WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.459 Today's passage comes from John 10, verses 1-18, where Jesus talks about the meaning of a good shepherd. 00:00:08.060 --> 00:00:11.220 So please follow along on the screen or in your own Bibles. 00:00:11.980 --> 00:00:15.179 In John 10, verse 1, we read, 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:38.340 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hears his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 00:00:39.159 --> 00:00:45.100 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 00:00:45.780 --> 00:00:51.500 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:57.760 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:00.559 So Jesus again said to them, 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:29.380 I am the good shepherd. 00:01:30.160 --> 00:01:33.100 The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:38.340 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, 00:01:38.859 --> 00:01:41.920 sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, 00:01:42.340 --> 00:01:44.760 and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:49.080 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:51.579 I am the good shepherd. 00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:58.000 I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:00.799 And I lay down my life for the sheep. 00:02:01.719 --> 00:02:04.459 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. 00:02:05.039 --> 00:02:08.479 I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:12.039 So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 00:02:12.039 --> 00:02:18.219 For this reason, the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:22.699 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. 00:02:23.259 --> 00:02:27.219 I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:30.500 This charge I receive from my Father. 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:33.039 This is the Word of God. 00:02:33.799 --> 00:02:34.620 Over to you, Simon. 00:02:34.620 --> 00:02:36.960 Thank you, Irene. 00:02:37.099 --> 00:02:38.460 Thanks for reading that so well. 00:02:38.659 --> 00:02:40.000 And good morning, everyone. 00:02:40.259 --> 00:02:42.960 I trust you can hear me and that it's all clear. 00:02:43.060 --> 00:02:44.900 It's really wonderful to be with you this morning. 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:47.480 Kev, thanks for introducing me. 00:02:47.740 --> 00:02:50.560 I will trust I will not let down the Murphy name this morning. 00:02:51.140 --> 00:02:55.599 But it really is such a joy to be able to be here speaking to you all 00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:58.200 and in the church where Kev is pastoring. 00:02:58.640 --> 00:03:01.259 Obviously, I love Kev and Claire and the girls very, very dearly, 00:03:01.259 --> 00:03:05.079 and hoping that we're going to get to see them sometime soon. 00:03:05.579 --> 00:03:08.699 But it really is wonderful that we can have a look at this passage this morning. 00:03:08.859 --> 00:03:09.739 I trust you'll be encouraged. 00:03:09.859 --> 00:03:13.299 Why don't you close your eyes and pray as we get started this morning? 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:15.079 Father, we come before you. 00:03:15.299 --> 00:03:16.899 We say that we love you this morning. 00:03:17.340 --> 00:03:21.120 We're so grateful to you for being such an amazing God to us. 00:03:21.719 --> 00:03:24.060 And we pray this morning that as we look at your Word, 00:03:24.439 --> 00:03:28.280 that you would speak to us, strengthen us, encourage our hearts, build us up, 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:31.120 help us to understand what it means. 00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:33.179 To know you, to love you, and to follow you. 00:03:33.259 --> 00:03:35.620 And we ask this all in Jesus' name. 00:03:36.199 --> 00:03:36.439 Amen. 00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:38.159 Amen. 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:43.280 Well, it's really wonderful to be able to speak to you in Hong Kong this morning. 00:03:43.419 --> 00:03:47.159 I know that life in Hong Kong has not been very easy of late. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:51.219 And there have been many challenges, as there have been around the world. 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:54.879 I was just reflecting on that this week for you guys 00:03:54.879 --> 00:03:59.079 and just thinking how Christianity itself was birthed in the midst of a great adversity 00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:04.000 and how the Bible talks about how even amidst trouble and difficulties 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:07.760 and even our outward bodies wasting away, our inner beings, 00:04:07.860 --> 00:04:11.020 our inner persons are being renewed day by day by God. 00:04:11.700 --> 00:04:16.819 And so I pray that you know the closeness of God and Jesus during this time. 00:04:16.819 --> 00:04:20.740 Now, in the midst of difficult times, I guess all of us, 00:04:20.819 --> 00:04:24.439 what many of us want and are looking for is good leadership. 00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:26.339 We want a guide. 00:04:26.459 --> 00:04:28.599 We want a leader, someone who will be able to shepherd us 00:04:28.599 --> 00:04:31.719 and guide us through the circumstances that we're in. 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:35.399 And how much more to have an amazing leader, 00:04:35.539 --> 00:04:39.480 an amazing shepherd or guide who also knows us, 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:43.680 not just a generic leader far away, but someone who knows you deeply, 00:04:44.540 --> 00:04:48.080 intimately, loves you, understands what makes you tick 00:04:48.080 --> 00:04:50.560 and is deeply committed to you. 00:04:51.080 --> 00:04:55.400 A couple of years ago, I bumped into somebody that I'd not seen 00:04:55.400 --> 00:04:58.080 for about 15 years since I was in high school. 00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:02.379 And this person referred to me by the nickname that kids 00:05:02.379 --> 00:05:05.720 or my friends used to call me when I was in high school. 00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:06.720 They used to call me Spud. 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:09.980 It was, I think, because my surname's Murphy. 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:14.120 And I had not heard anyone call me that for like 15 years or so. 00:05:14.740 --> 00:05:18.700 And when they did, it was like suddenly calling me that name, 00:05:18.840 --> 00:05:22.600 that nickname just brought back an entire flood of memories. 