BCC Modern Service 6/27/2021

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] all right if everyone can go ahead and stand we're going to sing some songs today you alone are the healer for the hurting you alone are the refuge for the broken so strength in our hearts and let us not grow weary steady our souls and make us brave in the fire let our faith become a mountain that will rise and never fall lift it high above the valley we declare your kingdom come and we will cling to what you promised till the day you call us home let our faith become the mountain we stand on you alone know the end in the beginning [Music] you are alone stay away when hope is fading [Music] so strength in our hearts and let us not grow weary steady our souls and make us brave in the fire let our faith become a mountain that will rise and never fall lifted high above the valley we declare your kingdom come and we will cling to what you promised till the day you call us home let our faith become a mountain [Music] we will stand no matter what the cost no more worry no more fear every doubt will disappear we will stand [Music] we will stand no matter what the cost no more worry no more fear every doubt will disappear disappear let our faith become a mountain that will rise and never fall lifted high above the valley we declare your kingdom come we will cling to what you promise till the day you call us home let our faith become a mountain that will rise and never fall lifted high we above your kingdom come we will cling to what you promised till the day you'll call us home let our faith become the mountain we stand on [Music] there is no life without you you have all that we need where you are every fear is broken and the darkness must flee closer and closer we want to know you reaching out reaching out here in your presence we wanna go deeper in your life come alive [Music] there is no one besides [Music] you alone are enough you fling the doors of your heart wide open [Music] and we are lost closer and closer we want to know you reaching out reaching out here in your presence we wanna go deeper in your life come alive closer and closer we wanna know you reaching out reaching out here in your presence we wanna go deeper in your life [Music] to you we will come running in you we find belonging your love is all that can satisfy [Music] to you we will come running in you we find belonging your love is all that can satisfy to you we will come running in you we find belonging your love is all that can satisfy [Music] to you we will come running in you we find belonging your love is all that can satisfy closer and closer we want to know you reaching out reaching out here in your presence we wanna go deeper in your life come alive closer and closer reaching out reaching out here in your presence we want to go deeper in your life [Music] amen colossians 3 16 let the word of christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with grace in your hearts to the lord welcome everybody how you doing awesome it's good to see you all here and if you are new with us today if this is your first time second time you're just new around here we are so glad that you are with us we want to know who you are and one of the ways to do that is to connect with us through text so if you text the word guest to 480-933-1482 we can send you a gift and learn who you are so we would love for you to do that today in our message we're going to be hearing about jesus being our good shepherd jesus is the good shepherd and jesus as the most amazing shepherd that he is he laid down his life for his sheep that's us for his people and so we praise him for that in this next song we're singing about that and so we're just going to sing and thank him as we sing this song behold the lamb [Music] see him there the great i am a crown of thorns upon his head the father's heart displayed for us oh god we thank you [Music] on calvary's hill we curse your name and even still you pour our shape and pay the cost oh god we thank you [Music] a story of redemption written on his hands [Music] we sing your praise to your holy name jesus heal will reign forever more the victories this sacrifice for every sin our your time the lord of life can't be contained our god has risen from the grave [Music] the story of redemption written on this man jesus here will wait forevermore the victory is yours [Music] jesus you will reign [Music] your face pride as the sun will bow before the king of kings oh god [Music] the story of redemption written on his hands jesus you will reign [Music] redemption written on his hands jesus you will reign the forever is yours we sing your praise endless hallelujah jesus you will reign forever the victory is yours jesus [Music] [Music] blessed assurance jesus is mine oh what a fork taste of glory divine [Music] air of salvation purchase of god born of his spirit [Music] washed in his [Applause] this at rest i am the savior am happy and blessed [Music] filled with his goodness lost in his love [Music] this is my story this is my song praising my savior this is my story this is my song freezing my savior [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] for jesus [Music] you are victorious grace to the reason [Music] [Applause] death could not hold you you are victor [Music] grace [Music] oh [Music] jesus [Music] thank you [Music] let's put our hands together and praise him yeah [Music] good morning church i know there's more of you out there good morning church there we go all right so my name is mike and we're i'm going to lead us in communion and offering but as we get into communion i just want to invite those of you who have accepted jesus christ as your lord and savior to partake with us and so in the four corners of the room there are the communion emblems and so if you want to take those go back to your seat just reflect on what god's done and then we'll take them together [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] do [Music] um i just want to remind you that as jesus being the good shepherd of laying down his life for us he's