Latest / Max Lucado Daily Sermons / Minister Max Lucado – The Lord Is My Shepherd: Finding Peace in His Care
Transcript
- 0:23Speaker 1: God bless you. God bless you. May he give you strength.
- 0:28Speaker 1: May he lift you up. However you are and wherever
- 0:31Speaker 1: you are in the midst of all of the turmoil
- 0:34Speaker 1: and chaos, may he give you a spirit of inner
- 0:39Speaker 1: peace that comes from trusting him. I'd like to pray
- 0:44Speaker 1: for us all and then we're going to open our Bibles.
- 0:47Speaker 1: To the 23rd Psalm. Oh great King. We honor you.
- 0:53Speaker 1: As the only source of peace. We honor you. As
- 0:58Speaker 1: the one who always tells the truth. Who always blesses.
- 1:03Speaker 1: Who always cares. Who hears our prayers. Who comes to us.
- 1:08Speaker 1: In our hour of need. We turn to you now Father.
- 1:13Speaker 1: And in the name of Jesus Christ. Our Savior. I
- 1:16Speaker 1: would ask you to. to speak a blessing over all
- 1:20Speaker 1: who hear these words, young and old, near and far,
- 1:25Speaker 1: strong and weak. May you bless them, Lord. Bless them
- 1:30Speaker 1: with fortification. Edify them within. Strengthen them. Bless their relationships.
- 1:39Speaker 1: Bless their work. Let them prosper, Father. Let those who
- 1:43Speaker 1: are sick be healed. Those who are lonely, find fellowship.
- 1:48Speaker 1: Those who are confused, find answers. And those who are afraid,
- 1:52Speaker 1: find courage. You can do this, our God, with just
- 1:56Speaker 1: a word. And we ask you to speak that word.
- 2:01Speaker 1: And we pray in the name of Christ. And all
- 2:04Speaker 1: the church said. When did the craziness of the last
- 2:10Speaker 1: few months hit you? Was it When you were for
- 2:14Speaker 1: the first time standing in a grocery store checkout line
- 2:18Speaker 1: neatly spaced six feet behind the patron in front of you?
- 2:23Speaker 1: Was it when you heard a New York City doctor
- 2:26Speaker 1: describe how her hospital was so overwhelmed with COVID patients
- 2:31Speaker 1: that they had to bring a refrigerated truck to hold
- 2:35Speaker 1: the dead? Maybe it was when you visited your grandma
- 2:39Speaker 1: in the nursing home but had to stand outside the
- 2:42Speaker 1: window talking to her on your phone or or maybe
- 2:45Speaker 1: it was when you heard the reporter state that unemployment
- 2:49Speaker 1: is the worst it's been since the great depression and
- 2:55Speaker 1: the data the numbers the figures oh my hundred thousand
- 3:01Speaker 1: over a hundred thousand dead 40 million unemployed maybe it
- 3:05Speaker 1: was the protests maybe it was the lootings these last
- 3:10Speaker 1: months well they feel like a dream Feel like a nightmare?
- 3:15Speaker 1: Feel like a novel? Like a dolly painting? People wearing masks?
- 3:21Speaker 1: Churches canceling services? What do you mean, no graduation? How
- 3:28Speaker 1: are you coping? You know, in changing times, I can
- 3:34Speaker 1: think of no more important step than to focus on
- 3:38Speaker 1: the unchanging character of God And I can think of
- 3:42Speaker 1: no scripture that helps us understand the unchanging character of
- 3:47Speaker 1: God more than this one. The beloved 23rd Psalm. The
- 3:53Speaker 1: Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. And he
- 3:57Speaker 1: makes me lie down in green pastures. And he leads
- 4:01Speaker 1: me beside the still waters. And he restores my soul.
- 4:07Speaker 1: He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
- 4:11Speaker 1: And yea, though I walk through the valley of the
- 4:13Speaker 1: shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you
- 4:16Speaker 1: are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
- 4:20Speaker 1: You prepare a table before me in the presence of
- 4:24Speaker 1: my enemies. You anoint my head with oil and my
- 4:28Speaker 1: cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
- 4:35Speaker 1: all the days of my life. and I will dwell
- 4:39Speaker 1: in the house of the Lord forever. I ask you,
- 4:45Speaker 1: do more beloved words exist? Framed and hung in hospital
- 4:50Speaker 1: halls and scratched on prison walls, quoted by the young
- 4:54Speaker 1: and whispered by the dying. In these lines, the sailors
- 4:58Speaker 1: have found a harbor and the frightened have found a
- 5:02Speaker 1: father and the strugglers have found a friend. And Because
- 5:07Speaker 1: the passage is so deeply beloved, it is widely known.
