'I AM' SERIES: I am the good shepherd- Erick Mtimkulu

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description. Now let's dive into today's

message. John.

John 10 · chapter mention

Chapter 10 And we'll begin reading from verse 11.

I am the Good Shepherd, the shep.

The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd who does not own the

sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and

the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the

sheep. I am the Good Shepherd, I know

my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me.

I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep, and I

have other sheep that are not of this fault.

I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.

So there is one flock and 1 shepherd.

For this reason the Father loves me, because I laid down my life

that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I

lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to take it

down, and I have authority to take it up again.

This charge I have received from the Father.

Oh God, you are excellent. You're great, You are sovereign,

You are supreme. We echo the words of prophet

Isaiah. Oh God, that you cannot be

compared to no other. For indeed, oh Lord, there is

none like you. And Lord, even this morning as

we sit under Your word, we pray that You would please address

us, that You would please speak to us, and that, oh Lord, we may

not harden our hearts. Rather, oh God, we would respond

to Your word by faith and apply it in our daily walk with You.

And we ask this in your name, Amen.

The title of this message is I Am the Good Shepherd.

As we've been going through the book of John together, we have

seen that John employs a number of metaphors to describe who

Jesus is, to describe Jesus, of course, as a Messiah and as the

king of Israel. In John chapter 6, we saw Jesus

John 6 · chapter mention

as the bread of life. In John 8, we saw Jesus as the

light, and in John chapter 10, we saw Jesus as the door or the

John 10 · chapter mention

gate, depending on the translation you're reading.

And today we're going to see Jesus as a shepherd.

By way of introduction, I want to focus on three things, and

then we'll get into the two points that I have for this

particular sermon. Number one, the history #2 the

shepherd imagery from the Old Testament, and then the shepherd

imagery from the New Testament. Let's consider the history for a

moment. Being a shepherd is a difficult

job. In fact, to be a shepherd often

meant that one was uneducated in those days, but yet it was a

difficult job nonetheless. The shepherd had a duty to look

after the sheep. He was responsible for the

survival but also the welfare of the sheep.

The shepherd would stay, would wake up early and stay up late

to ensure that the sheep is safe and the sheep is taken care of.

He was out in terms of all the elements of the day, whether it

was raining, whether it was snowing, whether it was cold,

whether it is what windy, The shepherd would always have to be

going outside to look after the sheep.

The shepherd would lead the sheep.

The shepherd would feed the sheep, but more importantly, the

shepherd would protect the sheep from danger, from robbers, and

as well from thieves because his job was to look after the sheep.

Not only that, the job of the shepherd also meant that he was

to provide food, he was to provide water, and he was to

provide medicine to the sheep. But one thing I do like about

the shepherd is that often the shepherd would smell like the

sheep. When the sheep sheep was sick,

the shepherd would take care of the sheep.

Unlike the goats. Goats can take care of

themselves, but sheeps are helpless without the shepherd.

In fact, this analogy of the shepherd is so wonderful that a

shepherd for a sheep to survive, it needs the shepherd because

the sheep is not meant to survive without the shepherd.

So the sheep needs the shepherd all the time.

In fact, that is why we get these words from David.

The Lord is my shepherd. And so shepherd in history not

only took care of the sheep, but they loved the sheep and they

cared deeply for the sheep. It was a tough job and yet they

did it with so much joy. Let us look at the imagery of

the shepherd and the sheep in the Old Testament.

Jordan is right last week when he spoke about Ezekiel 34 and

because Ezekiel 34 is likely that it is the background of

John chapter 10. Because in Ezekiel 34 God is not

John 10 · chapter mention

happy with the evil and failed leaders of Israel.

They are now in Babylon exile and God has a number of

accusations against the leaders of Israel.

The accusations go as follows. The shepherd took care of

themselves to the detriment of the sheep.

In other words, they did not take care of the sheep, nor did

they feed the sheep. And God says, I have this

against you #2 They failed to nurse the sick sheep and bring

back the straying sheep. They cared about themselves and

they did not nurse the sheep that was hurt.

And God says #2 I have this against you #3 God says you did

not strengthen the weak, nor heal the sickle, bind up the the

injured. I have this against you, the

shepherd of Israel. The failed shepherd of Israel

ruled, ruled harshly and brutally.

And God said, I have this against you.