the example of what it means to show perfect love but also the same time it doesn't stop there because he calls on each and every single one of us to come to the cross and to die to ourselves and even although we're about a week removed from father's day i just want to speak to the fathers real quick um in ephesians 6 4 it says and you fathers do not provoke your children to wrath but bring them up in the training in the admonition of the lord and so what i've come to understand as a dad and even this past week with the kids in vbs is that kids need structure whether they realize they're not but also the same time we as adults need structure too and we need to die to ourselves men dads the spiritual leaders of our home so that way we can impart upon them from what we learn from the lord but we can't impart upon them that which we do not possess ourselves and so the greatest way to stir up spite or cause our children to become angry with us is to show hypocrisy and so may we just lead by following the example that jesus gave us amen all right so in first corinthians chapter 11 verse 23 paul writes for i received from the lord that which has delivered to you that the lord jesus on the same same night in which he took bread which is betrayed took bread i mean given thanks he broke and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you do this remembrance of me [Music] in the same manner he also took the cup after supper saying this cup is a new covenant in my blood this dude's office is drinking a remembrance of me for his office you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the lord's death until he comes amen all right so we're going to move into our time of offering amen amen um so i just wanted to remind you of the ways to give so if you want to give your um gift personally there are still boxes in the back that you can give that way um for those who are watching the live stream you can still go online to bccmesa.com giving or you can give through the push pay app also and so let's go to lord prayer father god we just thank you so much lori thank you for jesus christ the good shepherd lord we thank you for the example but lord we also understand that we ourselves are called to follow in that example and to model that example to others especially our children and lord also as you provide for us lord you don't need our money but you want our heart lord you work through the ministry of broadway christian church and so the gifts that are given lord they're used for your kingdom for your glory but father god ultimately you want our hearts and in your word you expect out of us to give the first fruits of what you've given us and that will display our hearts for you lord that we will give to you first because lord you deserve it you deserve the preeminence over all and lord may we remember that that which you've imparted upon us lord is to be given to you first we just thank you so much it's in jesus christ's name we pray amen hi there everyone my name is teresa and i'd like to tell you about what's coming up for you and your family at broadway so check this out ladies bible study is starting our summer series on tuesday july 6th the invisible war by chip ingram will teach us to gain victory over the enemy through jesus we'll meet on tuesdays at 9 00 am in the south lobby classroom cost for the book is 12 learn more and sign up at bccmesa.com info men's breakfast is coming up on saturday july 10th at 7 a.m in the family life center enjoy a great breakfast and the conclusion to the series the seven questions that rattle in the minds of most men sign up at bccmesa.com info if you have any questions about any of our events or just want to find out more about us stop by the kiosk in the lobby or visit us online at bccmesa.com info you can also connect with us on social media at bcc mesa have a great day and thanks for letting us be a part of it [Music] did [Music] according to john and let there be lights and there were lights or there weren't lights no lights jesus said i'm the light of the world oh yeah there we go hey notice that notice the threads this morning am i am i styling okay am i doing all right all right i want to welcome our online uh audience as well our online worshipers and those of you that are in the house thank you for coming today i'm john one of the pastors here and as most of you know we are we are talking about these wonderful i am declarations that jesus makes in the gospel of john thus according to john and every time jesus says i am he's echoing what god the father said to moses way back in exodus 3 when moses was commissioned by the lord to go back to egypt and to lead the children of israel out of slavery and moses wanted to know well who's sending me and god said you just tell them that i am sent you so then every time in the new testament particularly in the gospel of john that jesus says i am he is in essence declaring his divinity he is equating himself to god we talked about jesus as the bread of life and context is so important because he had said that just after the miraculous feeding of the five thousand but it wasn't just five thousand john says there were five thousand men plus women and children so let's figure upwards of 20 to 25 000 people that jesus fed from just a meager lunch of a little boy five loaves and two fishes and jesus fed them and they were full and satisfied and basketfuls of food left over then they tracked jesus down the next day they want more free food and jesus said wait a minute that's not the deal it says i'm the bread of life if you if you partake of me you'll never hunger you'll never thirst again and then jesus talked about being the light of the world and that was immediately after the woman had been found in adultery and dragged before jesus and all of his her accusers were there but jesus challenged them and they left one by one till only jesus was left with her and he said i don't condemn you go and leave your life of sin so that day jesus was not just the light of the world he became the light of her world just like the lord