I AM the Door of the Sheep| John 10:1-10 | Gary Hamrick

good morning everybody welcome to church online here at Cornerstone Chapel today I'm going to be continuing in our Bible study Jesus is the I am we're going to be looking at how he said I am the door of the sheep out of John chapter 10 so grab your Bibles and by the way happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there we want to honor you today too and it's not only Mother's Day you know what time it is this is Cornerstone connection [Music] all right good morning everybody before we get into the Q&A segment of our service which is usually what we do right now I wanted to just take a few minutes to honor all the moms the grandmothers the great-grandmother's on this Mother's Day we're going to show you a short video clip and then we're going to come back and I'm going to pray for all of you moms as we appreciate you today [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] alright happy Mother's Day to everybody and we want to take time to just pray before we get into just a couple of the q and a's today and by the way you have a great mom oh the best happy Mother's Day mom she happens to be my wife and so I should know and so we want to take a moment to just pray for all the moms and grandmothers and great grandmothers out there and just honor you today we're so appreciative of you so let's take a moment right now to pray father we just thank you for all the moms and grandmas and great grandmas and we just ask you Lord to bless them today we honor them today we thank you for all the many ways that they serve their families the way that they juggle many different responsibilities and so today Lord we just ask for you to bless them encourage them give them wisdom and strength so many moms do so much that they just need the extra strength and energy from you and wisdom from above and so we just pray that you would continue to use them for your glory strengthen them in their hearts strengthen them physically emotionally spiritually in every way that they need you show yourself strong to them Lord and we just are so appreciative of them and ask that you would bless every mom every grandmother every great-grandmother today on this Mother's Day in Jesus name Amen amen amen we love and appreciate you all all right before we get into worship and then after worship I'm gonna teach this morning just a couple of questions today in light of our time so go ahead all right here we go first in number one dad how can I be the light of the world without losing sight of my own brightness and or not letting others take advantage of me so what comes to my mind is Matthew chapter 5 Jesus talks about if somebody strikes you on the right cheek turned the left one to them also he says if somebody Sue's you for your tunic given their cloak also you know the bottom line is the fact of the matter is as Christians there are going to be some times that people take advantage of us there's going to be some times that we serve in a way that honors God even though people might not appreciate it or people might take advantage of us I'm not saying we should be a doormat to everything in everybody but we should be willing so times to realize in doing this good thing or this thing that God would be honored by somebody might be taking advantage of me but it's okay God's honored and he's glorified he's gonna take care of those people question number two is when God declared in Genesis let there be light is that when time began no actually in Genesis when time began as Genesis 1:1 when when it says in the beginning that's when time is we know it began when God said let there be light that's when energy was infused into the cosmos you know scientists and call it the Big Bang whatever they might want to call it but light is energy so time began when the Bible says in the beginning awesome number three is the word light in Revelation the same Greek word that Jesus uses in John when he says I am the light and I did reference this last week that the last reference to light in the book of Revelation is actually a different word it's Luke notes in the Greek in John 8:12 when it talks about Jesus is the light of the world it is the Greek word folks they are two different Greek words but it is still the same principle he is the light of the world he is the light in heaven and so no big difference even though two different Greek words all right and then last question we've gotten this question a lot just wondering my family is having a debate are you guys using green screens or are you actually at the church I don't know we get this question every single week so we're gonna put an end to this well I'm doing this we're gonna do this all right so you can know there's no Hmong screen here folks come on go go go go well there you go all right coach Rivera give me a call call my agent man I'm open I'm available all right let's go in to worship now and let's worship the Lord and then after that I'm gonna bring God's Word to you from John chapter 10 let's worship a church family we're so glad that you joined us this week so put down your coffee stand if you need to and sing along with us lift your voices [Music] make it easy to the [Music] you bring joy [Music] you make it easy to trust [Music] you have you've been fade [Music] [Applause] - you are the fire leads me through the I'm follow anyway there's a to trust you nothing to fear [Music] Paulo Jesus you came to my red yes my face we team [Music] you're the treasurer [Music] see [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh Jesus all I want is you sing it [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] I love you [Music] will your verse he never fails me and all my days I've been held in your hands from the moment that I wake up till I lay my head why was knew of the goodness of God [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so my life you have been playing [Music] if you have been so-so every breath I am [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] from the darkness I called your name into darkness mercy you called me greed is your my weekend but she read my for you too called me fifteen me is your [Music] you step down to earth [Music] imperfection keep your life to me [Music] yes we stand [Music] by [Music] I'm crazy [Music] in your friend [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes we stand [Music] that car [Music] [Music] there is never been we'll never be godlike you love so true here has never been there will never be again like you love so true there has never been [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] how great how great is your love you see [Music] it's Jesus it's your great love that we worship it's your great love that we lift high and it's because of your love that we worship Lord may we not lose sight of that love in a time where we're feeling isolated we're feeling lonely God your love is there for us so Lord let us know your love in a new way today Lord we thank you for coming right now in meeting us where we are will be glorified we pray in Jesus name Amen well good morning cornerstone Chapel happy mother's day is such a beautiful day to worship the Lord together my name is pastor Tyler and I'm here to bring some announcements for this morning first off I want to give a shout out to those watching online we have Noel from Australia Melanie from Texas and Anthony from Ohio so thank you so much for tuning in and we hope you enjoy today's service first off our first announcement is we want to highlight our middle school and high school youth ministry so on behalf of pastor Barrett and myself we are doing the best we can virtually and thank the Lord for social media we have an Instagram and a youtube account please go check those out parents and students if you're watching check them out we've got great content for devotionals some fun videos talk about small groups so get connected with our high school middle school online and then also for our local outreach update we have a nova hospital sent us a video to thank you for your generosity so please tune into this video right now hi cornerstone Chapel my name is sage bolte and I am the chief philanthropy officer and president of the Inova Health Foundation and I just wanted to say thank you thank you for the ways you are showing up for our community in so many ways I know that both through your prayer through your service to the community through your support of one another and ultimately for your gift to anova your financial support to our emergency preparedness fund was just remarkable and not just brought me joy but it immediately went to use to help further protect and secure the equipment we need to manage this pandemic for our frontline heroes and for our community so I wanted to just say thank you as a woman of faith and someone who takes great pride in seeing how our churches and our faith communities are coming together to support us thank you god bless you I look forward to hugging you in greeting you one day in person but I did want to make sure that you knew that your generosity has gone straight to work and we are grateful thank you so much awesome well we appreciate you and Nova Hospital we thank you for all that you are doing last but not least parents just reminder you can watch children's ministry online on their YouTube channel during this service and you guys can tune in together so take care god bless let's tune in to the service now with Pastor Gary as he continues through the IM series take care I'll write everybody once again good morning to you thanks for joining us for Church online let's take our Bibles and go to John chapter 10 John chapter 10 and again just a quick reminder if you have questions from today's teaching part of what we're doing with Church online is giving you the opportunity to text in your questions this week and you can do that by going to 703 8 4 4 9 9 6 9 that's the number where you can text in your questions from anything concerning today's teaching so John chapter 10 we are continuing in our series Jesus is the I am and we've already established how when Jesus uses that language in particular he is making a parallel statement to the way that God identified himself to Moses in Exodus chapter 3 verse 14 and when the Old Testament was translated into Greek and when the New Testament was originally written in Greek the words that Jesus used when he said I am were the same words that God used in Exodus 3:14 when he said to Moses I am and those two Greek words are a go a me and then what Jesus does is he takes different metaphors and he attaches them to these I am statements so that we would understand two things number one that he is asserting his divinity when he uses that parallel language of what God said in Exodus 3:14 Jesus is asserting the fact that He is God and then by attaching these different metaphors he's helping us to understand how he as God relates to humanity and so there are seven of these I am statements with metaphors attached that Jesus uses throughout the Gospel of John John is the only gospel that records these seven particular statements and again for those of you who might be joining us for the first time here are those seven I am statements Jesus says I am the bread of life number two he said I am the law of the world number three he said I am the door of the Sheep number four I am The Good Shepherd number five I am the resurrection and the life number six I am the way the truth and the life and number seven I am The True Vine and so today we've already made our way through number one and number two we're gonna be looking at number three where Jesus says I am the