyone

hears me calling and opens the door, I will come

in and have fellowship with him and he with me.

God is knocking on the door, people. He's right

there. He's like, come on. And we're too busy.

We're ignoring it. Like I ignore those. How many

phone calls has it been since? I want a loan.

Do you guys want a loan? I mean, this loan company,

I don't know if it's just me, but I receive about

10 calls a day from unsolicited people that want

to give me a loan because I've looked into a

loan. And I've started ignoring those phone calls,

right? And even my regular phone calls, I'm like,

okay, they'll leave a message if it's somebody

important. But that's like, if it was our phone

and we heard it ring or we heard a text go off,

we check it right away, right? But God is standing

at the door knocking, and he's saying, I went

in. I went into this situation. Hey, hey, I'm

over here. I want to help you. I want to help

you in that problem. But we say, okay, let's

do it this way, and let's do it this way, and

this way. And if it doesn't work then, then we

call out to God, God, where are you? Knocking

at the door. I've been here all along, right?

We have a Savior who knocks at the door, but

we have to open it, right? Point two, receive

the Holy Spirit. Receive the Holy Spirit. You

know, when we open the door to Jesus, when we

say, yes, God, I want you to be the leader of

my life, I want you to come in, the Holy Spirit

comes and fills us. He doesn't leave us alone,

abandoned, orphaned, anything. He says, I promise

I will send you a helper. Let's read about it.

John 14, 26 says, but when the Father sends the

advocate as my representative, that is the Holy

Spirit. He will teach you everything and will

remind you of everything I have told you. The

Holy Spirit is God's representative here. He

fills us with power. He comforts us. He gives

us strength. Romans 8, 26 says, and the Holy

Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example,

when we don't know what to pray, The Holy Spirit

prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed

in words. I have a friend who is another vineyard

pastor. She lost her son on July 4th. Soccer

player, college athlete. Horrible car accident.

Not his fault. And I didn't know how to pray

for her. I didn't know what to say. But I prayed.

I allowed the Holy Spirit to pray. And I asked

that God would bring her comfort. And Tobias

is in heaven right now. He knew God, and he loved

God. And all those people, all those soccer players

that were his friends who came to his funeral,

that came from all the different schools he were

at, heard the message of Jesus from his mom at

his funeral. not promised when our day of birth

is, when our day of death is, right? We're not

promised a perfect life, but God says, I will

always be with you. I will never leave you or

forsake you. And guess what? Tobias is in heaven

today, and he is with God, and I'm sure they're

playing soccer on that pitch up in heaven. I'm

sure it's perfect. They don't have to water it.

They don't have to do anything. When we don't

know what to pray, the Holy Spirit prays for

us. Point three, read the story. Read the story.

Some of you guys don't know the story of God.

It's an amazing book. It's an amazing book. Romans

10, 17 says, so faith comes from hearing. That

is hearing the good news about Jesus Christ.

This is good news, people. This is good news.

Jesus came here to show us God's love. God didn't

leave us abandoned. God wants to communicate

with us. Jesus wants to speak to us. He's our

good shepherd. This is good news. 2 Timothy 3,

16 and 17 says, all scripture is inspired by

God and is useful to teach us what is true and

to make us realize what is wrong with our life.

It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches

us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare

and equip his people to do every good work. When

I read the Bible, sometimes I get convicted.

And sometimes I change. Right? He convicts me,

and then I want to beat myself up. Oh, I'm such

a bad person. Oh, I shouldn't have done that.

But you know what? I'm human. We need to allow

ourselves to be human and allow God to be God.

He asks us to partner with him. He doesn't tell

us we need to be superhumans or superheroes.

He says, you're going to be human. You're going

to make mistakes. You're going to have to ask

for forgiveness, and you're going to have to

forgive other people. You're human, and other

people are human, and that's okay. My strength

is made perfect in weakness. Because when we

can forgive other people, we can forgive ourselves.

And that's what it teaches me in the Word of

God. It teaches me to love my neighbor. It teaches

me to turn the other cheek. It teaches me that

every single person here is my brother or my

sister. No matter what you believe, you are all

children of God. And I love you. Point four,

prioritize prayer and silence. May we be people

who not only cry out to God with confidence that

he hears us, but who also quiet ourselves long

enough to hear the loving voice of our good shepherd.

Mark 1 .35 says, before daybreak the next morning,

Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place

to pray. I know some of you aren't morning people,

but this is Jesus' example for us. He's saying,

if Jesus has to go and spend time to be with

his Father, why would we not go up to a deserted,

empty place and spend time with our Father? But

good news for those who are not morning people,

Matthew 14 .23. Added you guys in because I am

in that camp. After he had dismissed the crowds,

he went up to the mountain to himself to pray.

