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I AM THE GATE FOR THE SHEEP | Pastor Josh (I Am Who I Am) · Northwest Students

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Y'all,
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that was super fun. Okay, so here's a
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question for you guys. Um, do any of you
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have to do I know some of you are
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homeschooled, so this may not apply to
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all of you guys, but but but don't you
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guys do you guys ever have like group
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projects for school?
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>> For homeschool homeschool folks, do you
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also have to do group projects or like
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No,
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>> kind of. Okay, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Do
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you guys like group projects?
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>> Thumbs up for group projects. One, two.
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Thumbs down for group projects.
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Mostly thumbs down for group projects.
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Yeah. So, so, so I was I was in the I
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hate group projects camp for sure cuz I
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fall I always felt like you'd have a
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group of like five students uh who were
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in a group and then one of them was like
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the straight A student who would end up
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doing all the work and then the other
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four would be like the horse and rider
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and just be like coasting on that
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person. uh just like letting them do all
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the work and take the A, right? Have any
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of you guys ever had that experience
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before?
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>> Yes. Yes. No. Thumbs up. Yes. Uh hands
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up if you're the one who does all the
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work. I feel like that's the same people
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who said they don't like group projects.
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Hands up if you're the one who just like
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takes the A. Gabriel. Yeah. The people
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who like group projects are like, "Yeah,
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I love it. I don't have to do any work.
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This is great." So So I remember I
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remember a group project that I had to
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work on when I was in college. And if
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you guys remember when I went to
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college, I decided I didn't want to make
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any money when I grew up. So I went to
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acting college and the assignment in
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acting college was that me and six of my
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classmates were supposed to put on this
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production of the Shakespeare play
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McBTH. And my professor had like given
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us all these assignments and one of the
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guys in our group was assigned to be the
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director. Okay, it wasn't me. And the
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very first rehearsal that we had, our
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director, right, the guy who's supposed
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to be telling everybody how to do
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things, he tries to give like a little
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bit of feedback to one of the other
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actors in our group, and she like
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reacted super negatively to being told,
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"Hey, you know, you're doing this thing
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wrong." And so he was like, "All right,
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I don't want to be the director anymore.
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I'm going to just like shut up and say
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my lines. Like, I'm not I'm not doing
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anything." And so for the next month of
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us practicing for this play, doing our
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rehearsals, we had to practice for the
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play with no director. And our play was
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terrible. It was it was it sucked. It
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sucked. We had nobody to tell us like if
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the scenes were taking too long or if we
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didn't know our lines or if the
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interactions between the characters
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looked like we were robots or whatever
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or if the fight scenes look fake, any of
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that stuff. And then like two weeks
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before we were supposed to go up and
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perform, I said to myself, "Okay,
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somebody needs to like be the director,
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otherwise our performance is going to be
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terrible." And you got to remember
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acting school, right? So like we're
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getting a grade for if this thing sucks
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or not. So what I started doing is at
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the end of each of the practices for the
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play, I would like grab all the other
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people, not physically, but I would grab
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all the other people and I started
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giving them notes. I would be like, "Hey
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dude, you need to like learn your lines,
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right?" Or, "Hey, this scene needs to
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move faster." or hey, you need to like
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come in quicker in that moment, right?
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And I waited for one of my my classmates
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to tell me, "Hey, bro, you're not the
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director. Shut up and say your lines."
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But no one did. And the night of our f
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of our performance, it came and the last
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scene ends and my character has just
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like gotten his head cut off because
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Shakespeare is awesome. Uh, so my
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character's gotten his head cut off and
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I'm standing off stage just like
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watching the rest of the scene go down.
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And as the last scene ends, the whole
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audience stands up and bursts into
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tears. Like screaming, singing, crying.
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They didn't cry, but like the whole
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audience burst into tears, standing
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ovation, the whole thing. It was
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awesome. And I bring all that up at the
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beginning of this not to say that our
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performance was the best out of all the
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groups in my college class, although it
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definitely was. Uh, and not to say
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because like it was totally because I
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stepped in and gave notes that it got
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better. Although that is definitely why
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it was good, but it's because I think
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that human beings are built to be led.
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Okay? Human beings are built to be led.