jesus christ wants to be the light of your world amen church and then last time we talked about jesus and john 10 as the gate and jesus made a claim he says listen the sheep can only enter or leave the sheep in by me which means that he's making a claim that the only way to gain entrance into the kingdom of god the kingdom of heaven is through jesus and there is no other way now today we're going to continue in john 10 and our key verse is verse 11. we'll put it on the screen and i'm going to ask you to read it with me i am the good shepherd the good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep so jesus says that he's the shepherd and what does the shepherd do for the sheep church what does he do he sacrifices he gives up he lays down his life for the sheep which is good news the the the gospel the word gospel means good news matthew mark luke and john are called the gospels the gospel can gospels contain the good news about jesus and the good news is that he willingly will give up his life and he does for the sake of his followers jesus calls himself the good shepherd which implies that there are other shepherds who are not so good but he doesn't just imply it he says it in verse 1. he says i tell you the truth anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold rather than going through the gate must surely be a thief and a robber he's talking about satan he's talking about our spiritual enemy the prince of darkness the one who hates god the one who hates god's people and what is this mission his mission is to steal and kill and destroy he wants to ruin everything he wants to disrupt and destroy everything in this world and you would have to have your head in the sand in these days to not see the increase of evil in our times and it's not it's not just satan i mean there are evil people to be sure but when you look at all the mayhem and the disruptions of life uh the the broken homes and and the troubled marriages and the people who are just just chronically ill that i don't think that's god's plan in in children and adults who are making one bad decision after another abortions and the human trafficking that is so tragic it's very obvious that satan is behind all of this he is the prince of darkness you know the things that matter to god are the things that he's going after jesus very clearly stated what our enemy's mission is in john 10 10. the thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy my purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life did you get that god doesn't want us to live a mediocre life he wants us to live a rich life a satisfying life and you have to ask yourself is that is that does that characterize the life that i'm living right now what would i say yes i'm living a life that's rich and satisfying because as the good shepherd because god loves us so he's willing to lay down his life for us he sacrifices his life that we can have that rich and satisfying life now just for the record just for the record he is the shepherd which makes us what in this metaphor church what are we in the metaphor we are we are the sheep he's the shepherd we are the sheep and and as i was researching i discovered that sheep are the most mentioned animal in all of the bible you'll find sheep mentioned roughly 200 times in both old and new testaments dogs are mentioned and amazing 44 times and cats are mentioned exactly zero times okay i'm just saying this i'm just telling you this all right cats are not mentioned unless you count lions and a lioness in the cat family and the bible says that satan is a roaring lion you know prowling around looking whom he can devour so can you not see the connection between satan and cats i mean is it not clear to you as it is to me but but we are sheep and i don't think that's all that flattering because frankly sheep are some of the stupidest animals on the planet it's stupid you know have you ever gone to a circus and if you do you'll probably see trained horses trained elephants you know trained dogs you can even go to a flea circus if you want to but the one thing you will never see at a circus as a train sheep because they're too dumb to train and if you've got an act and you need a dead sheep you're gonna have to shoot it and that works just one time okay i'm just trying to establish that sheep are really really really stupid in fact there's a there's a video that frankie showed in a message about a month ago but it's worth repeating so so watch the screen [Music] yeah i think that pretty much gets the point across it's almost like the sheep was trying but i i need to say this with all the love that i can muster in my heart you're stupid and so am i can we all agree on that if we're sheep if we're sheep and we are that's what jesus says it means we're stupid and there are certain challenges to being a sheep let me give you four of those for one thing sheep get lost easily sheep have absolutely no sense of direction they just wander they can get lost easily and frankly some people do too i think there are some people in the world that they could walk down the driveway and probably get get lost in fact there is actually a condition called we'll put it on the screen developmental topographical disorientation try saying that fast three times dtd for short people that have this condition they just don't have that internal compass that most people have you know they can get lost even in a familiar place they they just can't recognize exactly where they are and it's not because they've had a stroke or a tumor or or they have a medical condition it's just that they don't have that that inner gps which is why i'm glad we all have smartphones right with a gps built in so maybe you don't wander physically maybe you don't have dtd but all of us have spiritual dtd all of us have that isaiah the prophet talks about this when he says in chapter 53 verse 6 all of us like sheep have gone astray we have left god's paths to follow our own it's very it's very common for sheep to to wander away sees a patch of green grass over here goes over and