More Access In Life | I Am More | Pastor Zach Weihrauch

John 10:7-9

John 10:7–9

So Jesus again said to them,

"truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

All who came before me are thieves and robbers.

But the sheep did not listen to them.

I am the door.

If anyone enters by me, he will be saved

and will go in and out and find pasture."

Welcome to the weekend here at Christ Communion Chapel.

My name is Zach.

I'm one of the pastors here, and we're so glad we get to be part of your weekend.

You know, 2026 for us is a church is a year of more life.

We are asking, believing, even expecting more life

and just about every area of our lives that you can think of. More life

in our relationship with God, and our relationship with each other,

and our marriages, and our parenting, and our careers. In all the corners. Now,

now we're believing this and expecting this not because we think

we deserve it or because we've earned it, but rather because Jesus tells us

in the Gospel of John, chapter ten, verse ten, that's why he's come.

He says, I have come so that you would have life and life,

more abundant life and more life.

And so we're saying to Jesus, okay, Jesus, if your mission

is to bring us more life, then that's what we want in 2026.

What we're learning this spring by looking at the Gospel of John

and seven I am statements Jesus makes about himself,

is it the pathway to more

life is not doing more, or trying harder, or being better,

it's relationship with Jesus.

Seven times Jesus tells us something about himself

and invites us in to a relationship with him

that will enable us and empower us to have the life that we want.

We're going to be continuing that this weekend.

So if you have a Bible, you can take it out and open it to John

chapter ten.

We're going to look at verses seven, eight and nine.

Of course, they'll be on the screen behind me if that's how you want to do it.

Or there's a Bible in the pew in front of you or in the back of East Hall.

If you want to use that same Bible I use.

So John ten is on page 854,

when, however, you're going to get to the passage,

let me hold out to you an outline I'm going to use to guide our time together.

Three points. Very simple.

They go like this I want to show you there is a door,

you must use it, and you should wear it out.

Okay, there is a door,

You must use it, and you should wear it out.

All right. Start with the first one, there is a door.

If you look at verse seven of the passage, you'll see our I am statement

for the week. Verse seven says this.

So Jesus again said to them, truly, truly,

I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

I am the door.

Jesus says, Now Jesus, in this passage has been using a metaphor.

It's really been pressing a metaphor, a metaphor about sheep and shepherds.

He tells us that we are like sheep, is like a shepherd.

And now in this passage,

he's using that same metaphor in a little bit of a different way.

He's talking about the sheepfold or the sheep pen.

You see, back in this time, you would let the sheep out in the morning

and they would go out

and eat grass and drink water and do the things that sheep do.

And then at night you would bring them into the sheep fold of the sheep pen

to keep them safe, secure, to make sure they were comfortable.

And there was a door, obviously, that would let the sheep in

and then close behind them to keep them in

or in the morning, to let them out, and then close to keep them out.

And Jesus says that God wants a relationship with us that is like that,

a relationship that is safe and secure, a relationship

that leads to our comfort and to our flourishing.

And Jesus is the door into that.

Now, to really understand what he's saying, let me use an illustration.

I am not in really any sense of the word handy.

Okay?

I don't know how to fix anything

at my house, and I'm not just that I really don't know.

Like if this is what happens if I ask someone to come over to my house

to help me fix something?

They will.

And then they always ask me this question that I dread them asking, okay,

they will ask, do you have this tool?

Okay.

And I dread that question because I don't know if I have

that tool and

I have to take them down to my basement where I keep the tools and say,

hey, you can look through this toolbox and you tell me if I have that tool.

And then they give me this very kind but condescending smile.

And I hate that moment because I don't know.

I mean, I don't honestly,

I don't know if I know the difference between a wrench and a pair of pliers.

I for sure don't know why you would use one over the other.

I just never learned that stuff. I don't know anything about it.

I don't know anything about construction, but even in my limited

understanding of tools and construction, I understand this.

If you're building a house or a building, a structure of any kind,

there's only one reason you put a door somewhere,

and that is that you want people to go through it.

Doors are indicators

that you can and should walk through this space.

Doors are in some ways invitations.

People go through here. If you don't want people to go

in somewhere, you don't put a door, you put a wall.

Walls keep people out doors.

Let people.

And Jesus is saying something really important here when he says,

I am the door, because Jesus is saying

that between you and God,

God has put a door

between you and God.

God has put a door, and you only put a door where you want people to go.

Now here's what that means.

That means if you came in this weekend and you feel disconnected from God,

separated, isolated you out in the cold, you feel like

you're on the outside looking in like maybe God is doing something.

Maybe he's up to something, but that something doesn't involve you.