- 5:13Speaker 1: Can you find ears on which these words have never fallen?
- 5:18Speaker 1: Sung in music to a hundred songs, translated in a
- 5:22Speaker 1: thousand tongues, domiciled in a million hearts. And one of
- 5:27Speaker 1: those hearts is probably yours. I'm curious, what kinship do
- 5:33Speaker 1: you feel with the 23rd psalm? Where do the words
- 5:37Speaker 1: transport you? To a fireside? To a graveside? To a bedside?
- 5:44Speaker 1: Let's turn to these words. I think we need a
- 5:50Speaker 1: deep dose of the 23rd psalm. This week and the
- 5:55Speaker 1: next four, let's drink deeply from this well of strength.
- 6:00Speaker 1: A handful of you might recall when we as a
- 6:03Speaker 1: church studied this psalm, The year 1998 was a long
- 6:09Speaker 1: time ago. I think we're overdue a revisit. And what
- 6:15Speaker 1: a timely, timely contemplation. Each passage is rich. Each promise
- 6:22Speaker 1: is worth memorizing. We need go no further than the
- 6:27Speaker 1: very first phrase to find our first dose of strength.
- 6:31Speaker 1: David says, the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is
- 6:36Speaker 1: my shepherd. You want to really know who God is?
- 6:40Speaker 1: David says, you need to know that Yahweh is my shepherd. Yeah,
- 6:46Speaker 1: that's a foreign word to us, but it wasn't to David. Yahweh,
- 6:52Speaker 1: that Hebrew name, that way God introduced himself to Moses
- 6:57Speaker 1: through the burning bush, that name was fresh and meaningful.
- 7:04Speaker 1: In fact, you might say that the rest of the
- 7:06Speaker 1: 23rd Psalm is just helping us understand the first word,
- 7:10Speaker 1: the name Yahweh. You see, Yahweh is God's name. You
- 7:16Speaker 1: might call me a preacher or a writer or a
- 7:20Speaker 1: half-baked golfer. Those are accurate descriptions, but they aren't my names.
- 7:26Speaker 1: I might call you dad or mom or teacher or student,
- 7:30Speaker 1: and those terms might describe you. but they're not your name.
- 7:34Speaker 1: And if you want to call me by my name,
- 7:37Speaker 1: just say Max. And if I want to call you
- 7:39Speaker 1: by your name, I say it. And if you want
- 7:42Speaker 1: to call God by God's name, he says, call me Yahweh. Yahweh.
- 7:51Speaker 1: God has told us his name. How he must long
- 7:56Speaker 1: to be close to us. Now, God never gives a
- 8:00Speaker 1: definition of the word Yahweh. or the name Yahweh. And
- 8:05Speaker 1: we kind of wish Moses had requested one. Scholars have
- 8:10Speaker 1: studied this name, trying to find the significance. It sounds
- 8:15Speaker 1: strikingly close to the Hebrew verb to be, Hava. And
- 8:21Speaker 1: it's quite possibly a combination of the present tense form,
- 8:26Speaker 1: I am, and the causative form, I cause to be.
- 8:30Speaker 1: Yahweh then seems to be a combination of I am
- 8:34Speaker 1: and I cause. God, in other words, Yahweh, in other words,
- 8:40Speaker 1: is the one who is and the one who causes.
- 8:44Speaker 1: Why is that important? Why does that matter? Because we
- 8:47Speaker 1: need a big God. And if God is the one
- 8:50Speaker 1: who is, then he is an unchanging God. Think about it.
- 8:55Speaker 1: Do you know anyone who who goes around saying, I am.
- 8:59Speaker 1: How are you? I am. How you been? I am.
- 9:04Speaker 1: We always add another word. I am happy or I
- 9:07Speaker 1: am sad or I've been tired or even I am max.
- 9:11Speaker 1: God doesn't need to do so. He doesn't need to
- 9:15Speaker 1: do so. I am, he says, and we wait for
- 9:18Speaker 1: him to add a phrase. But God needs no descriptive word.
- 9:22Speaker 2: Why?