00:05:23.860 --> 00:05:28.160 It's almost like it transported me back to an entire era in my life, 00:05:28.400 --> 00:05:30.540 something that I'd almost forgotten about. 00:05:31.320 --> 00:05:34.940 It showed me, it reminded me that these people, 00:05:34.939 --> 00:05:37.259 this person who had called me that name, 00:05:37.319 --> 00:05:39.379 knew something about me that many others didn't. 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:41.279 They had access to a part of me. 00:05:42.060 --> 00:05:45.879 Knew something of my life and my story that had been hidden from many others. 00:05:46.540 --> 00:05:49.139 Maybe you've had the experience of someone forgetting your name. 00:05:49.699 --> 00:05:51.680 Maybe someone who really should have known it. 00:05:51.779 --> 00:05:55.579 And you watch them kind of awkwardly fumbling as they're trying to avoid 00:05:55.579 --> 00:05:59.420 calling you by a name and just refer to you in other generic terms. 00:05:59.420 --> 00:06:00.960 How did that make you feel? 00:06:02.540 --> 00:06:05.580 Now imagine being at some kind of really important event 00:06:05.580 --> 00:06:08.600 and realizing that the person there doesn't know you. 00:06:10.180 --> 00:06:11.600 Imagine being at the door of death. 00:06:12.660 --> 00:06:17.280 I don't think the Bible tells us that St. Peter stands at the gates of heaven 00:06:17.280 --> 00:06:19.639 with the book, seeing who he will let in. 00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:22.180 I don't think the scripture shows that. 00:06:22.200 --> 00:06:23.860 But if you look at that stereotypical picture, 00:06:24.180 --> 00:06:28.120 imagine St. Peter forgot your name or didn't know your name. 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:31.199 A couple of years ago, I read a book. 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:35.459 And it's a book by Eric Schumacher. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:38.079 It's a short little novella, Eric Schumacher. 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:41.180 And the book is called My Last Name. 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:42.620 My Last Name. 00:06:43.340 --> 00:06:47.079 It tells the life story of a woman who goes through life 00:06:47.079 --> 00:06:50.019 with at least three last names. 00:06:50.579 --> 00:06:53.560 She's born Charlotte, or as we come to know her in the book, 00:06:53.699 --> 00:06:55.980 Lottie O'Connor, Charlotte O'Connor. 00:06:55.980 --> 00:06:58.960 And when she was very young, about 18 or 19, 00:06:59.100 --> 00:07:02.080 she married a young man that she fell in love with. 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:03.600 His name was John Carlson. 00:07:03.700 --> 00:07:05.600 And she became Charlotte Carlson. 00:07:06.100 --> 00:07:08.259 And they were only married for a short amount of time. 00:07:08.540 --> 00:07:09.379 She fell pregnant. 00:07:09.740 --> 00:07:12.600 And then John got sent off to fight in the war. 00:07:13.540 --> 00:07:16.840 And John, unfortunately, never made it back to America alive. 00:07:16.839 --> 00:07:21.959 And she was widowed as a young woman with a young child, Charlotte Carlson. 00:07:22.479 --> 00:07:28.519 About 10 years or so later, she met another man, an older, kind man, 00:07:28.859 --> 00:07:31.679 gentle and gracious man by the name of Everett Barnes. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:35.699 And after some time, she ended up marrying Everett. 00:07:36.219 --> 00:07:38.579 And now suddenly, Charlotte, Lottie O'Connor, 00:07:38.779 --> 00:07:42.000 who had then become Charlotte Carlson, 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:45.980 became Charlotte Barnes, Lottie Barnes. 00:07:46.420 --> 00:07:48.959 And the story goes through the entire story of her life. 00:07:49.019 --> 00:07:49.819 Some of the details. 00:07:50.019 --> 00:07:51.120 It's a beautiful story. 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:55.660 But it gets to the point where she's now right at the end of her life in a hospital. 00:07:56.620 --> 00:07:58.060 Her memory is confused. 00:07:58.259 --> 00:07:59.600 She gets things mixed up. 00:08:00.259 --> 00:08:03.139 There's a nurse by the name of Sarah who comes in and out, 00:08:04.060 --> 00:08:04.800 tending to her. 00:08:05.139 --> 00:08:07.860 And as she's trying to think through her memories, 00:08:08.379 --> 00:08:09.939 she's wondering about her names. 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:11.160 Who is she? 00:08:12.860 --> 00:08:15.839 I want to ask you this morning, who exactly are you? 00:08:17.259 --> 00:08:18.639 What is your name? 00:08:20.519 --> 00:08:21.939 What does your name mean? 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:26.579 A name is something that is deeply personal to us. 00:08:26.920 --> 00:08:27.800 It represents us. 00:08:28.060 --> 00:08:30.600 It represents our life, years of our lives. 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:33.120 It represents who we are. 00:08:33.720 --> 00:08:38.759 And our text today shows us that there's a shepherd who knows your name. 00:08:38.759 --> 00:08:41.399 In fact, as we're going to see later on, 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:43.860 he even has a name for you that you don't know yourself. 00:08:45.159 --> 00:08:46.600 That's how deeply he knows you. 00:08:47.080 --> 00:08:49.740 He knows things about you that you don't even understand about yourself. 00:08:50.580 --> 00:08:56.439 He has a future for you that you presently can't see or understand just how wonderful it is. 00:08:57.139 --> 00:08:58.980 He wants to lead you to green postures. 00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:01.120 He knows you better than you know yourself. 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:05.159 And how amazing this is for us to know in tough times. 00:09:05.799 --> 00:09:08.740 Now, these 18 verses in John are somewhat confusing. 00:09:09.340 --> 00:09:10.419 The text is complex. 00:09:10.539 --> 00:09:14.419 I was chuckling to myself earlier when Irene was leading and reading. 00:09:14.560 --> 00:09:15.419 And in verse 6, it says, 00:09:15.419 --> 00:09:19.719 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 00:09:20.079 --> 00:09:22.659 And I was kind of laughing, thinking that's kind of understandable. 00:09:23.159 --> 00:09:24.860 This text has two main images. 00:09:25.059 --> 00:09:25.959 Jesus is a door. 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:27.099 Jesus is a shepherd. 00:09:27.479 --> 00:09:28.620 It's a little bit circular. 00:09:28.819 --> 00:09:30.419 It's not entirely sequential. 00:09:30.919 --> 00:09:36.279 And so it can be a little hard to wrap our minds around because Jesus refers to himself as multiple characters in the story. 00:09:36.279 --> 00:09:46.659 But the main idea that I want us to see this morning is that because Jesus is the good shepherd and the gate of the sheep, we should recognize him as our good shepherd. 