I AM: The Door

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

Good morning, church.

We hope you're enjoying church at home so far.

But if you call Celebration Church your home, you know that we just don't worship with music, but we also worship with our finances.

And at this time, with all the craziness happens, man, we are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and we're also called to be generous.

So if you like I said, if you call Celebration Church your home, you know that this time uh we're gonna worship with our finances.

And there's two ways to do that here at Celebration.

You can text give to 25101, or you can hit the link below to give online.

And as you're giving, there's a couple things that we need you to know.

Right now, more than ever, it is so important to stay connected.

And whether you call Celebration Church your home or you're tuning in for the first time, we want to stay connected with you.

You can text the word connect to 25101, and we'd like to send you a lot of information.

And also to stay up to date with everything that's going on at Celebration Church.

You can follow us on social media under the handle at CelebrationORL.

Yes, and Pastor Keith's about to bring an incredible message, and we've been in a series called I Am.

So we look at a collection of talks about Jesus saying, I am, and last week he said how he is the good shepherd.

And this week, Pastor Keith is going to be talking about how Jesus says in the book of John, I am the door.

So lean in, engage.

We hope you enjoy the message.

Over the past 18 months, we really wanted to place value on bringing the presence of God into the home.

This has really been on the heart of our global senior pastor.

Before we get into today's message, let's all listen together for an encouraging word from Pastor Stovall Wheams.

Hey family, this is Pastor Stovall here.

I want to thank you for inviting us into your home today.

And I want to remind you that your home is a very special and sacred place to God.

You know, about two years ago around Passover, the Lord visited us and he invited us on a journey with him to discover what's really essential to our faith and what's essential in our relationship with him.

And we've learned a lot about family, we've learned a lot about equality, uh, we've learned a lot about really loving one another, and we've learned uh a lot about knowing God and coming together as a people and how sacred the home is.

And it's hard to believe that 18 months ago we actually started preparing for the day when there would be seasons where the church couldn't meet in large gatherings.

You know, we uh set up our foundations classes and a lot of our leadership structures uh so that if the day came where we couldn't meet in large buildings for a season, the church could continue to grow and thrive.

Because, you know, in the first century and there's been many centuries over the course of time that the church didn't have large buildings to meet in.

In fact, today, much of the church around the world not only doesn't meet in large buildings, uh, they're persecuted, they're actually underground.

And uh so we need to remember that uh even though buildings are nice, they're not essential.

And that's kind of what I want to talk to you about today.

Uh, you know, the essentials, the essentials of our faith and what we're learning in this time.

And one of the things that we've learned is that uh buildings are not essential, but family is essential.

God wants family, and family, whether it's an adopted family, whether you might be in a group of singles right now, you don't have any natural family uh with you, but you're adopted in our family, the family of God.

I might be talking to a single mom with a few kids that might be running around right now and screaming, and you're just trying to turn up the volume a little bit to tune into me.

I might be talking about a family, a married couple with three kids and a dog in a suburban home, or who I'm sure I'm talking to all the spectrums of life and diversity out there.

And that's what we need to remember that we're all different, but we're all one is God's family.

We're all equal at his table.

And so we're learning that uh buildings are not essential, they're nice, but uh family is essential.

And then another thing I think we all know is that the presence of God, God's presence, that's essential.

You know, in Exodus chapter 33, Moses tells the Lord that unless your presence goes with us, we will not go.

Exodus 33 · chapter mention

And uh what a statement he makes that he tells the Lord that, you know, even if you allow us to go in the promised land and there's all these blessings of the promised land, even with all the blessings and comfort, Lord, if your presence is not with us, we don't want to go.

And a lot of times I think that we can confuse the blessings of God and a lot of the comforts and conveniences uh that we experience.

We confuse that with the presence of God and the true substance of what the blessing comes from.

You know, believers, followers of Jesus, we're the only people group in the world that can really experience true joy in the midst of pain, in the midst of trials, in the midst of problems, in the midst of persecution.

We see this all through the word of God from Genesis to Revelation, that the people of God, at the end of the day, um, we're exiles.

We're in this world, but we're not of this world, regardless of uh the place in life that we're in and the home that we're in and the state or city that we live in, uh, this is not our true home.