- 9:23Speaker 1: Because he never changes. He never changes. He is who
- 9:28Speaker 1: he is and always has been. His immutability motivated the
- 9:34Speaker 1: psalmist to declare in Psalm 102, 27, but thou art
- 9:39Speaker 1: the same. The writer is saying, you are the one
- 9:42Speaker 1: who is. You never change. Yahweh is an unchanging God.
- 9:48Speaker 1: He's also this. He's also the an uncaused God. Yes,
- 9:53Speaker 1: he creates, but he was never created. He makes, but
- 9:57Speaker 1: he was never made. He caused. but he was never caused.
- 10:02Speaker 1: Hence the psalmist's proclamation. Before the mountains were born or
- 10:08Speaker 1: you brought forth the earth and the world from everlasting
- 10:12Speaker 1: to everlasting, you are God. God is Yahweh. He is
- 10:17Speaker 1: an unchanging God, an uncaused God. And one more, he
- 10:21Speaker 1: is an ungoverned God. Boy, we've been reminded lately, haven't we,
- 10:27Speaker 1: that we are governed. The weather determines what we wear.
- 10:31Speaker 1: The terrain tells us how to travel. A pandemic dictates
- 10:37Speaker 1: our actions. Gravity describes or governs our speed and health
- 10:42Speaker 1: determines our strength. And we may challenge these forces. And
- 10:46Speaker 1: we may alter them slightly, but we never remove them.
- 10:51Speaker 1: Yet Yahweh, our shepherd, he doesn't check the weather. He
- 10:56Speaker 1: makes it. He doesn't defy gravity. He created it. He
- 11:01Speaker 1: isn't affected by health. Jesus said God is spirit. And
- 11:06Speaker 1: since he has no body, he has no limitations. Listen,
- 11:10Speaker 1: he is equally active right now in Cambodia and Connecticut.
- 11:14Speaker 1: David asked, where can I go to get away from
- 11:17Speaker 1: your spirit? Where can I run from you? If I
- 11:20Speaker 1: go up to the heavens, you're there. If I lie
- 11:22Speaker 1: down in the grave, you are there. He is unchanging.
- 11:27Speaker 1: He is uncaused. He is ungoverned. And these are only
- 11:30Speaker 1: a fraction of God's qualities. But my friend, aren't they enough?
- 11:36Speaker 1: Aren't they enough to give you a glimpse of your shepherd,
- 11:41Speaker 1: of your Yahweh? Don't we need this kind of shepherd
- 11:45Speaker 1: Don't we need an unchanging shepherd? We need a Yahweh.
- 11:52Speaker 1: We've had enough change, haven't we? Relationships change. Health changes.
- 11:58Speaker 1: Politics change. The weather changes. But the Yahweh, the Yahweh
- 12:03Speaker 1: who ruled the earth last night is the same who
- 12:06Speaker 1: will rule the world tomorrow. He has the same convictions.
- 12:11Speaker 1: He has the same mood. He has the same plans.
- 12:15Speaker 1: He has the same love. He never changes. He never changes.
- 12:22Speaker 1: You can no more alter God than a pebble can
- 12:26Speaker 1: alter the rhythm of the Pacific Ocean. We have and
- 12:30Speaker 1: we need an unchanging shepherd. We have an uncaused shepherd.
- 12:35Speaker 1: No one breathed life into our Yahweh. No one sired him.
- 12:40Speaker 1: No one gave birth to him. No one fought him up.
- 12:43Speaker 1: No one caused him. No act brought him forth. And
- 12:47Speaker 1: hear this, since no act brought him forth, no act
- 12:51Speaker 1: can take him out. Does he tremble at a tornado?
- 12:58Speaker 1: Does he fear an earthquake? Our Yahweh can sleep through
- 13:02Speaker 1: a storm and he can speak a word to the
- 13:06Speaker 1: winds and silence them. Pandemics do not trouble him. Cemeteries
- 13:13Speaker 1: do not disturb him. He was here before they came.
- 13:16Speaker 1: He'll be here after they're gone. He is uncaused and
- 13:21Speaker 1: he's ungoverned. He's ungoverned. Counselors can comfort you in the storm,
- 13:26Speaker 1: but you need a God who can still the storm.