door of the Sheep and it is found in John's Gospel chapter 10 verses 7 and he repeats it again in verse 9 but so that we get the whole picture I'm gonna read John chapter 10 verses 1 through 10 and then we'll pray and we'll dig out this passage together this morning so here it is John chapter 10 verse 1 Jesus speaking here he says most assuredly I say to you he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs up some other way the same as a thief and a robber but he who enters by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep to him the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out and when he brings out his own sheep he goes before them and the Sheep follow him for they know his voice yet they will by no means follow a stranger but will flee from him for they do not know the voice of strangers Jesus used this illustration but they did not understand the things which he spoke to them verse 7 says then jesus said to them again most assuredly I say to you I am the door of the Sheep all who ever came before me are thieves and robbers but the Sheep did not hear them I am the door if anyone enters by me he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy but I have come that you that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly so here it is in this passage here where twice in verse seven and again in verse 9 Jesus says I am the door of the Sheep we're going to talk about that today but let's first pause and have a word of Prayer let's pray father in heaven we thank you that we can join together even though it is in our various homes we're joining together online again Lord and we just continue to pray for an end to this virus we pray Lord that you would help those and heal those who are sick minister to those who are grieving and help us all Lord to just persevere and to trust you through this time we don't understand a lot of all this a lot of the information is confusing some of it is even conflicting we don't know what to make of it all but we know Lord that you're working regardless and so we trust you today we pray that you will use this time in your word to teach us and encourage us and challenge us as we study and learn more about Jesus who is the great I am we love you and we praise you together in Jesus name we pray these things and everybody at home said a man well this story is given to us here in John chapter 10 as an illustration in fact that word illustration is used here in the New King James Version I'm reading from in verse 6 it says Jesus used this illustration but they did not understand the things which he spoke to them so what exactly is the illustration that Jesus is using and what is it that he's trying to teach us in this story now when you look at this story as we've just read it together I I see that it is broken down really into three categories and here are those three categories this story is about sheep and shepherds and the relationship of the Shepherd to the sheep and the Sheep to the shepherd it's also about number two thieves and robbers and the threat that they pose to the Sheep and thirdly this story is about the door and the doorkeeper which of course is the main metaphor Jesus uses with the I am statement so these three components we're going to be looking at this story through the lens of these three components and in order to really understand this illustration we first need a little cultural context because the people of Jesus day they were an agrarian society they made their livelihood off of agriculture and farming and fishing and livestock so Jesus teaching this this illustration here would have been much more familiar to people of his day than probably people of our day seeing as how I mean Loudoun County still is pretty rural some parts of it Western Loudoun so some of you are sheep sheep farmers sheep herders shepherds whatever you want to call yourselves but for the rest of us who don't know too much about sheep and the whole idea of shepherding some of this is not all that familiar but it would have been very familiar to the people of Jesus day so as we go through these three elements I'm gonna unpack all of this so we can understand a little the cultural context as we as we make our way through this story so the first one again let's take a look at understanding how this is a story about sheep and shepherds of course sheep were and are completely dependent on a shepherd for everything from food to protection to their well being I mean the very survival of sheep is dependent upon a good relationship that they have with their shepherd otherwise sheep are pretty helpless and they are pretty senseless animals I mean they are they are good for sweaters and they are good for a good lamb chop dinner but other than that these animals they're not they're not the sharpest animals in the animal kingdom that is for sure they're I mean I'm just I won't be politically correct here they're just dumb animals they're just dumb now please no sheep email me on this they're just dumb animals I mean listen sheep going in a straight line can't even make a u-turn all right that's your sheep joke for the day but one thing that sheep are bright about and they are smart about is they know and can distinguish the particulars of their Shepherd from all other voices from all other people they can distinguish the voice of their particular Shepherd and Jesus talks about how sheep know the voice of the Shepherd in fact five times in this 10th chapter of John there's some reference to sheep hearing the voice of the shepherd five times if you'll notice in verse four one of those references where Jesus says in verse four and when he brings out his own sheep he goes before them and the Sheep follow him for they know his voice noticed that they know his voice now again here's where some of the cultural context is important to