Our true home is in the age to come.

And so it's important that we understand that while we are in this world, our homes are outposts.

They're these, the the home, the family, or your connected group of friends there, if you're single, wherever your tent, your dwelling, your tabernacle is, this is the purest form, you could say the purest form of church.

You know, there's the priesthood of the believer, there's the the home, the family, um, there's the local church, and then there's the regional church.

And uh as we begin to invite the presence of God in the sacred space of what is essential, God's family, natural and adopted, we are gonna see powerful things take place when we pray and engage the word of God.

So the family is essential, the presence of God is essential, and of course the word of God is essential.

And we are about to engage the word of God.

You know, as you invite in God's presence into your home or apartment, clubhouse, wherever you are, your car, your van, wherever you are, as you invite in the presence of God, as you're with your friends or family or both, and as you engage the word of God, invite the word of God into your dwelling where you are, and invite the word of God into your heart.

I believe as you engage the word in this context, I believe that God's gonna do some transformational things in your life that let's just say maybe it was more difficult to do in a big building with maybe a lot of strangers looking at a big screen.

I believe that in these environments, God can do some really unique and powerful things through his word as we lean in.

So look, I'll be coming to you.

So make sure you check out um uh your your church's um Instagram or social media platforms.

I'll be coming uh to you probably every day, at least every other day, uh just with um whatever the Lord puts on my heart, some encouragement, talking about uh how God is leading us, what he's showing us.

God bless you, church.

I'll see you soon.

Hey church, I pray that this message is finding you well.

I want you to know that as a church here at Celebration Orlando, we are praying for you.

We hope that you're being encouraged in this season, and we're really excited about what we believe God is going to do in this season.

We know that there's nothing that we're facing that has caught God by surprise.

That means that there's we're gonna use these technologies and other resources to ensure that we're gonna be able to encourage you and also pray together and stay connected in community and family.

One of the things that I can't believe that that um that God is doing in all of this stuff is that we're seeing families come together.

Um, this idea of us all coming together as family, as one, enjoying church at home together as a family, bringing the presence of God into the family.

And that's what I'm really excited about.

And over the past couple of weeks, we've been talking about um this I am message that Jesus has been sharing with us through the Gospel of John.

And I can't think of a better idea, I can't think of a better person to look to than Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith and the things that he says about himself.

I believe that this is a perfect time for us to look and see what Jesus says about himself, because they can be an anchor for our soul in seasons just as this.

A couple of weeks ago we looked at this statement where he says, I am the true vine.

Um, and him just talking about that he is the source, that he is the one that we are supposed to look to, the one that we get our encouragement from.

He's the one that we're going to be fruitful through, no matter what season we may find ourselves in.

And then last week we talked about this idea of Jesus being the good shepherd.

And this is such a powerful thought that no matter what we may find ourselves in, that me we may be walking through a valley right now that makes us feel really uncomfortable, but we have nothing to fear because the shepherd is with us.

Remember, we said this last week that faith does not ignore facts, it believes God in spite of them.

We allow the facts to inform our strategy, but we don't let it inform our faith.

That we have this ability that no matter what we are seeing, that we can run it through the filter of Jesus and it can strengthen our faith and give us a strong strategy all through it.

So this week, what we want to do is we want to continue in this conversation.

In fact, this will this is gonna sound a little bit familiar because this is gonna kind of serve as like a part two to what we talked about last week.

So if you didn't listen to it last week, please go back and check it out.

You can also go to our After the Message um podcast and and on our YouTube page to check that out because we expound on some more of the Good Shepherd, but but some of this stuff is gonna bleed over because it was all part of the same conversation with Jesus.

So if you do have your Bible, we're gonna read the exact same passage that we did last week, but we're gonna unpack it in a different way through the lens of what we believe God is showing us right now.

So if you have your Bibles, join us in the Gospel of John chapter 10, and we're gonna read what it says here, starting at verse number one.

John 10 · chapter mention

Truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in any other way, that man is a thief and a robber.

But he who enters the door by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

To him the gatekeeper opens, the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

When he has brought them all out that are his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

A shepherd they will not follow, but they will flee for him because they do not know the voice of strangers.