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That's going to be a big theme I'm going
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to come back to. Human beings are built
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to be led. And I think that God put that
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in us. That he put in us a desire to be
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led because he meant for himself to be
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the one to lead us. Right? That's going
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to be an important theme this week and
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next week in the next two I am
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statements that Jesus makes in the
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Gospel of John. Okay. So, if you've been
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here the last few weeks, for the last
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few weeks, we've been going through this
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series called I am who I am. And each
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week we're highlighting one of these
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important statements Jesus makes about
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himself. These seven I am statements
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that tell us about his identity and his
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mission. Right? These are metaphors that
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Jesus gives to say, hey, this is who I
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am. This is what I'm all about. This is
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why I'm here on earth. And with each one
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of those statements, he starts off with
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this phrase, I am. And my challenge for
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this whole series has been for you guys
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to remember each of those I am
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statements. So, real quick, I'm going to
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give you guys a chance to show me if
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you've been paying attention. Does
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anybody remember in week one, we talked
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about the name of God. Does anyone
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remember what it is?
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>> I am who I am. Thank you, Samuel. Does
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anybody remember it in Hebrew?
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We didn't talk about it. It was Yahweh.
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Yes, definitely Yahweh. And week two, we
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talked about Jesus's first I am
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statement. Does anybody remember what it
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was? of life.
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>> I am the bread of life. Very nice. Does
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anybody remember what I am the bread of
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life means?
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Jesus is the provider. He's the one who
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feeds us spiritually and looks after us
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in that way. In week three, that's last
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week, we talked about the second
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statement. Anybody remember?
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I am the light of the world. You sounded
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like creepy murder twins there. That was
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weird. I am the light of the world. That
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means that Jesus is the light who comes
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to defeat the powers of darkness. Right?
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And if we are with Jesus, if we are in
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Jesus, that means we don't have to walk
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in darkness in the world. And in this
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week, we're going to hit the third of
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Jesus's I am statements. That statement
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is I am the gate for the sheep. I am the
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gate for the sheep. Hands up if you've
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heard I am the gate for the sheep
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before. A couple of you. Hands up if
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you've never heard I am the gate for the
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sheep before. Yeah. like a a bunch you I
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think this is one of the like less known
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ones before I don't think I'd ever heard
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I am the gate for the sheep in a sermon
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before I started working on this series.
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So to give you guys the setup for this
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statement um for the last few weeks
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every week I've been kind of emphasizing
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I've been talking about how there's this
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beef between Jesus and the religious
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leaders all throughout his ministry.
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Right? So Jesus has come on earth to be
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the bread of life, to be the light of
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the world, to be the son of God living
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among us. And the religious leaders
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don't like it. They're not about it at
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all. See, the religious leaders are used
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to being the most respected, the most
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influential, the most important,
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powerful guys in the Jewish system. And
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then here comes Jesus and he goes,
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"Actually, you religious leaders are
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just as messed up, just as corrupt, just
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as morally darkened as all of the people
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who you're supposed to be leading. And
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actually, you're worse because you say
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that you're leading people toward God,
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but really you're just as bad as they
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are." So the religious leaders, they
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hate what Jesus is saying. They hate
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what Jesus is doing. In the last chapter
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before where we'll be in chapter 10, the
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religious leaders have just gotten mad
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at Jesus. Get this. They've gotten mad
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at Jesus for healing a blind dude.
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They Jesus heals a blind dude on the
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Sabbath and they get mad at Jesus for
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healing him on the Sabbath. They get mad
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at the blind dude because the blind dude
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won't talk trash about Jesus. And in the
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middle of that whole situation with
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Jesus going back and forth with the
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religious leaders, he says this. John
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10:1
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he says, "I tell you the truth, anyone
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who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold
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rather than going through the gate must
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surely be a thief and a robber. But the
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one who enters through the gate is the
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shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper
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opens the gate for him, and the sheep
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recognize his voice and come to him. He
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calls his own sheep by name and leads
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them out. After he has gathered his own
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flock, he walks ahead of them and they
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follow him because they know his voice.
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They won't follow a stranger. They will
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follow they will run from him because
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they don't know his voice.
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Do you ever guys do you guys ever read a
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passage from the Bible and you're like,
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I have no idea what that means?