- 13:29Speaker 1: Friends can hold your hand at your deathbed, but you
- 13:32Speaker 1: need a Yahweh who has defeated the grave. Philosophers debate
- 13:36Speaker 1: the meaning of life. But you need a Lord who
- 13:39Speaker 1: can tell you the meaning of our existence. You need
- 13:45Speaker 1: a Yahweh. You need a Yahweh. You need a God
- 13:50Speaker 1: who can place 100 billion stars in our galaxy and
- 13:53Speaker 1: 100 billion galaxies in the universe. You need a God
- 13:57Speaker 1: who can shape two fists of flesh into 75 to
- 14:01Speaker 1: 100 billion nerve cells, each with as many as 10,000
- 14:05Speaker 1: connections to other nerve cells, place it in a skull
- 14:09Speaker 1: and call it a brain you need a God who
- 14:13Speaker 1: while so mind numbingly mighty can come in the soft
- 14:19Speaker 1: of the night and touch you with the tenderness of
- 14:24Speaker 1: an April snow you need a Yahweh and according to
- 14:32Speaker 1: David you have one and you know what he is
- 14:37Speaker 1: your Shepherd. He's your shepherd. Now that's a wonderfully poetic
- 14:44Speaker 1: and comforting thought until you stop and think, in order
- 14:48Speaker 1: for God to be my shepherd, I have to admit
- 14:51Speaker 1: that I am a sheep of all God's animals. A
- 14:59Speaker 1: sheep is one I'm not sure I want to be.
- 15:01Speaker 1: The sheep is least able to take care of himself.
- 15:04Speaker 1: Think about it. Sheep are dumb. They're dumb. Have you
- 15:09Speaker 1: ever met a sheep trainer? Have you ever seen sheep tricks?
- 15:13Speaker 1: Know anyone who has taught his sheep to roll over?
- 15:16Speaker 1: Ever witnessed a sideshow featuring Mazadon and his jumping sheep?
- 15:22Speaker 1: Sheep are too dumb. And you know what? They're defenseless.
- 15:26Speaker 1: You can likely outrun a sheep. And sheep don't have claws.
- 15:30Speaker 1: Sheep won't bite you. That's why you never see a sheep.
- 15:35Speaker 1: They see sheep as team mascots. We've heard of the St.
- 15:38Speaker 1: Louis Rams and the Chicago Bulls and the Seattle Seahawks,
- 15:43Speaker 1: but the New York Lambs? Who wants to be a lamb?
- 15:49Speaker 1: You couldn't even stir up a decent yell for the
- 15:52Speaker 1: cheerleaders to use. We are the sheep. We don't make
- 15:55Speaker 1: a peep. Victory is yours to keep, but count us
- 15:58Speaker 1: if you want to sleep. What's more, sheep or dirty?
- 16:04Speaker 1: A cat can clean itself. So can, to a degree,
- 16:08Speaker 1: a dog. We see a bird in a birdbath, even
- 16:10Speaker 1: a bear in a river. But sheep, they get dirty
- 16:16Speaker 1: and stay that way. Come on, David. Come on. Couldn't
- 16:21Speaker 1: you have thought of a better metaphor? Surely he could have.
- 16:26Speaker 1: After all, this is the great David, the poet. David,
- 16:31Speaker 1: the great king. David, the great worship leader. This is
- 16:35Speaker 1: David who outran Saul and he outgunned Goliath. Why didn't
- 16:40Speaker 1: he choose something other than sheep? How about this? The
- 16:46Speaker 1: Lord is my commander in chief and I am his warrior. There,
- 16:51Speaker 1: I like that. I mean, a warrior gets a uniform
- 16:55Speaker 1: and a weapon, maybe even a medal. Or the Lord
- 17:00Speaker 1: is my inspiration. And I am his singer. I like
- 17:05Speaker 1: that too. We are in God's choir. What a flattering assignment.
- 17:10Speaker 1: Or how about this? The Lord is my king and
- 17:13Speaker 1: I am his ambassador. Who wouldn't like to be a
- 17:16Speaker 1: spokesperson for God? Everyone stops when the ambassador speaks. Everyone
- 17:22Speaker 1: listens when God's minstrel sings. Everyone applauds when God's warrior passes.
- 17:28Speaker 1: But who notices when the sheep show up? Who notices
- 17:33Speaker 1: when sheep sing or speak or act? Only one person does,
- 17:38Speaker 1: and that is the shepherd. And you know what? I
- 17:42Speaker 1: think that's precisely David's point. Sheep are dumb. They are dirty.