starts nibbling and oh that looks good and it goes over there and keeps wandering and before he knows it he's lost he has if he doesn't have the shepherd nearby a sheep will very quickly get disoriented and get lost and cannot find its way back to the safety of the pen and without the good shepherd in our lives without the direction that we can find from him it's so easy for us to get disoriented and lost in the world in which we live number two sheep are defenseless we're talking about the challenges of being a sheep and this is an interesting comparison when you think about animals in the animal world almost every animal has some sort of a natural defense the aforementioned cat can claw your eyes out right dogs can they have teeth they can bite some animals have horns some have fangs some animals are very very vast and can run from their prey some can fly away some can just kind of merge into the background you don't even know they're there but sheep can do none of those things sheep can't bark at you can't bite you you know can't growl at you they they're not quick enough to run away from the predator bad joke coming i'm giving you a warning right now okay there's only one thing a sheep can do when a predator approaches and the sheep can only say back off that's all the sheep can do okay i warned you that it was bad right i told you ahead of time but they're defenseless they're defenseless and on our own apart from the presence of the shepherd in our lives we are absolutely toast and and here's the thing unless you have the full armor of god that you put on regularly daily you're you're in trouble and unless you have the covering of the body of christ the local body of believers i i i feel for you that's why i've got pet peeves in life and one of them you know about the other one i'll tell you right now just as an aside you know what one of my pet peeves is are people who don't use their turn signals i just i i there is there's this little stick in the left side of your steering column and if you just push that up or down you can actually indicate to the people around you which direction you're turning you should try it sometime it's a wonderful device can i get an amen on that the other one this is the one and i've i've said this a number of times the other one that gets me is a person who says i'm a christian but i don't need the church well you're telling me that you can go it alone without the covering of a local body of believers is that what you're saying what that says to me is you've never read the scripture and you've completely ignored all the one another passages there are 55 plus in the new testament love one another pray for one another encourage bear one another's burdens and on and on it goes when you're saying that you don't need any you don't need that you're telling me that basically you're defenseless what you're saying is that you're on your own and you're in trouble that's what and i have i have yet to see a christian that is that is for for their by default it stays away from the body of believers who thrives in their walk with christ i have never seen it you can prove me wrong but i'm telling you i know what the bible says about this i'm convinced of this number three sheep are very stubborn they're stubborn turn to your neighbor and say i think he's talking about you tell your neighbor that right now and some of you are not doing that you know that's you i'm talking about okay all right but here's the thing about sheep sheep are notorious for getting wedged into a tight spot and they won't back up they they just they they don't i don't think they have a reverse gear they just keep trying to go fur they're trying they're somehow against all logic because they they're not logical they're just trying to fight their way through and they they get stuck they they they they can't back up how many of you know somebody like that and they don't point all right but how many of you know someone who they just keep they just keep doing the same thing isn't that the definition of insanity you keep doing the same thing and expect different results one of the wisest words of counsel i ever got was proceed until stopped proceed until stopped but once you're stopped choose a different direction choose another path if you're stopped that means that that's not the way you should go or could go that that means you got to keep going along the same way you know when someone says you know i'm so broke i'm so tired of not having enough money i think i'll go out and eat i think i'll go buy something to cheer me up you know that's exactly the behavior that got you into that situation in the first place you see how how stupid and stubborn we are as sheep and and number four sheep are filthy which is not good news shape our filthy animals i know that when you see a sheep on tv or in a movie they're they're white well that's because they're power washed amen but in their natural state sheep are filthy stinky animals and they don't clean themselves and i want to say this with respect but that's exactly how god sees you before christ comes into your life he sees you as very very filthy in our natural state before we come under the care of the good shepherd we are filthy because we don't measure up to god's standard we don't we don't we fall far short of what god wants for us we're filthy but then i love this word in isaiah chapter 1 verse 18 where it says though your sins are like scarlet they shall be as white as the driven snow i love that verse in other words god power washes us by the blood of christ amen you know scarlet is known as one of those inerratical colors it's like spilling grape juice on a white shirt you might as well just toss it into the rag bag because you're not going to get that grape juice stain out of there but this this sin of mine that sustained my soul will become as white and pure as snow because of what jesus christ has done for me the bottom line to all of this is that we are sheep and we need a shepherd right we need a savior can we all agree with that why why because of because