When evening came, he was there alone. It doesn't

have to be morning. It doesn't have to be evening.

It can be the middle of the day, right? Whatever

works for you and God. But you've got to do it.

You've got to do it. You've got to make the time.

You know why? The world we live in is loud, like

Chris talked about last week. There's a lot of

distractions around us, right? One of my friends

shared with me this week that during her divorce,

she would just scream out to God, like, God,

why are you doing this? I don't want a divorce.

I don't want to go through this. I don't want

my kids to have a broken family. She would just

scream and yell, and she was so angry. But she

said, Jessica, I never took time to listen. I

was so loud. I was so angry. I didn't stop and

ask God what he wanted to say to me. And I think

that's a lot of us. We get caught in our situations

and our perspective, and we want to yell out

to God, and we want to blame God or blame somebody

else, but we don't take time to quiet ourselves

before our Heavenly Father and allow his voice

to speak to us. It's kind of like these headphones,

like my daughter wears when she runs. I don't

know how she does this and works out. Lily does

this. It kind of works. You can put your headphones

on during the day. You can be like, I'm putting

my headphones on, people. I'm going to my prayer

place. I'm going to my quiet place. The Wesley

mother, she would throw her apron over her head,

and when she had her apron over her head, her

children knew that she was in her place of prayer

with God. And I just read more of her story this

week. It was an amazing story about an amazing

woman who... had two sons that just changed,

that had Methodism, that changed the face of

this country. Because their mom prayed, and their

mom raised them to be followers of Jesus, and

they studied the Word of God. And she didn't

neglect their schooling. She was faithful. Even

though her husband wasn't faithful, she was faithful.

Here's a quote I borrowed from Rudy. This is

from Anne Lamont. It says, almost everything

will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes,

including you. We need to unplug. We need to

unplug from our devices. We need to unplug from

social media. We need to unplug from our own

thoughts sometimes, right? And we need to sit

at God's feet and say, God, what do you want

to do here? Point five is ask for prayer and

godly advice. In the message it says, I love

it how it reads in the message, Proverbs 19,

20 says, take good counsel and accept correction.

That is the way to live wisely and well. First

Timothy 2, 1 says, I urge you, first of all,

to pray for all people. Ask God to help them

intercede on their behalf and give thanks for

them. There is power in community. When we pray

for each other, we can be conduits of God's presence

to each other. We can help each other here. We

can give each other perspective. Who are the

friends you go to pray with? You have a whole

community of faith here. We were in a vineyard

conference this week. We heard the word, and

then we all went up front, and we got prayer.

And Trinity said, Mom, make sure you include

that in the message of how to hear from God,

because I hear from God when I'm with other people,

and they pray for me. Because sometimes we get

so messed up in our own head, and we can't hear

clearly, we can't hear straight, and we need

our brothers and sisters to come around us and

get a word for God from us. And we need to ask

advice and counsel before we make the decision,

right? Most of the time we go to people after

you've made a decision. People come to me and

Chris all the time and are like, yeah, I'm going

to go ahead and move and change jobs and I'm

going to get a divorce. Okay, you're already

getting a divorce? Yeah, we just decided it was

best. Okay. They're not asking for my counsel.

They're not asking for wisdom, right? Before

you make that decision, ask for counsel. Seek

wisdom. It gives us perspective. Point six, obedience.

1 Peter 2 .25 says, Once you were like a sheep,

once you were like sheep who wandered away, but

now you have turned to your shepherd, the guardian

of your souls. Shepherd is the guardian of our

souls. We try to overcomplicate things. And this

is what my daughter Zoe says, you got to tell

everybody to keep it simple. She said she played

soccer and her coach would say, kiss. Remember

Zoe, kiss. Keep it simple, stupid. It's like,

well, I'm not going to call everybody stupid.

But really, it's simple. We pray, we listen,

and we obey. We pray, we listen, and we obey.

It's not that difficult. But we get in our own

head and say, oh, God, did you really say that?

Oh, I don't know. That's going to be hard. You

want me to call that person? Oh, you want me

to forgive that person? Because we've got pride

in the way. We don't trust our shepherd. We don't

trust that he's good. But I'm here today to tell

you he is good. And he wants to speak to you.

And he is speaking to you. And all we have to

do is obey. So what we're going to do now is

we're going to, I'm going to ask you some questions.

These are some questions that I asked myself

this week. I went through a workshop, asked myself

these questions, and had some amazing breakthroughs

in some things that I was feeling. You know,

our feelings are not something we should ignore.