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No, you guys not. You're all like, every
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time I read the Bible, I'm like, this is
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perfect. I totally get it. Dude, I I am
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like that. Okay. I totally sometimes
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read the Bible and I'm like, I have no
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idea what that means. Ava and I have
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been on the same Bible reading plan uh
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since the new year. And sometimes she'll
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be like making breakfast and she'll be
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like, "What did you learn in the Bible
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reading this morning?" She doesn't sound
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like that, but she'll be like, "What did
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you learn in the Bible reading this
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morning?" And I'm like, "Dude, I have no
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idea what I just read straight up."
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And that's why I like like that over
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here we have we have so many English
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Bible translations. First, some of you
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are mocking my my Ava impression.
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Uh, so I love that we have so many
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different Bible translations. That's one
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of the reasons why over here we have a
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stack of English Standard Version. We
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also you we teach out of the New Living
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Translation on Sunday nights because
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sometimes it's just a little easier to
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understand, right? Sometimes those more
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word for word translations are just
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hard, right? But what I love about the
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Bible as we read through this passage,
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what I love about the Bible is that the
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Bible is just like straight up about
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people, right? That these are real
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people like you and me. So, I don't know
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about you guys, but when I read this
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passage and I go, "Dang, Jesus, I don't
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understand what you mean by that." We
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keep reading in verse six, it says,
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"Those who heard Jesus use this
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illustration didn't understand what he
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meant." I love that. I think that's
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awesome. So he explained it to them.
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Thank you Jesus. He says, 'I tell you
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the truth. I am the gate for the sheep.
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All who came before me were thieves and
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robbers, but the true sheep did not
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listen to them. Yes, I am the gate.
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Those who come in through me will be
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saved. They will come and go freely and
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will find good pastures. The thief's
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purpose is to steal and kill and
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destroy. My purpose is to give them a
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rich and satisfying life. If you were
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here when I first started with Switch
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when we went through the good life
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series we did back in August, you'll
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remember that that verse, that last
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verse uh is one of the the verses that
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we highlighted in that p in that series,
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right? That Jesus comes to give us the
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abundant life. He comes to give us just
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a life overflowing with goodness. Okay,
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so let's break down the passage. So
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Jesus starts off with this like big old
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metaphor about himself to set up this I
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am statement, right? He says that the
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people of God can be compared to a group
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of sheep, a flock of sheep. And his
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audience back like 2,000 years ago, they
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would all know that sheep need to be
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led. Does that sound familiar? I said
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that before. Sheep need to be led.
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People need to be led. Right? See,
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unlike almost any other animal in the
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wild, a sheep does not have any natural
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defenses against predators. They can't
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run fast. They can't climb trees,
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although that would be sick. They can't
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hide. They can't fight off wolves.
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Right. The one protection that a sheep
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has against predators is what?
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>> The shepherd. Exactly. And next week,
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we're actually going to go into the
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fourth I am statement in the Gospel of
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John. comes right after this passage
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we're in tonight and it's I am the good
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shepherd. But I don't want us to skip
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past the part that might be a little
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like harder to follow in order to get
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one that's easier to wrap our minds
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around. Right? So Jesus says, I am not
12:12
the shepherd, but I am the gate for the
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sheep. He mentions two kinds of people
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who might be trying to get into the
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sheep pen, who might be trying to get at
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the sheep when they're all tucked in in
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the sheep pen at night, right? He says
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that there's the shepherd who comes
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through the gate and his whole job is to
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guide the sheep and take care of the
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sheep and protect the sheep. And then
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there's the robber who can't come
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through the gate because he doesn't have
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the key. And so he jumps the fence to
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try and steal the sheep. The robber
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isn't there to protect the sheep or look
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after the sheep. He's there to kill the
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sheep and eat the sheep and exploit the
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sheep. Right? Which of those two groups
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of people do you think Jesus is saying
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these religious leaders are? Do you
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think he's saying they're the the
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shepherd or the robber?
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>> The robber. Exactly. That's why he says
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it. And this actually isn't the first
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time that God has used this metaphor
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that God has compared his people to a
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flock of sheep. Right. I told you sheep
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need to be led. People need to be led.
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So back in the Old Testament when the
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people of Israel were like out here
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doing all kinds of crazy stuff. They're
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chasing after false gods and immorality.