00:09:47.019 --> 00:09:50.819 Enter the fold through him and follow him. 00:09:51.419 --> 00:09:56.399 This is a truth, friends, that we need to internalize today, not simply just know intellectually. 00:09:56.839 --> 00:10:02.240 So we're going to explore this in our short time this morning by asking three brief questions. 00:10:02.379 --> 00:10:04.519 Number one, why do we need to be properly careful? 00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:07.720 Secondly, the only one who can properly care for us. 00:10:08.019 --> 00:10:11.559 And finally, how to be cared for by Jesus. 00:10:12.340 --> 00:10:14.699 So why exactly do we need to be properly careful? 00:10:15.319 --> 00:10:16.220 Scripture refers to us. 00:10:16.299 --> 00:10:21.939 Jesus talks to us here about us being sheep who go astray and get lost. 00:10:22.439 --> 00:10:28.500 Now, some of the background to this passage is that in the Bible, God's leaders are often called shepherds. 00:10:28.740 --> 00:10:30.559 So we think about Moses, Numbers 27. 00:10:30.980 --> 00:10:32.539 David, a shepherd of God's people. 00:10:32.539 --> 00:10:36.899 Many times, God's leaders and God himself is called a shepherd of his people. 00:10:37.019 --> 00:10:38.819 But this refers to his leaders as well. 00:10:39.219 --> 00:10:41.259 Sheep need to be led, need to be cared for. 00:10:41.539 --> 00:10:43.159 They need to be provided for. 00:10:43.620 --> 00:10:45.819 And this is what many of us want. 00:10:45.820 --> 00:10:53.780 If you recognize some sheep tendencies in yourself, you may know sheep tend to wander off and drift off. 00:10:53.980 --> 00:11:03.240 We think about Luke 15, Jesus telling us the parable of the lost sheep and how a sheep wanders off and gets lost and finds itself in all kinds of personal trouble. 00:11:03.240 --> 00:11:13.019 But we think of Isaiah 53, where the prophet talks about Jesus who will one day come and says, we all, like sheep, have gone astray. 00:11:13.779 --> 00:11:23.340 There's something deep within us that tends to drift away from our shepherd, move away from him, trust ourselves, follow our noses, think we know where we're going. 00:11:23.340 --> 00:11:29.899 So this is all part of our sinful, fallen condition to leave God, the one who's made us and known us. 00:11:30.519 --> 00:11:33.600 We often don't want to be led by him. 00:11:33.740 --> 00:11:34.860 We think that we know best. 00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:41.519 I remember many, many years ago when my father took me as a 16-year-old boy up Mount Kilimanjaro. 00:11:42.120 --> 00:11:47.740 And on that last night, you have guides who are helping to kind of get you up to the top. 00:11:47.800 --> 00:11:49.800 And that's a pretty grueling trip. 00:11:49.799 --> 00:11:55.139 You ascend about one kilometer in altitude whilst you're only doing three kilometers in distance. 00:11:55.799 --> 00:11:57.479 And it's freezing cold. 00:11:57.599 --> 00:11:58.500 There's mountain sickness. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:01.000 And I was sick and tired of this. 00:12:01.099 --> 00:12:03.039 I did not want to get to the top of the mountain. 00:12:03.539 --> 00:12:13.279 And everything that inside of me was telling me just to prioritize my warmth and my comfort and to abandon the hike and just go back home. 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:20.759 And my dad still reminds me that I use language that he never knew that he never realized I knew as a 16-year-old boy at the time. 00:12:21.159 --> 00:12:30.100 What I needed on that mountain that night was both a guide, someone who knew where they were going, who could lead me, who had light, who could give advice. 00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:31.959 I needed an encourager. 00:12:32.079 --> 00:12:37.319 I needed a dad who could put some courage and steel inside of my bones and help me get to the top. 00:12:37.379 --> 00:12:38.459 And he did do that. 00:12:38.460 --> 00:12:44.220 And the Bible talks here about us being sheep, those who are vulnerable, need to be cared for. 00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:54.240 And what makes us need to be properly cared for even more is not just that we're sheep who tend to go astray, but that we face enemies and false shepherds. 00:12:54.240 --> 00:13:00.519 The passage talks about there being thieves and wills who come to kill and destroy. 00:13:01.240 --> 00:13:05.060 Now, we need to back up a little bit and try and understand what exactly Jesus is saying here. 00:13:05.059 --> 00:13:12.399 The context of John 10, actually, is Jesus in John 9 has just been in conflict with the Pharisees. 00:13:13.019 --> 00:13:17.819 The Pharisees have been coming after Jesus for healing a man who was born blind. 00:13:18.519 --> 00:13:20.739 And Jesus is in big conflict with the Pharisees. 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:24.859 And part of the conflict is that the Pharisees claim to be shepherds. 00:13:25.359 --> 00:13:30.359 They claim to be God's leaders who are supposed to be shepherding God's people into life and into everlasting life. 00:13:30.360 --> 00:13:34.840 And Jesus is denouncing them, saying that they are blind guides. 00:13:34.940 --> 00:13:36.039 They are not true shepherds. 00:13:36.519 --> 00:13:47.879 And so when we read this text about thieves and wolves and highlings, Jesus is actually pointing toward the Pharisees, those who are fulfillment of Ezekiel chapter 34. 00:13:47.879 --> 00:13:58.120 Ezekiel 34 is a passage where the prophet is, is, is, is ruining the fact that the shepherds of Israel do not bind up those who are wounded and broken. 00:13:58.120 --> 00:14:00.960 They do not chase or go after those who've gone astray. 00:14:01.179 --> 00:14:02.939 They simply feast. 00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:04.399 They live on the sheep. 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:06.240 They use them for their own goods. 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:12.519 And Jesus is telling here stunningly to these Pharisees that they themselves are false shepherds. 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:18.620 He talks about highlings who don't face true danger, who will simply run away the minute that any danger comes. 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:22.879 And the key for the highlings is that these highlings don't own the sheep. 00:14:22.980 --> 00:14:24.779 They don't, aren't truly committed to them. 00:14:25.080 --> 00:14:29.500 And they deceive them through lies, trying to make them think that they care. 00:14:30.340 --> 00:14:33.340 I want to ask you a question this morning. 00:14:33.340 --> 00:14:39.040 Who do you, who are those that you think can shepherd you? 00:14:40.460 --> 00:14:45.420 Who are those that you think can guide you home and take care of you? 00:14:47.139 --> 00:14:49.920 Provide for you, protect you. 00:14:52.519 --> 00:14:57.420 Many of us may be inclined to think that our jobs can do this for us. 00:14:57.419 --> 00:15:04.000 We think our jobs will be able to provide for us, give us a preferred future. 