Now this figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

Verse number seven.

So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

All who come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep do not listen to them.

I am the door.

If any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find green pastures.

Verse number ten.

The thief comes only to steal, to kill, and destroy, but I come that they may have life and have it abundantly.

I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

This is such a powerful thought, and it's intertwined so much with the shepherd and the door.

And Jesus really paints this picture, and he's encouraging us around this idea that if we can go through him, we can experience wholeness.

That's really what I want to talk about for the rest of our time together today.

Is what does it look like when we go through the door, when we go through the shepherd and what's on the other side of that?

Let's pray.

God, I thank you so much, Lord, that you are the door, and that if we go through you, we can experience wholeness, we can experience peace, we can experience life to its fullest.

So, Father, I pray.

I pray for everyone, no matter where they're engaged in this content, that you encourage us, Father.

I pray for open eyes that we can see you.

I pray for open ears that we can hear you and open hearts that we can receive everything that you have for us.

Lord, you have not left us or forsaken us, and we're encouraged in that.

So we submit this time to you in Jesus' name, amen and amen.

You know, I remember several years ago when my family and I, we were in a season of transition and we actually had moved to a new home that was right down the street from the home that we were living in previously.

Um, it was less than a mile away, it was in the exact same neighborhood, just uh a few doors down.

Um, and so I remember when we made that move, it was it was really convenient, but at the same time, it was those moments where we would have to ride by our old house every single day to get to um our new house.

And I remember this one time in particular where it was a long day at work and um I come home and I was processing through a lot of things and and and getting my mind ready to go home and engage with my family and things along those lines.

I pull up at our driveway and I go in through the front door, and I was a little surprised that the front door was unlocked because you know, ordinarily we we are a little bit more methodical than that, but I walk in and I get about 10 feet in and I'm about to go up the stairs, and then I pause and recognize that I am not in my house right now.

You got that right.

Like I actually went into the old home that we used to live in, and I found myself just by muscle memory going into a house that wasn't my own.

The thing is that confused me is that the door looked exactly the same.

It was the same builder, so there was a lot of familiarity to it.

But when I got on the other side of the door, I was in an environment that wasn't my own.

It wasn't my home, it wasn't my place of peace, even though it looked familiar.

But the door does determine the destination.

You know what I believe is that many times in our lives, there's a lot of doors that are in front of us.

And as these doors present themselves to it, it looks familiar.

And maybe it's a door that leads its way to our past, maybe it's a door that leads its way to our future, but if we're not able to adequately use discernment, we can find ourselves on the other side of an environment that God had never intended us to be in.

This is the key thing that when those doors are in front of us, that we recognize where is Jesus in this equation.

Because if we're not careful, our our history, our familiarity, our feelings, maybe even our comfort will lead us to a door that looks as if that's gonna be the door that's gonna lead to hope, that's gonna lead to joy, that's gonna lead to peace, but on the other side of that can be something that's completely unfamiliar and it's a place that God has actually moved us on from.

Many of us know that for me in that scenario, that thing could have gone south really quick.

Now, fortunately, this was before the days of ring technology, so I just backed out and left, and I don't think the other family even knew that I was there.

But the truth of the matter is many times for us, if we end up on the wrong side of the wrong door, that maybe we don't get a chance to get out unscathed.

Maybe we find ourselves getting entwined into things that God has been trying to rescue us from.

So when Jesus begins to use this language about him being the door, he's trying to help us to make a distinction between some other doors that may be presenting themselves to us, and if we don't have proper context, we can end up in environments that he doesn't want us to be in.

See, when we step inside the door, it will either lead us to the future or reintroduce us to the past.

It will either lead us to hope and healing or it will lead us to a place of brokenness and destruction.

Every open door doesn't lead to the kingdom, and every closed door doesn't mean that you don't have access.

We have to discern for ourselves where Jesus is in this equation.

Now, this is a common question, not only for our culture, but for the culture back then when Jesus was doing ministry.

The question of who is Jesus and where does he fit?

Where does he fit into all the stuff that we're seeing right now?

See, for the for the Pharisees, for the Sadducees, for the scribes, for all the people that were doing life to the best of their ability, when Jesus comes on the scene, they're all responsible for holding on a certain fabric of society.

