The Good Shepherd
MATTHEW 11:28-30 TPT
“Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Then come to me. I will
refresh your life, for I am your oasis. Simply join your life with mine.
Learn my ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble, easy to
please. You will find refreshment and rest in me. For all that I require
of you will be pleasant and easy to bear.”
“If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll
be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you’ll be at REST.”
— Corrie Ten Boom
JOHN 10:11-16 NLT
“I am the GOOD SHEPHERD. The good shepherd sacrifices his life
for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He
will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t
their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock.
The hired hand runs away because he’s only working for the money
and doesn’t really care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I
know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me
and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. I have
other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them
also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one
shepherd.”
PSALM 23 NKJV
The Lord is my shepherd; I SHALL NOT WANT. He makes me to lie
down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. HE
RESTORES MY SOUL; He leads me in the paths of righteousness
for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil; FOR YOU ARE WITH ME; Your
rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in
the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup
runs over. Surely GOODNESS AND MERCY shall follow me ALL
THE DAYS OF MY LIFE; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
FOREVER.
“I shall not want.”
“He restores my soul.”
“For You are with me.”
“Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”
“Forever.”
The Real Challenge: The Shepherd has to take care of SHEEP!
Not everyone in church is a sheep.
“Whenever you’re stressing out, having high anxiety, or worrying too
much, YOU’RE TRYING TO CONTROL TOO MUCH!”
4 Things to Know About Jesus (The Good Shepherd):
- The Good Shepherd PROVIDES for His sheep.
PSALM 23:1 NKJV
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
PSALM 23:1 NLT
The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.
God’s Provision for Israel in the Desert:
• 1500 tons of food a day (2 freight trains)
• 11 million gallons of water a day
• Crossed Red Sea in one night (had to walk side-by-side … 2/3
the size of Rhode Island)
• Clothes never wore out
• Lived like this for 40 years
They understood “Give me this day my daily bread …” - The Good Shepherd PROTECTS His sheep.
3 Kinds of People in Church:
- -Sheep
- Goats
- Wolves
JOHN 10:1-5 NKJV
“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 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.”
JOHN 10:10 NKJV
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I
have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more
abundantly.”
3. The Good Shepherd CORRECTS His sheep.
ISAIAH 53:6 NLT
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to
follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
HEBREWS 12:5-6 NLT
… “My child, don’t ignore it when the Lord disciplines you, and don’t
be discouraged when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those
he loves, and he punishes those he accepts as children.”
PROVERBS 12:1 NKJV
Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates
correction is stupid.
PROVERBS 12:15 NKJV
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel
is wise.
4. The Good Shepherd GUIDES His sheep.
JOHN 10:27 NKJV
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
Voices Designed to Deceive You:
• Voice of offense
• Voice of anger
• Voice of frustration
• Voice of fear
• Voice of temptation
The Holy Spirit is the voice of God.
ISAIAH 40:11 NCV
He takes care of his people like a shepherd …