00:15:04.379 --> 00:15:07.000 If we just get the right job, everything will be okay. 00:15:07.539 --> 00:15:09.079 We'll be able to live to a ripe old age. 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:09.759 We'll be happy. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:14.519 All of our fears will not be realized. 00:15:15.579 --> 00:15:20.439 We may put our hope or our hope more concretely in money. 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:24.240 Or maybe education, pursuing some kind of a higher qualification. 00:15:24.780 --> 00:15:28.940 Thinking if we can just attain that, that will be some kind of a provider for me. 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:30.560 Something that will be able to lead and guide me. 00:15:30.660 --> 00:15:32.460 Something that will provide for my future. 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:37.500 Or maybe a relationship that you feel if you have that, everything will be okay. 00:15:38.780 --> 00:15:42.960 But friends, when we stop and think about these things, we know our job is not going to die for us. 00:15:43.920 --> 00:15:45.880 Our job is not going to lay its life down for us. 00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:52.620 Because the promises, the voices that many of these false shepherds make to us are deceptive. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:56.559 And yet many times we're inclined to believe them. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:16:03.500 I remember a heartbreaking conversation once talking with a woman who was being abused by her husband. 00:16:03.659 --> 00:16:05.740 And had suffered much abuse over many years. 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:09.220 And her telling me the words that he had spoken to her. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:11.500 Telling her that she's nothing. 00:16:12.139 --> 00:16:13.460 She's nothing without him. 00:16:13.460 --> 00:16:17.820 That he's the only hope she has of being cared for and provided for. 00:16:18.400 --> 00:16:20.620 And yet that care was a distorted care. 00:16:20.800 --> 00:16:21.980 It was an abusive care. 00:16:22.420 --> 00:16:24.720 There was nothing healthy or right about that. 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:28.060 It was a complete distortion of shepherding. 00:16:29.259 --> 00:16:31.440 A complete distortion of leadership. 00:16:32.519 --> 00:16:36.500 Now when we hear a story like that, we're probably inclined to recognize, of course that's a false shepherd. 00:16:36.500 --> 00:16:42.820 But yet in so many examples in our lives, we're inclined to put our faith, our trust to follow. 00:16:43.559 --> 00:16:45.659 The voices of those who don't truly know us. 00:16:46.059 --> 00:16:48.399 Don't truly love us or care for us. 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:53.100 Jesus is showing us here that we need someone, something better. 00:16:53.259 --> 00:16:54.220 A better shepherd. 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:57.200 There are enemies and false shepherds out there. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:04.660 The third reason why we need to be properly cared for is because Jesus is going to show us in the passage that eternal life is in the balance. 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:08.460 In verse 9 and 10, he talks about being saved. 00:17:09.460 --> 00:17:11.319 He talks about, he says, I'm the door. 00:17:11.400 --> 00:17:16.080 If anyone enters by me, he'll be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 00:17:16.519 --> 00:17:20.720 He talks in verse 10 about him coming to have life and life to the full. 00:17:21.059 --> 00:17:23.299 These passages are talking about eternal life. 00:17:23.940 --> 00:17:24.460 A salvation. 00:17:25.380 --> 00:17:26.299 What is Jesus saying? 00:17:26.299 --> 00:17:34.000 When Jesus is reminding us that you, watermarkers, every one of you have a soul. 00:17:34.919 --> 00:17:39.220 Every one of you is a person who is made by God to live forever. 00:17:40.339 --> 00:17:41.419 You're precious. 00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:46.079 And God wants you to live forever with him. 00:17:47.059 --> 00:17:50.200 Yes, through our own sin, we have wandered off. 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:51.240 We have got lost. 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:55.039 Some of us have suffered greatly at the hands of others. 00:17:55.039 --> 00:18:02.319 And that suffering mixed in with our own inclination to run away from God has only led to more heartache and more pain. 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:05.740 But Jesus is reminding us that you are valuable. 00:18:05.859 --> 00:18:06.559 You are precious. 00:18:08.159 --> 00:18:13.299 Too precious to be cared for by someone or something that doesn't truly care for you. 00:18:13.299 --> 00:18:18.279 So the question is, what kind of a shepherd can bring you through to eternity? 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:28.500 What kind of a shepherd can lead you to spend, can restore those things that are broken in your life, can restore your life to eternity and bring you to know him forever? 00:18:28.500 --> 00:18:35.259 Yes, there are many things that promise to care for us, lead us, but they can't ultimately deliver us. 00:18:36.299 --> 00:18:38.859 So, friends, who are you being cared for by? 00:18:39.779 --> 00:18:43.519 Who is it that can take you home and guide you through the storms of life? 00:18:43.559 --> 00:18:46.400 This is why we truly need a good shepherd. 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:53.800 And so Jesus, in this passage, begins to reveal to us the only one who can properly care for us. 00:18:53.840 --> 00:18:55.780 This is our second point this morning. 00:18:56.500 --> 00:19:09.220 In this passage, we see Jesus setting himself up as the good shepherd in contrast to the false shepherds of Ezekiel chapter 34 and in fulfillment of God's promise. 00:19:09.220 --> 00:19:15.779 In verse 34, in chapter 34 of Ezekiel, God has been saying that all those who are leading my people are false shepherds. 00:19:16.220 --> 00:19:19.680 But God promises that one day he will provide a true shepherd. 00:19:19.799 --> 00:19:24.960 He will come himself and shepherd his people and care for them and love them. 00:19:25.140 --> 00:19:32.519 This here Jesus, as he begins to reveal himself as the good shepherd, is telling us he himself is the shepherd we have all been waiting for. 00:19:32.920 --> 00:19:39.160 And this, friends, as we alluded to before, is not simply something which is optional or extra. 