They each had a responsibility.

And so when Jesus shows up, you have these moments where they begin to engage him and ask him questions.

And ultimately what they're trying to resolve is where does Jesus fit in with what I already currently believe?

Where does Jesus fit in with my current processing mechanisms?

Where does Jesus fit in in the way that we view some things?

Now, many of us may have never posed that question in that way, but if we honestly pause for a moment, there are those moments where we're trying to figure out where where does Jesus fit in with all of this stuff?

You know, it kind of reminds me of a season not too long ago when we were going furniture shopping, my family and I, and Megan and I, we found like this incredible, we found this incredible couch.

It was it was awesome.

And it was one of those ones that you can kind of just build out with how many pieces you needed for the appropriate room that you were going to place it in.

So I did some measurements to the best of my ability.

I'm pretty sure all of you can see how handy I am.

Um so I did my measurements and I kind of anticipated how big the couch needed to be, and we ordered all the pieces that we needed.

Now, much to our surprise, that my calculations were off.

I'm pretty sure that someone just fell out of their chair when they heard that information.

But my calculations were off.

So we had far too many pieces for the room that we planned on putting this huge couch in.

So there's this moment where I had already envisioned everything I planned on doing with the couch.

I already had enough seats laid out that would accommodate my entire family, our friends.

Like it was gonna be a vibe.

Like it was gonna be like my version of a man cave.

Like it was gonna be dope.

But now I was I was having like this existential crisis where everything that I had planned, it looks like it was gonna fall apart.

So I remembered like floating this idea.

It wasn't meant to be taken seriously, but I remember floating this idea that I was like, man, Megan, we're gonna we're gonna have to move because the couch doesn't fit.

Like, think about that for a moment.

I was considering, it was a joke, but there was a little bit of truth.

If Megan would have gone with it, we probably would have moved.

But I was literally thinking to myself, we're gonna have to move because this couch doesn't fit.

My wife had to slap me back into reality, and she simply said, Keith, we're we're not going to move to find a house that can fit the furniture.

We're gonna have to let go of some of these pieces.

As simple as that is, the truth of the matter is I think that sometimes our walk with God can be like we're looking at Jesus as if he's a piece of furniture.

Where does he fit in this room?

Where does he where does he fit in this area of our lives?

And we end up fragmenting and then even beginning to dissect how Jesus influences certain areas of our life.

Where does where does Jesus fit in my relationships?

Where does where does Jesus fit in my marriage?

Where does Jesus fit in my workplace?

Where does where does Jesus fit in my personal walk with God?

Where does Jesus fit?

And we're often looking at Jesus as a piece of furniture and we we redecorate it, we move him around, and we're trying to find a spot for him to fit.

But here's the thing I want to encourage us with.

Jesus is not the furniture that we try to fit into our house, he's the foundation that we build our houses on.

And if we don't have the proper perspective and the proper discernment on that, that we will not be able to benefit from the stability that comes as a result of all of this.

So, where does Jesus fit in all of areas of my life?

Where does he fit in my marriage?

Where does he fit with my finances?

Where does he fit with my family?

Where does Jesus fit?

Here's the thing that the Bible says about the way that we build our lives.

It says it this way in Matthew chapter 7, looking at verse 24 and 25.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

Everyone who enters these, who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on a rock.

And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it was founded on the rock.

I want you to hear me, church.

Your life is only as stable as the foundation that you build it on.

Your life is only as stable as the foundation that you build it on.

And it's moments like this that we really begin to realize, what have I built my life on?

Have I built my life on things that are surrounded by the world and by culture, or have I built it on the kingdom?

Have I built it on Jesus?

Have I built it on my preferences or have I built it on purpose?

Have I built it on comfort or have I built it on calling?

Have I built it on my family, or have I built it on pursuing finances?

We can look at the juxtaposition all throughout our entire lives, but the reality of it is our life is only as stable as the foundation that we build it on.

Jesus begins to make this statement of not only knowing that he's the foundation, but he says that he is the door.

The context of him making this statement is that he wants to make sure that his disciples know the player the part that he plays in our lives.

I want us to begin to visualize this for a moment.