God is not happy with the shepherds of Israel.

And so this is really the background of John chapter 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

God to say and Jesus to say this, I am the Good Shepherd,

unlike the shepherd of Israel. The notion of of shepherd is

quite common in Israel. It's quite common in the ancient

E For example, Abraham was a shepherd, David was a shepherd,

Isaac was a shepherd. In fact, Isaac was such a Good

Shepherd that other shepherds were not happy with him because

he was so successful and told him to move away.

Imagine to be so good at something and other people say

I'm so jealous of you and say we don't want you here buddy, you

need to leave. Moses was a shepherd.

He was the one who was looking after his father's low sheep.

But the most important thing here is this, that the ultimate

shepherd of Israel is not Moses, not Abraham, nor it is David.

The shepherd of of Israel is God himself.

That's why David would say the Lord is my shepherd.

In Isaiah 40 verse 11 it says he tends to his flock like a

Isaiah 40:11

shepherd. He gathers the lamb in his arms

and carries them, and close to his heart he gently leads those

that are young. The ultimate shepherd of Israel

is none of these people that I've mentioned to you, but

rather it is God Himself. That's the imagery of a shepherd

in the Old Testament. But what about the imagery of a

shepherd in the New Testament? Quite interestingly, when the

Bible uses this word of shepherd in the New Testament, often it

refers to leaders of the church. Notice a couple of passages,

John 21 as well as first Peter. Jesus says to Peter, feed my

lambs or tend to my sheep. First, Peter 5 says Be shepherds

of God's flock that is under your care.

X20. Be shepherd of the Church of

God. And so this imagery is used

again for those who are in leadership.

Be shepherds, look after God's people.

It does not stop there. In the New Testament, Jesus uses

the same imagery to refer to himself.

Notice in Hebrews 13 verse 20, Jesus is called the Great

Hebrews 13:20

Shepherd. In first Peter 5 verse 4, he is

1 Peter 5:4

the chief shepherd. And so Jesus uses the same

imagery to refer to himself. So we see it in history, we see

the same imagery in the Old Testament.

We see the imagery in the New Testament reference to those who

lead, but also we see the same imagery used by Jesus to

describe himself. And so in Ezekiel 34 and

considering Ezekiel 34 as well as John chapter 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

So and we read that passage that in Ezekiel 34 he says, I will

step up over them, one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall

feed them, and he shall feed them and be their shepherd.

And so we know even from the Old Testament that the one true

shepherd is coming. And God will announce that, yes,

the leaders of Israel have failed, they have not done a

good job, but God promises his people that the one true

shepherd will one day come. And Jesus says to this audience

here with the Pharisees and says, in fact, that prophecy is

being fulfilled right in front of you.

For I am that Good Shepherd. I am the king of Israel.

I am the promised Messiah. I am the exalted shepherd.

I am the true shepherd. I am the ideal shepherd right in

front of you. They were still waiting.

And Jesus says, don't wait any longer.

I am that shepherd. In fact, they are not happy

regarding this to such an extent that if you read verse 33, the

Bible says they wanted to stone him.

Here's the reason they wanted to stone him.

It says because he claimed to be God.

So when Jesus says I am the shepherd, the Pharisees and the

leaders know exactly what he's talking about and they want to

stone him to say this is blasphemy.

How can you make yourself equal to God?

And the Bible says they wanted to stone him.

Not only that, they also wanted to arrest him.

This is the imagery. So two points #1 Jesus knows his

sheep. It is clear from the text.

Jesus says I am the Good Shepherd.

I know my own and my own knows me.

He repeats this in verse 27. My sheep hear my voice, and I

know them. Again, Jesus reminding the

listeners, the Pharisees, in this case the the Jewish

leaders, that I am the Good Shepherd.

I am unlike the shepherds of Israel.

I am unlike the failed shepherds of Israel.

Rather, I am the Good Shepherd. And guess what?

I'm the Good Shepherd. But also I know my own, and my

own knows me. Notice that I know my own, and

my own knows me, and they know me because they belong to me.

Jesus says not only I'm a Good Shepherd, but I know those who

belong to me and they also know me.

In other words, I have an intimate relationship.

I have a close relationship with my sheep and guess what?

They also know me. Jesus says I don't have a long

distance relationship with the sheep, rather I have a close

relationship with the sheep. Why?