If you feel like you are on the outside looking in,

that is not because of God.

Can I say that again?

Because sometimes that's the kind of thing you got to hear twice.

What this means is that if God has put a door between you and him,

and you only put a door where you want people to go,

then that means that right here, right now, if you feel as though

you are separated from God, disconnected out in the cold, on the outside

looking in, it is not because that's where God wants you.

Because if that is where God wanted you, he Jesus would say,

I am the wall.

I've come to keep you from getting to God.

But he doesn't say that.

He says, I am the door.

I am the door.

So Jesus is telling us something about his life which he will live

senselessly, his death, which he will become.

The embodiment of our sin of the church.

And he will come up under the anger

and wrath and judgment of God until it's exhausted.

He will die, and three days later he will raise from the dead triumphantly.

And he will say to us, I have come to live and die

and overcome death in order that you might have access to God.

In between you and God

there is a door, and that means God

wants you to come in.

I don't know if you thought that.

Or if maybe you thought

God was keeping you at arm's length, but he built a door.

Now you might say, well, Zach, even if that's true, here's the thing I.

I feel disconnected from God.

Still, I feel isolated.

I feel like I'm out in the cold.

I feel like I'm on the outside looking in.

Well, here's what Jesus is saying.

If those things are true, it isn't because of God.

It's because of you.

Let me show you what I mean.

That's actually my second point.

Not just that there's a door, but second that you must use it.

Look at what Jesus says in John ten verse eight.

This is what he says.

All who came before me are thieves and robbers,

but the sheep did not listen to them.

Now, Jesus, referencing something he says in verse one of chapter ten,

let me read that to you.

Where does this thieves and robbers language comes from?

Here's what he says John ten verse one.

Truly, truly, I say to you,

he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, listen,

but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.

Now you might be wondering, what does he mean?

Well, you know what he means,

but let me give you a metaphor, because that is going to help.

But you know what he's saying.

So let me not assume, you know, maybe this is your first weekend.

You don't know any of the names and faces that that kind of go with this church.

But this church has another pastor or pastor Joe.

Okay.

And Pastor Joe's was senior pastor here for a long time.

He's half of our teaching team.

He's going to preach next week.

You should come. It's going to be great.

I mean, not not this great, but it's going to be great.

And he and I are very close.

I mean, we're very close.

He's a mentor to me. Really?

Kind of like a father figure to me.

We're very, very close.

Which means that if Amy and I were to pull in the driveway,

my wife Amy and I were to pull in the driveway in our car,

and I was to say, hey, is there someone sitting on our porch?

And Amy looked and said, I think that's Joe.

That would be exciting, right?

I would get out of the car and be happy to see him and

and want to know why is there.

I mean, I would maybe

hold my breath for a minute just to make sure nothing bad happened.

But but, you know, even if Joe was there to say something hard to me, like,

even if Joe was there because I had messed up

and he needs to tell me that I would still be happy to see him, because

actually, I've grown a lot in my life with Joe telling me things like that.

I love Joe, I'd be eager to see him, but if Amy and I drove home

one day and I looked and said, is there someone climbing in our window?

And Amy looked and said,

I think that's Joe.

Totally different story.

Or if I went in the house up to like the second floor to the window

where he's half in and half out, his feet kicking and dangling out the end,

and I said, Joe.

And he goes, oh, hey, Zach, no matter what

he said next, we would have a problem, right?

Even if he said something benign like, hey, we're out of sugar.

Do you guys have any sugar?

I would still say, Joe, why are you climbing through my window?

Because here's what you know.

And here's what I know about thieves and robbers and windows, if you want.

If you want me, you go to the door.

If you go to the window, it's because you're avoiding me, right?

If you go to the window, it's because you don't want me.

You want my stuff.

How often do we go to God in just that way?

How often are my prayers really

just a laundry list of the stuff that God has that I want?

How often do I dominate the conversation with God?

We go through the list of things that that I wanted to talk about.

I do all the talking and none of the listening.

How often Jesus is saying,

do we want God stuff but not God?

So Jesus saying something really powerful about human religion and human

spirituality, he's saying that that most of it

is an attempt to get the blessings of God, the things of God,

the provision of God without actually getting God himself.

Because if we go to the window,

we might get the stuff without ever running into God.

But if we go to the door, we've got to deal with God,

a God who might contradict us,

the God who might challenge us,

a God who might want to talk about things that we don't want to talk about.

See, we want to go to God and say, God, I'm up for promotion at work.

And, and and it would really be a blessing if you would give it to me.

But we don't knock on the door because he might want to talk about our anger.

See, Jesus is saying that

if you and I feel disconnected from God, if we feel isolated,

if we feel out in the cold, on the outside looking in, it isn't because of God.