understanding our story because at this particular time in Israel's history when traveling shepherds would come to a city and in particular let's just say Jerusalem as a as a bustling city this particular time whenever travel at traveling Shepherds would come to a city they would take their sheep to a sheep pen that was already provided for them in the city where other shepherds would also bring their sheep and the Sheep would be penned up there in the Sheep pen overnight the Shepherd's would get different lodging and then come back in the morning to retrieve their sheep but various Shepherds would bring their flocks to a central sheep pen in a city and all the sheep would go into that sheep pen and then Jesus makes mention of a doorkeeper in verse three because a doorkeeper in this city sheep pen would be entrusted with the well-being and the safety of these sheep and you would basically pay a doorkeeper when you would bring your sheep into the Sheep pen and the doorkeeper would why all night long to make sure that no sheep were lost and no harm came to any sheep and and then the next morning all the different shepherds would go to this central sheep pen where all the sheep had been kept overnight by the way if any of those sheep ever had trouble sleeping they would just count each other all right that's the second and last cheap joke for the day but in the morning when the Shepherd's would go to retrieve their flocks how would you know which sheep belong to which Shepherd well it was easy the way that you would distinguish your sheep from all the other sheep that were mixing with yours in this central sheep pen was to call out to them because your sheep would know your voice and when you would call out to them only your sheep would perk up turn to you and leave the sheep pen by way of the doorkeeper now I actually saw this firsthand for myself about 15 years ago on one of our trips to Israel when we were in the countryside the hills of Bethlehem and I noticed a flock of sheep probably 40 or 50 sheep and I noticed two Shepherds I just thought they were working the same flock together little did I know that they were just together but there were two different flocks led by each of these shepherds and I watched them and all of a sudden one of the Shepherd's started to go the opposite direction got about thirty yards away turned back and then called out to the sheep and only his sheep perked up turned saw him and then ran to him the other sheep that belonged to the other Shepherd didn't even lift up their heads continued to graze were completely unfazed by what just happened now two things crossed my mind when I saw that happen one was a reminder of this story and how sheep know the voice of their Shepherd the other thing that crossed my mind because these were these were Arab Shepherds on the hillsides of Bethlehem the other thing that crossed my mind was how do these sheep know Arabic that shows you my ignorance anyway I saw it firsthand the sheep know the voice of their shepherd let me ask you a question how well how well do you know the voice of your shepherd how well do you know the voice of your Shepherd Jesus have you ever wondered how to tell the difference between your own voice God's voice and even Satan's voice it's a common question I've gotten over the years of ministry and my answer to that is how can you distinguish God's voice from all the other voices well the answer is the same way that you distinguish the voice of people that you love from all other people that you don't know how can you tell the voice of if you're married of your spouse without seeing them you can just tell by knowing their voice the voice of your children the voice of one of your closest and best friends the answer is because you spend time with them you know if when I go home at the end of the day and if Terry's home I don't have to go through the door and say hello Terry this is Gary I'm home I mean all I have to do is say hi honey I'm home she knows my voice and she doesn't respond by saying hello excuse me can you identify yourself I mean we know each other and the reason we know each other is because we have spent time with each other and over the course of a relationship you know the voice of somebody they don't have to identify themselves you know their voice because you're familiar with it because you've spent time with them I would submit to you and I don't say this in a way to shame anybody I'm just saying this as a matter of fact the reason why a lot of Christians don't know the voice of the Lord is because they simply are not spending enough time with him the more time that we spend with the Lord the more we will begin to discern the voice of the Lord you know when the Lord spoke to Elijah the prophets he did not speak in this you know in in these Blaz he spoke the Bible says in a still small voice you know God can speak audibly we see that in Scripture but most of the time he speaks by way of that still small voice in your heart where you just begin to understand and discern the voice of the Lord because you've been spending time with him and and I can tell you that it's taken years to really begin to understand and hear and recognize and distinguish the voice of the Lord in my own life and by the way we have to always make room for our flat for our flesh when we feel like we're hearing the voice of the Lord we have to meditate on that and we have to always make sure that it lines up with Scripture I don't trust every voice in my head I hope you don't either and so there are times we can get it wrong but what I am saying is the way that you can best assert the voice of the Lord from all the other voices in clutter in our world is to spend time with them to just meditate on his word to spend quiet time in prayer and sometimes just listening to the Lord not always talking