Jesus does this incredible miracle in the Gospel of John chapter 9.

John 9 · chapter mention

He heals a man who was born blind, but he does it on the Sabbath.

So for the for the Pharisees, they they appreciated the miracle, but they were like, why did he have to do it on the Sabbath?

There's another day that he could have done it.

Again, they're they're trying to figure out where Jesus fit into their current ideology, where does Jesus fit into their current philosophy?

As Jesus is engaging in this conversation, he kind of shifts directions and he's talking to his disciples, but in the eyesight, in the earshot of everyone, and he begins to talk about this false shepherd versus good shepherd dynamic.

He actually begins to say, you know, there's these false shepherds out there, um, and and they're thieves and they are robbers.

The context is he's not just talking about our spiritual enemy, but he's talking about anything that opposes what the work that he is doing in the context of the kingdom.

He says, anybody that tries to get through the sheep but doesn't go through me, they're like thieves and robbers.

They're actually completely out of order.

Jesus begins to unpack and help them to understand that I am not only the shepherd, but he leads us to this place where he tells us that he is also the door.

See, he understood that a lot of times that these false shepherds that they had ulterior motives, they weren't going through Jesus.

They had other motives, that they would climb over to try to gain access to the sheep by using any means necessary.

The doorkeeper who would often there, that he wouldn't open a door to a false shepherd, but the false shepherds would often climb over the fences and try to attack the sheep a different way.

So Jesus is making this distinction.

Between what is a good shepherd, what is a false shepherd, what is the true shepherd, and what is the bad shepherd?

He wants to make sure that we understand it.

And here's the thing that we'll find out about false shepherds.

False shepherds are exposed when the kingdom is revealed.

False shepherds are always exposed when a kingdom is revealed.

Here's what I mean by that.

The moment that Jesus performed a miracle, this false shepherd spirit, this thing that was existing in the world, it began to critique what God was doing.

It began to critique and to criticize and find ways to tear down the activity of God.

Maybe for some of us, we're being shepherded by some things that aren't in alignment with the kingdom.

That when we find ourselves trying to be submitted to what God's word says and being responsive to the things that God's leading us to do, these false shepherds, these voices are coming in critiquing and trying to tear down instead of trying to build up.

See, the Bible says that these false shepherds, that they come to steal, to kill, and to destroy.

The context of this is anybody that shows up to God's people and they don't go through Jesus, that is their ulterior motive.

And unfortunately for us, we allow a lot of different voices to shepherd us.

So who are we allowing to shepherd us?

Is it, could it be it's the media?

Remember, if they're not going through Jesus, they have an ulterior motive.

If they're not going through, if they're not going through the door, they have another motive.

It's coming in to steal something, to kill something, and to rob you of something and to destroy something.

That is what the false shepherds do.

Maybe we're being shepherded by culture.

And culture is forcing us and trying to convince us of a way that we should behave in light of everything that's going on, and we find ourselves being shepherded by a voice that's not going through the grid of Jesus.

It's leading us astray.

So here's the question: are you being shepherded by the culture or are you being shepherded by the kingdom?

The job description that we looked at last week of the shepherd was a shepherd's job is to guide, to provide, and to protect.

So there's a false shepherd, that means that there must be an anti or another side of that.

And here's what a false shepherd does: it misleads, it takes, and it attacks.

A true shepherd, it guides us where we're supposed to go, it provides for us where we are, and it protects us from anything that comes against us.

But the false shepherd, they mislead us.

They lead us in directions that don't lead to hope.

They lead us in directions that lead us to a place of fear, they lead us into directions where we can become divisive against one another.

False shepherds, they take from us instead of providing for us.

It takes our joy, it takes our peace, it takes our hope from us, and it also attacks us in places where we're vulnerable.

What are the voices that we're allowing to shepherd us, and are they possibly taking from us when they should be providing for us?

What I love that Jesus says that if anybody, if anything, if anybody wants to get to you, they have to go through me.

He says that I am the door.

Which what he's saying is, if if if somebody shows up at the door, they have to go through the door to get on the other side of it.

Let me let me put it to you in a way that my brother used to say it for me when I was growing up and I was young.

He said, Keith, if anybody wants to get to you, they got to go through me.