God put a door.

It's because of us.

And listen, I want you to hear me.

I don't say that to challenge you or condemn you.

Actually say it for two reasons. Here's the first one.

If that's true, if it's true that between you and God

there's a door and you only put a door where you want people to come in,

then that means if you feel like you're on the outside looking in right now,

you don't have to be for another second.

That's why I put a door there.

You can right now say to God, I don't.

I don't want to be on the outside.

I want to come in.

I want to come in.

I see in Jesus a life lived.

If righteousness, I see it as death, a sacrificial payment for my sin.

I seen his resurrection proof

that he is who he said he is, that he can do what he said he can do.

God, I don't want to be outside anymore.

I want to come in. Do you?

You know, next weekend we're baptizing 52 people.

It's going to be an incredible weekend.

Let me just tell you, better get here early to get a parking spot.

Okay?

You better get early.

But I'd love to baptize 53.

Because where

you thought there was a wall, there is a door.

And his name is Jesus.

Why would you spend another second out in the cold?

But here's the second thing.

Even if you're not ready for that, here's the second thing.

Just realizing that being outside

is a choice changes the way you understand God.

Because you see, if you're outside because he wants you out there,

then you have to perceive him as a God who may not love you,

who may not be able to forgive you, who may not be able to welcome you.

But if you are outside because you want to be,

that means that all that stands between you and a God

who loves you and forgives you and will accept you is a door

that you can go through any time.

See, so great was God's love and mercy and kindness to you, that he sent His Son

so that you might have a door,

but you have to use it.

Now you might be saying, well, was that I'm a follower of Jesus, I'm a Christian.

I went through that door a long time ago.

What does this passage have for me? Great question.

That's my third point, actually.

Not just that there is a door.

Not just that you must use it, but you should wear it out.

And here's what I mean by that.

Do do.

Well, let me read the first two,

verse nine, John chapter ten, verse nine, Jesus, this beautiful verse,

he says, I am the door.

If anyone enters by me, he will be saved.

Let me just I mean, I know I just I said I was done talking to people

that are seeking, but can you just see that I am the door?

Anyone who enters by me will be saved.

Then he says this and will go in

and out and find pasture in and out.

Do you see that language?

You see? You see, don't you?

Don't keep sheep in the sheep pen, right?

They go out and they do sheep things.

They eat grass, they drink water, they get fat

so you can wear them or eat them.

That's what cheaper for, right?

Jesus says this door was designed for you to go in and out.

He's saying when he says that, he's saying

two really powerful things about the Christian life.

Okay, here's the first one.

I'm going to give you a metaphor.

So, this past weekend, my wife Amy was out of town,

and I'm in the kitchen cooking, which I'm also not great at.

And if you're starting to think,

are you good at anything besides talking in front of people? No,

no, I'm really not.

That's why I do this for a living.

So I'm in the kitchen. I'm trying to figure out how to cook dinner.

I have no idea what I'm doing. That's its own adventure.

And I and I open a drawer to get something out, and the drawer falls out.

It's broken.

And I don't know what to do with it because I can't fix things.

So I'm holding it.

I grab a cabinet, open a cabinet.

The door falls off.

I'm standing in my kitchen holding a drawer and a cabinet door,

and because I don't know how to fix anything,

I just found a corner in the kitchen to set them down

for when Amy gets back, she'll know what to do with them.

You know?

And and I'm I'm thinking of my house was built in 1981, which means the bill is.

Do you know, it's like everything is breaking.

And once you start to notice things breaking in your house,

I know if you had this experience, you start to notice that there's breaking.

Things are breaking all over.

I mean, like at one point I'm sitting there going,

I sort of burn this down and collect the insurance money.

We're in real trouble.

And, you know, because I can't I can't fix things, but I can do math.

So I'm like, adding up how much everything's going to cost me.

And I have a son who's going to college this fall.

I'm starting to hyperventilate in my kitchen.

You know, I don't know how I'm going to pay for everything.

And then I got to be honest, I start to get a little mad

because the reason I live in a house full of broken things

is because I live with my wonderful wife, Amy, and five monsters,

and they don't care about your stuff.

They don't, you know, they have no respect for property or or money or they slam

drawers and cabinets and break things and, you know, they don't care.

And I'm starting to get mad, like, oh, they're so ungrateful and,

and, you know, blah, blah.

And then it hits me, this hits me

that 20 years from now, my house is going to be perfect.

There's nothing's going to be broken.

And I bet 20 years from now I would give anything

that I have to go back to broken cabinet doors and broken drawers,

because really, those things are signs of life.