sheep get lost easily they're defenseless they're stubborn they're filthy and the good news that i want to lay on you today is what i've already said the good news is that jesus as the good shepherd will lay down his life for you and me that is amazing news that we have that kind of god so for the rest of my message time i want to talk about the good shepherd and why it's so important that we allow him to enter into our lives in a very special way and i'm just praying that that god will help you to connect these thoughts to your heart and not just for the minutes that we have here but for the coming days that these will matter to you number one the good shepherd guides he guides i would say that psalm 23 is right up there top three favorite passages of scripture in all the bible and it starts off by saying the lord is my shepherd say that with me the lord is my shepherd then david the psalmist goes on to say in verse three he guides me along the right paths for his name's sake you ever ever had a big decision to make and you're not exactly sure what to do you don't know which direction to take well what i'm thinking and what i think scripture says here is that when i seek the lord he will reveal the way that he wants me to go like this past week i had a decision i was facing and i wasn't sure should i go with a or should i go with b and so i i called this person and i didn't prompt him what to say to me but he said the very words that i needed to hear and i hung up the phone having talked to that person i said thank you god this man doesn't know it but he spoke your words to my spirit to my heart and it gave me a great confidence that god was leading and guiding in that situation in verse 3 of john 10 jesus says the gatekeeper opens the gate for the shepherd and the sheep recognize his voice if we can put it on the screen please and come to him he calls his own sheep how church by name and leads them out then next verse says after he has gathered his own flock he walks ahead of them and they follow him because they know his voice preacher are you saying that god will speak audibly to people well we should never put god in a box amen and just because god has never spoken audibly to you or to me doesn't mean that god can't and won't speak audibly to people i believe that god primarily speaks to us the vast majority of the cases through his revealed word to the written word i think that god can speak through people through circumstances through prophetic messages he can speak in so many ways but when a person says i don't know that i would recognize the voice of god how would i know what his voice is i think there would be a couple of reasons for that let me let me put it to you this way and this is going to sound sexist and i don't mean it to sound that way but i'm just going to have to say it because i can't think of any other way to say it if you walk into a room of 50 women 50 women they're all talking at once can i get an amen from the guys on that that's just the way women are wired they're all talking at once it sounds like a hook a bag of magpies in there right now if you walk into a room of 50 guys nobody's saying a word and you know why because they're all watching the game on tv can i get an amen from the women on that one right but you go back to the room with the 50 women and they're all talking at the same time would you be able to recognize the voice of my wife and if you can't it's because you don't know her or you don't discern her voice put me in that room blindfold me if you want to and i promise you i will recognize her voice i will be able to figure out where she is because i've spent enough time with her i know her and i know her voice do you know the voice of god can you discern if if you don't it's because you've not spent enough time with a shepherd it's because you've not listened enough to recognize and to discern his voice and i love this what jesus says here in john 10 he says if we're one of his the good shepherd calls us by name he calls us by name you know how much that matters you know what that tells me about god that tells me that god is a personal god and a caring god that the fact that he actually knows and calls me by my name dale carnegie once said a person's name is to them the sweetest and most important sound in any language why is that well because your name is who you are it's your identity your name is is the sum total of your humanity and i know there are some people who say well i just can't remember people's names well okay first of all why are you saying what you don't want why don't you say what you do want you know i think you can do better i think we could all do better i i work it at knowing people's names because i think that values that that shows that that person has worth to me has value to me so when you do that when you work at remembering a person's name you're saying you matter to me you're important to me so work at it okay you can do this thing regardless god knows you by name and out of all the billions of people who are living on this planet and there are 7.7 billion people on a planet right now the lord calls you by name he beckons you by calling your name he's so personal he's so caring church so if you have a difficult decision to make because he guides if if there's a question like well you know that there's this job offer but it means moving to another city should i do it should i keep dating this person you know should should we should we park here and make this our spiritual home or should we keep looking for another church what do you do when you're not really sure what direction you should go you can just simply turn to the lord and say god you said you would guide me that's what scripture says up one side and down the other you said you would you would you would lead me so god here's the decision that i need to make and i'm going to lay this decision for before you and i'm going to ask you to lead me in making this and suddenly it takes the burden off of you and puts the onus on god and if you'll just trust that the lord will guide