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when the leaders who are supposed to be
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leading the people and pointing them
13:24
toward God were instead like leading
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them after sin, right? God had this to
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say in Ezekiel 34. This is not Jesus
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being talked to, but this is God
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speaking to a dude. He says, "Son of
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man, prophesy against the shepherds, the
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leaders of Israel. Give them this
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message from the sovereign Lord. What
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sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed
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yourselves instead of your flocks?
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Shouldn't shepherds feed their sheep?
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You drink the milk, wear the wool, and
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butcher the best animals, but you let
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your flocks starve. You have not taken
14:02
care of the weak. You have not tended
14:04
the sick or bound up the injured. You
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have not gone looking for those who have
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wandered away and are lost. Instead, you
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have ruled them with harshness and
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cruelty.
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And in that passage in Ezekiel 34, God
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goes on to talk about how because the
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leaders of Israel have failed to
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shepherd their sheep faithfully, now
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God's going to come and he's going to be
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the shepherd himself. It's like this
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super cool Old Testament reference to
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what Jesus is going to talk about next
14:33
week, right? It's an Old Testament
14:35
promise pointing forward to Jesus, the
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son of God, coming to lead the people.
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And so, like literally the entire talk
14:43
next week is going to be about that
14:44
point. But what he's saying this week is
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that he's the gate for the sheep. That
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means that Jesus is the one true leader
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for the people of God, for the church.
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And that or or rather that any true
14:57
leader for the people of God, for the
14:59
church has got to come through Jesus.
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The religious leaders who have been
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trying to lead the people before are
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robbers instead of shepherds because
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they won't come through Jesus. They want
15:12
to hold on to their own power, their own
15:14
position, their own influence, their own
15:17
authority, right? And Jesus says that
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his leaders, his shepherds need to be
15:22
servants of everyone.
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At my old youth group, we used to say,
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if you want to be the top dog, you got
15:29
to be a bottom dog. which sounds really
15:33
stupid, but in Jesus's words, he says,
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"Whoever wants to be a leader among you
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must be your servant, and whoever wants
15:40
to be first among you must become your
15:43
slave."
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Top dog, bottom dog. And this passage,
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you guys, this passage, this message is
15:50
literally, it is for me as much as it is
15:53
for you guys. It's for Pastor Ryan back
15:55
there as much as it is for you guys.
15:57
Jesus's warning here is a warning to
16:00
anyone who wants to serve or lead in
16:03
ministry. As a pastor, as a chaplain, as
16:07
a Bible study leader, as a worship
16:10
leader, as somebody who just wants to
16:12
like talk to your friends about Jesus,
16:14
all of it. And so before you guys hear
16:16
me say all of what's what I'm saying and
16:19
go, "All right, bet. I can stop
16:20
listening. I'm trying to grow up and be
16:22
like a video game designer. I'm not
16:24
trying to do anything in ministry or
16:26
like I'm going to get rich trading meme
16:27
coins. That's what one of my old you
16:29
students tried to do. I want you to
16:31
remember what we said a few weeks ago
16:34
about Jesus about rather what our
16:36
mission is as followers of Jesus. Right?
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We're called to live sent. Whatever you
16:44
do in your life, in your career, if
16:45
you're trading meme coins, if you're a
16:47
video game designer, if you're like a
16:48
cop or a stay at home mom, whatever you
16:50
do, you are called to be disciples who
16:54
make disciples, right? We're called to
16:57
that mission. Be disciples who make
17:00
disciples. So, with that in mind, here's
17:03
a couple of takeaways from this passage.
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Okay? Jesus gives us two qualifications
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for us as shepherds, for you and me as
17:11
shepherds. And he gives a warning for
17:14
you and me as sheep because we're
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shepherds. We're also sheep. So here's
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qualification number one. Jesus says,
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"True shepherds come through Jesus."
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True shepherds come through Jesus. Where
17:27
I grew up, and I mention this every
17:28
week, but where I grew up, it is a very
17:31
fashionable thing to say like, "Yeah,
17:33
sure. Okay, Jesus works for me, but like
17:35
I wouldn't want to push my beliefs on
17:36
anybody else."
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I remember I was once telling a friend
17:40
who was Christian about how I was like
17:42
praying for my friends who didn't know
17:44
Jesus to come to faith in Jesus. And she
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goes, "Why?