and telling him what you want or what you need but a lot of times just being still before the Lord and knowing that he is God inclining your ear to the still small voice of the Lord being able to distinguish and discern his voice from all the other voices and so it really is a matter of taking time jesus said my sheep know my voice and so as we spend time with him we will be able to better discern his voice now hearing him hearing his voice is only half of it the other half is obeying what we hear and jesus said at the end of verse 4 and the Sheep follow him for they know his voice following him is obeying him and so it's not just about inclining our ear to the voice of the Lord that's only half of it it's doing what he says and always making sure that what we believe that he says to us lines up with Scripture never contradicts his own Word because God will never his own word so this story is about sheep and shepherds number two it's also about thieves and robbers Jesus mentions thieves and/or robbers in verse 1 in verse 8 and in verse 10 these are those who pose a great threat to the Sheep and Jesus uses this illustration to call them out these these thieves and robbers and to warn the Sheep now in its context Jesus is calling out the religious leaders of his day who are not helping the Sheep find salvation but rather they are using the Sheep for their own personal gain gain or they are harming the sheet with their own man-made rules we'll have more to talk about the religious leaders and what is a good shepherd versus a bad shepherd next week when we look at how Jesus said I am The Good Shepherd it actually is a continuation of this story so we'll talk more about that next week but here's what Jesus does point out about these thieves and robbers in this story that we're looking at this morning one of the things he says about them is that they they try to climb into the Sheep pen rather than going through the door he said there in verse one most assuredly I say to you he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs up some other way the same is a thief and robber meaning since Jesus is the door to the Sheep since he's the only entry point he says they these thieves and robbers are trying to circumvent the way to be saved by trying to get in without going through Jesus and of course the big way that religious leaders were guilty in Jesus day of being these false shepherds was it the way that they were teaching and practicing that you get into the sheep pen is by climbing over the fence by doing works by efforts that are man-made and the fact of the matter is that we can't do enough good works to get to have it we can't work our way there we only gain salvation through faith and it's because God has given us Jesus as the gift of grace in our lives and so he calls him out for trying to climb into the Sheep pen other than going through the way of the door he also tells us basically that they are imposters because in verse 8 he says all who ever came before me are thieves and robbers but the Sheep did not hear them he's talking about those who came before him claiming to be Messiah and it would just as true to say and those who also come after Jesus who claim to be the Messiah he is the only Messiah he is the only Savior so everyone who poses to be the Messiah either before Jesus or since Jesus is a false prophet and is an imposter and then the third thing that he says here about these thieves and robbers is that they intend to harm the Sheep that's what he means in verse 10 when he says the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy now if you've been a Christian for very long you're probably aware that this verse is often applied to Satan as the thief who's come to steal and kill and destroy and of course he is the ultimate thief he is the ultimate robber because he intends you no good Satan intends you only harm he wants to kill you he wants to steal from you he wants to destroy your life your marriage your family your business everything about us Satan hates us and so he's gonna always be trying to rip us off in some way so you know he is the ultimate thief and other scriptures reinforce this how he intends to do is harm 1st Peter chapter 5 verse 8 says be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour Ephesians 6 verse 11 tells us to put on the full armor of God that we might take our stand against the devil so the Bible doesn't make it clear that Satan intends to do is harm he is the ultimate thief who's come to steal and kill and destroy the enemy is against you God is for you the enemy simply wants to steal kill and destroy you but Jesus said I've come that you might have life zou a life and have it more abundantly or some translations say that you might have life to its fullest now the good news is concerning the thieves and the robbers that Jesus says here that he is guarding the sheep pen and so we can take comfort in the fact that even though there is an enemy who was after us that Jesus is guarding the sheep pen and he's taking care of us which leads us into the third and the final point of this story which has to do with the door and the doorkeeper and this is really the heart of Jesus's i.m statement because he presents himself in this illustration as the door now please notice with me in the verses related to the door and the doorkeeper that the direct article VII is used here Jesus does not say I am a door he is the door again one of the big fallacies in the world today is the belief that you know all paths lead to God that there are multiple paths multiple ways multiple doors and Jesus disputes that by his statement that he is the door he is the way now I want to point it out again in verses 7 and 9 I'll just put the verses on the screen for you verse 7 where Jesus said to them again most assuredly I say to you I am the door of