So Jesus says, God put a door between you and him.

You ready for this?

God put a door between you and him, and he wants it to go in and out, in and out.

And here's what here's what you're saying is

God wants you to use the door of access to him

so much that it doesn't sit right on the hinges anymore.

He wants you to use it so much that it kind of sits crooked, you know?

You know what I mean?

Like the paint is wearing off

the corner is caved in.

God put the door there to open and close.

Open and close, open and close.

So great is his desire for you to come in and out, free of access.

By the way, did you know this is why Christians pray in Jesus name?

If you've always wondered that, right?

If you know when a Christian prays, we pray in Jesus name.

Do you know why we do that?

Because what we're saying to God

is there's no reason you should listen to my prayer

except for this.

You built a door

and I've come through that door

again and again and again.

730 on Thursday nights we do a Q&A after the service.

Awesome. People say, can I get video of that?

No, you cannot. You got to come on Thursday night at 730.

You see what we did there? It's motivation.

But I will share this with you Thursday night.

One of the questions in the Q&A, someone asked, I hate Pastor Zach.

I've just become a new Christian.

What can I learn from Christians about prayer?

Do you know what I said? No.

My answer was nothing.

Don't learn anything from them.

Here's why we formalize prayer.

Do we not?

It's time to pray.

Have you prayed? Have you had your prayer time?

We turned it into performance.

But what Jesus is describing here is a running dialog.

Hey God, I'm going into the meeting with my boss.

I'm kind of freaking out.

I'm kind of anxious.

You know, the things, the stupid things I say and do when I'm anxious.

Would you be with me? Hey, God, I'm in the room with my boss.

Would you give me patience and humility?

Sounds like he's got some hard things to say to me.

Sounds like she's got some ways I'm not measuring up.

Would you help me to respond in kindness?

Hey, God, who just left the room with my boss?

Would you work in her heart and mind, in his heart and mind to help us

both think well about this? Hey, God.

You know, I'm still struggling with my rebellious teenager.

I can't figure out how to get through.

Can you work in their heart today at school?

Can you work in mine?

Can you help us?

Hey, God, I gotta have that conversation with my spouse.

Would you be here? We've both come to talk to you.

Would you help us both understand? You see what I mean?

In and out.

In and out. In and out where?

The door.

Out in 2026.

If it's going to be a year of more life, it is going to be a year of more trips

into the room where God is, because God, listen to me, church.

God doesn't want perfect. He wants signs of life.

Where that door out.

Turn that five minute drive to the grocery store

into an opportunity to come into the presence of God.

Stop your family before you eat and say, we don't do this.

For as a formality, let's go into the presence of God

for 30s before we eat, let's wear this door out.

But here's the second thing he's saying about the Christian life.

Second thing is sheep go out.

They are on a mission.

They have a it's kind of a lousy mission, but it's the mission of a sheep.

Eat grass, drink water, get fat right, get worn, get eat.

And that's their mission, right?

They go out to do that work.

They come in to rest.

Jesus saying, that's how the Christian life works.

You go out on mission, you come in to rest.

Do you know that's what we do?

Every week you are returning from the mission field.

Jesus says, you're the salt and light you are.

Listen, Christ Community Chapel is not a dude holding a microphone.

It's not even an awesome worship team and an incredible choir.

You are Christ Community Chapel.

You go out into the places where you work and where you live, and you do life,

and you tell people between them and God there is a door, not a wall.

And you act redemptive in the fields in which you work.

You love God, you love your neighbor, you're peacemakers.

But that work is hard and it's tiring and it's exhausting.

You come back in here and what do we do?

We talking about the God who loves you.

We sing songs about the God who loves us.

We preach sermons about the God.

We fire you up. You get safety, security, rest.

We send you right back out in the mission field.

In and out, in and out, in and out.

If 2026 is going to be

a year of more life, it is not going to be because of what happens from the stage.

It is going to be rested and rejuvenated.

Sheep

going out on mission.

If sheep stay in the pasture

and never come in, they die.

But if sheep stay in the pen and never go out,

they die.

Jesus says,

between you and God there is a door.

Why do you build a door?

Because you want people to come in.

Let me pray.

Father God, thank you so much for Jesus.

The door.

If there was a wall between you and me, God,

it would not be a wall that you built.

It would be a wall that I built

every brick, a testimony to my sinfulness

and my rebellion.

But you cut a hole in that wall

through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus,

and you put a door there, and you invited me to come in.

God, give us courage and trust enough to walk through that door,

either for the first time, responding in faith to Jesus

or yet again

believing that if we have access to you through him,

why wouldn't we wear that door out

in Jesus name? We pray. Amen.