Many of us have probably heard that phrase before, have even said that phrase when we talk about having somebody's back.

If they want to get to you, they got to go through me.

We have a shepherd who has made this statement.

If they want to get to you, they got to go through me.

Let's paraphrase this for a moment.

If the enemy wants to get to you, he has to go through Jesus.

If the enemy wants to get to your marriage, he has to go through Jesus.

If the enemy wants to get to your finances, he has to go through Jesus.

If the enemy wants to get to your children, he has to go through Jesus.

If the enemy wants to get through your mind, he has to go through Jesus.

We can run down the list of the things that God has given us and knowing that we have a God who is for us.

I love what it says here in Romans 8.31.

What shall we say about these things?

If God be for us, who can be against us?

What can be against us?

That we know that there is nothing that opposes the people of God, that if we position ourselves on the right side of the door, that they don't, whatever they will not face a true and living lion from the tribe of Judah that will meet them at the door.

That's the encouragement that we have as God's people, knowing that when the enemy shows up with fear, that when the enemy shows up with condemnation, when the enemy shows up with ridicule, when he's looking to try to tear us down, that he has to go through Jesus in order to get to us.

Jesus is the door.

Jesus is the filter, which means that filters serve two purposes, to keep the good things in and to keep the bad things out.

That's what Jesus is saying when he says that I am the door.

Let me filter out the bad things so that way that we can preserve and keep the good things.

Let me make sure that the things and the toxicity of the world and culture that wants to attach itself to your belief system, to your family, allow me to filter it out so that you can begin to experience the life of abundance and wholeness that God has said that He had intended for us in John chapter 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

What I love is that with every door, there is typically a welcome mat.

A door that either has the a signet of the family, welcome, we're glad that you're here.

Do you know that the cross is the welcome mat to the kingdom?

That that's the place that we can check all of our pain, all of our baggage, all of our dirt, and then we go through the door of Jesus and we can find ourselves on the other side of the kingdom where we can have life and life to the fullest.

So here's my ultimate question for us, church.

Which side of the door are you on?

Are you on the side of the door where you're exposed to the elements of culture, or are you on the other side of the door where you're experiencing life and life to its fullest?

You know, in Exodus chapter 12, the the Passover is introduced to us.

Exodus 12 · chapter mention

And what we know is that there's some key ingredients that are provided at that at that dinner.

We know that there's a lamb that's there.

We know that there's family and they're all together.

And there's God gives some very specific instructions.

He says to take the blood of the lamb and to put it over the door post, to allow that blood to kind of cover that door.

It's a beautiful image.

And so we find ourselves in this moment where there's this plague that's about to pass over.

And what scripture tells us is that whenever there is blood on the door, that the things that are happening out in the world, the plague that is passing by, it will pass over the family as long as the blood is on the doorpost.

Do we see what God is doing in this moment for us as a church?

That if we can be together with our family and we can allow Jesus to be the door and apply the blood over the door, that the things that are impacting everyone else, it won't impact us because we're all together as a family and as one.

That's a powerful thought for us, church, knowing that if God's people are together and we're on the other side of the door and we allow the blood of the Lamb to keep it covered, that we will be preserved and protected.

Jesus says that the shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

This is so beautiful because what Jesus now does, he begins to merge these ideas together and showing that I am all of that.

Here's what I mean.

Jesus says that I am the shepherd, that's me.

I am the door, that's me.

But he also says that I am the Lamb.

Only Jesus can take on all these different roles and not lose a sense of who he is.

Jesus is the one who is able to lay down his life for the sheep.

Tradition tells us that whenever a shepherd was out in a super rural area and they didn't have all the fencing and gates that they needed, that they would typically have back closer to their homes, that what the shepherds would do is that they would literally lay down at the entry point that maybe a predator would have to come in through.

And what the shepherd would do is as they laid there as a barrier between the predator, a barrier between the attacks, the barrier between the thieves, that they would have to go through that door in order to gain access to the sheep.

When Jesus says that I laid down my life for the sheep, he is literally being the door.

And he's bringing it all together and saying that I am the sheep, I am the shepherd, and I am the door.

And through all of these things, we see it all as a powerful culmination right here in Exodus chapter 12.