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Doesn't that sound kind of arrogant to
17:51
want your friends to believe what you
17:53
believe?" And I was like, "Bro, what?
17:57
Not if it's true."
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And that was the moment where I was
18:00
like, "I don't know if you're a
18:01
Christian if you're saying that." Jesus
18:03
said that he is the bread of life. That
18:06
he is the light of the world. That he is
18:09
the only way for human beings to be made
18:11
right with God. Apart from Jesus, you
18:15
and I are condemned in our sins. And any
18:18
religion that comes along and preaches
18:20
that there is another way to God. Any
18:23
religion that says, "Yeah, we're all
18:25
just following the same God, right? We
18:27
all understand him in different ways."
18:28
Right? It's like that elephant metaphor
18:30
where it's like you're touching the
18:31
trunk and I'm touching the tail. Any of
18:33
that stuff and it might make me feel the
18:36
warm fuzz Samuel has no idea what I'm
18:38
talking about. We can talk about that in
18:40
small group. So, uh any any religion
18:44
that says that it might give me the warm
18:46
fuzzies to say that and say that to
18:48
other people, but that is not what Jesus
18:50
believed about himself.
18:54
There are a million false beliefs out
18:56
there that will try to get away from the
18:58
true Jesus. There will people who there
19:00
will be people who come along and tell
19:02
you, "Yeah, you can follow the commands
19:04
of God without needing Jesus." Right?
19:06
That's what the religious leaders were
19:08
doing. You can there are some that will
19:09
tell you that, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, you
19:10
need Jesus and also you need a bunch of
19:13
other stuff, right? You need to keep
19:14
kosher, you need to follow certain Old
19:16
Testament rules, any of that stuff."
19:18
There's people who tell you that like,
19:19
"Yeah, you need to follow Jesus." But
19:21
then you hear them talk about Jesus and
19:23
you're like, "That is not the Jesus in
19:25
the Bible, right?" They'll talk about,
19:27
"Oh, Jesus wasn't really God or Jesus
19:29
didn't really get raised from the dead
19:31
or Jesus was just a good moral teacher,
19:33
but I followed Jesus." It's like, bro,
19:35
that's not Jesus. That's not the Jesus
19:38
of the Bible.
19:40
There are a million false beliefs that
19:42
will tell you and me how we need to get
19:45
right with God. And there are a million
19:47
false teachers who will try to sneak
19:49
around Jesus around the gate in order to
19:53
lead the sheep where they want them to
19:55
go. Jesus says that those false teachers
19:59
aren't almost shepherds or like confused
20:03
shepherds or they're well-intentioned
20:05
shepherds. They're really trying. He
20:07
said that those people who will try to
20:09
lead you after a false Jesus are thieves
20:12
and robbers.
20:14
So, what about true shepherds? Right?
20:16
So, here's qualification number two if
20:18
you're taking notes. Jesus says that
20:19
true shepherds are servants, caretakers,
20:23
and defenders of the sheep. True
20:27
shepherds are servants, caretakers, and
20:29
defenders of the sheep. Okay? Next week,
20:32
we're going to go into this idea of like
20:33
the good shepherd where Jesus identifies
20:36
himself as being the ultimate shepherd.
20:38
But what I want to say right now is that
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you and I are called to be shepherds in
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our schools, in our workplaces, with our
20:46
families, in our friend groups. We are
20:48
called to be shepherds modeled after the
20:52
ultimate shepherd. Okay? The passage
20:55
says that true shepherds lead the sheep.
20:59
And that means you got to lead the
21:00
sheep. You got to live it out yourself.
21:02
You've got to walk with your life being
21:05
daily shaped and molded by the Holy
21:08
Spirit living in you. Going where the
21:10
Holy Spirit tells you to go, doing what
21:12
the Holy Spirit tells you to do. And he
21:14
says, "People will follow after you."
21:19
The Apostle Paul writing in one of his
21:20
letters to one of the New Testament
21:22
churches, he tells them, "You should
21:24
imitate me just like I imitate Christ."
21:28
If all your friends imitated you, would
21:31
they look more like Jesus?