00:19:39.740 --> 00:19:41.440 This is a matter of life and death. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:49.299 In fact, in Matthew 25, Jesus talks about how on that day the shepherd is going to stand and separate the sheep from the goats. 00:19:50.519 --> 00:19:54.759 Why exactly is Jesus the one who can properly care for us? 00:19:55.420 --> 00:20:02.180 Verse 3 and verse 14 shows us he's the one who knows us intimately, who knows the sheep. 00:20:03.420 --> 00:20:07.900 Jesus here, friends, is seen as a shepherd who knows every one of us so deeply. 00:20:07.900 --> 00:20:13.000 He can shepherd every one of us with a precise amount of knowledge. 00:20:14.140 --> 00:20:15.800 He knows where you've come from. 00:20:16.580 --> 00:20:18.160 He knows the thoughts of your heart. 00:20:18.280 --> 00:20:19.140 He knows your fears. 00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:20.840 He knows your anxieties. 00:20:21.880 --> 00:20:27.140 In fact, if we come back to the theme of the name, verse 3 tells us Jesus knows us by name. 00:20:28.320 --> 00:20:30.000 He knows every one of us by name. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:36.660 Isn't it interesting that in the Gospels, Jesus sometimes changes people's names, sometimes gives them new names. 00:20:37.380 --> 00:20:38.359 Why do you think he does that? 00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:46.240 It's a sense of Jesus giving them a new future, new identity, speaking something else into them and who they are. 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:50.440 Jesus knows not just our past, but he knows our future. 00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:52.319 He knows our hearts. 00:20:53.200 --> 00:21:04.500 I think this allusion to Jesus knowing our name here, even the fact that in the Gospels, Jesus changes people's names is a reference to a very beautiful verse that I stumbled upon in Revelation 2, 00:21:05.019 --> 00:21:12.720 which tells us that in eternity, Jesus promises to give us a new name that only he knows. 00:21:13.140 --> 00:21:14.980 I want you to think about that. 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:20.440 There's something that Jesus knows about you and your future that not even you're aware of. 00:21:21.740 --> 00:21:26.000 A new name that will encapsulate everything about your life, your story. 00:21:26.120 --> 00:21:32.059 Yeah, the brokenness and the difficulty, but the redemptive work of his son and the glorious future that he has. 00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:34.200 Jesus has a new name for you. 00:21:34.220 --> 00:21:35.700 He promises to give it to you one day. 00:21:36.700 --> 00:21:38.599 So we go back to our opening story. 00:21:38.680 --> 00:21:39.500 Who will Lottie be? 00:21:40.500 --> 00:21:42.599 Will she one day be Mrs. O'Connor again? 00:21:42.779 --> 00:21:43.420 Mrs. Carlson? 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:45.180 Mrs. Barnes? 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:48.880 Friends, Jesus knows us intimately. 00:21:49.779 --> 00:21:52.420 It means God cares for us, knows us deeply. 00:21:53.779 --> 00:22:08.519 J.I. Packer, the British theologian, I think, who ended up living in Canada, loved the justification of Jesus, God's justification for sinners who died through Jesus dying on the cross for us. 00:22:08.519 --> 00:22:11.019 But Packer said something wonderful. 00:22:11.019 --> 00:22:15.539 He said, it's a great thing to be forgiven by God the judge. 00:22:15.539 --> 00:22:20.659 But it's an even greater thing to be cared for by God. 00:22:21.079 --> 00:22:26.480 Yes, friends, it is wonderful that God has done so much for us. 00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:30.180 But I want to ask, do you know and experience his care? 00:22:30.180 --> 00:22:34.140 Jesus is saying he's a shepherd who knows you intimately. 00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:41.560 As part of Jesus knowing us, we see secondly, Jesus is able to lead us, lead his sheep to eternal life. 00:22:42.560 --> 00:22:44.940 In verse 9 to 10, we see this. 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:47.519 Jesus promises to save those who are in him. 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:58.039 This to us, this for us is a profound invitation to us, an invitation for us to come and give our souls to him, to come and unbundle our hearts into his lap. 00:22:58.039 --> 00:23:03.259 To cast ourselves at his mercies. 00:23:04.259 --> 00:23:06.740 Jesus calls us by name to himself here. 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:15.500 And the language here that I love in, I think it's in verse 3 or 4, it talks in verse 3, it says, 00:23:16.059 --> 00:23:21.680 The sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:25.200 I love the language here of us being his own. 00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:29.120 It's like we belong to Jesus in the best possible way. 00:23:29.600 --> 00:23:30.660 We belong to him. 00:23:31.220 --> 00:23:37.779 And because we belong to him, because we're his, those that are his, he loves us and cares for us so deeply. 00:23:38.519 --> 00:23:43.120 I'm sure many of you know there's a real difference between how you care for something that belongs to you and something that doesn't. 00:23:43.220 --> 00:23:48.140 I know as parents, we sometimes wish our kids would care for their siblings' things the way that they care for their own. 00:23:48.700 --> 00:23:49.720 I was a reminder of this. 00:23:49.720 --> 00:23:59.460 Recently, I have a couple of flasks, a very Asian thing to have for my tea or hot drinks or cold drinks, whatever it may be. 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:02.140 And I have a few of these. 00:24:02.220 --> 00:24:08.319 But because of the various things that get put in them, whether it's coffee or smoothie, they really have to be cleaned, like, very carefully. 00:24:08.420 --> 00:24:11.700 If they don't get cleaned well, it's not a very pretty thing. 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:14.660 And so I'm, like, fastidious about cleaning my own masks. 00:24:14.759 --> 00:24:19.299 And I realize because those particular ones that I own, they're mine. 00:24:19.360 --> 00:24:21.580 I'm going to use them the next day or sometime that week. 00:24:21.600 --> 00:24:26.200 When I get home from work and I go myself, I make sure I clean them. 00:24:26.299 --> 00:24:27.779 I go into all the little crevices. 00:24:27.980 --> 00:24:29.400 I make sure they are spotless. 00:24:29.700 --> 00:24:29.920 Why? 00:24:30.700 --> 00:24:31.400 It's mine. 00:24:31.960 --> 00:24:32.819 I'm going to use it. 00:24:33.299 --> 00:24:34.360 It belongs to me. 00:24:35.120 --> 00:24:41.140 Friends, here Jesus talks about us as a sheep being his, belonging to him in the best way. 00:24:41.700 --> 00:24:43.360 Knows us intimately and deeply. 