you in that moment in that decision it will give you such a peace of mind because the lord guides everybody say he guides he guides say it again i couldn't hear you he guides secondly he provides the good shepherd provides back to psalm 23 it says the lord is my shepherd i lack nothing he makes me lie down in green pastures he leads me beside quiet waters he refreshes or restores my soul have you ever seen a sheep lying down some of you are saying well i've never really seen a sheep well that's a point well taken okay so let's just say you've seen a sheep have you seen a sheep lying down and the answer is only if two conditions are met number one the sheep is feels fully fed satisfied you know his appetite his his or her appetite and secondly they don't sense any danger nearby in other words the shepherd is in the vicinity it's only then that the sheep will lie down so the shepherd leads them to the green pastures where they can be unafraid and fed and if there's turmoil in your home right now if there's stuff going on if there are broken relationships if your marriage is hurting or your family life is fractured right now invite the good shepherd in i'll allow that he can can pour the soothing salve of the holy spirit over that situation he leaves me beside quiet waters why quiet waters well if you've ever heard a message on psalm 23 you know the answer because sheep instinctively will draw back from fast-moving waters you know why because they're afraid they'll fall in what happens when a sheep falls into fast-moving water he becomes like a giant floating cotton ball amen and that's not good for the sheep because they'll probably drown so the sheep will not move will not drink from that kind of water so the shepherd leads them to the still the quiet waters and it's only there that the sheep will drink some of you if you've got everything going for you on the outside but on the inside your life is in turmoil you're not lying down metaphorically because you're not your appetite is not fed because you you feel danger you don't feel at rest in your soul it's because you're not drawing close enough to the shepherd and then he said and then he says it refresh he refreshes my soul and i love this god provides not just for our bodies but for our souls so that when you allow the good shepherd to come in even when all hell is breaking loose in your life even when there's chaos surrounding you you can still feel that supernatural peace that god gives number three the good shepherd corrects which may not be good news if you need correction because i don't think anybody ever says man i love the fact that the lord is correcting me right now you ever felt god's corrective measures in your own life you ever sensed that hello is any are you just just nod yes or no if you've have you ever felt just the convicting presence of the holy spirit in your life and and it could be the lord's correction job talks about this when he says blessed is the one whom god corrects doesn't always feel like a blessing at the moment does it so don't despise the discipline of the almighty for he wounds but he also binds up he injures but his hands also heal which seems like an odd thing that god would injure you and then heal you why would he do that so reading about shepherds when a shepherd has a sheep or a lamb that is prone to wander the shepherd if that sheep doesn't you know because when it when the sheep wanders that's when it's easy prey for a predator or it might fall off a cliff or down a steep hill or something if and if the sheep will not learn and and and continually wanders from the flock where it puts itself in danger the shepherd will ultimately and eventually take his rod which is like a num chuck a couple of feet long it's hard and he'll he'll whack the back leg of the sheep the lamb and break it so the lamb is in instant pain and can't walk well the shepherd lovingly hoists the sheep on his shoulders the lamb and his shoulders and cares for the sheep and nurses the sheep back to good health again and while that's happening the sheep grows i don't know does sheep get affectionate i think they're too dumb to have affection but at least grows in an attachment to the shepherd so the sheep almost almost becomes like a pet and and the sheep would then never think about leaving the shepherd be honest be honest when you think about the lord's correction no one ever sits around thinking oh i'm so glad that god is correcting me is so wonderful in in the room right now are two of my four children uh alex and stacy and you know sonia and i we raised four kids and uh you know i don't know if i don't think this is the record but from the time our our our twins were born to the time that alex left the house was 36 years 36 years of kids in the house which i think adam and eve probably have a better record but i'm saying that's a lot of years right and especially during the teenage years you're disciplining your kids and no teenager has ever once in the world said oh i'm so glad that dad is disciplining me i you know i hope he grounds me for another week and i really want him to take away my cell phone no kid ever says that amen just doesn't work that way which is why hebrews says it like this no discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful later on however can we put the verse on the screen hebrews 12 11 later on however it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it instead of rebelling against the lord's correction instead of resenting it look at it as a loving discipline and a loving correction so that you can have right living you can live the right way one last thought the good shepherd protects psalm 23 verse 4. i'll say it from the king james version you can read it in this version the king the king james says yea though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil why for thou art with me for for you are with me why am i not afraid even when i go through the valley as we all will because this shepherd is with me and when the shepherd takes my hand and leads me through that valley i need not be