Exodus 12 · chapter mention

It's a beautiful image in knowing that if we can just be on the other side of the door, the shepherd has led us to that door.

Jesus now serves as that door and he lays down his life where the blood covers us, that even though there's some things that are happening out in culture and the world, that we shall be preserved and protected as God's people because we are under, we are under the blessing of God.

My hope for us in this season is that our families stick tight together.

We bring the presence of God into our families.

We allow Jesus to be the door or the filter.

We recognize that he is the vine by which we get our truth and our source from.

But we also understand that the shepherd is with us while we're in this valley.

I can't think of a better thing, something that's more encouraging than knowing that no matter what we're facing right now as a family, as long as we're together and Jesus is in the midst of it, we will survive.

Whatever the world is throwing your way, it has to go through that door in order to get to you.

That's our encouragement for us today.

So maybe you're right now looking at yourself and wondering, which side of the door are you on?

Wherever you're engaging this content, wherever you are, whether it's in the home with your family, maybe you're listening to it on a podcast, maybe you're listening to this months from now.

But ask yourself, which side of the door am I on?

Am I on the other side of the door where I'm preserved and protected by the blood of the Lamb?

Or am I exposed to the elements and whatever's happening out there I'm susceptible to because I haven't gone through the proper filter and I haven't checked my pain at the welcome mat of the cross.

If that's you, and maybe you know that your next step is to simply surrender your life to Jesus, checking your pain at the door mat and walking into the kingdom and living that abundant life.

I just want to include you in this prayer because I truly believe it's in moments like this that we have the ability of choosing which door we want to go through.

Remember, the door determines our destination.

Jesus wants to make sure that we understand that the life that we live, it is not, it is not multiple choice, it is simply filling a blank.

He is He didn't say that I am a door, He says I am the door.

We live a life now of such comfort that we have so many options that we live our lives and we decide what's best for us based off of how we feel or whatever the day may present to us.

But Jesus is letting us know this is not a multiple choice scenario.

This is really just you need to know the answer, and the answer is Jesus.

Jesus is the answer.

And if you haven't allowed him to be the answer in your life right now, I want to lead us to a quick prayer.

A prayer of surrender, a prayer of repentance, but a prayer that allows us to walk into the place that God has called us to be in, which is a place of fullness and wholeness.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you.

We thank you, God, that you are the Lamb that lays down his life.

And that that that sacrifice is what allows us to have entry into the kingdom of God.

So, Father, we check, we check our pain, we check our baggage at the foot of the cross, God, at the welcome mat.

And God, we we repent of every shortcoming.

Times that we've gone through wrong doors, times that we've listened to other sources, times that we found ourselves following false shepherds leading us astray.

We surrender that and leave that at the foot of the cross, God, and now we enter into a life of fullness and wholeness.

So, Father, I pray in the name of Jesus for everyone that is praying this prayer, God, for everyone that acknowledges that you are the answer, that Father, you fill them with your spirit, that you allow them to have God's given community to strengthen their walk with you, and that there's a supernatural blessing that comes alongside of it.

So, Father, we surrender our lives and our time to you in Jesus' name.

Amen and amen.

Church, in just a few moments, we're gonna all take communion together as a family, as the children of Israel did in Exodus 12, and as we do in many of our church locations every time we come together as a family at the table.

But before we do that, our campus pastors want to lead us through a couple of next steps before we come back together and do communion together as a family.

Well, church, we just heard an amazing message from Pastor Keith about how Jesus is the door, and here's what that means.

There's not many doors to heaven, there's only one door to heaven, and that's Jesus.

And so for some of you, the decision that you need to make right now, where you're at, is to make Jesus the Lord of your life.

So wherever you're at, if you want to make that decision, here's what we ask.

We ask that you would simply pray this prayer with us right now.

Let's pray.

Dear God, thank you for your son Jesus.

I believe that he died on the cross and he rose again for me.

Jesus Christ is the Lord of my life.

Thank you for saving me.

In Jesus' name, amen.

And hey church, if any of you out there just made a decision for Jesus, man, we want to celebrate with you and we also want to equip you with all of the next steps in your relationship with Jesus.