00:24:44.360 --> 00:24:49.640 And because we are his, he promises to lead us into eternity. 00:24:50.580 --> 00:24:56.360 He alludes here and elsewhere that those that are his, he will not lose, but we will be his forever. 00:24:57.420 --> 00:25:04.680 And the final reason why Jesus is the only one who can properly care for us is because we see in the passage he's perfectly committed to his sheep. 00:25:05.120 --> 00:25:05.960 Perfectly committed. 00:25:06.860 --> 00:25:09.299 Verse 11 shows us that he's so committed. 00:25:09.460 --> 00:25:10.380 He's not like a hireling. 00:25:10.380 --> 00:25:12.860 The minute danger comes, he's willing to flee. 00:25:13.220 --> 00:25:18.800 The minute that there's a recession will allow you to lose your job or return to you. 00:25:18.840 --> 00:25:21.380 Jesus is perfectly committed to his sheep. 00:25:21.600 --> 00:25:23.260 He's going to lay his life down for his sheep. 00:25:23.320 --> 00:25:26.460 When the wolf comes, he's going to lay himself down in the way. 00:25:26.460 --> 00:25:29.079 Jesus is promising you here, friend. 00:25:29.079 --> 00:25:33.400 Something that others, even if they do promise, are not able to deliver. 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:38.559 Now, we're probably listening to this thinking, okay, well, what does this mean for us? 00:25:38.579 --> 00:25:43.660 And how do we draw near to really be cared for by Jesus in this way? 00:25:43.660 --> 00:25:47.700 I have one kind of main idea to mention in this third point. 00:25:48.019 --> 00:25:49.180 It should come up on the slide. 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:56.580 On the surface of this passage, being careful by Jesus, I think, our good shepherd, involves us knowing his voice and following him. 00:25:56.579 --> 00:26:04.779 In verse 4, he says, the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 00:26:04.779 --> 00:26:13.180 At one level, the way for us to be careful by Jesus is to hear and to recognize his voice. 00:26:14.259 --> 00:26:25.720 I remember a couple of years ago when my son was very small, he had this way of just hearing my voice and being able to recognize it across a room. 00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:37.279 So, there could be many people in the ballroom at church, but if I just raised my voice in a certain tone and called his name, it didn't matter how far away he was. 00:26:37.339 --> 00:26:41.019 He could suddenly recognize it and just give me that look across the room. 00:26:41.860 --> 00:26:46.319 The Bible here, Jesus is telling us one of the ways that we're cared for by him is by knowing his voice. 00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:54.819 By recognizing his voice, his spirit inside of us leads us to recognize his truth when he speaks to us. 00:26:54.819 --> 00:26:58.700 He gives us a sense of discernment when we maybe hear things that are not true. 00:26:59.419 --> 00:27:01.899 We begin to reject false teaching and strangers. 00:27:02.059 --> 00:27:03.960 We begin to love God's word. 00:27:04.639 --> 00:27:06.319 His word becomes beautiful to us. 00:27:06.419 --> 00:27:08.399 It's one of the ways that we become cared for by him. 00:27:08.779 --> 00:27:09.639 We listen to him. 00:27:09.819 --> 00:27:11.299 We long to hear him speak to us. 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:15.279 And this is one of the ways that Jesus does care for us. 00:27:15.679 --> 00:27:17.059 He speaks to us plainly, honestly. 00:27:17.240 --> 00:27:19.879 His scripture, his word is full of his truth. 00:27:19.880 --> 00:27:26.580 Another way that we see in this passage that we are cared for by Jesus is by following him. 00:27:27.260 --> 00:27:35.240 He says in verse four again, when he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. 00:27:35.360 --> 00:27:37.980 We follow him because we know his voice. 00:27:38.520 --> 00:27:40.980 Because we've heard him speak to us, we're willing to follow him. 00:27:40.980 --> 00:27:48.680 Jesus describes himself here as being a shepherd to us, not just a consultant, not just someone to give us advice and hope that things turn out okay. 00:27:49.339 --> 00:27:53.160 There's a real discipleship, master, follower relationship here. 00:27:53.620 --> 00:27:56.779 This voice of Jesus that knows us, he calls us. 00:27:57.339 --> 00:27:59.680 Sometimes it's gentle and tender. 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:03.279 Sometimes his voice to us is fairly strong and stern. 00:28:04.140 --> 00:28:09.120 Like a father saving a child from running into the road, calling us back and grabbing us. 00:28:10.140 --> 00:28:14.700 So we begin to follow him and we follow him sometimes even when his word is hard. 00:28:15.380 --> 00:28:26.019 Maybe there's some today who are listening to what I'm sharing and saying, you know, you want to follow Jesus like this, but it seems like some of his words or some of the things that he says really are challenging. 00:28:26.019 --> 00:28:31.680 Some of the sins that he's asking you to lay down are really difficult. 00:28:32.740 --> 00:28:37.519 And it seems like your sins are where there really is green pasture. 00:28:38.039 --> 00:28:41.519 That's where you really will find happiness and joy. 00:28:41.519 --> 00:28:56.079 And it seems to you like to follow Jesus, to obey him, to hear his voice actually is leading you away from green pastures into some kind of a more barren land, the land maybe of loneliness, maybe where there won't be as much provision. 00:28:56.279 --> 00:29:02.400 And there's a real temptation you have to not follow him, but to follow something else. 00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:04.940 How do we know that his word is good? 00:29:04.940 --> 00:29:13.680 Well, I mentioned before on the surface of this passage, being cared for by Jesus, a good shepherd involves knowing his voice and following him. 00:29:13.840 --> 00:29:17.539 But there's something deeper in this passage. 00:29:18.180 --> 00:29:19.660 Let's think about this a little bit more. 00:29:19.740 --> 00:29:21.600 What is hardest for you about following Jesus? 00:29:23.380 --> 00:29:29.380 Do you really know that he, do you maybe doubt that he really knows you, really cares for you? 00:29:30.100 --> 00:29:33.580 What enables us to follow him, to love him and follow him? 00:29:33.579 --> 00:29:36.859 What if Jesus ends up being just like some of the other shepherds? 00:29:37.659 --> 00:29:39.779 I mean, isn't it, isn't talk cheap in some ways? 00:29:40.019 --> 00:29:41.819 Who can make such outrageous claims here? 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:43.279 And why should we believe him? 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:52.139 And if following someone is a matter of our deepest hearts, how can our hearts give themselves to him and to love his voice? 