CALL TO WORSHIP
OPENING CHORUSES
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- We Have Come Into His House
- He is Here
- Reach Out and Touch
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OPENING PRAYER
WELCOME AND THANKS
OPENING REMARKS
This week, we mark the fourth Sunday of Easter. In this season, we focus on what it means to live in the reality of Jesus, our risen Lord. Among many other things, he has revealed himself to be a gentle caregiver and guiding light.
The theme for this week is Jesus is our shepherd and guardian.
The selected passages for this week … Psalm 23:1-6 • Acts 2:42-47 • 1 Peter 2:19-25 • John 10:1-10
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- In arguably the most famous Psalm, David identifies the Lord as his shepherd.
- In Acts 2, we see the way in which a community cared for and nurtured by Christ behaves.
- In 1 Peter, we read how to bear up under suffering by relying on Jesus, the shepherd and guardian of our souls.
- Lastly, in John, Jesus reveals that he is the means by which sheep can find safety, nourishment, and abundant life.
FIRST READING
Psalm 23:1-6
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters;
3 He restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff — they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
OPENING SONGS
- HERE WE ARE … Don Moen et al …
- AS WE WORSHIP … Don Moen et al …
- THE GOODNESS OF GOD … Jenn Johnson …
SERMONETTE … from the Speaking of Life series
- Title: Empty Tomb and Open Gate
- Presenter: Jeff Broadnax, GCI Elder
- Keynote Passage: John 10:7-10
SECOND READING
SHARING TIME
- Announcements ?
- Blessings ?
- Prayer Updates ?
- Prayer Requests ?
- INTERCESSORY PRAYER
THIRD READING
SPECIAL MUSIC
- LIKE A SHEPHERD … Don Moen et al …
SERMON
Jesus, Our Good Shepherd
John 10:1-10 (NRSV)
‘Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.’ 6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
7 So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
We’ve seen what the passage says.
WHAT DOES THE PASSAGE MEAN?
Before we try to unpack the passage, let us note something the prophet Ezekiel said …
Ezekiel 34:1-10,11-17 (NRSV)
Israel’s False Shepherds
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to them — to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord God: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. 4 You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and scattered, they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.
7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As I live, says the Lord God, because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild animals, since there was no shepherd; and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep; 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 Thus says the Lord God, I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them.
God, the True Shepherd
11 For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12 As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. 14 I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.
With that background, let us now go to our text for today …
John 10:1-10
‘Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit.
2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.’
6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7 So again Jesus said to them,
‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.
9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
So … WHAT SHOULD WE TAKE AWAY from the passage??
Here is WHAT I THINK WE SHOULD TAKE AWAY . . .
- Jesus reveals that He is the means by which sheep can find safety, nourishment, and abundant life.
SONG OF RESPONSE
- THE TWENTY-THIRD PSALM … Ray Conniff Singers …
CLOSING SONG
- LIKE A SHEPHERD … Don Moen et al …
CLOSING PRAYER
BENEDICTION