Because they belong to me. The word know in this context is

the word loving. Not just what Jesus says.

He talks about his relationship with the Father.

I, the Father and I are one. He also says I know the Father

and the Father knows me and he uses that to say this is how I

know the sheep, the way I know the Father.

This is the way I know my sheep. I have a relationship.

And guess what it says then I not only know them, but I call

my sheep by name. I know them, I have a

relationship with them, I know each of them.

And often you can be around people who like to name drop.

Maybe some of us have those kind of friends with us.

If they're next to you, please don't say anything.

But sometimes we have friends who like to name drop to really

show that I know a particular important person.

Have you been around the people I know?

Nah, I know Mandela. I know whoever the person that

they like to name drop. And often when we name drop, we

want to show that we know an important person, but also we

are known by that important person wherever they may be.

But the privilege of being known by God supersedes being known by

President Ramaphosa wherever else.

And he says my sheep knows me. This is so wonderful.

My sheep know me and I know them.

This is unmatched that God knows us.

Not only that, he says I know them by name, that each of us

here this morning are known by the shepherd, The one who drew

us to himself has a relationship with us.

And he says I know you. And guess what, you can't run

away from me, but also you can hide from me because I know you

before you think something, I know it.

In fact, you belong to me. And because you belong to me,

I'll take care of you because why you are mine.

What a wonderful relationship we have with the Savior Church.

You must be reminded of this that sometimes we want to be

known in certain spaces, but there is a great blessing and

being known by God himself. Jesus says I know you and I know

your name. How wonderful is that he he

called Zacchaeus by his name. He said, listen, come down

Zacchaeus, because what? He knew his name.

God this morning knows your name.

Whatever trouble we may find ourselves in this morning, the

kind of discouragement and hopelessness we may find

ourselves this morning. Can I say to you, the Saviour

knows your name? Why?

For he has a relationship with you.

He is close to you. Because Jesus says, oh, these

ones, they belong to me. I know them.

And that is the goal of the church.

That is the goal of leaders of the church is that as leaders we

get connected to one another, but also we get connected to

everyone else in the congregation until the shepherd

smells like the sheep. The shepherd is not separating

himself from the from the sheep. The shepherd is not thinking I'm

more important than the sheep. Do you remember when they came?

They came to Jesus wanting to arrest him.

In fact, they were asking who is Jesus among you for?

They could not tell Jesus from his disciples.

He looked like them. He had no bling to say, oh,

that's the leader. He looked like his people.

That's why they have to ask who is Jesus among you today?

It becomes very you can easily tell at times a leader from the

the congregation, but Jesus saying connect with one another.

But can I also say that part of shepherding and leading, it also

means that the leaders of the church have a responsibility to

lead you into all truth, to feed you truth like a Good Shepherd,

even when you do not want that truth.

Leaders have a responsibility to give you that truth, not as

shepherds, but as under shepherds.

When you go astray, we have a responsibility to bring you back

and say, hey, this road will lead to destruction.

Church be reminded that biblical love confronts sin.

That's love. And shepherd have a

responsibility to say, hey, you're going to get hurt, come

this way. Let us walk with you.

Let us confront this. In fact, when we confront sin,

it's part of God's wonderful grace in sustaining his church.

Why do I say that? Thank thank God for Nathan who

went to David and say, hey, David, what you've done is

wrong. In fact, God saw it.

Thank God for Paul who rebuked Peter and say, Peter, this

hypocrisy is not right. Buddy, turn away from this.

That is the job of leading and loving and shepherding.

But also that includes protecting the sheep from

wolves. This is not to control you, but

rather to love you. Shepherds have that

responsibility. And sometimes it may feel as

though people are invading people's lives, but that's not

the case at times. It's because the Lord is calling

us out. And can I say I've been called

out in my own life many times by people that love me and

appreciate me and have said to me, hey, this is not the way.

And at times I think to myself, who do they think they are to

tell me? And then I go back and reflect.

I realized they were right. God is calling me to repent in

this area of my life. That's the nature of

shepherding, but also the nature of shepherding does not stop in

the in the context of the church or does not stop when the

shepherds and the under shepherds of the church leave

the floor. But also there is a call of

shepherding at home as well. I will never forget what my

previous pastor said to me. He told me a story the other

day. He says one of his sons came to

him and say, hey, Dad, we don't see you like you, you're not

around. What?