00:29:53.159 --> 00:29:56.720 I think to see this, we should go back and see what Jesus says at the beginning of the passage. 00:29:57.779 --> 00:30:00.899 Invite us to become his sheep by entering through the door. 00:30:00.900 --> 00:30:08.840 Jesus tells us that not only is he the shepherd, but he's actually the door itself. 00:30:09.380 --> 00:30:12.740 And Jesus invites us today to enter by him. 00:30:13.560 --> 00:30:14.740 What does he mean by this? 00:30:15.460 --> 00:30:20.320 For Jesus to be the door, friends, this means for us today that we enter into him. 00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:21.600 We enter through him. 00:30:22.120 --> 00:30:26.400 In John's gospel, I think this means believing upon him, trusting in him. 00:30:26.460 --> 00:30:28.080 It's John's way of talking about faith. 00:30:28.580 --> 00:30:29.920 We enter into Jesus. 00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:32.900 Now, for some of us, it may be a little bit confusing. 00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:36.180 And again, this is how I spoke when I began. 00:30:36.360 --> 00:30:37.700 The passage is somewhat circular. 00:30:37.820 --> 00:30:38.960 There are a couple of different ideas. 00:30:39.080 --> 00:30:43.019 Jesus is the shepherd, but he's talking about himself being the door as well, the gate. 00:30:43.900 --> 00:30:47.500 We could probably ask ourselves, how exactly does Jesus, how can Jesus be the door? 00:30:48.120 --> 00:30:49.740 We see a clue in verse 15. 00:30:50.460 --> 00:30:57.720 In verse 18, Jesus talks about him laying his life down, his life down for his sheep. 00:30:57.720 --> 00:31:03.460 When the wolf comes, when someone comes to steal and destroy, Jesus lays his life down. 00:31:03.559 --> 00:31:07.019 He's going to put himself down in the place of the sheep. 00:31:07.819 --> 00:31:12.940 To understand this more, to figure out what exactly Jesus means at this stage, we could go back to Isaiah chapter 53. 00:31:12.940 --> 00:31:16.880 Jesus led like a lamb to the slaughter. 00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:20.059 Yes, Isaiah 53 says, we all like sheep have gone astray. 00:31:20.840 --> 00:31:26.100 But then Jesus becomes a lamb, a sheep for us, torn by wills. 00:31:26.220 --> 00:31:31.059 Jesus has come to take our place as a lost, sinful sheep. 00:31:31.160 --> 00:31:33.279 This is what it means for Jesus to lay down his life for us. 00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:39.460 Jesus is laying down his life to save us from wills and enemies, those ones. 00:31:39.680 --> 00:31:44.099 And Jesus is doing this by getting to the root of the problem, the things that can really destroy us. 00:31:44.539 --> 00:31:51.039 Our sin, that which leads us to not trust God, leads us to be separated from him, leads us to wander away. 00:31:51.160 --> 00:31:58.920 Jesus has come to deal with that problem, both by forgiving us of our sins, by taking our sins on the cross and dying for us. 00:31:58.920 --> 00:32:04.360 But also by through his spirit and turning our hearts toward him in love. 00:32:04.960 --> 00:32:08.980 Because how could we not love someone who has laid his life down for us? 00:32:10.080 --> 00:32:11.300 That we can be saved. 00:32:11.800 --> 00:32:16.000 Friends, in Jesus dying at the cross for our sins, what Jesus came to do, we see his care. 00:32:16.279 --> 00:32:17.160 We see his commitment. 00:32:17.300 --> 00:32:18.800 We see his life and his power. 00:32:19.539 --> 00:32:24.600 Jesus has abandoned his life on the cross in order for you and I to have abundant life. 00:32:24.599 --> 00:32:34.139 And so for us to enter through the door means for us to entrust ourselves to him entirely, to place ourselves in his hands. 00:32:34.740 --> 00:32:37.059 Means to believe the work that he's come to do. 00:32:37.559 --> 00:32:41.299 To walk through the door that he's opened for us to return to God. 00:32:41.939 --> 00:32:48.719 And friends, if Jesus has truly done this for us, this means Jesus knows you and I better than we can even know ourselves. 00:32:48.899 --> 00:32:49.899 I want you to think about this. 00:32:49.900 --> 00:32:57.580 If Jesus truly died on the cross for your sins, this means Jesus actually knows your sins better than you do. 00:32:58.360 --> 00:32:59.660 You should have to think about that for a moment. 00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:03.140 Yes, we know our weaknesses and our sins at some level. 00:33:03.280 --> 00:33:04.259 Jesus knows them deeper. 00:33:04.400 --> 00:33:05.400 Jesus carried them. 00:33:05.940 --> 00:33:08.060 Every one of them at the cross. 00:33:08.700 --> 00:33:12.580 He's more aware of the consequences of them, of the horror of them. 00:33:12.579 --> 00:33:22.079 But if Jesus died on the cross and rose again for us, not only does he know the deepest parts of us better than we do, Jesus knows our future better than we do. 00:33:22.899 --> 00:33:26.740 Jesus tells us here in the passage, he has the authority to lay down his life. 00:33:27.199 --> 00:33:29.619 He has the authority to pick it up again, to take it up. 00:33:30.039 --> 00:33:33.960 And that authority was shown when three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. 00:33:34.019 --> 00:33:35.179 He has resurrection life. 00:33:35.180 --> 00:33:39.500 And the Bible talks about how he is the first fruits from among the dead. 00:33:39.900 --> 00:33:44.799 But those who are in him, who have entered through the door, will be led by him into eternal life. 00:33:44.940 --> 00:33:48.960 Jesus knows your future, friends, better than any of us can. 00:33:50.360 --> 00:33:56.240 If Jesus did not stay dead but raised up again of his own will, so will we do. 00:33:56.820 --> 00:33:58.340 So will he do for us. 00:33:58.339 --> 00:34:03.699 If Jesus can die and has the authority to raise up his life, friends, then he can raise up yours too. 00:34:04.179 --> 00:34:09.779 Friends, this is the Jesus who's called us, who's come to make us his, who comes to call us in our hearts. 00:34:10.559 --> 00:34:11.960 We've heard his voice in our hearts. 00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:12.980 We can know his voice. 00:34:13.539 --> 00:34:17.219 And this means we can now respond to him today by actively listening to his voice. 00:34:17.699 --> 00:34:24.460 Yes, his voice stronger than the roar of many waters and yet gentle and lowly, who invites us then to listen to him. 00:34:24.460 --> 00:34:29.079 He's inviting us to let his voice, his commands, love and lead us today. 00:34:29.800 --> 00:34:35.119 And we can know him and love him because we know he knows us and he's loved us as we are. 00:34:35.760 --> 00:34:40.860 So I want to encourage you today to entrust yourself into the hands of your shepherd. 00:34:41.539 --> 00:34:45.039 And secondly, not just actively listening to his voice but by following him. 00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:46.880 Friends, let's not trust other guides. 