21:34
And I promise you, people will be way,
21:36
way more influenced by the way you live
21:39
your life than by the message you
21:40
preached. That doesn't mean it doesn't
21:42
matter if the Jesus that we're telling
21:44
people about is the actual Jesus of the
21:47
Bible, right? Like I said just a second
21:48
ago, that matters a ton. But if the
21:51
world hears us preaching that the
21:53
kingdom life of Jesus really is a better
21:56
way than the way of the world, but then
21:59
we don't live it out ourselves.
22:02
That says something about whether we
22:03
actually believe it, right?
22:06
The passage says that true shepherds
22:09
lead the sheep, but also true shepherds
22:12
are let in. In the story Jesus tells, in
22:15
the metaphor Jesus tells, there's a
22:17
gatekeeper who opens the door for the
22:19
shepherd to get to the sheep. And I know
22:21
that there are some of you in this room
22:23
who are super on fire for Jesus, who
22:26
want to see your friends and loved ones
22:29
follow Christ and know Christ. And I'm
22:32
like so jazzed about that. I want to
22:34
encourage that. But my encouragement to
22:36
you is as you seek Jesus, as you seek to
22:40
be formed by the Holy Spirit, as you
22:43
show God that you are faithful in the
22:45
small things that he gives you today, he
22:48
will open doors for you to do more
22:51
tomorrow.
22:52
There's a a pastor friend of mine from
22:54
California who used to always say,
22:56
"Ministry makes room for itself."
23:00
I did not plan to be a pastor from the
23:02
time that I was like five, six, seven
23:04
years old.
23:05
God spent years working on my heart and
23:08
my character, leading me one step of
23:11
obedience at a time before I eventually
23:14
arrived on this stage right here doing
23:16
full-time ministry.
23:18
God is going to put you exactly where he
23:21
wants you when he wants you to be there.
23:23
And the call for you today is to say,
23:27
"How can I be faithful with what he's
23:29
given me today? Where are the parts of
23:32
my heart that I haven't given over to
23:34
Jesus? If you give today to Jesus and
23:38
let him worry about the ministry that
23:40
you're doing tomorrow.
23:43
Now, I told you I was going to finish up
23:44
with two qualifications and a warning.
23:47
So, as Pete comes up and does the little
23:49
piano thing, here's the warning for us
23:52
as sheep. Learn to hear and follow the
23:56
shepherd's voice.
23:58
Jesus says in verse four that the sheep
24:01
follow the shepherd because they know
24:03
the shepherd's voice. It is such an
24:07
encouragement for me to know that our
24:09
good shepherd leaves the 99 sheep in
24:12
order to come for the one that is run
24:15
away.
24:17
But it is on you and me to learn that
24:20
shepherd's voice. You guys need to be
24:24
learning the voice of Jesus through
24:25
prayer, through reading the Bible,
24:28
through sitting under teaching, through
24:30
being in community with other believers.
24:32
You cannot assume that everything that
24:34
comes out of my mouth is true just
24:35
because like Northwest hires me and
24:37
pastor goes at the front of my name. You
24:40
cannot assume that what your teachers
24:42
say is true just because, well, they
24:44
passed a background check and work at a
24:46
Christian school. If you learn the voice
24:49
of Jesus through the scriptures, it will
24:52
protect you from being led off in the
24:55
wrong direction by someone who says
24:57
something that sounds good but leads to
24:59
destruction. Because that's the thing
25:01
about false teaching, it usually sounds
25:04
good. It's usually just true enough that
25:08
you steer your eyes off of Jesus just a
25:10
little bit. But that way is the way to
25:13
destruction.
25:15
There are literally churches with 20,000
25:18
people showing up every single week
25:20
where the pastor does not speak with the
25:23
voice of Jesus. There are entire
25:26
movements of Christians that are built
25:28
around a charismatic leader who says not
25:31
what Jesus says, but what people want
25:33
him to hear. Learn the voice of Jesus.
25:38
And I promise you that you will find
25:40
this. Not that he's always going to say
25:42
the things that you want him to hear,
25:44
but that his words are the words that
25:48
lead to life.
25:50
So, I'm going to close with these words
25:52
from the end of today's passage. One
25:54
more time in John 10:10. Jesus says
25:57
this, "The thief's purpose is to steal
26:00
and kill and destroy. My purpose is to
26:04
give them a rich and satisfying life."
26:08
That's what his purpose is for you if
26:11
you will accept it. Let's pray.