What's going on? We don't see you.

We don't connect with you. You're not engaging with us.

He said the reason that was so surprising to him, he said,

guess what? I'm always at home.

But he realized something, that he was at home, but he was not

present. Parents can be at home and not

be present. Shepherding your family means

also that you are. Present in shepherding your own

family, your own kids, your husband, your wife, shepherding

one another as a family through prayers, through reading of the

Word, through sharing encouraging words.

You are shepherding one another. It begins in the family.

So they shepherding in the church context, but also they

shepherding that happens in the home #2 Jesus says Then I lay

down my life for my sheep. Notice that is in verse 11, but

also it's repeated in verse 17. For this reason, the Father

loves me because I lay down my life.

I take it up again. I lay it down only to take it up

again. No one takes it from me.

I love this. Jesus says there is a price to

be paid and guess what, I am going to pay this price.

He knows that in a few months time he will be at the Feast of

the Tabernacles. He knows that next is going to

be a Passover. After the Passover He knows that

he will become the Passover lamb.

Jesus knows this. Why is he saying this?

Because none of the other leaders were willing to lay down

their lives for the sheep. And Jesus says I lay down my

life for my sheep. Church.

Jesus dies freely. Jesus dies voluntarily.

Jesus is not forced. He dies willingly for his sheep.

And he says, guess what? I will die, but I will also take

up my life again. Jesus's death is divine

accomplishment. Jesus's death is divine

appointment orchestrated by the Father and the Son and the Holy

Spirit, that Jesus will come and will come and die and will die.

And Jesus says I will die. But guess what?

This is not because of any man's doing.

I'm simply laying down my life. And then he says, for who?

For who did Jesus then die for? For whom is he laying down his

life for? He says for the sheep.

Jesus says, I die and lay my life down for the sheep.

In other words, I die in the place of the sheep.

The worst of me is laid upon Jesus, and the best of Jesus is

laid upon me, my sin transferred to Jesus, His righteousness

transferred to me. That is the greatest change.

That's what Jesus means here. I die for my sheep.

I will lay down my life for my sheep because the hired handy

tells us that the hired handy runs away.

The hired hand runs away because he is not the owner of the

sheep. He's only doing this in order to

get a check, but he's not the owner of the sheep.

And Jesus says, but I own the sheep.

Therefore I lay my love down for my sheep.

The shepherd the, the, the, the hired hand does not care for the

sheep because they did not care for that woman that was caught

in adultery in chapter 8. Nor did they care for the

paralysed man in chapter 5, nor did they care for the man by the

by the by the pool in in Chapter 9.

They did not care. And Jesus said, I am a different

kind of shepherd. I care to such an extent that I

care in fact that I will die for you.

The shepherd gave his life for the sheep.

The sheep will not have life apart from the shepherd dying.

The sheep receives life through the death of the shepherd.

Without the shepherd willingly dying, the sheep remains in

their sins. Without the shepherd dying, the

wrath of God falls upon the sheep, but the the shepherd dies

and invites the sheep to come to himself.

Romans 58 says God shows his love for us and that while we

were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 324 Sinners are justified by His grace as the gift through

the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as

the propitiation by His blood to be received by faith.

Jesus says I lay down my life for my sheep.

I die for my sheep. Again, let us be reminded about

the humility of the shepherd here, that Jesus is not calling

us as leaders in your area of leadership wherever you are

leading. Jesus is calling us to a place

of humility, but he's also calling us to a place where it

is never about self glory, but it is always about the glory of

Christ. You must always be reminded that

it is not about power, it is not about prestige, nor it is about

profit, but rather it is about submission to Christ that we can

also cry out like the psalmist, Not to us, O God, not to us, but

to you. Be the glory alone.

The church is meant to lift up his hands and his voice to say,

All glory be to the King, all glory be to Jesus, for He is the

one that gathers the sheep and lay his life down for the sheep.

Someone once asked Charles Spurgeon the secret of his

influential ministry, and Charles Spurgeon's response was

quite surprising. He says my people pray for me.

So they said, Spurgeon, why are you so successful in ministry?

Is this because my people pray for me is a reminder that even

leaders are not immune to temptation.

Can I repeat that leaders are not immune to temptation?

Temptation is no respecter of men.