00:34:47.019 --> 00:34:48.420 Let's not trust our own intuition. 00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:51.679 Let's see where Jesus is leading us and follow him. 00:34:51.679 --> 00:34:55.279 We can follow him today because he's been through death. 00:34:56.239 --> 00:35:09.699 And if you're here today watching and maybe you aren't a Christian, I want to invite you this morning to turn from the false shepherds that you may have been following and to put your faith in Jesus, to follow him. 00:35:09.759 --> 00:35:17.579 The Bible describes this as repentance and faith, turning, repentance, turning away from the false shepherd that we've been giving ourselves to, faith. 00:35:17.579 --> 00:35:22.659 Putting our trust in Jesus who died for our sins and rose again. 00:35:23.900 --> 00:35:36.819 Now, as I close this morning, I want to, I was alluding or referencing throughout my message this morning, that book by Eric Schumacher called My Last Name about Charlotte and all the names that she had. 00:35:37.819 --> 00:35:39.019 The book comes to a close. 00:35:39.079 --> 00:35:41.779 I want to read a section to you as we end. 00:35:41.780 --> 00:35:47.060 But it comes to a close with Charlotte in the nursing home about to pass into the next life. 00:35:47.300 --> 00:35:48.300 She's a bit confused. 00:35:49.019 --> 00:35:52.820 But I want you to listen to how Schumacher ends his book. 00:35:53.540 --> 00:35:55.060 This is Lottie speaking. 00:35:56.019 --> 00:35:57.240 A knock at the door wakes me. 00:35:57.900 --> 00:35:58.780 The room is dark. 00:35:59.500 --> 00:36:02.420 I am in bed and I try to get out, but I do not have the strength. 00:36:03.340 --> 00:36:03.900 Come in. 00:36:03.900 --> 00:36:07.200 I whisper so softly that I cannot hear myself. 00:36:07.800 --> 00:36:08.840 The door opens. 00:36:09.519 --> 00:36:11.820 The light is bright and I shut my eyes. 00:36:12.340 --> 00:36:15.460 I raise a hand to block some of the light until my eyes adjust. 00:36:16.220 --> 00:36:20.740 I can make out the silhouette of a man standing there and looking in. 00:36:21.420 --> 00:36:24.960 But I do not recognize him, even when I close my bad eye. 00:36:25.559 --> 00:36:26.920 I cannot see his face. 00:36:27.660 --> 00:36:28.039 John? 00:36:28.780 --> 00:36:29.500 I whisper. 00:36:29.960 --> 00:36:31.200 What are you doing up, dear? 00:36:31.700 --> 00:36:32.579 Do you need something? 00:36:32.900 --> 00:36:33.280 I don't know. 00:36:33.900 --> 00:36:38.960 Then I see the hand I'm folding up in front of my face, wrinkled and spotted and old. 00:36:39.920 --> 00:36:41.260 I fold my hands in my lap. 00:36:42.139 --> 00:36:45.460 I remember that John is dead, that he died long, long ago. 00:36:46.280 --> 00:36:49.000 I cannot remember where I am or why I am here. 00:36:49.760 --> 00:36:52.860 I feel myself growing confused and agitated and afraid. 00:36:53.019 --> 00:36:53.400 Everett? 00:36:53.720 --> 00:36:55.280 One of her other husbands, I say. 00:36:55.800 --> 00:36:56.900 But the man does not move. 00:36:57.320 --> 00:36:57.980 Who are you? 00:36:59.059 --> 00:37:02.900 The man extends his hand and speaks my name. 00:37:02.900 --> 00:37:03.940 No. 00:37:04.460 --> 00:37:07.099 He does not call me Charlotte or Lottie. 00:37:07.820 --> 00:37:12.559 He does not call me Miss O'Connor or Mrs. John Carlson or even Mrs. Barnes. 00:37:13.139 --> 00:37:15.559 He calls me by my name. 00:37:16.260 --> 00:37:18.900 A name that I did not know I had. 00:37:19.420 --> 00:37:20.840 That I've never heard before. 00:37:20.960 --> 00:37:22.800 Though I know it at once. 00:37:22.800 --> 00:37:24.580 It is my name. 00:37:25.220 --> 00:37:26.320 My real name. 00:37:27.220 --> 00:37:28.860 My last name. 00:37:29.660 --> 00:37:29.960 Oh! 00:37:29.960 --> 00:37:31.820 I laugh and I smile. 00:37:31.920 --> 00:37:32.380 It's you. 00:37:33.059 --> 00:37:39.500 I sit up and rise from the bed as easily as I did as a six-year-old girl, jumping off the steps of the one-room schoolhouse. 00:37:39.780 --> 00:37:41.039 I begin to walk toward him. 00:37:41.920 --> 00:37:43.360 Someone else appears in the doorway. 00:37:44.220 --> 00:37:45.659 It is a young woman dressed in pink. 00:37:45.740 --> 00:37:46.199 I know her. 00:37:46.280 --> 00:37:47.179 It is Sarah, the nurse. 00:37:47.880 --> 00:37:52.300 Sarah reaches her hand along the wall, searching for the light switch, and turns on the light. 00:37:52.300 --> 00:37:56.519 She looks toward me, and there is alarm and then sadness on her face. 00:37:57.000 --> 00:37:57.680 Mrs. Barnes? 00:37:58.720 --> 00:37:59.800 Sarah does not look at me. 00:38:00.440 --> 00:38:02.000 She looks through me, past me. 00:38:02.940 --> 00:38:04.880 I turn, following her gaze to the bed. 00:38:05.580 --> 00:38:06.820 Now I see what she sees. 00:38:07.080 --> 00:38:12.900 There is my body, like a Sunday dress laid out in the evening after I've worn it and am preparing to put it away. 00:38:13.900 --> 00:38:16.200 And as I look, I remember, I remember everything. 00:38:16.820 --> 00:38:18.660 And I'm filled with deep thankfulness. 00:38:19.440 --> 00:38:21.340 Sarah passes me and walks to the bedside. 00:38:21.340 --> 00:38:25.680 She's stroking the old woman's hair and crying and smiling and saying, oh, Lottie, I'll miss you. 00:38:26.780 --> 00:38:30.539 I turn away from her now, toward the door again, toward him. 00:38:31.200 --> 00:38:32.800 I am no longer afraid. 00:38:33.519 --> 00:38:37.780 I take his hand and follow him home. 00:38:38.960 --> 00:38:46.340 Friends, Jesus, our great shepherd, our good shepherd, has laid down his life for you, 00:38:46.340 --> 00:38:50.559 and he's able to shepherd you through this world and into the next. 00:38:51.340 --> 00:38:51.980 He knows you. 00:38:52.700 --> 00:38:53.440 He loves you. 00:38:53.500 --> 00:38:54.600 He's gone through death for you. 00:38:54.680 --> 00:38:55.700 He knows your name. 00:38:56.820 --> 00:39:00.700 Let's trust him, follow him, and give him our whole heart now. 00:39:00.699 --> 00:39:03.379 Why don't you close your eyes as I pray for us? 00:39:05.259 --> 00:39:09.559 Father, we thank you so much for your kindness and goodness to us today. 00:39:09.899 --> 00:39:11.079 We praise you for that. 00:39:11.079 --> 00:39:12.619 We thank you for that. 00:39:12.619 --> 00:39:14.420 We thank you for that. 00:39:14.420 --> 00:39:22.920 We thank you that you have pursued us through your son, Jesus, our good shepherd, even when we wandered and went astray. 00:39:23.719 --> 00:39:26.679 We thank you that he has brought us back to yourself. 00:39:26.980 --> 00:39:29.400 He has purchased us with his blood. 00:39:29.400 --> 00:39:37.820 We pray, Father, that you would help us to see him, to love him, and to follow him today. 00:39:38.440 --> 00:39:40.820 And we ask this in Jesus' name. 00:39:40.820 --> 00:39:57.340 God, please say, club, and how is you going to, of course, guys?