the Sheep and then in verse 9 he repeats it I am the door if anyone enters by me he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture now obviously in using this illustration Jesus is communicating a point here he is saying when he says I am the door he's saying I'm the entry point I mean a door is an entry point you get access to a room or a place or in this illustration a sheep pen by going through the door that's the entry point and the reference to both door and doorkeeper which was mentioned back in verse three is the difference between country shepherds and city shepherds so let me just explain when he uses this language I am the door but back in verse three also talked about the doorkeeper and nobody goes into the sheep head except you go through the doorkeeper there was a difference between how Shepherds manage their sheep and the safety of their sheep whether you were in the city or whether you were in the country now I've already mentioned about what would happen if you took your sheep to a sheep pen in the city there would be a doorkeeper there and the doorkeeper would make sure that no harm came to the sheep and made sure that no sheep were lost that was the the responsibility and the duty of the doorkeeper so Jesus in that sense is the one who makes sure that none is lost to make sure that no harm comes to us he is the doorkeeper but more specifically he is the door and this is what he says there in verse 7 and again in verse 9 and here's what rural shepherds would do out in the countryside they would have to make their own makeshift sheep pens at night to keep the sheep together and protected while the Shepherd would sleep and so in the country a shepherd would basically gather rocks and gather if if they were around branches and limbs from trees and and make a fence square in a sheep pen and and then through this one entryway that was there he would then lead the sheep in and then here's what the Shepherd would do at nighttime the shepherd himself would lie down across the door of this makeshift sheep pen and he himself would be if he will the door to make sure that the sheep were protected that no harm would come to them because any wild animal like a like a wolf for example that wanted to get to the Sheep would have to go through the door but the Shepherd would be there always to protect the sheep so Jesus is again using this illustration that would have been very familiar to people of his day probably not so much to us when he says I'm the door what is he talking about what he's saying is I'm the entry point to the sheet pan and you can't get into the sheet pan except you go through me and one of the first things that he's talking about here is salvation because he even specifically says there you can't be saved unless you go through me the door verse 9 I am the door if anyone enters by me he will be saved Jesus is the entry point and the only entry point he is the door not a door to salvation the way that you get your sins forgiven the way that you get eternal life is through faith in Jesus Christ and through Jesus alone he is the door into relationship with him we can't climb over the fence we can't get there by works we can't do it ourselves the only way to do it is to go through the door and there he is using this picture of this wonderful loving shepherd laying himself down literally just lying down to the doorway of the sheep pen to protect the sheep to love the Sheep to make sure that none is lost Jesus is the door he's the entryway he's the only entry way you can't circumvent the entryway and get saved any other way jesus said I am the door if anyone enters by me he will be saved but notice also verses 9 and 10 and verse 9 he says I am the door if anyone enters by me he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture now that language about going in and out is communicating to us it is describing to us a liberated life one who has been set free from the stronghold and the bondage of sin he's expressing the fact that in relationship with him there's liberty there is freedom not liberty to sin but being set free from the burden and the bondage and the weight and the guilt and the shame of sin he says if you have relationship with me as the door you will be able to go in and out you will have a freedom and a Liberty like you've never known before being set free from that bondage and shame and the stronghold of sin and then he adds in verse 10 that I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly did you know that God wants you to have a full life he wants you to have an abundant life and again as we pointed out a couple of weeks ago there are two greek words for life one is bios when we talk about biology the study of life we're talking about physical life human life natural life but the other Greek word is Zoe and it's the word that Jesus uses here it's different from just biological life now Jesus is saying I want to give you spiritual life eternal life fullness of life a life that has joy despite the circumstances a life that has hope despite sometimes the hopelessness in our world a life that has peace no matter what is going on in your life just that calm steady confident peace that God gives us a life that really knows what true and genuine love is because we experience the love of the Lord all these things are factors into an abundant life now Jesus didn't promise you when he promises you and me an abundant life a full life he doesn't promise us a trouble-free life he doesn't promise us a problem-free life he promises us an abundant life in him that in other words no matter what life might throw your way God is greater still and we can have a joy and a peace we can have a contentment and a satisfaction we can have a love and a hope in our hearts that only come from him God wants you to have an abundant life in knowing