Sin is not respecter of men. In fact, it cares nothing about

your title. Therefore, I think one of the

gifts that God gives us as a local church is the plurality of

elders in the local church. I do not know how people leave

churches alone. I don't know how you do that.

And I never want to experience that in my life because you need

other people to speak into your life, to hold you accountable,

but also to encourage you and lift you up.

Church, can I say this morning and and encourage you this

morning to please pray for the leaders of this church because

we should not be ignorant of the devices of Satan.

Therefore, the church and its members ought to lift up the

leaders of the church and pray. But also the the brutality of

leaders gives greater accountability, but also it

protects the church from spiritual abuse and actually

preserve each truth and also preserve its doctrine.

A few months ago, I was sitting with a group of leaders and we

were discussing the issue of Palestine and Israel.

I want to tell you what was the end result of our conversation.

But it was, it was so good because we were meeting as

leaders. We did not know what each one of

us thought about this topic. And we sat down and say, what do

you think about this matter? How should we think about Israel

and Palestine from a biblical point of view and how should we

respond? And we debated, we discussed,

and can I say perhaps we did not agree on everything, but that

was good because when we, when each of us went home, we could

reflect on our own biblical stance on this issue.

That's what leadership gives to discuss even tough doctrinal

matters and to preserve the doctrine of the church and

church. We need this because as leaders

as well, maybe in your area of leadership, we are prone to

wonder, but sometimes we are prone to drift.

As I was preparing this sermon, I was reminded of my old

favorite hymn written in 1758. Verse 3 of that hymn says this

is the hymn is Come thou fountain.

I'm not sure if some of you know him.

Come thou fountain. Verse 3 says prone to 1.

The Lord, I feel it, prone to live.

The God I love hears my heart. O Lord, take and seal it.

Seal it for thy cuts above, because we are prone to wonder

at times. But can I also say that they're

brown? To wonder does not mean the loss

of salvation, that you're losing your salvation.

No, because Jesus is clear. No one can snatch you out of my

hand. No one.

So you're not losing your salvation.

But can I say that the sheep, the sheep does sometimes drift.

Sometimes a sheep can even drift for a season.

But we trust the Lord will bring the sheep back to the fold.

Perhaps a few questions for us to consider and for you to

consider. In what ways do we need to

sacrifice for all for us to do what's best for those that are

close to us? Do we need to sacrifice our

time? Do we need to sacrifice our

comfort? Do we need to sacrifice our

privacy? Do we need to sacrifice our

career and advancement for the sake of shepherding our own

family as Jesus willing to sacrifice it for the sheep?

The household is called to sacrifice for one another in

some careers. Sometimes we need to say no for

the benefit of the family. Notice what he says next.

He says I have other sheep that are not of this pan but I must

bring them also. They will listen to my voice and

there will be 1 flock and 1 shepherd church.

We must be reminded this morning that Christ's ongoing work

throughout human history is still taking place even this

morning here at Weinberg where the Lord gathers many national

teas and, and, and cultures together to come and worship

Him. And when the world will say,

hey, separate, we say no because the shepherd has gathered his

flock at Weinberg this morning. We're representing Revelation

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5 from every tribe, from every language, a people and

nation gathered under God's voice.

We must be reminded Jesus saying to the Israel, in other words,

he's saying to the Jews. There are others that are

coming. Guess what?

They are not Jewish. They are Gentiles.

That this is not just about you Jews also the Gentiles are

coming in and they will come. That's what it reminds us of,

that Jesus is not a Middle Eastern.

Jesus is not a Western savior. He's not an African savior.

Jesus is the world Savior, A savior for all people and for

all men. And sometimes we don't even have

to. We don't even care much about

his skin colour because skin colour does not save.

We want to know Jesus. He's saving work.

And he says not only that. They will gather under 1

shepherd, under one gospel, under 1 Saviour, and under 1

Lord. Just let's be reminded that

there is no Baptist flock, there is no Enrique Gerg flock, there

is no Presbyterian flock, there is no common ground flock.

Jesus says they will become one flock under 1 shepherd.

And so we, we must be careful of this, trying to separate

ourselves. No, no, we are this, we are

that. I know that there's often a

place for that, but it is a reminder that first and

foremost, we are believers. We are followers of Christ, we

are Christians. We are not First Baptist or

Presbyterian or common ground. We are not divided by those

things. Yes, there are spaces for those

things. When someone says to me I'm a

Baptist, I know what they mean, that one of the things they

believe in is probably congregationalism.