The world tells us to ignore our feelings, or

some people say embrace all your feelings, right?

But God says, you know what? Our feelings are

sensors. And they show us kind of where we need

God or what's going on in our life and where

we need healing, right? So when I'm angry or

I'm afraid or I'm upset, I know that I need to

go to my good shepherd and hear what he has to

say. So let's write down these questions. We

might not have a long time to digest them, but...

When you leave here today, sometime this week,

ask yourself these questions and see what the

Good Shepherd says to you. The first question

is, what are you angry about? Right now, sitting

in this seat right now, what are you angry about?

Have you been angry this week? Have you overreacted

to your spouse, to your children, to your coworkers?

Have you felt like it's just not fair? What are

you angry about? Question two, what are you sad

about? What makes you sad in the depths of your

soul? What do you feel like, man, I wish I could

have a relationship with that person, but I just

don't think it's possible. Question number three

is, what are you afraid of? What are you afraid

of? In the scripture it says, God's perfect love

casts out all fear. But we always struggle with

fear. I do. I do. And if we know how much the

Father loves us, that perfect love comes in and

fear is driven out. Right? And you might have

to take some extra time to just sit with God

and hear his voice. Open up the word and hear

how much he loves you. What are you afraid of?

And the last question is, what are you happy

about? What brings you joy? What's bringing you

joy right now in your life? Are you partnering

with God in your life? Because listen, our life

is not about us. We're not at the center of the

universe. I'm sorry to inform you, but God, when

we put God at the center of our universe and

we follow our good shepherd, he leads us into

the paths of life. He leads us to adventure and

joy and peace. And it's a great adventure. Because

you know what? We're kind of like that picture

of an iceberg. Have you guys ever seen an iceberg?

You've got part of the iceberg on the top. Part

of the ice is on the top of the water, right?

And then you have a huge iceberg below. And people

can only see what's on top. Or we let people

just see what's on top of the surface. But God

wants to go under there. And he wants to dive

in and he wants to say, why did you get so angry

this week? Oh, is that because you weren't heard

as a kid? You felt like you didn't have a voice?

Why do you feel abandoned? Is that because your

mom never spent time with you and abandoned you?

Is that because you had a trauma? You know what?

Sometimes when we're going through trauma, all

the time when we're going through trauma, that's

not the best time to heal from the trauma, right?

God protects us and we walk through it. But later

when we're in a safe space, that's when the grief

happens. We start crying because we haven't grieved

something that we've lost. There's a lot of grief.

A lot of us are grieving right now. There's been

a lot of trauma in your life and God wants to

take that grief and he wants to turn it into

joy. So as God begins to expose those parts of

our heart, I was able to forgive. That's what

happened to me. I was able to forgive those things.

People I needed to forgive, the situations I

needed to forgive, and I was able to release

that to God. And so that's what I want for you

guys. Spend some time hearing the good shepherd's

voice this week. And if you are not in a relationship

with Jesus, if you've never experienced God's

love, if you're like, Jessica, I want that. But

I'm not sure. But God's knocking today. And so

we're going to help you. This community of faith

is going to help you, and we're going to do it

with you. And so if you guys don't mind, we're

going to all say this prayer together. And if

you're saying it for the first time, thank you

for being brave. Let's pray. Jesus, I'm broken.

I'm full of doubt. Shame. Regret. Fear. I want

you as my good shepherd. Come in. Have my heart.

Have my life. Lead me on the path of life. In

Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you prayed that

prayer for the first time today, welcome into

the kingdom of God. Yes, yeah, welcome. And I

want you to text 9700. Yep, text change me to

9700. And we want to give you some next steps

to follow because we don't want you to walk through

this life alone, right? We don't want to walk

by ourselves, okay? And so I have a couple words

of knowledge. We have prayer on both sides. If

you just want to come up today and spend some

time, this is going to be a safe space. If you

just want to spend some time in your seats, that's

fine too. But here are the words of knowledge

we have today. Someone struggling with anger,

constant headaches, high blood pressure, painful

injured shoulder, left hip pain, broken collarbone,

inner ear infection, pain in the right elbow

joint, pain in the eyes. pulled back muscle near

the shoulder, blocked sinus tract, and a torn

bicep. So if that's you, if you need prayer for

that or anything else, we have our prayer team

at the front. Ask for a prayer with somebody

before you leave. Thank you for joining us today.

Next week, we start our new series, Hot Seat.

Super excited to see what God's going to do as

we answer your questions. For the next month

of August. All right, guys, have a great day

and you don't have to wait for me. Go ahead and

get out of here.