So if any of you made a decision today, we just want to ask that you find your iPhones, just find your phones right now and text the, and text the number 25101.

When you text 25101, just put in the word decide and what you're gonna get back.

It's all the information and every next step that you need to take in your relationship with Jesus.

Also, church, if any of you have any sort of uh prayers or praises that you would like us as a church to be praying with you, or just just you just want to let everyone know how good God is and what he's doing in your life, and you just have a praise in your life, man, you can just text the word connect and write and type out what God is doing in your life, whether it's a prayer or praise, we'll read it as a staff and we will pray along with you and we will celebrate along with you as well.

Yeah, and right now, here's the way we're gonna be ending church at home for the next uh few weeks is we're actually gonna be ending church at home together with communion.

And so I know some of you may have grown up or maybe you only did communion in a church.

That's how I grew up.

But here's what I know is that when the church was starting in the early church, they were having communion in homes.

A lot like the home that you're in today.

And so right now we're gonna hand it back off to our lead pastor, Pastor Keith Pittman, to lead us in communion.

Church, we want to thank you so much for joining us today for Church at Home.

And one of the key things that we really want to emphasize is bringing the presence of God into the home and really rallying around the table.

So it's this time of the service, as the guys had already mentioned, that we really want to take communion with us all together as one family.

Earlier we mentioned how the disciples were all sitting together with Jesus at the table, which was really a communication from what happens at Exodus chapter 12.

Exodus 12 · chapter mention

It's that moment where the Passover is introduced in knowing that the families were together and that everything that was happening outside in the world, it had no impact on them as long as they were covered under the blood.

That tradition is something that we carry on even to this day in the context of communion.

As Jesus was with his disciples for what we've called the Last Supper, so to speak, where he communicates to them and says, like, okay, this is the elements.

I want us to look and see the connection between what was happening in Exodus 12, what's happening right here in front of us, and I think it is really relevant for where we are right now as a church and in our families.

So there's two elements that are there.

There's the bread.

Jesus begins to communicate the importance of his body being the bread that's broken for us.

And we're going to unpack that a little bit further along in the series.

But the important thing for us to know that though there may be sickness and brokenness, that the body of Jesus was broken so that we can be made whole.

As a family all together here at church and home, I want us to all rally together with our families and be and do this in remembrance of him, knowing that the body of Jesus was broken so that we can be made whole.

And as long as we stick together, that all the things that are happening out in the world and in culture, that we are covered from it because of the broken body of Jesus.

Let us all take it together as a family.

The next element that was that was presented was the was the juice, the wine.

And as a family, they they all would sit together, they would partake of the juice.

And Jesus says this.

He said that the wine was a representation of his blood that was shed.

It was for the remission of sins.

It's the place where we knew that there is this ability to go bold before the throne of grace.

I want to encourage us right now that no matter what is going on, that we can go boldly before the throne of grace, we can go boldly before Jesus with no matter what those burdens are.

But it says that it's the shed blood of Jesus that allows us to experience forgiveness and wholeness and everything that God has for us.

So as a family, I want us all to lean into this moment, recognizing that it's in one meal that what's happening in the past, what happened with Jesus, and what's happening with us now is all hinged together in this powerful moment.

That because of the shed blood of Jesus, we have access to forgiveness and to healing and all the things that the kingdom of God is really all about.

So as a church family, let us all partake of the Jews together.

Let me pray for us.

Lord, we are so thankful.

We're thankful for the broken body of Jesus.

That's an encouragement for us that knowing that no matter what we face, that we can experience wholeness.

God, we're also thankful for the shed blood, that the forgiveness of sins, Father, so we repent and we're grateful that we can partake of this with us all together as a family, bringing your presence into our homes.

So, Father, we speak a blessing over every home.

We speak a blessing over every person, God, knowing that as long as we can stay on the other side of the door, knowing that as long as we can stay connected to you, Father, that no matter what's happening in culture, Father, we will be protected from it, it will pass over.

So, Father, I speak a blessing over our entire church family in Jesus' name.

Amen and amen.

God bless you guys.

We love you.

Stay connected to everything through social media because we're going to continue to deliver content, praying for you, we're going to hear from you, and I can't wait to see you later on this week online.

Thanks again for listening.

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