When someone says I'm Reformed, they probably say I hold to the

doctrines of grace. I'm a 5 point Calvinist.

I hold to the creeds and the Confessions.

That's what they mean. So we know there's space for

those things, but ultimately God is gathering his flock.

It does not matter where they belong, whether they're in her

care or the Presbyterian or Baptist is 1 flock under the

banner of Jesus. Because one day in heaven, I

won't say no, I'm from common ground.

Common ground will mean absolutely nothing.

No, I belong to Christ who gathers his church.

It says, No one takes my life, but I lay down in my own accord,

Jesus saying, here I have come unto this earth to do the will

of the Father. John please says, For God so

loved the world that he gave the Father, gives the Son for the

benefit of the sheep. Jesus says, I have come to do

the will of the Father. Guess what?

I love the Father and the Father loves me and I am one with the

Father. The death of Jesus constitutes

the flock. The shepherd dies so that the

sheep can leave. Revelation 7 verse 17 says for

Revelation 7:17

the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd.

The shepherd becomes the Lamb for our sake.

The death of Jesus is not a small thing.

We must be reminded that this is the perfect Son of God, the

second person of the Trinity, who put on flesh in order to die

in our place for our sin, the one who was without spot or

blemish and yet to die for wicked sinners.

The death of Jesus is not a small thing.

He is the perfect Lamb that lays down his life for his sheep.

A few words of application, then we close number one.

I want to encourage you this morning to look to the Shepherd.

Jesus alone in this analogy, in this imagery, shows that He

alone is the guardian of our souls.

He will guide our steps. We must rest in Him.

We must remain in Him. He will take care of us in

unimaginable ways. May I encourage the Saints this

morning here at Weinberg to follow Him.

All the days of your life follow him #2 in this analogy, also in

this imagery, give us a sense of a wondered sheep.

Often a sheep will wander because of grievous sin.

Sometimes that sin will be gradual.

But can I say this morning, if you're walking in disobedience

this morning, you're working in grievous sin, walking grievous

sin, Can I say to you, stop and turn around, Don't keep going no

matter how many wrong path you've taken in your life.

The Shepherd wants to show you this morning how beautiful he

is. He's more beautiful than

anything else. You think it's beautiful?

Whatever may be holding you to say, stay here, stay here.

Can I say Jesus much more beautiful than that?

Come this morning, Jesus offers us what is better than this

world. When you are lost, he will find

you. When you are weary, He will

carry you. When you are cast down, He will

restore you. Therefore, the invitation, If

you do not know the shepherd this morning, I want to say to

you, he again, He has come to lay down his life for sinners.

The Bible reminds us that all men have fallen short of the

glory of God. None of us meet the standard of

God, and yet the Savior dies for us not only to be able to meet

that standard in our own power, in our own strength and our own

ability to know, to meet that standard based on the

righteousness that He imputes to us.

So that the Father does not look at us on the basis of our sin,

but the Father looks at us on the basis of the righteousness

of Christ. And so this morning, if you

don't know Him, come to Him. Put your trust in Him.

Rely this morning upon His finished work.

He will care for you. He will give you eternal life.

The Scripture reminds us that if you hear His voice this morning,

do not harden your heart. Scripture says whoever shall

call upon him shall be saved. Our Lord in heaven, we are so

grateful to know about this Good Shepherd, Shepherd who dies and

lays down his life for his sheep.

We love this imagery of God such to be reminded that you died for

us. You're the innocent one.

We are the guilty ones, and yet you laid down your life for us.

And not only that, oh God, you give us the privilege to come to

you and you call us friends. Not only that, oh God, you give

us the privilege to serve you. And so, Lord, our hearts are

grateful this morning. Our hearts are thankful this

morning that we have the Good Shepherd who loves us, who feeds

us, who leads us, and who takes care of us.

And we say, let your name be glorified.

Amen. Thank you for listening to

today's message. We hope you are encouraged and

challenged in your faith. If you're in the Southern

Suburbs, would love to welcome you in person at one of our

serves. Don't forget to subscribe, share

this message with a friend, and stay connected with us on social

media for more inspiration throughout the week.

Until next time, stay clear and keep shining your light.