- 17:53Speaker 1: They are defenseless. And at the risk of offending you,
- 17:57Speaker 1: can I just remind you that those three words describe
- 18:01Speaker 1: us as well? I don't mean to offend you, but
- 18:06Speaker 1: who among us can say for certain we know what's
- 18:08Speaker 1: going to happen tomorrow or next month or next year?
- 18:12Speaker 1: We've learned, haven't we? This world can get derailed. We
- 18:15Speaker 1: don't know what the future holds. We're not that bright.
- 18:20Speaker 1: Sometimes our forecast becomes more of a fear cast because
- 18:24Speaker 1: we don't know what the future holds. And we're not
- 18:28Speaker 1: too clean either. I mean, physically we may be fine,
- 18:32Speaker 1: but spiritually... Don't we need somebody to clean us, to
- 18:36Speaker 1: bathe us, to wash us, to cover us in grace,
- 18:40Speaker 1: to cleanse us of our transgressions? That's what we have
- 18:44Speaker 1: in our shepherd. And we're defenseless. We're defenseless. Defenseless against
- 18:52Speaker 1: the attacks of the devil. We need a shepherd to
- 18:56Speaker 1: encircle us. to come alongside, to go in front, to
- 19:00Speaker 1: go behind, to stand to the right, to stand to
- 19:02Speaker 1: the left, and yes, to indwell us. And he does.
- 19:07Speaker 1: He does. Praise be to his name. He protects us
- 19:11Speaker 1: from the attacks of the devil. I come to think
- 19:15Speaker 1: of it, you know, being a sheep is not a
- 19:17Speaker 1: bad thing. It would be a bad thing if you
- 19:19Speaker 1: didn't have a shepherd. But we have one. We have
- 19:23Speaker 1: a good shepherd. And his name is Yahweh. Yeah, when David,
- 19:29Speaker 1: who was a warrior, who was a minstrel, who was
- 19:31Speaker 1: an ambassador, searched for an illustration of God, he went
- 19:36Speaker 1: back in his mind all the way back to those
- 19:38Speaker 1: days early in his life when he was a shepherd.
- 19:43Speaker 1: And he remembered how he lavished attention on his sheep.
- 19:47Speaker 1: You see, the only job of a shepherd is to
- 19:50Speaker 1: care for the sheep he took care of them day
- 19:56Speaker 1: and night he slept with them he watched over them
- 20:00Speaker 1: and I can just picture David when he wants to
- 20:04Speaker 1: write a song that commemorates the character of God that
- 20:08Speaker 1: speaks to people in troubled times. He says, oh, I'll
- 20:11Speaker 1: tell you who God is. God is to us like
- 20:15Speaker 1: I was to that little flock of sheep in the
- 20:19Speaker 1: hills of Bethlehem. He cares for us. He watches over us.
- 20:25Speaker 1: He leads us. He guides us. He makes us lie down.
- 20:29Speaker 1: He anoints our heads with oil. He makes sure that
- 20:32Speaker 1: our cup is overflowing. And when that time comes to
- 20:35Speaker 1: walk through the valley of the shadow of death, he
- 20:38Speaker 1: will lead us. His rod and his staff, they will
- 20:41Speaker 1: comfort us. And oh my goodness, goodness and mercy. Goodness
- 20:46Speaker 1: and mercy. They're kind of like the sheepdogs. They come
- 20:50Speaker 1: up behind us and they follow us all the days
- 20:53Speaker 1: of our life. That's good news. That's good news. And
- 21:00Speaker 1: that's who your shepherd is. But the question is, have
- 21:03Speaker 1: you made him your shepherd? Can you say what David said?
- 21:09Speaker 1: He said, the Lord is my shepherd. Can you say that?
- 21:18Speaker 1: Can you say with assurance, the Lord is my shepherd?
- 21:25Speaker 1: Our world has been rocked over the last few weeks.
- 21:30Speaker 1: We feel like we've been knocked off our feet a
- 21:33Speaker 1: time or two. And maybe God has used this to
- 21:38Speaker 1: reveal to you that you have depended upon sources of
- 21:42Speaker 1: strength that are short-term and insufficient. Maybe you've put your
- 21:47Speaker 1: trust in your savings account. Maybe you've put your trust
- 21:51Speaker 1: in your ability to stay healthy. Maybe you've put your
- 21:54Speaker 1: trust in global peace. And wherever you've placed your trust,
- 22:00Speaker 1: you're beginning to think, you know, I can lose my
- 22:03Speaker 1: savings account and I can try to be healthy but
- 22:06Speaker 1: inhale the wrong virus. And by goodness, this world doesn't
- 22:11Speaker 1: feel as peaceful as it did just a few months ago.