him and having relationship with him but the only way that you get there is through the door and that door is Jesus do those things describe your life a saved life a life that is a liberated life a life that is enjoying an abundant life I mean these are the things that Jesus said I've come first and foremost to save us to save us from our sin to liberate us from the shame and the guilt and to offer us a greater and richer life because we have relationship with him so that even when this present life BIOS is over we will experience eternal life zowie with him do you know Jesus as the door do you have a saved life a liberated life an abundant life because if you don't I want to invite you today right now to make a decision for Jesus Christ as the way to be saved he says I am the door and if anyone enters by me he will be saved if you don't know Christ as your Savior today that's where it all begins before you can have a liberated life or an abundant life it begins by knowing him as Savior there's no other way to get saved not by your own works your own merit you can't climb over the fence you got to go through the door and that door is Jesus if you today would say to me pastor Gary I can't honestly say that I'm saved I'm not sure I'm feeling very liberated and I certainly don't think I have an abundant life then why do you take a moment right now to make a decision for Christ I'm gonna lead in a word of prayer and you can pray this prayer with me and you can enter through the door you can enter through Christ and have relationship with the God of the universe and know that your sins are forgiven and to be set free from the bondage and the shame of sin to enjoy an abundant and full life that God intends for you to enjoy it all begins with the decision a decision to trust Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior once you pray this prayer with me right where you are in your homes maybe right now you're with a loved one family members maybe together you might want to take hands and you might want to pray this prayer together with me but I'm gonna lead you in this word of Prayer and I encourage you prayed out right where you are I'm gonna go slowly enough you can pray this prayer with me make it your own today pray this prayer just repeat it after me just right where you are just say this say Lord Jesus I thank you that you died on a cross for my sins today I put my trust in you as the door to salvation I surrender my life to you I confess that I'm a sinner like everybody else forgive me of my sins come into my heart save me today by faith I trust you as the door to be saved and I pray also that you would just set me free bring liberty and freedom to my heart to my life set me free from the things that have kept me in bondage were addicted Lord set me free today that I might enjoy abundant life in Jesus Christ the fullness of life your joy your peace your love your hope and may it begin with me surrendering my life to you right now I trust you Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior in your name I pray amen and amen now listen if you prayed that prayer with me I want to encourage you today right now before you even forget about it take out your cell phone and text I have decided to the number on your screen at 7:03 eight four four nine nine six nine just text those words I have decided so that we can rejoice with you so that we can know today that you made a commitment to trust Christ as your Savior you'll get a follow-up response and if you're willing to give us more information we would love to send you a Bible today and a little book by Greg Laurie for new believers so you can text I've decided to seven oh three eight four four nine nine six nine if you don't want to give us any more information than I have decided that's fine we don't need to send you Bible s you want that but let us know of your decision to trust Christ as your Savior today so that we can rejoice with you you know the Bible says that the angels in heaven are rejoicing over one sinner who repents we would like to get in on that celebration with you and follow up with some material to put in your hands if you're so inclined to receive it so text us that and by the way again if you have questions from today's teaching you can use that same phone number to text in your questions seven oh three eight four four nine nine six nine remember Jesus is the door of the Sheep I'm gonna toss it over now to Pastor Tyler for a closing word and a closing word of Prayer god bless you and again happy Mother's Day all right so once again if you have questions about today's service you can text that number again seven oh three eight four four nine nine six nine well that's it for today would you pray with me and let's lift up our our moms as well to the Lord father God we thank you so much for today service we do thank you that you are the door to salvation for us God that we're thankful that you just made a way and that you are the way the truth and the life God we love you we praise you we glorify you and God we also lift up all the moms that have been involved in our lives that have inspired us the the grandmothers the great-grandmother's Lord bless them today on this special day we thank you for them we love you we praise you go before us now for today Lord and it's in your son's name Amen amen well god bless you happy Mother's Day and thank you so much for tuning in we will see you next time have a great day you

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

Views: 10,114

Rating: 4.8702703 out of 5

Keywords: Cornerstone Chapel, Calvary Chapel, Gary Hamrick, Biblical sermons, leesburg va, cornerstone chapel leesburg virginia, great sermons by great preachers, I am the door of the sheep, john 10:1-10

Id: a6Y7kTJh2E0

Length: 62min 44sec (3764 seconds)

Published: Mon May 11 2020