afraid your rod and your staff they comfort me david this almost also says in verse 4 now the rod i mentioned that a minute ago that was a weapon that the shepherd would use to fend off the predators the the staff was a larger stick with a curved end a crook or a hook and the shepherd could take that hook and and and lift the sheep out of a dangerous spot where it's wedged again because it doesn't back up or maybe he would take that and just stroke the back of the sheep and comfort it all right verse 5 you anoint my head with oil my cup overflows did i also did i already say the sheep were pretty stinky and and flies were everywhere and this is going to sound a little a little earthy but it wasn't unusual as i was reading about this it wasn't unusual for a for flies to land in the sheep's nostrils you know like this i'm not picking my nose i'm trying to show you well i guess you know what a nostril is right so anyway sheep would land in the nostril and would crawl up a little ways into the nasal passage of the sheep and lay the larva there and then when the larva hatched instead of heading south like they should have out of the sheep's nasal passage some would head north up into the sheep's brain and the sheep knew it and it would drive the sheep absolutely crazy so the sheep would just batter its head against a tree or a rock or a wall or something and sometimes even kill themselves so the shepherd anoints the sheep's head with oil as an insect repellent which is to say that our good shepherd he handles and helps us to deal with the irritations of life all the irritations of life verse 6. surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and i will dwell in the house of the lord how long church forever so i went through psalm 23 last week and i removed all the references to the shepherd this is what life is like when you live without the shepherd in your life just notice i will be in want notice in verses two and three it's a very self-centered life without the good shepherd all you're doing is focusing on me you're going to walk through the valley of the shadow and you will be afraid you will be in the presence of your enemies all the days of your life you will dwell with you when you live without the shepherd in your life it's no wonder that people fixate on going through the valley of the shadow and they're afraid they should be afraid people should be afraid death is inevitable death is 100 guaranteed unless christ comes first and without the good shepherd who protects me who guides me through the valley i should be afraid it's no wonder that people who live their lives without the good shepherd guiding and providing and protecting and correcting it's no wonder that they develop such cynicism about life it's there's no wonder that that they look at life from such a negative perspective but with the good shepherd with the shepherd in our lives we know that not just on a daily basis but ultimately and eventually and at the end of our earthly days whenever that happens when we go through the valley he is there with us and for us amen church because he is the good shepherd and his willingness to lay down his life for you is evidence of the extent of how much he loves you so bow your hearts and heads with me would you and as we're just going to live in the spirit of this message for a moment is the lord speaking to you today it's so it's so easy to hear a message and walk out of the room and five minutes later it's like off your radar already it's another thing to ask the holy spirit bring these thoughts to my remembrance god help me help me to live in the light of the good shepherd who guides and provides and corrects and protects because lord without him god without you i'm lost and without hope and if you don't have that hope today in your life if you don't have the knowledge and the certainty that the good shepherd is a part of your life i can't imagine a more important decision and here's the thing about decisions like this you put them off and one day you'll run out of opportunities you put them off and your heart gets hardened your your conscience becomes almost seared and the holy spirit's no longer able to speak to you because you keep hearing the appeal and keep hearing it and do nothing about it that's why that's why that when moments of decision when moments of opportunity present themselves you jump you move you do something you respond so as our heads are about and our in our eyes are closed and our hearts are obedient before the lord and soften before him i pray for you father thank you for allowing jesus to be the shepherd of our hearts and of our lives thank you for all that he gives to us so lovingly and so willingly lord the thought that you call us me by name that you know me personally intimately just speaks of the level of your care and concern for each of us help us to live in the light of these truths and especially speak to the person who today needs to dive deeper into their walk with christ help each of us to lean into you god we pray in jesus name and all god's people said amen okay well listen i'll be at the front after the service is over and and if you've got something you need to pray about talk about if something was uh raised a question in the message today come on down somebody else will be here too that said we have a message if you're a guest online or uh if you're in the house this is a number you can text and what we need are your name social security and bank account information if you would please just just the name we'll get the rest later okay kidding about that but we'd love to connect with you and listen come back next time hey next sunday is july 4th i really hope you'll be in church it's a great day to celebrate the freedom that we have in christ amen bring somebody with you we'll see you next time i'm right here god bless have a great week everybody you

Channel: Broadway Christian Church Mesa

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Id: 49Olf8WXsJg

Length: 69min 27sec (4167 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 28 2021