- 22:15Speaker 1: Could it be that God is using this as a
- 22:17Speaker 1: wake-up call for you, for you, my friend, for you,
- 22:22Speaker 1: for you to be able to say what David said,
- 22:25Speaker 1: the Lord is my shepherd. He is my shepherd. I
- 22:31Speaker 1: want to invite you to call out to God and say,
- 22:35Speaker 1: I want you to be my shepherd. It's not enough
- 22:38Speaker 1: for you to look around at your church and say, well,
- 22:41Speaker 1: the Lord is our shepherd. Or to look around at
- 22:45Speaker 1: your family and say, well, the Lord is our shepherd.
- 22:47Speaker 1: Or to think of your ancestry and say, well, the
- 22:49Speaker 1: Lord is our shepherd. No, God wants to be a
- 22:53Speaker 1: personal shepherd to you. He wants you to reach up
- 22:56Speaker 1: to him and say, please, Be my shepherd. I acknowledge
- 23:01Speaker 1: that I am a sheep, that I need someone to
- 23:05Speaker 1: protect me. I need someone to cleanse me. I need
- 23:08Speaker 1: someone to lead me. I want you to be my shepherd.
- 23:12Speaker 1: If you've never done that, my friend, do so. Do so.
- 23:18Speaker 1: Let this season of struggle in which we have found
- 23:22Speaker 1: ourselves be used for good because it calls upon you
- 23:26Speaker 1: to call upon God You're a good shepherd. Do so.
- 23:31Speaker 1: You need a shepherd. You need an uncaused God. You
- 23:36Speaker 1: need an ungoverned God. You need a God who is
- 23:39Speaker 1: greater than your problems. And you have one. But it
- 23:43Speaker 1: avails you nothing. If you don't, in your heart of hearts, say,
- 23:47Speaker 1: please be my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. Years ago,
- 23:53Speaker 1: a chaplain in the French army said, used the 23rd
- 23:56Speaker 1: Psalm to encourage soldiers before battle. And he would encourage
- 24:01Speaker 1: them to repeat the opening line of the Psalm, ticking
- 24:05Speaker 1: off one finger at a time. The Lord is my shepherd.
- 24:13Speaker 1: And he would have them go through it over and
- 24:15Speaker 1: over again. In fact, I encourage you to do so.
- 24:18Speaker 1: The Lord is my shepherd. The chaplain placed special emphasis
- 24:27Speaker 1: upon the message of the index finger, my shepherd, my shepherd.
- 24:33Speaker 1: And he reminded the soldiers that God is a personal
- 24:36Speaker 1: shepherd with a personal mission to get them home safely.
- 24:43Speaker 1: Did the chaplain's words find their mark? In the life
- 24:47Speaker 1: of one man, they did. After a battle, one of
- 24:50Speaker 1: the young soldiers was found dead. his right hand clutching
- 24:55Speaker 1: the index finger of the left. The Lord is my shepherd.
- 25:04Speaker 1: Reach up and take the hand of your shepherd. Declare
- 25:08Speaker 1: today that you trust in the one who will not
- 25:11Speaker 1: be troubled, who will not be dissuaded, who has already
- 25:16Speaker 1: set his mission in gear. He is our shepherd. My friend,
- 25:21Speaker 1: we do not know how many more days of life
- 25:23Speaker 1: we have. We just don't. We do not know except
- 25:27Speaker 1: that these events might be signaling the second coming, the
- 25:32Speaker 1: return of Jesus Christ and his promises to come and
- 25:36Speaker 1: gather his flock and take them into a pasture, a
- 25:40Speaker 1: pasture that knows no graves, that knows no tears, that
- 25:44Speaker 1: knows no anguish, that knows no anxiety, that knows no pandemics.
- 25:51Speaker 1: But he will not take you if you do not
- 25:53Speaker 1: accept his invitation. So I feel led to ask you
- 25:56Speaker 1: just one more time. Are you sure? Are you sure?
- 26:01Speaker 1: Have you reached up and taken the hand of your shepherd?
- 26:04Speaker 1: Have you called out to him? If not, you can
- 26:07Speaker 1: do so right now. I'd like to lead us in
- 26:10Speaker 1: a prayer. And for those of us who call upon
- 26:13Speaker 1: Christ as our good shepherd, this will be an affirmation
- 26:16Speaker 1: of our faith. But for those of you who never have,
- 26:19Speaker 1: no matter how old you are, no matter where you are,
- 26:22Speaker 1: I'm asking you to repeat this prayer in your heart.
- 26:26Speaker 1: If you want to say it out loud, do so.
- 26:29Speaker 1: But don't let this service come to an end with
- 26:32Speaker 1: any doubt in your mind. Make sure that you believe
- 26:36Speaker 1: in the good shepherd. Oh, heavenly father, heavenly father, we
- 26:40Speaker 1: bless you and thank you. We praise your mighty and
- 26:43Speaker 1: your holy name, your name and your name alone. is
- 26:46Speaker 1: worthy of recognition and applause. And today we declare, Heavenly Father,
- 26:53Speaker 1: thank you for being our shepherd. Just thank you, Lord.
- 26:57Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Thank you that in a troubling time,
- 27:00Speaker 1: we have a certain source of hope. We can turn
- 27:05Speaker 1: to you. We can always look up and we can
- 27:08Speaker 1: see you leading us and guiding us. And we thank
- 27:11Speaker 1: you for these words. And today we say, you are
- 27:15Speaker 1: our shepherd. Let's affirm our faith. Dear God, I accept
- 27:22Speaker 1: you as my Savior. I ask you to forgive my sin,
- 27:27Speaker 1: to include me in your flock, and to lead me
- 27:31Speaker 1: safely home. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
- 27:39Speaker 2: Amen.
- 27:41Speaker 1: No one knows when or how this crazy season will end,
- 27:44Speaker 1: but we do know this. We have a shepherd. We
- 27:48Speaker 1: have a Yahweh. And he will lead us home. Now
- 27:53Speaker 1: go in the great grace and peace of our Lord
- 27:56Speaker 1: and Savior Jesus Christ. And remember that the one who
- 27:59Speaker 1: came still comes and the one who spoke still speaks.
- 28:29Speaker 1: You don't have to be new.
- 28:35Speaker 2: You don't have to stay close. As long as you're
- 28:42Speaker 2: somewhere out there, that's enough for me.
- 28:47Speaker 3: I don't need to hold you near me.
- 28:54Speaker 2: Don't need promises to keep.
- 28:58Speaker 4: Just the thought that you are breathing Somewhere in this
- 29:02Speaker 4: world I see Even if I'm not beside you Even
- 29:08Speaker 4: if you never know There's a quiet kind of comfort
- 29:14Speaker 4: Just in knowing you still glow.
- 29:19Speaker 2: I don't need forever I just need you to exist.
- 29:30Speaker 3: You don't have to stay with me.
- 29:33Speaker 4: You don't have to feel the same.
- 29:36Speaker 1: Just as long as.
- 29:37Speaker 3: You're still out there.
- 29:40Speaker 4: Calling softly through my days.
- 29:43Speaker 3: You don't have to look my way. You don't have
- 29:47Speaker 3: to be my home.
- 29:50Speaker 4: It's enough to know you're living in a world I'm
- 29:55Speaker 4: not alone. I won't chase you through the distance. Won't
- 30:03Speaker 4: disturb your chosen life. I'll just keep you in my
- 30:08Speaker 4: silence like a star that shines at night.
- 30:14Speaker 2: Through the dark and through the blue.
- 30:21Speaker 5: I still think of you. You don't have to be
- 30:30Speaker 5: my home.
- 30:32Speaker 1: It's enough to.
- 30:32Speaker 3: Know you're living in a world I'm not alone.
- 31:07Speaker 2: I don't need to be your light I don't need
- 31:11Speaker 2: to cross your mind All.
- 31:13Speaker 4: I need is just the truth That you're somewhere.
- 31:19Speaker 2: Still alive.
- 31:23Speaker 3: You don't have to stay with me you don't have
- 31:27Speaker 3: to feel the same just as long as you're still
- 31:32Speaker 3: out there calling softly through my days you don't have
- 31:37Speaker 3: to look my way.
- 31:40Speaker 4: You don't have to be my home it's enough to
- 31:44Speaker 4: know you're living
- 31:49Speaker 3: In the world I'm not alone